Human hair can be a tool for measuring the toxicity of a city, according to London-based architects Deborah Lopez and Hadin Charbel, who have also created a textile made from hair.
Through their research studio, Pareid, Lopez and Charbel have been analysing hair samples as a way of mapping the levels of pollution across different areas of Bangkok. Samples containing larger quantities of heavy metals indicate higher levels of environmental toxicity.
Pareid has analysed the toxicity of hundreds of hair samples
"Pollution is becoming a gigantic environmental problem," Lopez told Dezeen.
"We were interested in the capacity of the human body to become a sensor to this, to reflect and record the environment where you live, where you breathe, and where you eat and drink." The research began with an installation at Bangkok Design Week in 2019, which functioned as a test station
The project, called Follicle, started out as an investigation into the potential of hair as an architectural material.
Research suggests that around 6.5 million kilos of waste human hair is produced in the UK alone every year, so Lopez and Charbel felt this material could be an untapped resource for sustainable construction.
However, after learning about the presence of heavy metals in hair, the pair realised they could also use the substance as a research tool in cities with dangerously high levels of pollution.
The installation was a space where people could cut off a small amount of ...