Morphodynamics

Edhv Eindhoven

A tile creating machine that embodies the marriage between nature and technology

A day of play at a sandy beach turned out to be a great source of inspiration. We became aware of a beautiful natural process called morphodynamics. It’s an interaction and adjustment of seafloor topography that shapes the wrinkles in the sand through changing tides. These natural dynamics are at the foundation of many processes that formed this very planet and are rooted in complex laws of physics, the beauty of their seemingly unpredictable behavior is what keeps us mesmerized.

With this project we investigated the possibilities of mechanizing these organic flows in order to find new aesthetics. We combined ceramic clay with a touch of technology to trick its flow into creating beautiful natural shapes. The set-up is like a small tile factory. The ceramic clay flows through a set of tubes past a computer that plays a set of algorithms. Switching between flowing and drying. Leaving behind a thin layer of clay after every run. After the program is done the clay tablets are baked in an oven turning it into ceramic objects. No tile is ever the same, each one has its own unique flow pattern.

This project was presented at Dutch Invertuals latest show ‘No Static’ during Dutch Design Week 2015 and as a part of the travelling exhibition ‘Designed by Time’ that started off in New York in 2019.