YOUNG TALENTS
Designing close to everyday life
Anna Moldenhauer: Before you studied industrial and product design, you trained as a watchmaker, a craft that requires very precise work with filigree structures - how does this combination of training influence the way you work today?
Eric Geißler: As a watchmaker, I am basically a metalworker for the very small things. I am well versed in metalworking and my training as a craftsman sometimes included a creative and inventive element. I was fortunate to have well-equipped workshops at the Bauhaus University Weimar and the Burg Giebichenstein University of Art and Design Halle, where I was able to experiment directly with different materials. I therefore rarely held a drawing pencil in my hand at the time. From time to time, my previous employers accused me of having a penchant for perfection, as precision sometimes takes up too much time - perhaps this is also due to the fact that this is essential in the watchmaking profession.
In your opinion, did the training sufficiently teach you what steps are important after graduation?
Eric Geißler: In my studies, it was mostly more about the ideal concept than about aesthetic variation, as is probably taught in more classic industrial design programmes. By working in the workshops, however, we were able to develop a good feel for material and production methods, which is also needed in design offices. In retrospect, I am very satisfied with the teaching content at the universities I studied at. However, the topic of self-employment is an extreme challenge for me. I'm more of a product developer and less of an entrepreneur, I have to admit that at this point. (laughs)
How did you start your research into compostable biomaterials in small electrical appliances?
Eric Geißler: During my two years at Burg Giebichenstein, I realised a lot of projects with Prof. Mareike Gast, who specialises in materials, technology and sustainability. During this time, I had the opportunity to work in the Burg Giebichenstein BioLab to design sustainable futures with the help of microorganisms. E-waste is one of the fastest growing waste streams and my aim was to tackle the problem in a new way. There are already many good strategies for recycling e-waste, such as ‘design for repair’ or ‘design for disassembly’, but during my research I realised that nobody uses a screwdriver to recycle small electrical appliances anymore, no matter how well they are designed for disassembly. What's more, unfortunately many still-functional appliances end up as electronic waste, presumably because they have simply become too dirty for their owners or are no longer fashionable. That's why I was looking for a new concept that focusses on the end of a product's life. It's not just about substituting plastics, as is often assumed, but above all about the best possible recycling of metals, which are very valuable in comparison. Certain quantities of these are being lost in the current recycling system due to the phenomenon of ‘metal substitution’.
Why did you choose biomaterials?
Eric Geißler: My idea was to design a device that disassembles itself through a decomposition process and in which all electrical components are separated from each other at the end. Initially, I had also thought of paper pulp, which would dissolve in a water bath and release all the electrical components. However, paper pulp is a downcyclate of paper, which means that a tree still had to be felled and processed for it. The appeal of the new biomaterials is their extremely small ecological footprint if they can be produced from residual or waste materials. In addition, fungal mycelium is a natural flame retardant, electrically insulating and heat-resistant up to 250 degrees, which makes it ideal for use in electrical appliances.
And a lot of water is needed to produce the paper.
Eric Geißler: Exactly. In other words, the whole process is a drain on resources. Even if a lot of energy is consumed elsewhere, it's true that with increasing digitalisation, at least the production of print (paper) products is declining, which also means that there is less raw material for pulp. Waste materials from agriculture and forestry will probably still be around in a hundred years' time. I have therefore researched the processing of microbially produced biomaterials.
Have you already been able to test how long the decomposition process of a casing made of mushroom mycelium would take?
Eric Geißler: The hairdryer needs to be biodegradable if necessary, but it should be usable for as long as possible up to that point. Mushroom mycelium composites are already being used in the packaging industry as a compostable polystyrene substitute. Through a pressing process, I was able to strongly solidify the grown material in order to use it as material for the circuit board and the housing parts of the hair dryer. I have been testing a sample of the material in the gutter of my flat for three quarters of a year and so far it has lasted quite a long time despite the weather. The decomposition process has only started in the areas that are permanently wet. So a situation with splashing water in the bathroom cannot harm the fungal mycelium. The next step would be to try it in compost, where decomposition would certainly start more quickly.
Have you already come into contact with the guidelines that are relevant for the market launch of a small electronic device during the design phase?
Eric Geißler: At the current state of the concept, a market launch would not yet be possible. That's why ‘CompoDry’ is initially intended as an inspiration and to draw attention to the resource problem caused by electrical waste.
How do you grow the mushroom mycelium?
Eric Geißler: There are mushroom varieties that are very suitable for creating material, such as Ganoderma Lucidum, the shiny lacquered mushroom. It grows quickly, which makes contamination more difficult; it is faster than mould, so to speak. Wood or food scraps serve as ‘food’. At Burg Giebichenstein, I had the opportunity to produce the fungal materials in the biology laboratory using a sterile bench and appropriate tools.
Your projects from your studies are solution-orientated, whether it's making everyday life easier or changing systems. What appeals to you more than designing furniture, for example?
Eric Geißler: That has a lot to do with the tasks in the projects. As a prospective student, I primarily read books by Charlotte and Peter Fiell on design history, which focussed heavily on the creation of furniture such as chairs - I was also interested in that. That's why I was irritated at first, but in retrospect quite happy when we were told in the bachelor's programme at the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar: ‘We don't make chairs here anymore, there are enough. Among other things, we take care of the problems of marginalised groups that have no lobby’. I really enjoyed working on topics during my studies that don't necessarily have an immediate commercial application. These tasks are not always easy to solve, but I always tried to develop a practical design and offer a convincing product.
What are you working on right now?
Eric Geißler: I am currently working as an industrial designer at a design agency in Munich and mainly develop products for medium-sized companies.
What development would you like to initiate in the industry over the next few years?
Eric Geißler: Perhaps due to the idealism that I still have from my time at university: in my opinion, ‘design to cost’ and sustainability are not necessarily mutually exclusive. The ‘hidden gems’ among the design classics are those in which only as much material was used as was necessary for the intended purpose and which were also designed appropriately for their manufacturing process. Of course, the products also have to be marketable and therefore, to a certain extent, fashionable in line with the zeitgeist. Nevertheless, I would like to see a little less ‘opulence’ in the design.
