Linen, exhibition spaces and dissolvables ......(I have that Friday feeling already )

Thursday 24th May 2018 

So yesterday was a really busy day, I went to Lisburn for the first time to the linen museum.

It was really interesting and we were looking at the space for the linen concrete exhibition.

We also go to have a look around the loom room where they are actually still making linen by hand........which is amazing by the way.

Plotting paper where they draw out all the designs.

Throw back to how linen would be traditionally made.It was really great to be in this space.

Then I got back to the university and started the experiments for the day.

First on the agenda was dissolvable elements or my spherification;

I started with the non- fertilised elements and added them to a concrete mix, they blended well and seemed to stay quite solid in the mix.

They remind me of frog spawn.

The next dissolvable element was the fertilised spheres. These seemed to be wetter than the non-fertilised elements.

 

The next stage was to look at a new material Vermiculite is a 100% natural material that can be used for void fill. It is made from aluminium-iron-magnesium-silicates and consists of thin, flat flakes. Also known as Micafil, it is sold in 100 litre (3.5 cubic ft) bags of lightweight chips and it is a great alternative to polystyrene chips.

This is a highly absorbent material, making it ideal for packaging containers of liquids or other items that may leak. It is also fireproof, so can be used to pack flammable and other hazardous goods.

This can be added to the concrete to make a lightweight concrete that can absorb moisture and retain nutrients.

It requires more water in the mix as the Vermiculite absorbs a lot of the water, I have considered the idea of pre-soaking the granules before adding it to the concrete this is something I will explore more next week.

Its creates a really beautiful terrazzo effect concrete.

This is an overview of all the mixes done this week all 36 of them next week, they will be cut in half to see how the structure is inside to help with the decision of pervious concrete mix (closed or open celled).