If you think about salt at all, chances are its about the role it plays in your diet. I admit, I generally think more about consuming salt than building with it. However, even the humble table salt (sodium chloride) has taken a seat at the design table (quite literally in the case of the pink Himalayan salt chair by Gregory Beson). In chemistry, a salt is simply an ionic crystalline compound. While there are a variety of salts that will crystallize, most of these designers work with sodium chloride, due largely to its natural availability in salt marshes and bodies of salt water.
While some designers work with salt as a material, we chose to focus on designers using salt as a medium – utilizing the crystallization of salts as a production method. Crystallization is the process of forming a crystalline structure from a fluid or from materials dissolved in the fluid. By taking advantage of a naturally-occurring process to manufacture their designs, these designers by-pass the need for additional energy inputs. Evaporation and crystallization are the main manufacturing methods used in the production of the following objects.
Franklin St. Studio
The Post Luxury project by Franklin St. Studio is a material study using waste oyster shells and the crystallization of salt to create luxurious sculptures. Their process is unique in that the molds in this project are made of custom blown glass forms which are shattered to obtain the final object. By intentionally creating single-use molds rather than striving for a mass manufactured process, they propose this material as one of luxury. The molds are filled with oyster shell fragments and a mineral solute and then placed in a tank of hot water. As the water surrounding the form cools, the crystals begin to form, serving as a binder between the oyster shell fragments and creating a hard, ceramic-like material. The formation of crystals can be further controlled through the rate of cooling of the tank of water.
Post Luxury seeks to reimagine future systems of production that don’t erase the relationship between man and material. Through building locality and community into the process, we cultivate respect for our ecosystems and communities. Understanding materials as we hold them in our hands, we create an instant connection to the place that they came from and the people that create them, revealing a hidden and richer value through context.
~ Marni Bowman (of Franklin St. Studio)
Erez Nevi Pana
Erez Nevi Pana was one of the first designers to propose salt crystallization as a manufacturing method. A longtime vegan and animal rights activist, Erez initially saw salt as a potential alternative to using furniture glues, many of which contain animal collagen or petroleum-derived PVA. His initial investigations turned into a long-term research project which has seen him working mainly in and with the Dead Sea. In his Salts project, he created simple joinery for seating and then allowed salt crystals to form over the joints – strengthening them without the use of adhesives. He describes his practice as “based on investigating natural phenomena and environmental processes through material exploration.”
Atelier Luma
The Crystallization Plant is a project by Henna Burney and Karlijn Sibbel at Atelier Luma which focused on creating uses for the salt produced by the nearby Camargue salt marshes. Partnering with local salt farmers, they created salt panel prototypes to install as interior wall cladding for Frank Gehry’s tower for the Luma Foundation in Arles. Of all the projects, The Crystallization Plant is the most industrialized in the sense that they created a process to produce hundreds of salt panels, despite the idiosyncratic nature of crystallization. They say they are continuing the research and looking into new directions for the material, such as light diffusion or energy production.