There's Something About Maggy

Last week we presented our initial concepts for our second project: Material World.

Our material selection was Magnesium. At first we were like 'o no...' because it sounded like such an unfamiliar material to us. But after some decent research into it, we realized how important it is to us, and how unique it is as an earth metal:

- It's the 3rd most commonly used metal after steel and aluminium.
- Has high strength-to-weight ratio (lighter than most metals without losing strength)
- Low melting point; ignites in contact with air / water
- Corrosive in nature
- High viscosity (good surface features)

Just a few of these characteristics is enough to convince engineers of its utility; it has been applied mostly in automotive and aerospace industries where lightweight contributes a great deal to energy efficiency.

Anyhow, my proposed approach to magnesium is to bring it back into the domestic environment where common users can really start to acknowledge of its existance and significance in our everyday lives - to establish an intimate relationship on a physical and emotional level. Here are my 4 concepts (p.s. I don't know how the image converted to blue from orange after I uploaded them) :

DESIGN RATIONALE: utilizing Mg propoerties, a coffee chair is made out of sheet metal produced by the Twin-Roll process patented by the CSIRO (only feasible with the versatility of Mg; up to 3mm thin). The form takes the curvature of a saltwater fish (where plentiful of Mg is found) to reconnect it back to its history.

CLIENT RESPONSE: How is the sheet metal going to be bent after it's rolled? How can properties of Mg be taken further?

RATIONALE: Take the automotive form and bring it back into the home. Can be mounted onto wall so the function of the wheel still exists. First attempt for Mg to be manufactured using Fused Deposition Modelling (which is suitable for eutectic metals i.e. easily melted).

CLIENT RESPONSE: the form looks moulded / could be more exquisite in detail so that it appears to be ONLY for Mg and ONLY for FDM prototyping. But even beautifully detailed, will it still be able to hold the weight of 8+ wine bottles?

RATIONALE (really is supposed to be orange colour): Taking the mickey out of the fact that Mg can be found in fruits and vegetables, I came up with a thixomoulded rocking chair that's portable and can also function as a storage. The seating area is in fact knitted out of elastic material which can ergonomically accommodate to the seater's physique.

CLIENT RESPONSE: Interesting connotation; but perhaps the Mg properties can be driven further to really show its uniqueness. Perhaps a porous casing?

RATIONALE: Once again, to play on the fact that Mg can be found in (yes) chicken eggs AND the fact that Mg Oxide is used to coat heating elements. An organic form is conceptualized in full Mg casing (coated in silicone for cold insulation) and allows less user fatigue when pouring.

CLIENT RESPONSE: Why Mg? It can also be in other materials ... in other words this concept doesn't utilize Mg properties to a full extent.

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In conclusion, I think I have decided to develop further with the chairs and really look into the manufacturing processes that maximize magnesium's performance characteristics. Off to do some reallll thinking now...