Doclisboa Trophy: Shells-based Biomaterial
Lisbon, Portugal. 06.08.2022The biomaterial based on sea shells arises in response to the design commission for the new trophy of Doclisboa - International Film Festival, with the desire for a new visual identity of sustainable soul to celebrate the festival’s 20th anniversary in 2022.
The idea of the trophy seeks its essence in the natural elements of the coastal area where Lisbon is located: between the river and the sea. The objective of the research was to discover what could be the local natural materials and how they could be transformed to create a harmonious object containing the physical characteristics of Lisbon’s context.
Hundreds of kilos of shellfish arrive daily from the coast for urban consumption: a single shellfish vendor can generate over 30 kg of shell waste per week. By incorporating the sustainable logic of reusing discarded material and mixing it with biodegradable binders, a liquid solution was created that solidifies slowly as it cools.
The different colours of the shells create different colours depending on the mixture and degree of shell crushing. For the awards, various types of cockles and mussels were selected, resulting respectively in white, cream, and a blue-grey tone. The choice of contrasting colours for the titles of the various awards was inspired by the natural colours of the shells: orange brick on white, blue on cream, and white on grey-blue.
The shape is a three-dimensional exploration of the festival logo ‘D’, developed through sketches and hand-sculpted in a plaster block. Subsequently digitized in 3D to print 3D moulds to be filled with the solution.
“The trophy plays with a juxtaposition of weights in a sinuous marine line, yet concrete. Sculpted half in stone, half in sea.”
Editions: 2022, 2023
Developed with biolab and fablab; thanks to Sal Marisco.
