Women Sensibility Applied to New Materials and Technologies Processes / 2. Interview to Nicole Hone

Abstract

Nicole Hone is a young designer who completed her master's degree in Design Innovation with professor Ross Stevens as the supervisor, at Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand, in 2018. Her master thesis is focused on the design of or- ganic performance and the choreographed movement with emerging technologies. Her project Hydrophytes shows the feminine perspective on digital fabrication for designing alive physical objects inspired by research into the biology and synthetic biology to imagine solutions to the climate change problems of the ocean and marine species. Her futuristic creatures are made of multi-material 3D/4D printing and create immersive physical-based experiences through the video recording of their movements. The futuristic function of Hydrophytes encourages thought about the health of our future climate and the role of design in connecting man and nature. During the early stages of his project, experimenting with multi-materials 3D printing, Nicole found that the materials perform smoother and more organically in water as fragile parts are better supported. Having known that there were plans to redesign the National Aquarium of New Zealand, Nicole proposed to have a future-focused exhibition with moving aquatic creatures models that visitors could interact with. This idea, combined with her personal be fascinated with nature, lead to the concept of the futuristic aquatic plants, that include arrow pods, feather nurses, nomadic cleaners, haven flowers. Nicole chose to use PolyJet technology as it is excellent for printing small objects with fragile parts and complex organic forms with internal structures. We interviewed Nicole with questions focusing on her project and women's sensibilities in design and technology.