Dezeen Magazine

The Fish Feast by Erik de Laurens

The Fish Feast by Erik de Laurens

Show RCA 2011: Royal College of Art graduate Erik de Laurens has made a pair of swimming goggles, spectacles and beakers out of fish scales.

The Fish Feast by Erik de Laurens

De Laurens invented a plastic material made only from fish scales, treated under heat and pressure with no extra binding agents.

The Fish Feast by Erik de Laurens

Coloured objects can be made by dying the scales first.

The Fish Feast by Erik de Laurens

He presented the goggles alongside beakers, spectacle frames and a table inlaid with slices of the material, plus a water dispenser made of fish leather.

The Fish Feast by Erik de Laurens

Called The Fish Feast, the project was inspired by the huge number of scales that the fishing industry discards.

The Fish Feast by Erik de Laurens

See more work by this year's Royal College graduates here.

Here's some more information from Erik de Laurens:


The fish feast

The fish feast started when I was asked to design objects for the canteen of a primary school of Macassar, a township of Cape Town.

The Fish Feast by Erik de Laurens

When I was a kid the sea was for me a very important source of joy and daydream which surely led me to design.

The Fish Feast by Erik de Laurens

I decided to create a monthly event in which the pupils of one class would be brought to a fishing day on the nearby beach.

The Fish Feast by Erik de Laurens

Then they would go back to school with the fish they have caught and prepare the traditional cape kedgeree.

The Fish Feast by Erik de Laurens

To accompany this feast he designed a range of object related to fish.

The Fish Feast by Erik de Laurens

A water dispenser made with fish leather. Tumblers realised with the fish scales and a table cloth which has a pattern that explain how to build your own boat.

The Fish Feast by Erik de Laurens

In continuation of ‘the fish feast’ I created a surprising material made of 100% fish scales (no added compound).

The Fish Feast by Erik de Laurens

The fishing industry generates several circumstances where many tonsof fish scales are leftover.

The Fish Feast by Erik de Laurens

Using this waste as resources for the production of fish-scale-plastic, I tried to highlight the potentiality of these industrial flaw.

The Fish Feast by Erik de Laurens

In order to test the material I have designed 3 pairs of goggles and glasses inspired by swimming goggles and a table with an inlay of a fish. I have also extended the range of colours in the tumbler previously designed.

The Fish Feast by Erik de Laurens

I am currently looking for funding to push the development of this material further.