Mutable Threads.Reconnecting Locality Through Bio-made cultural play
The speculation was developed physically through discarded avocado seeds, collected, dried, ground, and transformed into different cellulose-based biomaterials. Experiments ranged from a hard, stone-like composite to a moldable clay-like material and a mixture developed for 3D bio-printing. These materials became samples, objects, and architectural details from an imagined avocado-infused Finland, drawing particularly from the visual language of Helsinki 1900s Jugend and its representations of nature, mythology, work, and abundance.
The absurdity becomes a way of looking back at reality. Food, materials, biodiversity, stories, and architecture are everyday cultural threads that can easily become invisible through familiarity. Mutable Threads asks whether playing with these threads, and imagining them differently, might make us more aware of what already shapes our relationship with a place.
Design: Marcelo Guajardo Dávila
Collaboration: ChemArts, Aalto University
Status: Composted, ongoing
Materials: Avocado seed waste, CMC, methyl cellulose, microfibrillated cellulose, vegetable glycerol
Methods: Biomaterial development, material testing, hand molding, 3D bio-printing, digital fabrication, speculative storytelling
Produced in: Espoo, Finland
Year: 2025
Photography: Marcelo Guajardo
Full booklet here
To understand differently, play differently.