February - March 2023 — Visual Arts

Swiss designer and material researcher Fabio Hendry is interested in disruptive approaches to industrial manufacturing. He will be an artist in residence at plan-b, a makerspace by hFactor, in Lagos from 4 February to 4 March 2023.

Fabio’s company and label Hot Wire Extensions (HWE) is premised on a recycling-conscious process that uses the waste nylon powder from SLS 3D printing. Exploration, collaboration and sustainability are central to HWE and to his personal design philosophy. “My work is characterised by a dedication to the mindful exploration of material landscapes, and the belief that design practices and ecological theories can be merged to allow us to critically consider our material landscapes,” he explains.

During his residency in Lagos, Fabio will apply this approach to target the problematic waste streams of PET plastic. At once a cross-community design collaboration and experimentation with new possibilities in recycling plastic waste, Fabio aims to create a new set of tools and processes using his research and practice with the potential to develop a variety of useful objects from plastic waste that the community can then use and harness.

Working in close collaboration with the Ma-tt-er School at plan-b, Fabio will investigate the needs of the local community and how local problems might be solved in a more holistic and inclusive approach. “Co-creation always brings new ideas: you are brought into communities you don’t normally work with, which gives a chance to experience new perspectives,” he explains. “Being able to share the process and advance it with the input of a local community with their ideas and making skills would not only be very valuable, but also hugely constructive and exciting. By introducing HWE to the local community, the idea is very much to empower people to create something of value with a waste material and discover new potentials for waste and overlooked materials.”

BIOGRAPHY

Fabio Hendry is a Swiss designer and material researcher whose work seeks to explore new potentials for overlooked matter from architectural systems to materials. Fabio is interested in exploring disruptive approaches to industrial manufacturing, revealing alternative systems of production. It is his belief that design practices and ecological theories can be merged to allow us to critically consider our material landscape. Fabio is interested in the analysis of innovative and future industries and takes inspiration from nature’s ability to adapt and reconstruct. Within his company and label Hot Wire Extensions, exploration, collaboration and sustainability are central to Fabio’s design philosophy. His innovative products and hands-on experiments explore the boundaries between crafts and industry, ranging from furniture to sculptural objects and spatial installations. Fabio has collaborated and been commissioned by private and public sectors, ranging from design galleries, public institutions, retail and private clients. He has received and been nominated for awards both nationally and internationally such as the alumni prize by the University of the Arts Zurich, IMM Pure Talents, Jerwood Makers Award UK, Swiss Design Award, Ikea Foundation, Design Preis Schweiz, The Architecture Digest Design Award and the Sustain award at the Royal College of Art.