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Alessia Romani

Materials & Design Engineering Research
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Re:Fish International Workshop



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RE:Fish International Workshop

Craft Material Experimentation

Research workshop collaboration


  • 📅 · Period:
    Feb 2023 – May 2023 (Workshop: Apr-May 2023)
  • 💰 · Collaboration:
    National Taiwan Craft Research and Development Institute (Taiwan), National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University (Taiwan), National Cheng Kung University (Taiwan), Keio University (Japan), University of Tokyo (Japan), L'École Nationale Supérieure de Création Industrielle – ENSCI Les Ateliers (France), Politecnico di Milano (Italy)

  • 🔬 · Programme:
    International research workshop on craft material innovation, coordinated by Yi Shiang Lin (NTCRI, Taiwan).

  • 🏛 · Host institution and organizator:
    National Taiwan Craft Research and Development Institute (NTCRI), Nantou, Taiwan

  • 🤝 · Partners:
    7 academic/research institutions, 4 countries

  • ⭐ · My Role:
    Invited expert, PhD researcher

  • 🏫 · My Affiliation:
    PhD candidate, Design Department, Politecnico di Milano (Italy)

  • 🏷️ · Keywords:
    Circular design, Material Driven Design (MDD), Direct Ink Writing (DIW), hybrid craft, agro-food and fishery waste, bamboo, digital fabrication, computational and parametric design, CMF design, upcycling, traditional craft techniques.


Overview

RE:FISH was an international workshop organized by the National Taiwan Craft Research and Development Institute (NTCRI), part of NTCRI's ongoing programme exploring new materials for craft applications through waste, ceramic, and circular practices. The 2023 edition focused on discarded milkfish scales, a by-product of the aquaculture industry along Taiwan's southwestern coast, as a demonstration material for new craft and design applications. Based on NTCRI's earlier fish scale initiatives, RE:FISH expanded the programme into an international research collaboration, bringing together academic teams from Italy, Japan, France, and Taiwan to explore the material, cultural, and technological potential of local fishery waste through parallel workshops and cross-disciplinary dialogue.

Project partners

National Taiwan Craft Research and Development Institute - NTCRI (TW) 🇹🇼
Keio University (JP) 🇯🇵
University of Tokyo (JP) 🇯🇵
Politecnico di Milano (IT) 🇮🇹
ENSCI – Les Ateliers (FR) 🇫🇷


Team members

+Lab Team: Alessia Romani, Jia Chen, Hinako Makita, Tomomi Imamura, Tzu-Hsu Lin

Other members, MaDe/Trans Team: Valentina Rognoli, Sofia Soledad Duarte Poblete

Organizers at NCTRI: Lin Yi-Shiang, Li Jian-You, Chen Guan Cheng

💡

My contribution:

  • Material exploration: Experimentation and expressive-sensorial exploration of circular materials containing agro-food and local fishery waste (Taiwan), using Material Driven Design (MDD) approaches.
  • Additive Manufacturing: Experimentation with the new materials through extrusion-based 3D printing (Direct Ink Writing), exploring expressive-sensorial qualities and formal possibilities through materials design approaches.
  • Hybrid craft approach: Development and prototyping of concepts and applications combining the new processes and materials with traditional Taiwanese craft materials (bamboo) and digital fabrication techniques (laser cutting, nonplanar slicing), following hybrid craft logics. Study of CMF design approaches connecting materials, digital technologies, and traditional craft techniques related to the project, such as lacquering, for design–craft hybridization.
  • Design:  Development and prototyping of concepts and applications combining circular design and upcycling with computational and parametric design techniques (Rhinoceros Grasshopper), within a hybrid craft framework, focusing on furniture and outdoor installations for/with nature (ProductForNature: Trellis and Bird Hole).
  • Dissemination: Publications and presentation of research activities at the workshop, with international academic partners and Taiwanese institutions.
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Research and dissemination output connected to my work

  • 📚 Publications: 1 Conference Paper.

  • 🎤 Presentations: Work presented at academic conferences, including Cumulus Monterrey 2024 (Online, 2024)
  • 📢 Dissemination & outreach: Work presented at community outreach events and exhibited at international design fairs, including Evolving Life exhibition at Maison&Objet; featured in Taiwanese national news press and design blogs.

Selected dissemination and media outreach

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Evolving Life exhibition - "Product for nature: Trellis"


Exhibition with RE:Fish International workshop selected results at Maison & Objets 2023, Paris, France (Sep 9-11, 2023)

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RE:FISH Craftsmanship and Materials International Workshop: The Unique Craft of Discarded Fish Scales

Liberty Times LTN (May 2023) - Taiwanese newspress
[YouTube video]

2023 Taiwan Crafts & Design－Evolving Life｜ MAISON & OBJET

Video of the exhibition "Evolving Life", showcasing Product for Nature: Trellis (from the team work conducted at the RE:Fish International workshop)



- NTCRI's CAMEL lab reinvigorates Taiwanese craft with local design explorations Design Boom, Nov 2023.



Publications from the project

Conference papers