Justina Alexandroff
justinaalexandroff@gmail.com
Design, Materials & Ecology
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Faux Flora
My MA Material Futures project Faux Flora, featured in Dezeen, addresses how air pollutants disrupt floral odours, disorienting pollinators in urban environments and threatening the ecosystems that depend on them. The project proposes an artificial flower system that acts as a visual and olfactory beacon, guiding insects toward flower-rich areas through polluted air. Working with NICE Labs, I drew on Aditi Mishra’s PhD research that pollinators rely on three cues: scent, reflective surfaces, and radial symmetry, transforming inert materials into ecologically functional objects. Combining digital modelling, fabrication, and biomimicry, Faux Flora explores new relationships between species, technology, and cities.
Nano-cellulose structural colour bio-mimics the surface of petals without using harmful pigments of dyes.
The design is inspired by the fractal geometry of pollen. 3D renders of imaged pollen grains.
The models have been printed using SLA resin printing which has an inherent fluorescence that insects can detect. An essential oil mix designed using statistical modelling, formulated to attract insects and remain stable in polluted air has been added to the resin before printing.
