What if

Bio-metabolic interfaces were not just eco-equipment, but desirable artefacts embedded in everyday life?

In Moray, Scotland’s premier whisky-producing region, the continuous evaporation of ethanol from distilleries, the “Angel’s Share”, drives the uncontrolled growth of whisky fungus (Baudoinia compniacensis). This phenomenon reveals a limitation of conventional circular economy models: while they focus on closing industrial material loops, they often overlook the wider ecological impacts of industry, creating tensions between distilleries, local environments, and communities.

Rather than treating whisky fungus as a nuisance, this project reframes it as a design opportunity. Positioned between industrial and social design, it uses a site-specific artefact to connect industrial processes with ecological awareness, making otherwise invisible flows of wind, ethanol, and time physically perceptible.

The outcome, Aero Foliage, utilises a parametrically textured Kappa-carrageenan substrate designed as a series of contemporary tartans. By translating the unique geographical and natural elements of different towns across Moray into physical topographies, the artefact encourages localised fungal colonisation. As it gradually blackens in response to local microclimates, the artefact becomes a living record of whisky production. Moving beyond the product level of the circular economy, it extends circular thinking to the socio-ecological level, transforming industrial emissions into catalysts for ecological regeneration, cultural meaning, and new forms of coexistence within patchy landscapes.

Supervisor: Dr Gruffudd Hill
Biolab Technician: Muireann Nic an Bheatha
Workshop Technician: Brodie Birss

What if

The future souvenir of the Highlands is not just a physical object to take away, but a tangible contribution left behind?

Set on the Isle of Skye, one of the Scottish Highlands’ most heavily visited and ecologically vulnerable destinations, this project challenges the extractive nature of tourism by redefining what a souvenir can be. Guided by Doughnut Economics, it shifts visitors from passive consumers to active participants in local restoration.

Instead of paying to own a souvenir, visitors earn one through acts of care, such as collecting local waste. These recovered materials are transformed into a modular block puzzle that visitors can assemble and take home, turning environmental contribution into a tangible memory of place.

Disruption as Intervention, Reconstruction as Restoration

The act of deconstruction and reconstruction reflects the project’s core philosophy: “Disruption as Intervention; Reconstruction as Restoration.” Each block draws its geometry from Skye’s volcanic rock formations, while its colours are derived from the Highland landscape.

Engraved serial numbers transform each souvenir into a speculative ecological data node. They connect individual objects to potential future hotspots, recording visitors’ journeys and collectively mapping their restorative impact on the landscape.

Supervisor: Dr Gruffudd Hill