Agar BioPlastic Recipe + Reflections

FutureCraft Materials Library | Material Exploration 001

"What happens when everyone starts with the same agar bio-plastic recipe—but make different design decisions? How does hands-on interaction with materials guide our thinking and reflective practice?"

Overview

This material exploration introduced students to agar bioplastic, a renewable material made from earth-derived ingredients. Rather than asking students to develop their own recipes, the class worked from a shared base formulation. This allowed everyone to investigate how design decisions—not recipe variations—influence a material's appearance, behavior, and potential applications.

Using a shared recipe encouraged students to focus on how fabrication choices shape material outcomes. By holding the base formulation constant, students could more clearly observe the effects of changing thickness, color, texture, and embedded materials while building a deeper understanding of how materials behave.

Rather than optimizing for a "perfect" material, students treated the recipe as a platform for exploration, using prototyping as a way to better understand material possibilities and reflect on the role designers play in creating more sustainable futures.

Classroom Recipe

To encourage comparison across experiments, all students worked from the same double-batch agar bioplastic recipe. Rather than changing the chemistry of the material itself, students explored how different design decisions influenced the final outcome through variations in thickness, color, texture, and embedded materials.

Ingredient	Amount
Water	1000 mL (4 cups)
Agar Agar Powder	20 g (2 tbsp)
Glycerin	60 mL (¼ cup)

Optional (not used in our classroom)

• 4 drops essential oil (sometimes added to help reduce mold growth during extended air drying)

Our class intentionally omitted the essential oil because samples were transferred to a dehydrator shortly after casting. The original recipe includes it as an optional additive for projects that rely on longer periods of air drying.

Material Explorations

While everyone began with the same base recipe, each student created a unique material through different fabrication decisions.

Students experimented with:

Thickness

• Thin translucent sheets

• Medium pours

• Thick cast samples

Color

• Food coloring

• Natural pigments

• Layering multiple colors

Embedded Materials & Texture

• Coffee grounds

• Eggshell powder

• Dried flowers

• Flower seeds

• Herbs and spices

• Dehydrated fruit waste

• Plant fibers

• Other natural materials

Students also explored different ways of incorporating these materials, either mixing them directly into the bioplastic or arranging them within molds before pouring. These decisions influenced the appearance, translucency, texture, flexibility, and overall character of each sample.

Design Reflections

Unlike many prototyping activities that focus on refining products for users, this exploration emphasized prototyping as a way of understanding materials.

Students reflected on questions including:

• How does changing thickness influence flexibility and translucency?

• How do embedded materials change the appearance and feel of the final sample?

• What makes a material biodegradable or compostable?

• How might designers think about an object's entire lifecycle—from sourcing to disposal?

• What opportunities and limitations do biomaterials present compared to conventional plastics?

• How can materials themselves become part of imagining more sustainable futures?

Rather than seeking a single "correct" outcome, students used making to develop material literacy—building a deeper understanding of where materials come from, how they behave, how they change over time, and how design decisions influence environmental impact.

What Did Students Think About?

One goal of the FutureCraft Materials Log is not simply to document recipes or processes, but to capture how working directly with materials shapes design thinking. While students were asked to 'rate the success' of their process and outcome, they decided on the metrics for success - this was intended to support reflecion on what it means to them for a material prototype to be successful - to whom? for whom? for what aims?...

Additionally, the final reflection prompt asked:

"What did this experiment in material prototyping make you think about or question?"

Across the class, several common themes emerged.

Reimagining "Plastics"

The most common reflection centered on whether biomaterials could realistically replace conventional plastics.

Students questioned whether materials like agar bioplastic could be used for:

• packaging

• everyday products

• decorative objects

• educational materials

• alternatives to petroleum-based plastics

Rather than viewing the material as simply a classroom exercise, many immediately began imagining real-world applications.

Sustainability Through Material Choices

Students also connected the activity to broader questions surrounding sustainability.

Rather than discussing sustainability as an abstract concept, they reflected on:

• biodegradable materials

• renewable resources

• reducing waste

• compostability

• replacing conventional plastics

• environmental impact

Several students specifically questioned whether biomaterials could reduce plastic waste while still functioning as useful design materials.

Curiosity About Materials

Many students became curious about what else might be possible.

They wondered:

• What other natural ingredients could be used?

• How would different embedded materials affect performance?

• Could harder or softer materials be incorporated?

• How customizable could these recipes become?

Rather than ending with conclusions, many students finished with new questions that extended beyond the activity itself.

Materials as Design Decisions

Several reflections suggested a shift in how students thought about design.

Instead of viewing materials as something selected near the end of a design process, students began recognizing that material choices influence sustainability, aesthetics, user experience, manufacturing, and environmental impact from the very beginning.

This shift—from thinking about objects to thinking about materials—is one of the central goals of the FutureCraft project.

Material Observations

One of the most interesting characteristics of agar bioplastics is that they continue to change after fabrication.

Over time, visitors may observe:

• Increased translucency

• Shrinkage

• Curling

• Changes in flexibility

• Surface cracking

• Variations caused by embedded natural materials

• Continued drying and stabilization

Because of this, the FutureCraft Materials Library functions as a living archive. Rather than preserving materials in a fixed state, the library documents how experimental materials continue to evolve long after they have been fabricated.

FutureCraft Card Connections

This exploration connects with several FutureCraft Card themes, including:

• Bio-Material Practices

• Circular Systems

• Regenerative Thinking

• Compostability & Biodegradability

• Material Lifecycles

• Critical Making

• Future Material Imaginaries

Together, these themes encourage designers to think beyond the immediate function of a material and instead consider its broader ecological, cultural, and social relationships.

Classroom Context

This exploration was conducted as part of GD 105 – Prototyping, an undergraduate studio course in the Design program at Chapman University.

Participants

• Two studio sections of a studio class (3 hrs, 2x a week)

• 28 undergraduate design students

  • Section 1: 12 students

  • Section 2: 16 students

Classroom Setup

Students worked in small groups across four material-making stations, allowing each group to participate in preparing, pouring, and experimenting with the shared agar bioplastic recipe.

Using a common base recipe streamlined preparation while encouraging students to focus on fabrication decisions rather than recipe variation.

Facilities & Equipment

The workshop took place in a multipurpose studio commonly used for sculpture and fabrication. The space included:

• Large worktables suitable for messy making

• Access to a utility sink

• Good ventilation

• Four induction cooktops

• Saucepans

• Silicone spatulas and whisks

• Measuring cups and spoons

• Silicone mats and molds

• Mixing containers

• Food dehydrators

The workshop environment proved particularly valuable, as biomaterial recipes can be messy and often produce noticeable odors while heating. Although agar is a food-grade ingredient, students frequently commented on its distinctive smell during cooking.

Timing & Workflow

GD 105 is a studio course that meets twice each week for three-hour sessions, allowing time for extended hands-on making activities.

During this workshop, students completed both the agar bioplastic and biofoam recipes within the same class session, as the two materials share many of the same tools, equipment, and preparation steps. Grouping these recipes together reduced setup time while allowing students to compare two distinct biomaterial systems.

One logistical consideration is cleanup between recipes. Pots, utensils, whisks, and mixing equipment should be thoroughly washed before preparing the second material. Access to a large sink—or even an outdoor hose in community workshop settings—can significantly improve workflow.

Following fabrication, the agar bioplastic samples were transferred to food dehydrators and dried for approximately 8 hours at 100°F (38°C). Accelerating the curing process ensured the samples were ready for handling, discussion, documentation, and archiving by the next class meeting while also reducing the likelihood of mold growth during initial drying.

Teaching Notes

For educators considering this activity:

• Preparing one large shared batch allows participants to focus on experimentation rather than measuring ingredients.

• Encourage participants to prepare pigments and embedded materials before the biomaterial reaches the pouring stage, as agar begins setting relatively quickly once removed from heat.

• Drying time will vary depending on sample thickness and embedded materials.

• A dehydrator dramatically shortens turnaround time between fabrication and reflection, making biomaterial explorations easier to integrate into studio courses or workshops.

• While a makerspace or fabrication studio is ideal, the activity can be adapted for classrooms, libraries, museums, and community workshops with access to basic cooking equipment, ventilation, and a nearby sink.

Continue Exploring

This page represents one material exploration within the growing FutureCraft Materials Library.

As new materials—including recycled plastics, recycled paper, biofoams, natural composites, and other experimental recipes—are added, the library will continue to document evolving material investigations, classroom experiences, and reflections on sustainable material futures.

The FutureCraft Materials Library is intended as a living resource for educators, students, designers, and researchers interested in exploring how hands-on material experimentation can foster material literacy, critical making, sustainability, and futures thinking.