Zhenjing Lang

Zhenjing Lang grew up in Haining and lived in Hangzhou, China - a region full of natural landscapes, rivers, lakes, hills and mountains. Her origins are what helps to develop her own version of her ideal landscape and eventually became a symbol of her design style at China Academy of Art, in industrial (furniture) design. Meanwhile, during her BA studies she experienced working in vehicle company ICONA, an interior design firm and a technology company which helped her to define her interests within the design field. Studying at the Royal College of Art has opened up more possibilities for Lang in various fields. She welcomes all kinds of project opportunities and loves challenges. This has become her philosophy for expanding her own boundaries. Lang has explored herself as a multidisciplinary designer throughout the projects she has done - experimental, conceptual, open-source and in the medical field.

The Royal College of Art has provided Lang with the most meaningful trip of her life so far, both personally and in preparing for her future career.

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My work is mainly focused on New Chinese Style furniture design which was inspired and affected by the surroundings and the places where I've lived. The theme was mainly about the balance between nature, humanity and modern life. And the audiences I targeted were people aged from 30 years old and older who had experienced the huge switch of Chinese society from the 1990s to the present. This positioning helped me during my BA studies and my freelance experience to easily understand what my customer wants and constantly develop my own characteristics in furniture design.

My RCA experience has offered me an open view of the wider world, having friends from other countries and with completely different backgrounds. The RCA has been a platform to me, offering me more possibilities and giving me chances to get to know more interesting ideas and items. This was when I started jumping out of my comfort zone and started trying different things. I was a stubborn designer who only felt comfortable designing furniture, but now I feel fresh and new like a ‘baby’ who is curious about everything. This was a huge challenge, but it really helped me to ‘force myself to understand my projects in a deeper way and also to open up my mind and gain more knowledge meanwhile.

I might be based in China after graduation, but I am looking forward to opportunities to explore elsewhere in the world. Life is just get started!

Rebirth - Food packaging — Rebirth is a biomaterial made from agricultural waste sugarcane and rice straw in particular. The straw would otherwise be burned in large rural bonfires, decreasing air quality, contaminating groundwater tables and reducing soil fertility. China produces over 700million tonnes of straw waste in a single harvest season and only 3% is utilized as raw material. Rebirth would allow around 20% to be repurposed. Straw waste has been previously included in PP products but never extended to produce a 100% natural straw product.

Food packaging - rice straw — Street food gives a magnificent scene in Asian culture. However, most of the products used for street food packaging are either plastic bags, polystyrene boxes or other PP products. Rebirth provides a potential solution to this problem with an alternative made from waste but recyclable and biodegradable.

Rebirth - material demonstration — Rebirth can be easily made into sheet material, also can be processed by basic carpentry machines. Different sheets exhibit various properties. Thinner sheets have cardboard-like properties, whereas thicker sheets can be equivalent to MDF and wood. It can be mould-pressed, laser-cut, and dyed.

Rebirth - surface material and possible applications — Properties of the material: 1. It is lightweight; 2.Releases significantly fewer fumes, when subjected to heat, driven processes like laser cutting; 3.decomposes without leaving any contaminants; 4.you can use high temperature(150C) to remould the material; 5. Can be stained or dyed; 6. Absorbs oils and reverts to the original state when it dries; 7. Flexibility reduces for thicker sheets. Restrictions noted for 2mm and higher; 8. Recyclable and biodegradable

Rebirth - life circle — Rebirth gives a better business model and provides an advantaged alternative which is more environmental-friendly to plastic. This also makes the agricultural waste depends on extensive support for straw collection, transportation, storage, and utilization at a regional or provincial level.

Raw material and adhesives — Natural and environmental-friendly adhesives have been tested in order to find out the best solution for Rebirth. Agar, dextrin, resin, casein, rice and finally PLA was chosen regarding the complexity of making Rebirth on a larger scale.

China is the largest grain producer in the world. It produces over 700million tonnes of straw waste in a single harvest season. The straw waste is mostly used as fertilizer which isn't ideal as it can encourage crop pest infestation. It can also increase GHG emissions in the form of methane by 22-210% due to straw stimulation. Restriction standards being raised in rural areas have had a punitive impact on the local economy. There is a crucial need for agricultural waste to be repurposed as only 3% is used as a raw material.

Rebirth was developed to contribute towards a circular bio-economy and offer an economical and environmental solution. Rebirth would allow for 20% of the waste to be reutilized as a resource. The straw would otherwise be burned in large rural bonfires, decreasing air quality, contaminating groundwater tables, and reducing soil fertility. The straw waste can be utilized in situ. It would also allow for removal from the field within a short window between harvesting and planting a subsequent crop. It can be manufactured in the form of sheets in micro-factories in rural areas. Thinner sheets exhibit cardboard-like properties, whereas thicker sheets can be equivalent to MDF and wood. It can be mould-pressed, laser-cut, and dyed.

The needs and challenges of farmers are not well considered when developing the funding structure for such a scheme. Environmentally friendly alternatives produced from straw waste depends on extensive support for straw collection, transportation, storage, and utilization at a regional or provincial level, which is mostly non-existent. The development of infrastructure requires large investment and expertise. There is a high risk of being found guilty but open-field burning remains an inexpensive and readily available option for farmers. They would rather be fined or detained as they can not afford to miss the plantation or other options.

Medium: Rice straw, sugarcane, cotton cloth and jute.

Size: 150x150mm, 120x50mm, 50x50mm and etc (flexible sizes) / 3months

Cultivation Experiment — Control variates experiment to demonstrate the factors of growing spirulina compare to theoretical practice.

Homeware device for spirulina cultivation

Ideation based on functionality — Algae farm has 3 main functions: growing, collecting and draining sections. The ideation is based on its functionality and concerning how to prevent spirulina from external elements and how to achieve the automated eco-system. In the context so as to bridge the gap between urban and yore natural.

Technical details — Light, temperature, air supply, nutrition and mixing are the main factors of growing spirulina which also affects the appearance of the product.

The supply chain is getting worse due to growing population and damaged resources. If the supply chain doesn’t meet damage, we would face the Food Insecurity. This project is an algae hydroponic farm which is a homeware device, with an automated ecosystem, for individual or family use at home, so that we can produce food much closer to where it’s consumed. Targeting to vegans who want plant-based food, also for people who want to switch from pharmaceutical dietary supplements to natural how grown alternatives.

Medium: 3D print model. But in real PET and glass

Size: 275mm x 135mm x 350mm / 2 months

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Rebirth

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