MAKRO: Speculative Fashioning

The MAKRO lifejacket uses a novel cellulose foam material to fashion a lifejacket, providing buoyancy to its wearer in precarious times.

There is a long history of cellulose-rich materials that have been fashioned to provide floatation, examples of these include log floats and life vests made from kapok fibre and cork.

Fashioning the MAKRO lifejacket required a suite of bio-based plastics to be developed to coat the cellulose foam, so that this lifejacket would be water-resistant and vibrant in the water.

The foam was sealed using a starch bioplastic. A vibrant yellow coating was applied made from an algae extract and marigold, and a water-resistant sealant was developed from zein, a protein found in corn.

Speculative Fashioning is a methodology developed through this research; a way of transforming materials and designing objects for possible futures.

    • UTS Material Ecologies Design Lab

  • 1. MAKRO Lifejacket Location #1, (2024). Nahum McLean. Photo: Jessica Maurer.

    2. Carrageenan Colour Coating tests, (2023). Carrageenan coatings were coloured with rhubarb, marigold and fustic extracts. Photo: Nahum McLean.

    3. Henry Freeman, Whitby lifeboatman, wearing a cork lifejacket (1880). Photo: Frank Meadow Sutcliffe. Image courtesy Whitby Museum, England.

    4. Fishermen using swimming floats of wood, Kaveri River. Floats: A Study in Primitive Water-Transport (Hornell, 1942). Photo: James Hornell.

    5. Japanese army air force life vest, [ca 1943]. Dark brown cotton canvas kapok life vest; patch pocket right front; pouch pocket on rear with red cloth position marker; canvas ties. Photo Emily M. Smithberger. Ⓒ Smithsonian Museum.

    6. Foam Submersion Testing, (2023). Various permutations and formulations of the coating system were tested for water absorption. Note. These foams were weighed, then submerged for 2 hours and then weighed again to evaluate how much water was absorbed into the foams and coating. Tests were submerged in both salt water and tap water. Photo: Nahum McLean.

    7. Zein Coating Test, (2023). An 80gsm pieces of paper had a triple coating of the zein solution. This image shows the water beading and sitting on top of the paper. After the coating was applied the paper could be folded and creased without the zein layer cracking. Photo: Nahum McLean.

    8. MAKRO Lifejacket Location #2, (2024). Nahum McLean. Photo: Jessica Maurer.

    9. MAKRO Lifejacket detail, (2024). Nahum McLean. Photo: Jessica Maurer.

    10. Coating the Lifejacket with carrageenan, (2023). Photo: Nahum McLean.

    11. MAKRO Lifejacket Location #3, (2024). Nahum McLean. Photo: Jessica Maurer.

    12. MAKRO Lifejacket Studio #1, (2024). Nahum McLean. Photo: Jessica Maurer.

    13. MAKRO Lifejacket Studio #2, (2024). Nahum McLean. Photo: Jessica Maurer.

    14. MAKRO Lifejacket Studio #3, (2024). Nahum McLean. Photo: Jessica Maurer.

    15. MAKRO Lifejacket Floating, (2024). Nahum McLean. Photo: Jessica Maurer.