Rust Harvest: Experimental Materials Project by Yuma Kano

Rust Harvest by Kanagawa-based designer Yuma Kano is a fascinating experimental materials project that really caught my attention during our visit to Salone Satellite 2018.

Yuma says that the prevention of rust is an age-old problem in manufacturing. “Rust has brought down planes, slowed ships, disabled engines, ruined bridges, spread through reinforced concrete, jammed guns, broken washing machines, and reduced unnumbered bicycles to useless scrap”. Whilst rust is constantly being cast as the devil, a closer look at it reveals beautiful patterns and complex mixtures of colour.

Through trial and error, Yuma developed a technique that allowed him to transfer the rust from metal plates onto acrylic resin.

Metal plates are exposed to the elements – light, rain, earth and seawater – to create rust, which is collected, after which the same plates are subjected to more weathering. This creates another crop to harvest in a process similar to an agricultural cycle. “While we still use natural rust, we have taken into account manufacturing, distribution, and costs to create a complete system of production that has moved beyond the scope of design alone,” explains Yuma.

Unlike metal, the light penetrates rust trapped inside the acrylic resin, which creates a frozen moment in time from a process that has taken years to come to fruition. Because the resulting material can be used like ordinary acrylic resin, it holds limitless possibilities for various applications, including products, interiors and architecture.

Yuma has since created a limited edition furniture collection from Rust Harvest panels, which utilises acrylic resin, steel, copper and of course rust itself as it’s primary material.

“The way light refracts through the thickness of the resin gives rust a mysterious appearance, as though you are looking at the soil of a distant planet,” explains the young designer.

Adding parts of the metals the rust came from (iron for red, copper for blue), allows each user to compare the rust to its original source. The sheets of metal are left untreated, giving them a raw look, and after years have passed, they will eventually look just like the rust trapped within the acrylic panels. Magic.