We continued developing the Flex.Node as a building kit for play. We redesigned the connection system to make assembly faster and easier and developed different node modules that can be combined in many ways.
At the Angewandte Festival, we transformed part of the exhibition into an open building site. Visitors could build with the system themselves and become part of the research 🙂
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After months of collecting detergent bottles, experimenting with connectors, heat-welding plastic nodes, printing prototypes, and testing assemblies, we built our first Flex.Node geodesic dome.
At this year’s Angewandte Festival, we presented the project to the public for the first time. Over four days, visitors could not only walk inside the dome but also explore the development process behind it.
We constructed a quarter dome using detergent bottle Flex Nodes and PVC pipe connections. The prototype consisted of 20 nodes (60 bottles), 25 PVC pipes, and 50 3D-printed ABS connectors.
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Following the insights from our tension tests, we shifted our focus towards redesigning the bottle cap as a connection element. The aim is to develop a 3D-printable cap that allows pipes to be inserted and fixed, enabling the construction of stable systems.
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Before proceeding with the construction of a detergent flex-node system, we conducted a series of physical experiments to evaluate which parameters perform best under tensile forces. The goal was to identify the most effective combination of cone geometry and pipe cut configuration.
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In this study, we explore how to create a simple connection system between the detergent-bottle nodes and PVC pipes. The aim is to develop a connector system that:
Mid of August, we had the chance to visit Mack. The company is located in Altenmarkt, Austria, just a 30-minute drive from Vienna. Mack specializes in the production of technical plastic components using injection molding and extrusion blow molding, supported by their own in-house mold making.
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In this part of our ongoing exploration into how detergent bottles can become building blocks, we return to the idea of designing the shape of the bottle. Not by changing the form in complex ways, but by applying what we’ve learned from space-filling geometry.
Instead of completely transforming the bottle, we focused on minimal modifications, while making it suitable for a second life as a modular element.
Learning from the WOBO bottle – (you can read more in our previous blog post) – we were fascinated by how the design embedded reuse directly into the form of the packaging.
We’ve been exploring the idea of giving packaging not just a second life through recycling, but a second function through design. This led us to experiment with how detergent bottles could be transformed into interlocking, modular components, inspired by Japanese joinery, 3D puzzle logic.
We’re returning to the detergent bottle — and to the techniques we explored earlier with pressed plastic panels in the Pearse structure. But this time, the goal is to preserve more of the bottle’s original shape while still transforming it into a structural element.
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