- “ Do we need a new kind of Froebel gifts to educate towards new shape imaginaries fitting the bio fabrication age?”

A preliminary stage in a project project linking ultimately art craft - technology design and science to foster new shape imaginaries and educate the “citizen prosumer” to move beyond industrial age shape imaginaries.

Based in a deep understanding and a concern of the material revolution necessary to become truly regenerative in all our human endeavours and designs - Natural Patterns wants to forge new shape imaginaries or be instrumental in forging new shape grammars which hopefully will prepare and educate the  future generation of citizen prosumers for a visual reality which moves away from the expectations of shiny static - glossy and smoothly engineered objects.

Natural Patterns of growth therefore is an attempt to prepare us collectively for products, objects and designs,  that are infinitely more variable, contextualized, hyperlocal,  and non standardized. - Made from gradient - organic structures - and materials - that accommodate non idealized shapes ( moving away from platonic solids and euclidean geometry, away from industrial dyes and smooth even surfaces , towards a full spectrum of active living bacterial or structural colours and composite materials.

Building on the conceptual idea and influence of the “Froebel Gifts” in 20th century aesthetics, education displayed in the then new invention of the “Kindergarten” by educator Frieidirch Froebel.   Cf. Norman Brosterman in his book “Inventing Kindergarden” , where he explains that “the design ideas of kindergarten may have  prefigured modern conceptions of the aesthetic power of geometric abstraction. We ask the question - “ Do we need a new kind of Froebel gifts to educate towards new shape imaginaries fitting the bio fabrication age?”

Kai Costantini 

She started her plastic artwork at the age of 10 when she became highly proficient in the art of Origami paperfolding -and her clay art work and sculpting age 17. 

After school graduation Kai moved to the UK, to do a degree in Combined Studies of Arts at Durham University. Upon completion she moved back to Paris, France where she studied at the Centre for European Studies, Paris 8.  In 1996 Kai started taking classes with sculptor Frederic Marquis - from Beaux Art de Paris. After moving to Canada Kai was introduced to Biomimicry s in 2012 and she became a biomimic practitioner since then and is currently also the Circular Economy Club Rep for Calgary, Alberta.

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