SCOBY TEA BAGS
by Sabrina Tian
Sabrina Tian
Sabrina is a designer and researcher who believes in the power of design to make an impact, and cares about how technology can shape human behavior and experiences. She's particularly interested in designing for culture, whether it be the cultivation of microorganisms, the social behavior and norms found in human societies, or the system of social relations, material values, and interactions within an environment. She recently graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a double major in Design and Cognitive Science (concentration in Computation & Cognition) and am currently pursuing a joint MA/MSc Global Innovation Design at the Royal College of Art and Imperial College London.
Contact info
Email: sabtian [at] sas [dot] upenn [dot] edu
@sabrina.tiann (Instagram - personal), @bysabrinatian (Instagram - art)
Scoby, or symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast, provides opportunities to create sustainable applications in creating biodyes, bioplastics, and biofabrics.
How can we "mother" designs with microorganisms to grow raw ingredients, materials, food, and products?
Scoby can serve as a sustainable alternative to a variety of materials we use daily, from fabrics and dyes to plastics. Our experiment first explored different sugar alternatives to better understand it as an organism, and later expanded to address agricultural waste. Our scobys were ultimately made into tea bags, to display a circular model of growing and using scoby as a material.
Sabrina Tian, University of Pennsylvania Student, USA Brynn Lilley, University of Pennsylvania Student, USA Myahn Walker, University of Pennsylvania Student, USA Orkan Telhan, Instructor, USA
