Reimagining bone: from food-industry waste to fertile matter for new decorative artefacts.

BoneMatter is a material research project that explores the reuse of bones from the food industry, transformed into bone powder and combined with organic binders to create new experimental compounds. Through historical analysis and an in-depth study of bone tissue and its chemical-physical properties, the project defines a series of samples with different characteristics, identifying bone powder and methylcellulose mixes as the most promising for design applications. From this basis comes “Fertilia”, a collection of terracotta and bone-based pots designed for fruit plants, in which the bone elements act both as decorative components and as slow-release fertilisers, exploiting the high phosphorus content to nourish the soil and reframe bone, typically associated with death, as a vehicle for new life.