The Distributed Design Platform is an international platform created to be an exchange and networking centre for the emerging field of Distributed Design. The aim of the initiative is to develop and promote the connection between designers, makers and emerging digital and local markets.

From 2018, the Polifactory research group, a research lab at the Politecnico di Milano that explores the relationship between design and analogue/digital manufacturing to promote a new culture of making, joins the DDP network to share its projects and talents.

ANNO 5 | OPEN FOOD FACTORY
Distributed Design for plant-based food

The fifth year of research gave rise to the OPEN FOOD FACTORY initiative, which is concerned with the development of open source solutions related to plant-based nutrition with a focus on fermentation and distillation processes.

The designers selected to participate collaborated to develop three projects:

• Hacko is a project that applies the principles of Distributed Design and digital fabrication to expand the horizons of the ancient Japanese food technique nukazuke, making it a more accessible, adaptable and reproducible process in different cultures and countries. Through an open source kit consisting of common plastic cans, a set of trays to regulate liquid drainage, a multi-purpose handling tool and a digital device to control humidity and salinity parameters, it is possible to obtain the typical pickle produced by fermenting vegetables in rice bran.

• Breath is a project dedicated to lacto-fermentation, a food preservation technique that enhances its nutritional properties and does not require the use of electricity. The system, which can be entirely realised using3D printing, consists of a cap containing a valve and two silicone membranes that prevent the loss of liquids and keep fermented food in the correct position.

• Olea is a project that proposes the application of making and citizen science practices to non-alcoholic distillation processes. It is based on the reversible adaptation of household objects such as a steel pot with lid and colander, a steel basket for steaming and a glass jug equipped with a small tap.