Nina van den Broek

Enlarge

Nina van den Broek - photograph from the Waag society

After Nina van den Broek finished her study in Lifestyle & Design at the Willem de Kooning Academy in Rotterdam, she became an intern at the Waag Society Open Wetlab. It was here that she researched synthesising materials like ivory and horn

Nina van den Broek researches the aesthetic and material properties of tooth waste material as an alternative to elephant ivory. Ultimately, the goal of Ivorish is to synthetically ‘grow’ ivory, effectively eliminating elephant poaching.

Ivorish exemplifies the new, experimental phase, bio material research that utilises our own body.

Tusks of elephants have the same structure and ‘ingredients’ as our milk teeth. The difference is, they are worth a lot more because they have such an impressive size. By new techniques, we are able to break down any object of dentin into powder and rebuild it for a new application such as a piece of jewellery.

Information taken from Waag Society and Ivorish

Works for:

Contact information

  • Nina van den Broek