Object 02 Sconce in Nylon and Sand
by Hot Wire Extensions · Zürich, Switzerland

Hot Wire Extensions is a young sustainable design brand lead by Swiss designer and material researcher Fabio Hendry. Exploration, collaboration and sustainability are central to Fabio Hendry’s design philosophy. Fostering material innovation and experimental engineering, Hot Wire Extensions presents an innovative manufacturing process, applied to a range of products, furniture, installations and special commissions. The process was developed as a response to the changing material landscape, critically analysing and questioning the consequences of technical innovation. . With innovation comes new challenges in waste management, shifting design aesthetics and changing consumer trends. Hot Wire Extensions seeks to explore these questions through utilising waste material and developing a process that lends itself to bespoke designs without impacting or having to change the production process. Using waste SLS 3D nylon powder, a material that is currently not recycled, and inspired by the way a vine grows around a tree, a nichrome wire is shaped and placed within a container filled with nylon powder and silica sand. An electric current is sent through the wire, causing the mixture to solidify around the form leading to endless possibilities in shape, scale and application. The Hot Wire Extensions objects are defined by the process’ unique organic bone-like aesthetic and characterised by the mindful exploration of material landscapes. Fabio Hendry is a Swiss designer whose work seeks to explore new potentials for overlooked matter from architectural systems to materials. Hendry is interested in exploring disruptive approaches to industrial manufacturing, revealing alternative systems of production. It is his belief that design practices and ecological theories can be merged to allow us to critically consider our material landscape. Hendry is interested in the analysis of innovative and future industries and takes inspiration from nature’s ability to adapt and reconstruct. His innovative products and hands-on experiments explore the boundaries between crafts and industry, ranging from furniture to sculptural objects and spatial installations.