ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Mathieu Lehanneur - Designer
Kitchen-sized fish farms, living air purifiers and devices that turn old water bottles into martini shakers all spring from the form-and-function-fusing mind of designer Mathieu Lehanneur.

Why you should listen

Mathieu Lehanneur first began turning the heads of design junkies at MOMA's 2008 show "Design and the Elastic Mind"-- a watershed survey celebrating fusions of technology and wild imagination. With its Lucite lines, lush green interior and rounded corners, the Andrea purifier featured in the exhibit resembles a mash-up of a terrarium and an iMac, but its function is less visible. Inspired by NASA research and designed by Lehanneur and partner David Edwards so that the plants in it metabolize the micro-toxins in the air, it's nothing less than a domestic breathing machine.

Though he's inspired by nature, Lehanneur isn't interested in biomimicry, but rather in the symbiosis between living and synthetic materials, often to solve environmental problems. Lehanneur's Local River, at first glance a large aquarium-cum-herb garden, is in fact designed to be an indoor food farm, with the locavore in mind. He also integrates technology into his designs for commercial products such as Binauric's Boom Boom speakers and Lexon's Take Time watch.

More profile about the speaker
Mathieu Lehanneur | Speaker | TED.com
TEDGlobal 2009

Mathieu Lehanneur: Science-inspired design

Filmed:
471,086 views

Naming science as his chief inspiration, Mathieu Lehanneur shows a selection of his ingenious designs -- an interactive noise-neutralizing ball, an antibiotic course in one layered pill, asthma treatment that reminds kids to take it, a living air filter, a living-room fish farm and more.
- Designer
Kitchen-sized fish farms, living air purifiers and devices that turn old water bottles into martini shakers all spring from the form-and-function-fusing mind of designer Mathieu Lehanneur. Full bio

Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.

00:15
One morning, in the year 1957,
0
0
4000
00:19
the neurosurgeon Wilder Penfield
1
4000
3000
00:22
saw himself like this,
2
7000
3000
00:25
a weird freak with huge hands,
3
10000
3000
00:28
huge mouth,
4
13000
2000
00:30
and a tiny bottom.
5
15000
3000
00:33
Actually this creature
6
18000
3000
00:36
is the result of the Penfield research.
7
21000
2000
00:38
He named it homunculus.
8
23000
2000
00:40
Basically the homunculus is
9
25000
3000
00:43
the visualization of a human being
10
28000
2000
00:45
where each part of the body is proportional
11
30000
3000
00:48
to the surface it takes in the brain.
12
33000
3000
00:51
So, of course, homunculus is definitely not a freak.
13
36000
5000
00:56
It's you. It's me.
14
41000
2000
00:58
It's our invisible reality.
15
43000
3000
01:01
This visualization could explain, for example,
16
46000
3000
01:04
why newborns, or smokers,
17
49000
3000
01:07
put, instinctively, their fingers in the mouth.
18
52000
3000
01:10
Unfortunately it doesn't explain why
19
55000
4000
01:14
so many designers remain mainly interested
20
59000
3000
01:17
in designing chairs.
21
62000
2000
01:19
So anyway, even if I do not understand science entirely,
22
64000
3000
01:22
for my design I essentially refer to it.
23
67000
3000
01:25
I'm fascinated by its ability to
24
70000
3000
01:28
deeply investigate the human being,
25
73000
2000
01:30
its way of working, its way of feeling.
26
75000
3000
01:33
And it really helps me to understand
27
78000
3000
01:36
how we see, how we hear,
28
81000
2000
01:38
how we breathe, how our brain can inform or mislead us.
29
83000
5000
01:43
It's a great tool for me
30
88000
2000
01:45
to understand what could be our real needs.
31
90000
4000
01:49
Marketing people have never been able to do that.
32
94000
4000
01:53
Marketing reduces things. Marketing simplifies.
33
98000
3000
01:56
Marketing creates user groups.
34
101000
3000
01:59
And scientists, amidst complexity,
35
104000
3000
02:02
amidst fluctuation and uniqueness.
36
107000
3000
02:05
What could be our real needs?
37
110000
2000
02:07
Maybe the silence.
38
112000
2000
02:09
In our daily life we are continuously disturbed by
39
114000
2000
02:11
aggressive sounds.
40
116000
2000
02:13
And you know all those kind of sound puts us
41
118000
2000
02:15
in a kind of stressful state,
42
120000
2000
02:17
and prevent us from being quiet and focused.
43
122000
3000
02:20
So I wanted to create a kind of
44
125000
2000
02:22
sound filter,
45
127000
3000
02:25
able to preserve ourselves from noise pollution.
46
130000
2000
02:27
But I didn't want it to make it by
47
132000
3000
02:30
isolating people, without any earmuffs
48
135000
3000
02:33
or those kind of things.
49
138000
2000
02:35
Or neither with including complex technology.
50
140000
3000
02:38
I just wanted to, using the complexity
51
143000
4000
02:42
and the technology of the brain, of the human brain.
52
147000
3000
02:45
So I worked with white noise.
53
150000
3000
02:48
dB is basically --
54
153000
2000
02:50
dB is the name of the product,
55
155000
2000
02:52
basically a white noise diffuser.
56
157000
2000
02:54
This is white noise.
57
159000
1000
02:55
The white noise is the sum of all frequencies
58
160000
3000
02:58
that are audible by the human being,
59
163000
2000
03:00
brought to the same intensity.
60
165000
2000
03:02
And this noise is like a "shhhhhhhhhhhhh," like that.
61
167000
5000
03:07
And this noise is the most neutral.
62
172000
2000
03:09
It is the perfect sound for our ears and our brain.
63
174000
3000
03:12
So when you hear this sound
64
177000
2000
03:14
you feel like a kind of shelter,
65
179000
3000
03:17
preserved from noise pollution.
66
182000
3000
03:20
And when you hear the white noise, your brain is immediately focused on it.
67
185000
3000
03:23
And do not be disturbed any more by the other aggressive sound.
68
188000
4000
03:27
It seems to be magic.
69
192000
2000
03:29
But it is just physiology. It's just in your brain.
70
194000
3000
03:32
And in mine, I hope.
71
197000
3000
03:35
So in order to make this white noise
72
200000
3000
03:38
a little bit active and reactive,
73
203000
2000
03:40
I create a ball, a rolling ball
74
205000
3000
03:43
able to analyze and find
75
208000
4000
03:47
where does aggressive sound come from,
76
212000
2000
03:49
and roll, at home or at work,
77
214000
3000
03:52
towards aggressive noise,
78
217000
3000
03:55
and emits white noise in order to neutralize it.
79
220000
3000
03:58
(Laughter)
80
223000
3000
04:01
It works.
81
226000
2000
04:15
You feel the effect of the white noise?
82
240000
4000
04:19
It's too in silence.
83
244000
2000
04:21
If you make some noise you can feel the effect.
84
246000
3000
04:24
So even if this object,
85
249000
3000
04:27
even if this product includes some technology,
86
252000
2000
04:29
it includes some speakers, it includes some microphones
87
254000
2000
04:31
and some electronic devices,
88
256000
3000
04:34
this object is not a very smart object.
89
259000
3000
04:37
And I don't want to make a very smart object.
90
262000
2000
04:39
I don't want to create a perfect object like a perfect robot.
91
264000
4000
04:43
I want to create an object like you and me.
92
268000
3000
04:46
So, definitely not perfect.
93
271000
2000
04:48
So imagine, for instance, you are at home.
94
273000
3000
04:51
A loving dispute with your girl or boyfriend.
95
276000
3000
04:54
You shout. You say, "Blah blah blah, Blah blah blah. Who is this guy?"
96
279000
3000
04:57
And dB will probably roll toward you.
97
282000
4000
05:01
And turning around you is "shhhhhhh," like that.
98
286000
5000
05:06
(Laughter)
99
291000
1000
05:07
Definitely not perfect. So you would probably
100
292000
2000
05:09
shut it, at this point.
101
294000
2000
05:11
(Laughter)
102
296000
2000
05:13
Anyway, in this same kind of approach,
103
298000
3000
05:16
I designed K.
104
301000
2000
05:18
K is a daylight receiver transmitter.
105
303000
3000
05:21
So this object is supposed to be displayed on your desk,
106
306000
3000
05:24
or on your piano, where you are supposed
107
309000
2000
05:26
to spend most of your time in the day.
108
311000
2000
05:28
And this object will be
109
313000
2000
05:30
able to know exactly the quantity of light you receive during the day,
110
315000
3000
05:33
and able to give you the quantity of light you need.
111
318000
4000
05:37
This object is completely covered by
112
322000
3000
05:40
fiber opticals.
113
325000
2000
05:42
And the idea of those fiber opticals is to inform the object, for sure,
114
327000
3000
05:45
but creates the idea of an
115
330000
3000
05:48
eye sensibility of the object.
116
333000
3000
05:51
I want, by this design
117
336000
2000
05:53
feel, when you see it,
118
338000
2000
05:55
you see, instinctively,
119
340000
2000
05:57
this object seems to be very sensitive,
120
342000
2000
05:59
very reactive.
121
344000
2000
06:01
And this object knows, better than you
122
346000
3000
06:04
and probably before you, what you really need.
123
349000
2000
06:06
You have to know that the lack of daylight
124
351000
2000
06:08
can provoke some
125
353000
3000
06:11
problem of energy, or problem of libido.
126
356000
2000
06:13
So, a huge problem.
127
358000
3000
06:16
(Laughter)
128
361000
1000
06:17
Most of the projects I work on --
129
362000
2000
06:19
I live in collaboration with scientists.
130
364000
2000
06:21
I'm just a designer. So I need them.
131
366000
2000
06:23
So there can be some biologists,
132
368000
2000
06:25
psychiatrists, mathematicians, and so on.
133
370000
3000
06:28
And I submit them, my intuitions,
134
373000
3000
06:31
my hypothesis, my first ideas.
135
376000
2000
06:33
And they react. They told me what is possible, what is impossible.
136
378000
3000
06:36
And together we improve the original concept.
137
381000
4000
06:40
And we build the project to the end.
138
385000
2000
06:42
And this kind of relationship between designer and scientist
139
387000
3000
06:45
started when I was at school.
140
390000
2000
06:47
Indeed in my studies I was a guinea pig
141
392000
3000
06:50
for a pharmaceutical industry.
142
395000
2000
06:52
And the irony for me was
143
397000
3000
06:55
of course, I didn't do that for the sake of science progress.
144
400000
3000
06:58
I just do that to make money.
145
403000
2000
07:00
Anyway, this project, or this experience,
146
405000
4000
07:04
make me start a new project on the design of medicine.
147
409000
4000
07:08
You have to know that today, roughly one or two every drug pills
148
413000
4000
07:12
is not taken correctly.
149
417000
2000
07:14
So even if the active constituents
150
419000
4000
07:18
in pharmaceuticals made constant progress
151
423000
2000
07:20
in terms of chemistry, target of stability,
152
425000
3000
07:23
the behavior of the patients
153
428000
2000
07:25
goes more and more unstable.
154
430000
3000
07:28
So we took too many of them.
155
433000
3000
07:31
We took irregular dosage.
156
436000
3000
07:34
We do not follow instructions. And so on.
157
439000
3000
07:37
So I wanted to create a
158
442000
2000
07:39
new kind of medicine,
159
444000
2000
07:41
in order to create a new kind of relationship
160
446000
2000
07:43
between the patient and the treatment.
161
448000
3000
07:46
So I turned traditional pills into this.
162
451000
3000
07:49
I'm going to give you some example.
163
454000
2000
07:51
This one is an antibiotic.
164
456000
3000
07:54
And its purpose is to help patient
165
459000
2000
07:56
to go to the end of the treatment.
166
461000
3000
07:59
And the concept is to
167
464000
3000
08:02
create a kind of onion,
168
467000
2000
08:04
a kind of structure in layers.
169
469000
3000
08:07
So, you start with the darkest one.
170
472000
2000
08:09
And you are helped to visualize the duration of the treatment.
171
474000
5000
08:14
And you are helped to visualize the decrease of the infection.
172
479000
3000
08:17
So the first day, this is the big one.
173
482000
4000
08:21
And you have to peel and eat one layer a day.
174
486000
4000
08:25
And your antibiotic goes smaller and clearer.
175
490000
3000
08:28
And you're waiting for recovery as you were waiting for the Christmas day.
176
493000
4000
08:32
And you follow the treatment like that,
177
497000
4000
08:36
to the end of the treatment.
178
501000
2000
08:38
And here you can get the white core.
179
503000
2000
08:40
And it means, right, you are in the recovery.
180
505000
5000
08:45
(Applause) Thank you.
181
510000
3000
08:48
This one is a "third lung,"
182
513000
2000
08:50
a pharmaceutical device for long-term asthma treatment.
183
515000
4000
08:54
I designed it to help kids to follow the treatment.
184
519000
4000
08:58
So the idea of this one is to create
185
523000
2000
09:00
a relationship between the patient of the treatment
186
525000
3000
09:03
but a relationship of dependency.
187
528000
2000
09:05
But in this case it is not the medication that is dependent on the patient.
188
530000
4000
09:09
This is, the kids will feel
189
534000
4000
09:13
the therapeutic object needs him.
190
538000
3000
09:16
So the idea is, all night long
191
541000
3000
09:19
the elastic skin of the third lung
192
544000
2000
09:21
will slowly inflate itself,
193
546000
2000
09:23
including air and molecules, for sure.
194
548000
3000
09:26
And when the kids wake up,
195
551000
2000
09:28
he can see the object needs him. And he take him to his mouth,
196
553000
3000
09:31
and breathe the air it contains.
197
556000
2000
09:33
So by this way,
198
558000
2000
09:35
the kid, to take care of himself,
199
560000
4000
09:39
is to take care of this living object.
200
564000
3000
09:42
And he does not feel anymore it's relies on asthma treatment,
201
567000
3000
09:45
as the asthma treatment needs him.
202
570000
3000
09:48
(Applause)
203
573000
4000
09:52
In this guise of living object approach,
204
577000
4000
09:56
I like the idea of a kind of invisible design,
205
581000
2000
09:58
as if the function of the object
206
583000
4000
10:02
exists in a kind of invisible field
207
587000
3000
10:05
just around the objects themselves.
208
590000
2000
10:07
We could talk about a kind of soul,
209
592000
3000
10:10
of a ghost accompanying them.
210
595000
3000
10:13
And almost a kind of poltergeist effect.
211
598000
4000
10:17
So when a passive object like this one seems to be alive,
212
602000
3000
10:20
because it is -- woosh -- starting to move.
213
605000
3000
10:23
And I remember an exhibition design
214
608000
2000
10:25
I made for John Maeda,
215
610000
3000
10:28
and for the Fondation Cartier in Paris.
216
613000
2000
10:30
And John Maeda was supposed to show
217
615000
3000
10:33
several graphic animations in this exhibition.
218
618000
2000
10:35
And my idea for this exhibition design was to create
219
620000
3000
10:38
a real pong game, like this one.
220
623000
3000
10:41
And the idea was to create some self-moving benches
221
626000
3000
10:44
in the main exhibition room.
222
629000
2000
10:46
So the living benches would be exactly like the ball.
223
631000
3000
10:49
And John was so excited by this idea. He said to me, "Okay let's go."
224
634000
5000
10:54
I remember the day of the opening.
225
639000
2000
10:56
I was a little bit late.
226
641000
2000
10:58
When I bring the 10 living and self-moving benches
227
643000
5000
11:03
in the exhibition room, John was just beside me,
228
648000
4000
11:07
and was like, "Hmm. Hmm."
229
652000
5000
11:12
And he told me, after a long silence,
230
657000
3000
11:15
"I wonder, Mathieu, if
231
660000
3000
11:18
people won't be more fascinated by your benches
232
663000
2000
11:20
than by my videos."
233
665000
2000
11:22
(Laughter)
234
667000
3000
11:25
It would be a great honor, a great compliment for me,
235
670000
3000
11:28
if he hadn't decided to take all them off
236
673000
3000
11:31
two hours before the opening.
237
676000
2000
11:33
So, huge tragedy.
238
678000
3000
11:36
I guess you won't be surprised if I tell you
239
681000
2000
11:38
that Pinocchio is one of my great influences.
240
683000
3000
11:41
Pinocchio is probably one of my best design products, my favorite one.
241
686000
4000
11:45
Because it is a kind of object with a conscience,
242
690000
3000
11:48
able to be modified by its surroundings,
243
693000
2000
11:50
and able to modify it as well.
244
695000
3000
11:53
The other great influence is the mine's canary.
245
698000
2000
11:55
In coal mines, this canary
246
700000
4000
11:59
was supposed to be close to the miners.
247
704000
3000
12:02
And it was singing all day long. And when it stops it means that it just died.
248
707000
3000
12:05
So this canary was a living alarm,
249
710000
4000
12:09
and a very efficient one.
250
714000
2000
12:11
A very natural technology,
251
716000
2000
12:13
in order to say to the miners,
252
718000
3000
12:16
"The air is too bad. You have to go. It's an emergency."
253
721000
5000
12:21
So it's, for me, a great product.
254
726000
3000
12:24
And I tried to design a kind of canary.
255
729000
2000
12:26
Andrea is one.
256
731000
2000
12:28
Andrea is a living air filter that absorbs toxic gasses
257
733000
3000
12:31
from air, contaminated indoor air.
258
736000
4000
12:35
So it uses some plants to do this job,
259
740000
3000
12:38
selected for their gas-filtering ability.
260
743000
5000
12:43
You have to know, or you probably already know,
261
748000
3000
12:46
that indoor air pollution is more toxic than outdoor one.
262
751000
3000
12:49
So while I'm talking to you,
263
754000
3000
12:52
the seats you are sitting on are currently emitting some
264
757000
3000
12:55
invisible and odorless toxic gas. Sorry for that. (Laughter)
265
760000
4000
12:59
So you are currently breathing formaldehyde.
266
764000
4000
13:03
It's the same for me with the carpet.
267
768000
3000
13:06
And this is exactly the same at home.
268
771000
4000
13:10
Because all the product we get constantly give away
269
775000
4000
13:14
the volatile component of which they're made of.
270
779000
3000
13:17
So let's have a look at your home.
271
782000
3000
13:36
So your sofa, your plastic chair,
272
801000
2000
13:38
your kid's toys
273
803000
2000
13:40
give their own invisible reality. And this one is very toxic.
274
805000
4000
13:44
This is the reason why
275
809000
2000
13:46
I created, with David Edward,
276
811000
2000
13:48
a scientist of Harvard University,
277
813000
2000
13:50
an object able to absorb the toxic elements using those kind of plants.
278
815000
6000
13:56
But the idea is to force
279
821000
2000
13:58
the air to go in the effective part of the plants.
280
823000
3000
14:01
Because the roots of the plant are not very effective.
281
826000
3000
14:04
Bill Wolverton from NASA
282
829000
2000
14:06
analyzed it cleverly in the '70s.
283
831000
4000
14:10
So the idea is to create an object
284
835000
2000
14:12
able to force the air, and to be in contact at the right speed
285
837000
4000
14:16
at the right place, in all the effective parts of the plant.
286
841000
4000
14:20
So this is the final object.
287
845000
2000
14:22
It will be launched next September.
288
847000
4000
14:26
(Applause)
289
851000
3000
14:29
This one is kind of the same approach
290
854000
2000
14:31
because I include, in a product
291
856000
2000
14:33
like Andrea, some plants.
292
858000
3000
14:36
And in this one, plants are used for the water filtration ability.
293
861000
4000
14:40
And it includes some fishes as well.
294
865000
2000
14:42
But here, unlike Andrea,
295
867000
2000
14:44
here are supposed to be eaten.
296
869000
2000
14:46
Indeed, this object is a domestic farm,
297
871000
3000
14:49
for fishes and green.
298
874000
2000
14:51
So the idea of this object
299
876000
3000
14:54
is to be able to get at home
300
879000
3000
14:57
very local food.
301
882000
2000
14:59
The locavores
302
884000
2000
15:01
used to get food
303
886000
2000
15:03
taken in a radius of 100 miles.
304
888000
2000
15:05
Local River is able to provide you
305
890000
2000
15:07
food directly in your living room.
306
892000
3000
15:10
So the principle of this object
307
895000
3000
15:13
is to create an ecosystem
308
898000
2000
15:15
called aquaponics.
309
900000
2000
15:17
And the aquaponics is the dirty water of the fish,
310
902000
4000
15:21
by a water pump, feeds the plants above.
311
906000
3000
15:24
And the plants will filter, by the roots,
312
909000
3000
15:27
the dirty water of the fish.
313
912000
2000
15:29
After, it goes back into the fish tank.
314
914000
4000
15:33
After that you have two options.
315
918000
2000
15:35
Or you sit down in front of it like you would do in front your TV set.
316
920000
3000
15:38
Amazing channel.
317
923000
3000
15:41
Or you start fishing.
318
926000
2000
15:43
And you make some sushis with a fish
319
928000
3000
15:46
and the aromatic plants above.
320
931000
2000
15:48
Because you can grow some potatoes.
321
933000
2000
15:50
No, not potatoes, but tomatoes,
322
935000
2000
15:52
aromatic plants and so on.
323
937000
2000
15:54
So now we can breathe safely.
324
939000
3000
15:57
Now we can eat local food.
325
942000
3000
16:00
Now we can be treated by smart medicine.
326
945000
3000
16:03
Now we can be well-balanced in our biorhythm
327
948000
3000
16:06
with daylight.
328
951000
2000
16:08
But it was important to create a perfect place,
329
953000
3000
16:11
so I tried to,
330
956000
2000
16:13
in order to work and create.
331
958000
3000
16:16
So I designed, for an American scientist based in Paris,
332
961000
4000
16:20
a very stimulative, brain-stimulative office.
333
965000
3000
16:23
I wanted to create a perfect place
334
968000
3000
16:26
where you can work and play,
335
971000
2000
16:28
and where your body and your brain can work together.
336
973000
3000
16:31
So, in this office,
337
976000
2000
16:33
you do not work anymore at your desk, like a politician.
338
978000
4000
16:37
Your seat, your sleep and your play
339
982000
4000
16:41
on a big geodesic island made of leather.
340
986000
4000
16:45
See, like this one?
341
990000
2000
16:47
In this office you do not work and write and draw on a sheet of paper,
342
992000
5000
16:52
but you draw directly on a kind of huge whiteboard cave,
343
997000
5000
16:57
like a prehistoric scientist.
344
1002000
2000
16:59
So you, like that, can make some sport during your work.
345
1004000
4000
17:03
In this office
346
1008000
4000
17:07
you do not need to go out
347
1012000
2000
17:09
in order to be in contact with nature.
348
1014000
3000
17:12
You include, directly, the nature in the floor of the office.
349
1017000
5000
17:17
You can see it there.
350
1022000
3000
17:20
This is an inspiration image
351
1025000
2000
17:22
to lead this project of the office.
352
1027000
2000
17:24
It really helped me to design it.
353
1029000
2000
17:26
I never show it to my client. He would be so afraid.
354
1031000
3000
17:29
(Laughter)
355
1034000
1000
17:30
Just for my workshop.
356
1035000
3000
17:33
I guess it may be the revenge of the guinea pig I was.
357
1038000
4000
17:37
But it's maybe the conviction
358
1042000
4000
17:41
as monkey and homunculus we are.
359
1046000
4000
17:45
All of us need to be considered according to our real nature.
360
1050000
6000
17:51
Thank you very much.
361
1056000
2000
17:53
(Applause)
362
1058000
5000

▲Back to top

ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Mathieu Lehanneur - Designer
Kitchen-sized fish farms, living air purifiers and devices that turn old water bottles into martini shakers all spring from the form-and-function-fusing mind of designer Mathieu Lehanneur.

Why you should listen

Mathieu Lehanneur first began turning the heads of design junkies at MOMA's 2008 show "Design and the Elastic Mind"-- a watershed survey celebrating fusions of technology and wild imagination. With its Lucite lines, lush green interior and rounded corners, the Andrea purifier featured in the exhibit resembles a mash-up of a terrarium and an iMac, but its function is less visible. Inspired by NASA research and designed by Lehanneur and partner David Edwards so that the plants in it metabolize the micro-toxins in the air, it's nothing less than a domestic breathing machine.

Though he's inspired by nature, Lehanneur isn't interested in biomimicry, but rather in the symbiosis between living and synthetic materials, often to solve environmental problems. Lehanneur's Local River, at first glance a large aquarium-cum-herb garden, is in fact designed to be an indoor food farm, with the locavore in mind. He also integrates technology into his designs for commercial products such as Binauric's Boom Boom speakers and Lexon's Take Time watch.

More profile about the speaker
Mathieu Lehanneur | Speaker | TED.com