erez nevi pana salt recrystallizing the desert design academy eindhoven dutch design week 2014
every year 20 million tons of salt sink to the bottom of the dead sea’s fifth pond. the mineral is the waste from the manic production line of potash and bromine in the ‘dead sea works’ factory. as the chemical sinks, the level of the water rises, causing layers to pile up over time. as a result, the hotels on the shore are facing flooding and collapse. this unbalanced environment, shaped by the industrialization of a natural resource, led erez nevi pana to contemplate what might be done with the deposits: ‘would it be possible to use the abundant residual salt of the dead sea factories as an economically viable resource? could it produce materials or objects that could be marketed?’ eventually ‘recrystallizing the desert‘ was created, a project presented at design academy eindhoven during dutch design week 2014.

erez nevi pana salt recrystallizing the desert design academy eindhoven dutch design week 2014
molten salt | all images courtesy of erez nevi pana

 

 

through a method of heating and stacking, pana has devised a way to form a volume of pure salt. in the process, one molten layer receives another layer of the raw material, until the melting point is reached again. the compound changes from solid crystals to a liquid, and then changes back to a solid state. when the temperature reaches above half the required amount, the recrystallization of the minerals begins.

erez nevi pana salt recrystallizing the desert design academy eindhoven dutch design week 2014
the layers can be read on the perimeter of the block

 

 

this technique is akin to a geological development that takes place in the earth’s crust. to melt the salt with solar energy, a parabolic mirror with a 90 cm-diameter can concentrate the suns rays into a specific point generating enough heat to produce four tiles per hour. the climate in this region is the warmest in israel with average temperature of 30.4°C and blue clear sky eight hours per day, making the use of daylight for production more realistic in this area. the sun as a productive energy source and a wasted material which is a burden for the factories can bring an inexpensive and efficient system – the production of salt tiles that will be assimilated in the rising hotel industry of this area.

erez nevi pana salt recrystallizing the desert design academy eindhoven dutch design week 2014
shaping the salt 

erez nevi pana salt recrystallizing the desert design academy eindhoven dutch design week 2014
one tile

erez nevi pana salt recrystallizing the desert design academy eindhoven dutch design week 2014
bottom surface

erez nevi pana salt recrystallizing the desert design academy eindhoven dutch design week 2014
dead sea salt with clay power, making it resistant to water

erez nevi pana salt recrystallizing the desert design academy eindhoven dutch design week 2014
closeup of the materials

erez nevi pana salt recrystallizing the desert design academy eindhoven dutch design week 2014
finished tiles

 


video courtesy of erez nevi pana

erez nevi pana salt recrystallizing the desert design academy eindhoven dutch design week 2014
canal that leads the water to the factory

erez nevi pana salt recrystallizing the desert design academy eindhoven dutch design week 2014
‘factory coming soon’

erez nevi pana salt recrystallizing the desert design academy eindhoven dutch design week 2014
the process

 

 

designboom has received this project from our ‘DIY submissions‘ feature, where we welcome our readers to submit their own work for publication. see more project submissions from our readers here.