The Salt Pup

Eric Geboers is a Technical University Delft graduate and industrial and urban designer who founded CONCR3DE, a 3D stone printing business and architecture firm, in 2016.

In 2015, Geboers was inspired by the problem of desertification of agricultural land. Distilled saltwater is sometimes used to water desertified land, but this process leaves behind large amounts of unusable salt. Geboers found that heating and drying a mixture of almost 90% sea salt, a small amount of starch and water results in a white, hard, translucent material. The material is strong under compression force but weak under tensile force; the logical shape that such traits require is an arch or dome. The Salt Pup is a prototype chair Geboers designed with this composite material; its organic curves make the best use of the material’s characteristics. Geboers’ ultimate goal was to develop the composite to be useful in architecture.