Design Decoded: Fabio Hendry makes lamps out of 3D printing waste – this is his leitmotif

Fabio Hendry has a real knack for tinkering with things. His studio Hot Wire Extensions resembles a lab, where the process is more important than the result. It’s where Hendry, a Swiss native, strives to research often neglected materials such as 3D printing waste. In doing so, he demonstrates their potential for alternative production processes. The problem with this approach? Sometimes, his research leads to a dead end. When that happens, there’s no option but to keep a cool head and wait for a spark of inspiration. Or in Fabio’s case, a lightbulb moment.

Fabio, what exactly does Hot Wire Extensions do?
Fabio Hendry: We develop new production processes and use them to design a diverse selection of products. These range from furniture to installations and custom-made items.

What does your production process look like?
We manufacture objects using SLS 3D nylon powder, which currently isn’t recycled. The process starts with a thin, straight wire – the kind that used to be in old lightbulbs, and is still used in toasters today. We secure the wire inside a box before shaping it. Then, we fill the box with a mixture of different types of sand and waste nylon powder. After that, we use a battery to send an electric current through the bent wires, which heat and light up. While that’s happening, the mixture solidifies around the wire. The longer the process takes, the thicker these organic, bone-like structures become.

What was the last thing you designed?
Our Signature collection, consisting of ten objects. It includes products inspired by unique pieces we’ve already created. If we make a few tweaks to these single pieces, we can produce them in batches. This makes them more affordable without causing them to lose that handmade quality. In recent years, we’ve been given a lot of media attention. Although we were pleased to get that coverage, it didn’t pay any of our wages. I had to find out how we could stand on our own two feet in the future and be successful outside of Instagram and the like. Our Signature collection is more competitive. We’re now also taking on projects in public spaces, including a baroque church we’re producing six large chandeliers for. We’re also using our production process to do the interior and exterior signage for a school. In addition to that, we regularly take on commissions for galleries, and I co-curate the Raw Senses exhibition at Zurich Design Weeks every year.

Could you say a little more about one of these commissions?**
I’m currently working on hybrid objects for an exhibition at the Max Radford Gallery in London. I want to upcycle broken, rusty metal furniture found on the streets of Zurich. It’s an idea inspired by the readymade art movement.

Besides art, what else inspires you?
My former lecturer Simon Hassan from the Royal College of Art in London and Faye Toogood still influence me to this day. Toogood is British – I once worked under her as an interior designer. I’m really excited by her approach and the way she manages to create sculptural forms using conical objects. Geometric shapes are more difficult to achieve using the Hot Wire Extensions process.

What’s the central guiding principle behind your designs?
I try to live by the «form follows process» design principle.

Finish this sentence: «Design needs more…»
Rationale and justification behind all products on the market. Designers should think carefully about where they want to position themselves because the field is almost as oversaturated as fashion.

Is there anything that non-designers should know about the industry?
We should make more of an effort to understand how objects are created. Maybe that would allow us to establish a closer relationship with them and regain a greater appreciation for them.

How do creative minds from the design sector relate to objects? Which principles guide and inspire their work? In this series of interviews, I’ll be looking for answers to these questions. Follow me so you don’t miss the next edition.