Temporary Comforts.

A project exploring our perceptions of comfort and our desires to retain this feeling.

Memories can inspire us to design with more meaning. Through recollection of past experiences, we may better understand why particular objects evoke specific feelings. We may use this knowledge to re-interpret design, and the impact designed objects have on our emotions and sensibilities.

As a child I would play football every weekend. On very cold days I would carry small hand warmers with me to combat the weather. They would provide me with warmth and comfort until I was taken home. I remember this sense of warmth as a temporary escape from the harsh conditions at hand. This feeling would diminish when the hand warmers eventually stopped producing heat, and my temporary sense of comfort would be overwhelmed once more by coldness.

The hand warmers I used as a child were made from sodium acetate trihydrate. Sodium acetate trihydrate is typically used for hand warmers or other therapeutic comforters. It’s unique physical properties make it perfect for such uses, as it allows for re-use up to 1000 times over.

How it works. Sodium acetate trihydrate crystals have a melting point of approximately 58 °C. When they are heated past this point and allowed to cool, the solution becomes supersaturated. In this state, the sodium acetate will stay liquid until catalyzed. By pressing a small metal disc or by adding dry crystals, the solution will re-solidify and cause an exothermic reaction, releasing heat. This entire process can be reversed and repeated by simply boiling the solid sodium acetate trihydrate until all the crystals have turned back to liquid form. 

Re-imagining sodium acetate. By experimenting with scale, form, and functionality, sodium acetate can fulfill the needs of endless design applications. Temporary Comforts applies the use of sodium acetate trihydrate  to furniture in the form of ‘upholstery’. When triggered, the sodium acetate upholstery heats the user up for the duration of the chemical reaction, and forms to the shape of the person sitting in it. Once cooled, the sodium acetate becomes rigid and hard, forcing the user to reset it if they desire the same warming experience. This evokes the same sense of temporary comfort I felt as a child.