Simon Raffy

From chaos to regularity. The flow is an ambivalent symbol between ephemeral and constant, violent or relaxing. Geometrically speaking, it is mostly turbulent and chaotic. “There is another way where flows are regular and laminar, parallel and reversible.” Simon Raffy explains and hints at the hydrodynamic of the living. “The tree’s sap and our own blood are flowing with this laminar regime.” As a powerful tool for biology, chemistry and physics humans started to use this as a technology: the microfluidic.

Manipulating and controlling fluids. The aim of microfluidic is to get a perfect control of the flows. Current set-ups are made of little chips containing a network of micro- channels through which liquids can flow. It’s those channels that insure a laminar flow. Many techniques exist with their own possibilities and characteristics, yet, Simon sees a downside: “These chips limit flow rate and could be deteriorated by the pressure variation of injections.” Encouraged to explore the creation of chipless microfluidic devices, Simon eventually found an answer in soap. By confining liquid between two layers of soap, his project during the Dutch Design Week of 2016 – The Essence of Flow – showed the possibility of controlling the flow of a giant soap film. The palette applied to this laminar canvas was composed of vortexes, bubbles, and light interferences. “Everything moves and flows with the perfect regularity of the laminar regime.” Simon says.