Thwaites, a student on the RCA’s Design Interactions course, used the project to explore how cheap, everyday items are dependent on sophisticated global supply chains that are invisible to consumers. The Toaster Project is on show at the RCA Show 2009, which opened this week.
Also know, how do you make a toaster Ted?
Thomas wanted to build one from scratch – from the rocks and sludge of the earth, through to raw materials, through to the form of a toaster. He bought a toaster but was dismayed to find it contained 400 components and more than 100 materials. He broke it down to just 5: steel, copper, mica, plastic, and nickel.