Ceraluminum™ by ASUS Impresses at London Design Festival

Nov 29, 2024

What is Ceraluminum™ and what makes it material so significant that ASUS held a major exhibition at London Design Festival 2024 to introduce it to the world? You’ll find out all about the impressive characteristics of this high-tech ceramic material innovated by ASUS and take a deep dive into featured artwork at the exhibition designed to help tell the story of this new material. If you couldn’t be at London Design Festival 2024 ― this read is one you don’t want to miss!

Ceraluminum™ is used on the exteriors of ASUS Zenbook laptops including Zenbook S 14 (UX5406) and Zenbook S 16 (UM5606), giving these artisan AI PCs a timeless look and warm, stony tactility. As you might guess from its naming of merging the words ‘ceramic’ and ‘aluminum’, Ceraluminum™ is a high-tech ceramic material that embodies the lightness and durability of aluminum and the anti-scratch properties of ceramic. The material is an oxidized layer that grows out of aluminum as the aluminum is submerged into an electrolytic bath of pure water and minerals ― which means that it is not a coating but instead still a part of the aluminum it grew out of ― making it 100% recyclable. This makes ASUS laptops with Ceraluminum™ finishes more sustainable.

Due to the production process that involves running an electric current through the mineral bath to make this special material, the pattern of every piece is unique, making every Ceraluminum™ piece is its own work of art.

To showcase the qualities of Ceraluminum™ and highlight ASUS Zenbook series, we worked with designers and design studios to create art works inspired by the material. These works, along with our newest Zenbooks, were curated into our Design You Can Feel exhibition at London Design Festival.

Thinness and Lightness – Awaken by Giles Miller

The floor-to-ceiling art installation titled “Awaken” by artist Giles Miller showcases the thin and light aspect of Zenbook and Ceraluminum™. This large art piece welcomed audience as one of the first exhibits they saw upon entering the exhibition. Awaken is made of over 1,800 pieces of 1-millimeter thin veneer timber wood cut into petal shapes and fixed in place by wires and weights. The detailed placement angle and rotation of parts in this piece echoes the precise engineering of Zenbook to produce a slim and lightweight chassis packed with components while achieving functional aesthetics. The materials, shape, and arrangement in the artwork celebrate lightness, which is a core feature of ASUS Zenbooks and an important attribute of Ceraluminum™.

Nature-Inspired and Tactile ― Sisal Pup Bench and Loofah Divider by Fernando Laposse

The Sisel Pup Bench and Loofah Divider by Mexican artist Fernando Laposse both speak to the tactility and recyclability of Ceraluminum™. The Sisel Pup Bench is made of agave plant fibers, which hinder land erosion once planted; and the Loofah Divider is made of loofah, which is a fruit that turns into a sponge once it’s dried. The use of natural elements symbolizing the sustainable co-existence of humans and nature reflect the nature-inspired creation of Ceraluminum™’s neutral colors and smooth matte touch.

100% Recyclability ― Aluminum Formwork (AL - FORM) Furniture Range by Nice Workshop

The Aluminum Formwork Furniture Range by Nice Workshop provided a fun opportunity for interaction at the Design You Can Feel exhibition when attendees were invited to guess which one was the Ceraluminum™ piece. The exhibit consisted of three art pieces – a Ceraluminum™ chair, a chair made of aged concrete from a construction site, and a new metal chair. The curated set conveyed a closed loop, with each item capable of being fully recycled – highlighting the recyclability of Ceraluminum™. The aged concrete material used to make one of the chairs is melted and remade into the new chair piece, and the new chair piece can be recycled again for reuse. Instead of sticking to the traditional linear lifespan of used resources, the idea of circular economy is conveyed through this set of furniture and corresponds to the 100% recyclability of Ceraluminum™.

Immersive Tranquility with AI ― The Conceptual Phone SUSA by Future Facility

Designers at Future Facility made conceptual devices called SUSA phones – which is ‘ASUS’ spelled backwards – that are fully oxidized into Ceraluminum™ on all sides. Holding it in your hand feels like holding a pebble. Unlike our modern phones with glossy exteriors and shiny glass screens, the SUSA feels warm to the touch with a grainy texture and is deliberately dampened to be less stimulating and more calming – just like the surface of ASUS devices that feature Ceraluminum™. They still function like regular phones and can display answers to asked questions as smart AI powered chats are able to, but the screen is taken away and pixelated into a much less intense form of display.

The design of SUSA corresponds to the value of bringing out a moment of calm in the modern person’s busy every day in ASUS Zenbook. Features such as the six-speaker audio system, ErgoSense enlarged trackpad, impressive 3K OLED screen, and AI features on Zenbook S 16 all aim to give users an immersive, intuitive experience. The warm texture and neutral colors of Ceraluminum™ adds to the feeling of tranquility.

Material Innovation – Lighting Works by Natural Material Studio

It took more than four years for ASUS to develop the Ceraluminum™ material into its precise color and texture. Designer and scientist Bonnie Hvillum from Natural Material studio invented a biodegradable textile, which is a novel material as well, to make large art pieces that hang from the ceiling and were also used to make large lights that hung flush against the wall. Just like the process of ASUS developing Ceraluminum™, Bonnie wanted to create her own material that didn’t exist before. And just like Ceraluminum™, every single piece of her beautiful textile works is unique in pattern and fully recyclable.

Material Versatility - Quasar Lamp by Studio Furthermore

The designers at Studio Furthermore used aluminum and upcycled wheels to create a lamp with a lava-like pattern. Part of the lamp is entirely aluminum and part of the lamp is made of recycled wheels wrapped in a special coating that reflects different shades of light under the LED strip of the lamp. This art piece highlights the versatility of reused material and the potential to look very different from what it originally was. It’s difficult to tell what part is made from what type of material, just like the amaze that people feel when they touch Ceraluminum™ and learn that it is actually oxidized aluminum.

In addition to exploring the unique qualities of Ceraluminum™, the Design You Can Feel exhibition also highlighted AI capabilities of ASUS Zenbooks. The versatile dual screened Zenbook DUO, 16-inch Zenbook S 16 and 14-inch Zenbook S 14 laptops were also on show during the exhibition, and they demonstrated abilities of harnessing AI power to create artworks, make deepfake videos, and more. Click the button below to find out more about ASUS Zenbooks.