Material Matters (London Design Festival).
Material Matters 2023 was a trade + consumer fair as part of the London Design Festival, occupying all five floors of the OXO Tower Wharf’s Bargehouse on the river’s southbank.
I travelled across the city to spend a couple of hours here at the end of my research day, anticipating a medley of cool inspirations — yet leaving feeling forlorn. This article takes you through the companies on show that I was drawn to for good or bad (so sit tight) with some accompanying thoughts.
Building from a simple podcast led by Grant Gibson, Material Matters is now an international platform and was situated here to spotlight “leaders across design working to develop new and innovative ways of using materials and illustrating why material intelligence is so important to our collective futures.” It also hosted a selection of panel discussions during the festival drawing together those leaders.
Material Matters 2023.
Classic interior products on show across the fair included chairs and lighting. These chairs have panels made using denim textile scraps, or so it’s supposed. Are they solutions, or in selling us product we don’t need but stating them as “sustainable”, is it simply just more of the same? [Credit: Material Matters. Photographed by Yeshen Venema; styled by Jessica Jung].
Though it could be easy enough to take you through the showcase floor by floor, I like to compile my thoughts (this is technically my journal) and so have converged the designers/makers according to a few themes. Not all companies on show are highlighted in this article, simply because I couldn’t be bothered with them. I looked at every exhibit within the wider space, but some I just don’t care to comment on. You’ll find pros and cons here regardless.
Here are my five key takeaways:
⇾ Everything felt much of the same; not only in product form (are designers not fed up with chairs?!) but in the messaging. Communication was very much geared towards hitting particular keywords and I found myself shaking my head so often in confusion at the nonsense they were spouting. It wasn’t even that they were greenwashing per se, but these companies have a sense that they’re really making change because they’re hitting these benchmarks people want to hear.
⇾ Truly natural materials were afterthoughts; by “truly natural” I mean the ones not produced in a lab aka “biomaterials”. Taking natural fibres to create an object, usually with traditional craftsmanship, has to be the most “sustainable” option, not only for circular solutions, but also in preserving heritage, wisdom and land. Often natural materials can have a positive impact, though these companies only focus on carbon.
⇾ Carbon and virgin plastic reduction were front and centre; this is where companies are hitting those data points, by creating a product purely to establish them as a carbon reducer when in actual fact, they’re just creating more product for the sake of it, so not reducing anything at all. The same goes for not using virgin plastic but using recycled inputs in their place because they’re still introducing stuff from stuff that doesn’t need to be stuff.
⇾ There was some educational bits; the part of the exhibition from Pearson Lloyd that highlighted different ways to approach systems design thinking was insightful for me, and would be helpful for those who’d never before considered monomateriality or disassembly.
⇾ Student work was showcased; the space offered an opportunity for student work to be seen by industry folk, though some of it wasn’t recently ideated. I often forget that I once was a student coming up with ridiculous speculative ideas, and so try to consider their approaches without cringing. It’s unfortunate though that they curated the space to have really dark areas and the student bits always seemed to be exhibited in these areas.
Crafted.
These take pride of place at the top because they take pride of place in my design heart. No nonsense, or at least not much. For the most part the products can be returned to the earth, they utilise ingredients and materials with respect to their origin, they don’t try to impose it as a ‘saviour solution’, and they showcase wisdom as the tech. Unfortunately there just wasn’t enough of these as part of the showcase.
Tanja Kirst — Planted.
Jacquard woven panels using hemp, “citrus” yarn (orange and lemon peel; probably Orange Fiber), pineapple yarn (likely processed in situ) and seaweed yarn (potentially SeaCell?) It’s not as pared back as I’d usually segment when referring to natural materials, because the citrus and seaweed yarns likely use solvents at some stage in their processing. But the pieces do highlight how traditional craft and "alternative” thinking can come together. It felt greenwashy though, that they placed such a crafted art in the entrance, then went on to display a load of plastic.
The Wicker Story.
Such a simple material and technique (simple not in knowledge but in inputs). Appreciated that this traditional interior aesthetic was still included, though they made it more sculpture focussed for the showcase with hanging curly features. The simple Lifafa Chair shown below I think highlights the beauty and functionality of wicker more.
Bill Amberg Studio.
The Knepp Collection is a series of furniture made using leather from cattle of the Knepp Estate and ash from felled dieback. The exhibit highlighted a panel from Isabella Tree explaining the symbiosis between roaming cattle and biodiversity, highlighting how leather can still have a place when part of a holistic system.
Images: 1. Tanja Kirst panel [at the festival]; 2. The Wicker Story Lifafa chair; 3. Bill Amberg Studio leather chair panels and story; 4. Bill Amberg Studio Knepp Collection.
Nature-based.
Anett Papp — Naturing_Matter in Motion.
Panels of grass roots are allowed to grow naturally within a constrained shape, so creating the grid patterns. I expect these panels can be used as room dividers, acoustic panels? More artistic than functional, though can imagine they would set the tone in restaurants and hotels.
The True Green — Wood Alternatives Based On Hemp.
It seems to be part of a series of “wood alternatives based on annual plants” with hemp being one of those explored. Unprocessed hemp stalks are presumably compressed to create this wood material. It felt solid and looked posh; I’m intrigued into the processing and how it actually manages waste, which apparently comes from a partnership with the Institute of Natural Fibers and Herbaceous Plants in Poznań.
Botanica Textiles — Seasonal Natural Dyes.
A little selection of naturally-dyed textiles on cards next to a pouffe made from woven yarns. Unfortunately it was in a dark section of the room by a door so could be easily walked past and ignored. Would’ve liked to have seen more information on the colours too, to engage any visitors who did happen to look.
Henry Davison — Frond [Green Grads].
Having done my own creations using preserved seaweed, I’m always intrigued to see more. The premise to this one is that seaweed is a thick and durable material that is also renewable — unlike a tree, it will come again once cut. But as with all of these alternative materials, you need to consider the whole ecosystem and system. He made a chair and put some strips of kelp across, but it was the publication of his process that was most interesting.
Ceramica Ekta Ltd — The Clay Cycle.
Ekta Bagri developed this ceramic art project by utilising local unwanted soil, which in London is heavy in clay. The blocks are intended as sculptures, not functional, but perhaps if fired could be?
Malai [Rethink].
I was uncertain whether to include this material here or under ‘biomaterials’, because I do feel it less intrusive than some bio-based materials manufactured in a lab, but is a part nature/part lab-produced material. Coconut water from coconut processing is collected locally and is used to feed bacteria that will grow the cellulosic material. I like that they don’t tout it as a “leather alternative” and that they don’t introduce any synthetic inputs to change the properties.
Images: 1. Anett Papp [at the festival]; 2. The True Green display showing hemp wood alternative [The True Green]; 3. Botanica Textiles sample cards + stool [at the festival]; 4. Kyloe Design seaweed chair [@kyloe.design]; 5. Ceramica Etka ‘Earth Block’ [Etka Bagri]; 6. Malai coconut-bacteria cellulose material [Colab Digital].
Biomaterials.
I’m not a fan of the confusion that this term creates. Bio-based, biomaterial, biofabricated… all of our materials come from land (even if they originate from fossil fuels), but there has developed a hierarchy that somehow “biomaterials” are better, are sustainable, are innovative. I’ve used it as a header because most folk recognise it these days, but I’d prefer the term biofabricated, at least for the materials shown here. The first group control nature in some way through a sort of biophilic design — so I deem this as biofabricated — while the second group utilise nature’s ingredients along with other inputs to produce what you’d commonly term a biomaterial, such as bioplastic.
Silklab.
Couldn’t tell you what they were actually doing. It seemed that they were using silk proteins to produce printing inks that would then act as biosensors somehow for healthcare.
Georgie Gerrard — Grown Vessels [Green Grads].
Yet another use of mycelium, which fair enough is interesting especially for sculpture, but it doesn’t really have a point.
Fumo Panels — Mycelium Lab.
Another one. Their tagline is “we use technology provided by nature that allows us to be more sustainable”. They’re at least marketing their wall panels as sound-absorbing, and I’m sure they add a particular aesthetic to interiors, but can we actually be using mycelium for educational purposes not just as trying to control nature again? Sensorially these mycelium panels that many companies make are lovely.
Trixi Marx — Growable Graphics [Green Grads].
Using biophilic design to “grow” signs is a neat idea, but I don’t see it as being utterly practical. We see too often urban spaces where green walls have been forgotten about.
Images: 1. Silklab printed fabrics [at the festival]; 2. Georgie Gerrard ‘Grown Vessels’ [at the festival]; 3. Fumo Panels [at the festival]; 4. Trixi Marx ‘Growable Graphics’ [Trixi Marx].
METIS Seagrass [Rethink].
Apparently seagrass washes up ashore of Mediterranean beaches. The resulting material is harder in surface that I would envision from flowing seagrass, and they’re marketing it as wall coverings and veneers to create a “wabi sabi” aesthetic. They say local councils take the seagrass to landfill, but why not just encourage them to compost it rather than creating another material that isn’t used for much function.
Cascara Stone.
This is a stone made from mussel, oyster and pipi shells otherwise discarded from the restaurant and aquaculture industry designed for “architectural surfaces and features”. They’re really new. It could be interesting, but I imagine there’s some resins needed to bind the shell.
Ecolurian — AlgalTile.
A nice looking material made from kelp that creates unique tiles. It’ll look good on walls for sure, but what is it actually doing?
Shell Homage.
Another tile out of shells, this time egg and nuts. Similar to stone/ceramic and “bonded with organic and biodegradable substances” to be able to be drilled and lasered. I’m intrigued how they collect enough shells. They state it could be good as a stone replacement for jewellery, and indeed it does have a fun pattern.
Studio newtab-22 — Sea Stone [Rethink].
They collect discarded seashells from seafood industries, and then process them - grinding and mixing them up with mineral, sand and natural binders - to create a stone-like material that I guess would be flooring?
Palmade [Rethink].
This is supposed to be an antidote to single-use plastic, and yet this cutlery looks like your standard Vegware “bioplastic” stuff. Date palm biowaste is blended with biodegradable polymers from corn or sugarcane… same thing, not a solution.
Images: 1. Metis Seagrass [Colab Digital]; 2. Cascara Stone [at the festival]; 3. Algaltile [Colab Digital]; 4. Shell Homage [Colab Digital]; 5. Sea Stone [Colab Digital]; 6. Palmade [Colab Digital].
Composites.
Not so much in the respect of a combination of ingredients (though that often is the case), this is more about a composite of methods, primarily that of inspiration from nature or craft, but made using some sort of technology.
Gareth Neal — Digitally Woven.
In collaboration with The New Raw — a Rotterdam-based research and design studio that has an in-house robotic manufacturing system — these pieces are 3D printed in space, rather than layers, using traditional crafts such as knitting and crochet as inspiration for the shapes and textures. I was obviously drawn to the product for this reason, but do appreciate that being able to manufacture products with very little input (and apparently using a thrice-recycled polymer) this is a craft unto itself.
bioMATTERS.
Another material that was there solely for aesthetic purposes, in my view. Contained in a perspex case they could easily have been missed for the bigger pieces, unless you were willing to chat to someone. It turns out that the colourful vials I thought were related to Silk Lab were in fact for this; “living organisms and bio pigments” used to 3D print objects.
karuun® [Rethink].
A patented material so not much clarity given. “When the capillaries are injected with various bulking agents, rattan is transformed from a non-timber product with limited use to a versatile, innovative material, that presents an alternative to other materials like plastic”. So it’s going to have longevity but doesn’t really acknowledge rattan’s inherent properties because it’s full of other stuff.
Desert Board PSB®.
It should be mentioned that all the Rethink materials are part of a UAE library — Colab Digital — and so the markets are mostly Middle East-focussed, and presumably the ingredient source too. This material is Palm Strand Board (looks like our standard chip board) manufactured locally in UAE from “abundantly annually regenerative Residual Palm Biomass”. I don’t know how sustainable this actually is, but guess they do have a lot of palms there, and it seems to have multiple applications for construction.
Images: 1. Gareth Neal ‘Digitally Woven’ [at the festival]; 2. bioMATTERS vials of bio pigments and living organisms [at the festival]; 3. Karuun® [Colab Digital]; 4. Desert Board PSB® [Colab Digital].
DaikaWOOD.
What’s probably most exciting about this material is that they highlight how the processing is streamlined and can use roving inputs, meaning that the wood waste ingredient (and binders) can come from streams local to the fabrication site. You then have a hyperlocal material that can be used locally in construction, so stripping down transportation emissions and costs too.
Material Magic®.
Hemp is usually bound with synthetic polymers in order to create a composite material, yet this project’s team are looking at natural alternatives, for instance magnesium (?) and potato starch. I don’t know how the former is used, or what properties it brings, but I’m all for finding solutions to improving construction waste (particularly when it gets demolished). Potato starch I imagine comes from a chip factory, like the potato peel used in Chip[s] Board. I see hemp composites as a material that could be locally repaired if needs be, so removing synthetic inputs is helpful for this system shift.
Solidwool.
I was simply excited to spot wool, finally, on the fifth floor. I was aghast that I’d only just realised wool hadn’t featured anywhere, despite its innate flameproof properties, and I wouldn’t have anticipated that this fibre be used so crisply, yet here it was as a smooth chair. So again I am like, more chairs, really? However this one is quite fun. It looks like a print of a sheep’s fleece, though is in fact 50% wool from Welsh Mountain or Herdwick sheep bound with 50% “bio-resin” — that they state '“do not compete with food sources or displace food-based agriculture”. The hand-turned ash legs and the recycled steel frame are made in England too. Solidwool are using those two sheep breeds because the wool currently has low value, however the Herdwick is improving in perceived value since James Rebanks highlighted his farming of them in his two books.
VivÈrdie Industries.
On show was their Vifour fabric made from 95% recycled textile scraps (exhibit said 95, site says 93). Except, they’re marketing it as both “closed loop” and “cradle-to-cradle”, neither of which this is. They currently sell an acoustic wall panel, but would like to “rival the ubiquity of cotton”. 95% means that 5% has to come from somewhere else, which according to the exhibit is a natural and synthetic binding material, on top of the recycled textile scraps that are a mish-mash of fibre blends anyway. They say the fibre (or mushy panels) are “infinitely recyclable”, another phrase that means nothing when you consider the material origin and end of life.
Images: 1. DaikaWOOD samples [Colab Digital]; 2. Material Magic® furniture [at the festival]; 3. Solidwool chair and fleece [Solidwool]; 4. VivÈrdie Industries acoustic wall panel, floor covering and chair [VivÈrdie Industries].
Social.
These exhibitors had a social element to their product, mostly as the driver for the creation of it, rather than a product made with social benefit in retrospect. A few entries to an annual PriestmanGoode brief with RCA MA Textiles students are included here, which inherently have a social element because the multi-disciplinary design studio operates in this way.
The Tyre Collective.
I’d heard about the contraption designed to electrostatically capture rubber tyre particles as they wore off tyres, primarily of London vehicles. The Collective say that our air pollution is made up of more tyre particulates than on exhaust pollution, and claim the heavier weight of electric vehicles is making it worse. I recognise that speculative start-ups need to create a product that investors can buy in to, but often I would like them simply to stop at the awareness raising part, and not going about making things for the sake of it, and saying things like, “how can we turn tyre wear into beautiful, functional design?” The jewellery is actually quite fun, but 3D printed objects and a touch sensor? I guess it’s a Collective so it encourages lots of design applications in order to enhance the conversation.
Chloe Grieve — Physical X Digital Materiality [Priestman Goode].
Hospital visitors can use an app to interact with walls, presumably through AR (?), to improve their wellbeing whilst staying on wards. Frankly the information board didn’t quite explain what the project was, but in visiting the designer’s page on the RCA website you’re able to learn more about their intentions and context. Before I researched what she was doing, I was too critical, stating that “this is one speculation in hindsight I’m not a fan of; even if hospitals do need improving, efforts are better put elsewhere.” In reality it’s about using shapes and colour to acknowledge and categorise your emotions, which is useful in a healthcare setting.
Lily McDonnell — Materials and Health [Priestman Goode].
This one I felt an interesting niche concept — using the health benefits of salt minerals to transform air quality in commercial spaces, with the aid of woven textiles made using seaweed fibre (SeaCell™️). I’m not convinced that imbued textiles actually expose the wearer/user to particular benefits because any outside affect (such as cleaning sprays or washing detergents) could wash away any finishes, however, I do accept that particular fibres and finishes affect skin conditions, and microfibres in the air could be causing internal issues, so therefore there may be some science behind it. Otherwise, rust-dyed textiles are cool.
Jenny Choi — Sustainable New Material Luxury in Travel 2030 [Priestman Goode].
Another intriguingly niche one, this time using the delicate craft of tambour beading to create tactile objects useful for flyers of Air France. Part of it is to increase the luxury of flight, though I like that the designer picked up on an haute couture technique to signify part of French culture, and the products chosen could actually be useful when so heavily beaded, like the stress balls or neck rests. However, they mention that tambour embroidery is quick to disassemble; I’ve considered this myself in the past when applying embroidery and beads to my own pieces, but in this context I don’t think Air France would bother disassembling thousands of beads and separating out the threads (which would have to be heavy duty polyester because of the nature of the objects, so subsequently microfibres ensue).
Olivia Howick — From A to B [Priestman Goode].
It wasn’t particularly innovative, in the sense that it considered a niche technology, though the simplicity was endearing; it looked to address the public transport interiors using Manchester’s history as a cotton spinning and weaving centre as the inspiration.
Goldfinger.
Another simple idea is to use recently felled trees as timber for furniture. This isn’t anything new, and it’s great that I know a few in London alone doing this (particularly because a lot were felled for HS2 and there’s ash dieback)., but the charming key to this proposition was its sign that had in bold lettering “social enterprise”. They run the Goldfinger Academy, training young people in woodworking and design to create furniture, but ultimately give them an opportunity to train in a craft with extendable skills.
Images: 1. The Tyre Collective exhibit showing the amount of tyre wear of different vehicles per journey and day [at the exhibit]; 2. Chloe Grieve indoor wooden block with colourful shapes [photo screenshot from Instagram]; 3. Lily McDonnell SeaCell™️ textiles [at the exhibit]; 4. Jenny Choi information board showing tambour beading project [at the exhibit]; 5. Olivia Howick textile samples [at the exhibit]; 6. Goldfinger “treecycled” boards showing their mission statement [at the exhibit].
Plastic.
Perhaps self explanatory. It wasn't actually the materials segment with the main frustration, because plastic is plastic and there's no way around it, but the other areas where something man-made is classed as natural is what gets me. Nevertheless, plastic has its issues and there is a lot of greenwashing.
‘Modern Synthesis’.
This futuristic looking room showcased a shoe, a bag and a wallet made using their so-called biomaterials. Modern Synthesis is a biotech company who work with bacteria to “craft and entirely new class of natural materials, which displace animal-and-fossil-fuel derived alternatives”. They say that “the objects in this room were made by microbes, nurtured by nanobiologists, reinforced by robots and assembled by artisans”.
They have introduced a few materials in order to reach their goal of “a 50% absolute carbon reduction by 2027”. Materials include Ohoskin (bio-based alternative to leather made from the ‘byproduct’ of orange and cactus farming), Infinna™️ (textile waste), Circulose® (recycled cotton, but totally man-made) and Mylo™️ (mushroom ‘leather’).
Frankly I’ve given them a whole massive section with photo gallery of their own not to highlight how great they are, but the opposite. You have to be so careful with the promises that biotech companies are giving, not least because they use language that makes it seem so clean, plausible and accessible (in fact I really didn’t rate the copy on their signs). I’m actually not against Mylo or Circulose for the materials and concepts that they are (probably because I’ve spoken and heavily questioned them in person), but I am against this notion that biotech will save us. If you want to know the specifics why, perhaps leave a comment or send an email.
Images: Products made using materials championed by the Modern Synthesis studio, including a pair of sneakers, a wallet and a handbag.
Bethany Voak — Precious Waste [Priestman Goode].
Working with an organic compound (?) to degrade polystyrene’s foamy structure into something more moldable so that it has a use. Currently polystyrene can only be landfilled or incinerated.
Carbon Cell [Green Grads].
Another one regarding polystyrene, but this one finding an alternative material rather than finding a recycling stream. Unfortunately I do feel that it misses the mark holistically; it uses biochar, presumably combined with something else to mould it into the food packaging and construction materials they say it’s applicable to. Biochar is essentially charcoal and so why would you use such a fertile organic biomass to create packaging with? They also say it’s carbon neutral, and that’s only because the wood is burned in an anaerobic environment (off-gases can be captured separately), but the wood has to come from somewhere.
Novavita.
Actually don’t mind the look of their materials, mainly because they do terrazzo. What they seem to do well is collaborations with companies to “clean up their waste”, such as the Starbucks ‘Onyx’ material — plastic sheets with coffee grounds spread through it. They then produce furniture from those materials to showcase them, including a table made from milk packaging/coffee waste/fermented sugar — which could be really fun as they design them for various configurations. However, the example at the stand had a disposable coffee cup on it and it really frustrates me when you have double standards.
the good plastic company — Polygood®.
The space was adorned with a bar and some furniture made of Polygood® panels, recycled plastic sheets made from post-consumer and post-industrial plastic waste sources e.g. refrigerators, single-use cutlery, electronics and industrial consumables. They work with recycling facilities so guess they’re just sourcing a lump amount, but do seem to have some social manufacturing thing going on in Ukraine.
ABL Studio — ISOS Project.
Another one for polystyrene, but this goes total niche design aesthetic by making it pink and then making it into tiles that sit with wood for furniture. Still a pointless product made from a pointless material, so doesn’t create any solutions, but I did find it nice-looking and can see that they’re a young design studio finding their way.
Images: 1. Bethany Voak’s moulded recycled polystyrene [at the exhibit]; 2. Carbon Cell in cake form [via Green Grads]; 3. Novavita tables made from food industry byproducts, with disposable coffee cup [at the exhibit]; 4. The Good Plastic Company panel examples [via their website]; 5. ABL_Studio bench made from their pink recycled styrofoam [at the exhibit].
Terraboard [Rethink].
Stated as the “most sustainable alternative to wood”, this is a Fiber Reinforced Thermoplastic Composite board that can be used as cladding/playgrounds/landscaping due to its durability and waterproofness. Of course it doesn’t tell you anything else because of the proprietary knowledge.
rPoly90 [Rethink].
Potentially a material that does actually find a solution to a waste stream (though not with a catchy name), this material is a combination of Polyethylenes (PE) and Polypropylenes (PP) extracted from post-consumer ‘impossible-to-recycle’ metalized multi-layered plastic packaging (MLP) such as crisp packets, chocolate wrappers, etc. They have an example of a pair of sunglasses.
Goma [Rethink].
So shoe soles are one of those materials that currently has no life, even if it has been taken to a store where it can be sorted and shredded. Goma is an acoustic tile with thermal features, that they say can be sent back at the end of life to be reinserted into the cycle (though I doubt the quality is high enough for further recycling?)
Lithoplast [Rethink].
A speculative project that sees landfill plastic as being futuristically-mined, taken up with sediments to become a mineral in itself. The speculative material is clay-like so can be moulded. It’s a nice idea, but scary to think that we wouldn’t have sorted out this crisis and clues aren’t left for future civilisations on the detriment of plastic.
Images: 1. Terraboard used as building cladding [via Colab Digital]; 2. rPoly90 used for sunglasses [via Colab Digital]; 3. Goma acoustic tiles made from recycled shoe soles [via Colab Digital]; 4. Lithoplast speculative plastic-sediment material [via Colab Digital].
Design thinking.
On the first floor was a room from Pearson Lloyd set to educate you about how to design sustainably, all through the lens of their products made for workplaces. They say that, “As part of Pearson Lloyd’s ongoing research to improve the circularity of the mass-produced products for which we are responsible, we initiated an ongoing review of the material and manufacturing choices that we have made since we began in 1997”. Quite nice that they’re acknowledging their role, and that they’d like to encourage other designers into this circular design thinking. But what do they consider as circular?
Design with waste materials.
Acknowledging that the small accessories manufacturing industry requires expensive and unique tools, they worked with agile manufacturing start-up Batch.Works to create on demand products from recycled bioplastics. I always appreciate the move towards local/community production, though don’t like the ‘bioplastics as a solution’ thinking, so if indeed the small manufacturing hub used local “waste” then this could be a finished product with story.
Design with data.
As always the data looks to carbon emissions and stops there. The chart shows materials that presumably Pearson Lloyd primarily use, but it’s so simplified. Not only is carbon a cycle, so this data can’t capture what positive nets the material may have, what about the impact to water sources or air pollution from carbon elsewhere in the cycle? And carbon aside, what about damages or benefits socially, such as local training from the inclusion of those materials? This is hypothetical and objective — I don’t actually anticipate polyamide having any benefits, unless perhaps we’re considering real ocean cleaup charities collecting fishing nets made from polyamide.
Design together.
Visitors were invited to note down their knowledge to increase thinking around sustainable and circular design principles. I, of course, wrote SOIL. There were some tips for designers and organisations doing some cool stuff, such as Yodomo and Helen Kirkhum, plus books like Cradle To Cradle. Someone had written “hustle” while someone else had written “be yourself”, and then someone had drawn a “3D wasp” so who knows if people even have any idea what circular design principles are, unless they just hadn’t seen the rest of the boards yet.
Design with bio-based materials.
Fortunately with this phrasing they weren’t remarking about so-called “bioplastics”, and instead were talking about natural fibres as a way to reduce reliance on fossil fuels. As seating ordinarily uses polyurethane foam that cannot be recycled as a thermoplastic material, they rediscovered traditional upholstery techniques to create a pocket sprung insert. Of course, an unintended consequence perhaps of using bio-based materials is that you revert to slower techniques that require hands and wisdom.
Design with new technologies.
By “new technologies” they’re referring to 3D knitting, which doesn’t actually seem that new, but I’m glad it wasn’t just some random wearable tech with no functionality. They look to this relatively simple manufacturing method to replace composite upholstery of many layers. I didn’t take a photo of the item but it was a densely-knitted shaped panel that more resembled fashion than interiors, so that was quite interesting.
Design with mono-materials.
Another specific design change, this time with the moulded shell chair that normally requires a glass fibre-reinforced plastic, which of course cannot be broken down into constituent ingredients. The fibre-free polypropylene can also use recycled material. I do have to say props to them for doing this in 2012, and openly stating that they introduced recycled material when “the supply chain became available”, so are explaining their design decision-making.
Design for circularity.
With this aspect I liked that they had (re)considered the wider scope of a piece of furniture, specifically plywood and stapled construction used for contracts. I guess contract furniture means stuff that travels around, and so they looked at the weight and disassemblability (?) of basic items. However, I don’t think they’ve got a better solution, and certainly not circular, at least for the main material. They switched from plywood (which is made with 25% glues) to a recycled expanded polypropylene (that’s not recyclable is it?). The fabric being fitted with drawstrings not staples is nice, and the panels are demountable (can be taken apart?) though is that enough for it to fit into a circular system? They actually didn’t have a ‘design for disassembly’ section.
Design for repair.
This was about opening up fixtures and fittings so that they can be repaired, specifically on university campuses where apparently they use a lot of hospitality lounge furniture. While I’m happy about the repair situation, it seems that universities have simply got to procure furniture better?
Design for self-assembly.
Flat pack furniture. They say it’s designed so it can be assembled without instructions, and on top of saving transportation emissions it’ll also save costs for the end user because it reduces assembly costs. But it’s always going to be frustrating and only suitable for certain clients or customer markets.
Design on a longer timeframe.
A dig at steel street benches that I guess require painting to maintain their appearance. They suggest instead sand-cast bronze (whatever that is) so that the bronze retains its monetary value and saves maintenance costs. I completely appreciate this angle, but I don’t see how steel is actually bad in the longer timeframe, other than peeling paint, so don’t paint it?
What?
The majority of these were on a floor together that I swiftly ripped around. Perhaps because I don’t have an office to furnish is why I didn’t care for these “innovations”, though seriously, who actually cares about these things? It’s already been a long write-up so I’m going to give a one liner to each of these, if I can.
Mater.
They use all sorts of waste streams to grind out a powder that is made into a compound sheet material for chairs and tables. They’re nice enough products, but they wrote a lot of lip service. Actually their website has some fun waste streams that have a locality attached (they’re based in Denmark) such as Arla milk packaging and Carlsberg kegs.
crafting plastics! + DumoLab — Sensbiom 2.1.
This installation proposes that the square tiles used as a curtain would sensorily react to indoor environments; the biomaterial would self-stain when reacting to UV so workplace folk could scarily see in real time how exposed they are, even indoors.
Jetson — mute.
Maybe because I don’t work in an office I don’t understand these office pods, but why would I want to sit in a claustrophobic pod inside a pod, even if it’s made with some sort of ‘eco’ material?
RE.WRAP.
They could’ve come up with a more distinguishable name — I know of ReWrap as an actual fabric wrapping manufacturer and company. Anyway, “intelligent patent-pending acoustic solution” made from PET that’s then wrapped in a sportswear-like fabric and placed over aluminium … so boring.
Images: 1. Mater ingredients and components [at the exhibit]; 2. Sensbiom 2.1 speculative project outline [at the exhibit]; 3. Jetson’s Mute office pods [at the exhibit]; 4. Re.Wrap acoustic panels [Re.Wrap].
Humanscale.
No one was even visiting this stand. Office chairs. Well done on using “recycled” ocean plastic to create a chair that is always disposed of on streets.
Flokk.
Couldn’t figure anything out from their stand, and their website is a minefield. They make chairs.
Bert Frank.
Apparently this company sponsored the festival or something, so they got a full room. There was a wall of some really weird lights, and then a table with a piece of leather that had been poorly cut so there was essentially a holey piece of leather remaining. What is there the celebrate here?
Ramel.
Desert sand-based concrete alternative. Did you perhaps consider that the desert may want its sand?
Images: 1. Humanscale office chairs [at the exhibit]; 2. Flokk office chairs [at the exhibit]; 3. Bert Frank’s poor leather cutting [at the exhibit]; 4. Ramel blocks of concrete alternative made from desert sand [Colab Digital].
Carbon Tile [Rethink].
This sort of resembles The Tyre Collective and their rubber tyre particles, but this is capturing air pollution, removing the heavy metal impurities, adding some cement, making a tile and then saying that: “Attempting to mimic plants by infusing the captured carbon into the Carbon Tile, the aim is to offset carbon emissions through design and material innovation”. Are they having a laugh?
Paper Factor [Rethink].
Perhaps it’s a more interesting material than the exhibit card suggested, but it’s an ‘impasto’, a posh papier mâché used in artwork restoration that they’ve made into tiles to be used in ceilings and whatever. But I don’t know… they’re pressing paper and then carving it. Seems pointless, despite employing artisans.
Plexwood [Rethink].
It’s just a wood flooring that they don’t use formaldehyde or VOCs for so they want a pat on the back.
Honext® [Rethink].
Apparently they use an “untapped resource”; a combination of enzymes and cellulose taken from the waste streams of paper production to create a board similar to MDF but without nasties. I’m probably being too harsh by putting it in this category; it says, “By adding certain enzymes during the production process, stronger bindings are created between the short cellulose fibres without having to use non-recyclable resins”.
Images: 1. Carbon Tile [Colab Digital]; 2. Paper Factor [Colab Digital]; 3. Plexwood [Colab Digital]; 4. Honext® [Colab Digital].
Food.
Yuhan Bai — Hushellaste Project.
Biomaterials made from agricultural and kitchen waste (but no further details). On display was a jacket that was fun. It reminded me of a tailored piece I made during my BTEC by heat pressing plastic bags together to create a fabric. It was unclear, but from the Isola Design Studio website it shows Yuhan Bai having experimented with using soil as a dye (extracting minerals for pigment).
Alara Sipahioglu — Crispy.
I mean it’s utterly pointless but also so fun. I can see them used in restaurants and cafes, especially because of the illustration that resembles the one used by Bao. The bowls are made using deconstructed post-consumer crisp packaging.
Carlotta Guccione — First We Eat.
Ceramic tiles are made from food waste and existing bricks. It was to be used in regeneration projects in a particular community in the London borough of Tower Hamlets, with food as a conversational starting point for the mainly Bangladeshi community.
Images: 1. Yuhan Bai Hushellaste Project showing a biomaterial jacket [at the exhibit]; 2. Alara Sipahioglu Crispy bowl with bowl of crisps [at the exhibit]; 3. Carlotta Guccione First We Eat project [Isola Design Studio].
Datecrete [Rethink].
I can’t imagine the scaling of this, but this uses crushed date seeds as an alternative to concrete. Apparently stronger than concrete.
Dateform [Rethink].
Another date seed one, this one for solid surfaces and they capture the look and feel of dates and their seeds.
Leukeather [Rethink].
Dried plant pods are used to resemble exotic leather. They say the raw material is a byproduct, but then also say the “manufacturing process integrates advanced technology” and so I don’t believe it can achieve water resistancy and malleability by not having some sort of PU coating.
Ananasse™️ [Rethink].
Another one made to resemble exotic leather, but actually just resembles what it is — a pineapple. They say it can be “perforated, lasered, sewn and colored in various shades” so again, finishes and coatings to allow that.
Images: 1. Datecrete [Colab Digital]; 2. Dateform [Colab Digital]; 3. Leukeather [Colab Digital]; 4. Ananasse™️ [Colab Digital].
Playful.
These I found fun or interesting, either for their form or their commentary, or both. Still, some are pointless.
Simon Frend: dyingarts — Closing The Circle.
Handmade from natural materials these cremation urns are designed to dissolve in water or gently biodegrade in the earth. It’s not particularly playful being that it’s a sombre topic, but I love that someone was considering this environmental impact.
Iammi — Frankenstein.
Didn’t really know what they should be; objets d’arts? furniture? They’re made from reclaimed pieces of industrial foam scraps and then it seems covered in leather. Bulky and obtrusive, but I can see them having a place.
Rowena Langru Lu — Serious Play.
From far away they looked like the beads you’d put into patterns on plastic pin boards and then iron to create a motif. But they weren’t, so I was disappointed. Utterly pointless, and only the maker has the play, but I guess they could evoke joy in the viewer.
Images: 1. Simon Frend Closing The Circle cremation vessels [at the exhibit]; 2. Iammi Frankenstein furniture/sculpture [at the exhibit]; 3. Rowena Langru Lu Serious Play sculpture made from colourful melted beads [at the exhibit].