sustainable design Archives

We need to design for human behaviour to get rid of single-use plastics

Packaging designs aimed at boosting recycling rates and reducing the prevalence of single-use plastics are destined to fail unless they help to change people’s behaviour, writes Matt Millington.

No one is particularly happy when they find out there’s plastic waste on Mount Everest, or in the deep oceans, or in human blood. It’s not controversial to say that we need to stop churning the stuff out and throwing it away.

One way for businesses to tackle single-use plastics is to design their packaging to be reusable, but so far efforts have not succeeded at scale.

For example, reusable McDonald’s cups are only getting a 40 per cent return rate from customers in Germany, despite consumers paying a €2 deposit. When Starbucks trialled reusable cups in the closed environment of its Seattle HQ, where returning them is presumably straightforward, the return rate still didn’t exceed 80 per cent.

We weren’t exactly succumbing to dehydration on the streets before coffee shops designed takeaway cups

It’s not that we don’t care: research suggests consumer motivation towards environmentally positive behaviour is high. It’s that as a society we have developed an expectation of convenience: to have what we want, when we want it, without any consequences.

This is entirely unreasonable – we weren’t exactly succumbing to dehydration on the streets before coffee shops designed takeaway cups – but while it persists, consumers are very unlikely to switch to reusable alternatives if it puts them out. And without a high return-and-reuse rate, reusable packaging is usually worse for the environment, owing to the much higher quantities of plastic involved.

This is why we need to design for human behaviour if we’re ever to get rid of single-use plastics. You cannot control what people will do with packaging once it leaves your premises, but you can influence them by factoring behavioural psychology into the design of the packaging itself.

The first step is understanding how consumers interact with the pack, throughout its lifecycle. Where are they and what are they doing when they open it? What’s their headspace? How about when they’re finished with it? There’s a big difference between how someone interacts with a reusable plate after a meal in a cafeteria, and how they interact with the reusable salad bowl they’re gobbling from on the lunchtime rush back to the office.

Then it’s about understanding the levers you can pull to nudge people towards more planet-positive decisions. Behavioural psychology shows there are three factors that work together to drive behavioural change: increasing consumer motivation to recycle or reuse, raising their ability to do so, and providing a trigger to remind them.

Take plastic bags. While usage of single-use bags has dramatically decreased in the UK since legislation requiring retailers to charge for them came into force in 2015, reusable alternatives have had mixed success. According to a report by the Environmental Investigation Agency and Greenpeace, 57 “bags for life” were sold for each household in the country in 2019 – more than one a week.

It’s possible to go too far in signalling that a pack isn’t disposable

Online grocer Ocado uses recyclable bags instead, but it has had success in achieving returns because it pulls all three behavioural psychology levers. Consumers are happy to receive bonus reward points for each bag they give back (motivation).

The bags are straightforward to return and customers know not to throw them away because of their clear messaging and distinct off-grey colour, which follows from not using harmful bleaching agents (ability). And because the driver usually asks for old bags after delivery, they’re unlikely to forget (trigger).

Ability is the key consideration. If you wanted to return the packaging from a takeaway burger meal, it would mean washing and then carrying around a bulky burger box, fries box and cup, and either making a special trip to the restaurant or waiting until you happen upon another branch.

New Zealand start-up FOLDPROJECT has done some interesting work here, trying to make boxes more portable. It’s a simple idea: a machine-washable lunch kit that packs down to a flat sheet. The challenge is that because it is so minimal, its form and material make it look disposable.

One way to ensure a reusable design communicates its intended purpose is through material choice. For example, using explicitly post-consumer recycled plastic could be a visual shorthand to communicate a planet-positive intent, as could using longer-lasting materials like glass or stoneware.

Interestingly, it’s possible to go too far in signalling that a pack isn’t disposable. When McDonald’s introduced reusable packaging in its restaurants in France, it found the packaging kept disappearing, only to reappear on eBay. It looked reusable and on-brand, but was too novel for some, defeating the object.

So long as we have bins on every street that lead directly to landfill, we are going to struggle

Businesses cannot just switch to reusable packaging – even when intelligently designed – and expect results. So long as we have bins on every street that lead directly to landfill we are going to struggle.

We therefore need to think beyond just designing the packaging to be sustainable, and think about how we design systems to be sustainable. In a circular economy that means service and experience design, packaging, industrial design, marketing, data, artificial intelligence and logistics all working hand-in-hand to keep the pack “in the loop”. It will therefore need to be an ecosystem effort.

We’re already seeing innovations that can help make reuse and return viable in the age of convenience. For example, when is a bin not a bin? When it’s a Bjarke Ingels Group-designed TURN system – a remote, digitally connected, RFID-enabled, packaging-asset reclaim and sorting network, which rejects unwanted trash.

Similarly, we’re seeing nudge messaging along the pack journey, and even packs that communicate their status themselves. Scottish start-up Insignia has designed colour-changing labels that reveal how long a pack has been exposed to the environment. Imagine taking this further, with reusable packaging telling you what to do with it, and offering prompts or rewards to encourage you.

Reusability hasn’t hit scale yet, but we should be optimistic that it can, not least because we’ve been there before. Milk deliveries were once the norm, with bottles returned, not discarded.

There’s no reason that we can’t get back to this more sustainable approach across the board, without having to endure too much inconvenience. All that’s required is a little ingenuity, and a lot of collaboration.

The photography is by Jas Min via Unsplash.

Matt Millington is a sustainable-design strategist at PA Consulting.

Dezeen In Depth
If you enjoy reading Dezeen’s interviews, opinions and features, subscribe to Dezeen In Depth. Sent on the last Friday of each month, this newsletter provides a single place to read about the design and architecture stories behind the headlines.

Reference

Sustainable News

Layer rethinks bed design with Mazzu disassemblable mattress

By Zarkon Group,19/01/2024

British design studio Layer has aimed to bring sustainability to mattress design in a collaboration with Chinese start-up Mazzu, creating a modular, foamless product made up of textile-covered springs.

The Mazzu Open mattress was designed to have the comfort of a traditional sprung mattress while being adaptable, repairable and easy to pack down when moving house, so as to prolong the product’s life.

The design features row upon row of individually textile-wrapped pocket springs, which sit sandwiched between a base “matrix” and a cushioned topper to hold them in place.

Image of an army green bed — The Mazzu Open mattress is foamless and made up of modular, textile-covered springs

All its components are either recyclable or biodegradable, and no glue was used in the construction of the mattress.

The structure — left open at the sides for a distinctive, utilitarian look — also has the benefit of being hygienic, according to the studio, as users can check the inside of the mattress and take it apart to clean every element.

The modular design of the mattress means buyers can treat the springs like “pixels”, choosing between three levels of firmness for each point in the matrix to create a support pattern of their choosing. This also allows couples to customise their own side of the bed.

Exploded image of the Mazzu Open mattress, showing a base layer, a matrix layer, a layer of springs stacked into a mattress shape and a cushioned top layer — The springs are held in place by a grid layer

Additional spring modules and a different base and topper can be added to change the size of the mattress, and the whole kit can compress down to around 80 per cent of its size when disassembled.

The mattress comes in a reusable packaging system, also designed by Layer, that sees it divided into small components and split across several cartons, each weighing less than 10 kilograms. The spring modules compress from 250 millimetres to 50 millimetres in height as part of this.

Layer founder Benjamin Hubert told Dezeen that the studio tried to tackle multiple problems with current mattresses in one go with Mazzu, ranging from the impracticability of transporting them to the lack of customisation.

Close-up of a bed with an open mattress made of textile-covered springs stacked densely together — The mattress has an open structure that gives it a unique aesthetic

“They are too bulky once you unpack them and they ‘inflate’ from their compressed shipped form,” said Hubert. “They contain huge amounts of foam, which is next to impossible to recycle, and for the most part you can’t pack them down again for storage or transport.”

The studio wanted to avoid using polyurethane foam, a common mattress material, because as well as being difficult to recycle, it is energy intensive to produce and generates volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that are harmful to health.

The material is technically recyclable, but most mattresses do not reach the scarce recycling facilities, and they are often discarded before their time. In the UK, for instance, around 6.4 million mattresses are thrown away each year — about one for every ten people — and only around 14 per cent of them are recycled.

Instead of foam, the Mazzu Open mattress’s hourglass-shaped springs are shrouded in a two-tone 3D-knit polyester sleeve. The other materials used are steel for the springs, ABS plastic for the connection system and wool for the topper. The wool is biodegradable, while all the other materials are recyclable.

Image of a spring with plastic connectors, and on the left-hand side of it, a textile-covered cylinder in the same size and shape — The metal springs are wrapped in a 3D-knit textile

Hubert describes Mazzu as “leading the way” in delivering sustainable, high-performance bedding, and says the companies worked together for three years through the pandemic.

They went through many iterations of the mattress design in that time, as the studio tried to find a connection solution that would be both simple and comfortable.

“We must have tried about 20 different connection techniques,” said Hubert. “We had to find an optimum size that could be calibrated to fit all the standard mattress sizes too — not easy given there are a lot of international sizes.”

Image of an open carton storing a number of green coloured discs, which are shown in their popped-up, slightly hourglass-shaped cylindrical form outside of the box — The springs compress to one-fifth of their full height for transport and storage

“The system needed to be highly cost-effective by using the least amount of parts and the simplest connection feature,” he continued. “The design of the connection systems changed dozens of times as we tested strength, ease of use, noise and comfort — we had hundreds of springs in the studio at times!”

Other recent designs from the London-based design studio have included sustainable dog toys for Canadian company Earth Rated and a green hydrogen vehicle retrofitting system for US start-up Croft.

Mazzu and Layer launched the Mazzu Open mattress at the German furniture fair IMM Cologne, which was held from 14 to 18 January. See Dezeen Events Guide for an up-to-date list of architecture and design events taking place around the world.

Reference

Sustainable News

Our biggest climate challenge is no longer denial, but despair

By Zarkon Group,18/01/2024

Climate fatalism stands in the way of a sustainable future but designers and architects are in an ideal position to overcome it, writes Katie Treggiden.

The mainstream media is finally waking up to the realities of climate change. As wildfires, floods and storms wreak havoc across the world, journalists and activists far braver than me are speaking truth to power to make sure we all know just how serious this thing is. And that is vital and right and proper.

However, fear doesn’t motivate action. The biggest obstacle for the environmental movement is no longer climate-change deniers – the evidence is incontrovertible to all but conspiracy theorists. It is those who are fully on board with the fact that humans are the root cause of some very real problems, but just don’t believe that we have what it takes to solve them. Our biggest climate challenge is no longer denial, but despair.

Fear doesn’t motivate action

To spark meaningful change, we need hope. We need to believe not only that a better world is possible, but that we each have the power to help bring it about.

I’m not talking about blind faith or passive optimism. I’m talking about active hope. I’m talking about waking up every morning and making a choice to believe that we can solve this wicked problem, and then choosing to act accordingly. And in today’s climate – political, economic and social as well as environmental – hope is an act of defiance.

So, how can architects and designers inspire defiant hope?

The Berkana Institute’s “two loops” model of systems change proposes multiple roles that people and institutions can play in the transition from a declining system to an emerging one. As the dominant system begins its decline, “stabilisers” keep what is required in place until something better is ready, while “hospice workers” support the process of decline, minimising harm to those still within it.

In turn, the emergent system gathers pace as “pioneers” come up with new ideas, products and systems and they are joined together into networks by “connectors”. Together, they form supportive “communities of practice” that enable them to grow their influence and, eventually, rise up to replace the old system.

In the transition from the declining linear take-make-waste economy to an emerging regenerative and circular economy, we might cast architects and designers in the role of “pioneers” – problem-solvers who can create pragmatic ways to move society towards a better world.

And that is valid; if architecture and design solve problems, then surely they should contribute genuine, impactful, and replicable solutions to arguably the biggest problem ever to have faced humanity.

In today’s climate – political, economic and social as well as environmental – hope is an act of defiance

However, I believe they can also play another part. On the emerging-system loop, there is a role for “illuminators”: people who paint a picture of what a better world might look like.

You see, there is no point in the model where the two loops touch, no simple juncture where people can step off one system and onto the next – they must take a leap of faith. Illuminators are the people who can give them the courage to do that.

One of the questions I get asked most often when I speak at conferences about craft and design in the transition to a circular economy is: “Okay, but how does it scale?”

Firstly, I would contend that scalability is what got us into this mess, and what we need instead are locally replicable solutions, but increasingly I am questioning whether everything we propose as an industry even needs to do that. Perhaps part of our role is simply to inspire hope – defiant, stubborn, active hope.

Kyloe Design’s kelp chair, showcased recently as part of Green Grads at the London Design Festival, may never make it into production and it’s highly unlikely that it will drive the wholesale replacement of leather across the furniture industry. But it does showcase the potential of this incredibly renewable, climate-positive, underutilised material, while provoking the curiosity to learn more.

From responsible material sourcing and advocating for worker welfare to using smartphone components anyone can switch out, Fairphone is offering real-world solutions. But its founder, Bas Van Abel, was realistic about what he could achieve directly, so launched the company with the stated aim of motivating the rest of the industry.

There is little doubt that his efforts have had a hand in both the incoming EU legislation that will require smartphone batteries to be “easily replaceable” and the recent launch of a repairable Nokia phone.

Part of our role is simply to inspire hope – defiant, stubborn, active hope

Zaha Hadid Architects principal Patrik Schumacher might have criticised the “lack of architecture” at last year’s Venice Architecture Biennale, but what if contributions such as the German pavilion (pictured), which he described as nothing more than “piles of construction material”, are exactly what we need to inspire alternative ways of working? Entitled Open for Maintenance, the exhibition was billed as “an action framework for a new building culture” and collated materials recovered from previous installations to be used for repairing and upgrading buildings and public spaces all over Venice.

One of my favourite quotes about hope is from the author Arundhati Roy, who says: “Another world is not only possible, she is on her way. On a quiet day, I can hear her breathing.” The question I would like to pose is: how can we, as an industry, help everyone to hear the sound of her breath?

Katie Treggiden is the founder and director of Making Design Circular, a membership community and online-learning platform for sustainable designers and makers, and the author of Broken: Mending and Repair in a Throwaway World (Ludion, 2023).

Reference

Sustainable News

CornWall gives discarded corn cobs new life as interior tiles

By Zarkon Group,11/01/2024

Materials companies Circular Matters and StoneCycling have used corn cobs – one of the world’s most plentiful agricultural waste materials – to make interior cladding that is biodegradable and almost entirely bio-based.

Available in the form of tiles and sheets, CornWall is intended as a more sustainable alternative to ceramic interior wall tiles or plastic laminate.

The material is derived from more than 99 per cent renewable, biological sources, is created at low temperatures using mainly solar power and emits less carbon dioxide in its production than was captured by the corn as it grew, the manufacturers claim.

Photo of seven colours of CornWall tile in flatlay, ranging from a warm beige to a a muted reddish brown and a dark greenish grey. The tiles are arranged beside a bare corn cob, a full corn cob and a small bowl of shredded biomass — CornWall is an interior cladding material that is 99 per cent bio-based

To give the products a long lifespan, Circular Matters and StoneCycling have produced the tiles with a mechanical fixing system, so they can be demounted and reused or given back to the company for cleaning and recycling.

The technology behind CornWall was invented by Circular Matters – a start-up spun out of a lab at Belgium’s KU Leuven University, where founder Pieter Dondeyne and his team found a way to process plants to enhance their natural biopolymers and create durable materials.

The team then partnered with Dutch company StoneCycling to channel their technology into a product.

Photo of a person, close-up on their hands, holding a small pile of bare corn cobs, their kernels removed — Corn cobs make up most of the composition of the tiles

StoneCycling co-founder Ward Massa told Dezeen that the focus on corn came because it is one of the most grown crops on the planet and its waste is abundant.

“What happens when you grow corn for human consumption is when it’s ready to harvest, you take off the corn and the corn cob is a leftover material because it doesn’t hold any nutritious value,” he said.

“Usually, that means that these corn cobs remain on the field and rot away, or they are burned as biomass to generate energy,” he continued. “In both cases, you release the carbon that was stored in those fibres – it rots away and it gets released, or you burn it and it gets released.”

With CornWall, the carbon is locked away until the tiles reach the end of their life and are left to decompose.

The production process begins with the discarded cobs being collected, dried and shredded into biomass.

This material is then mixed with other agricultural waste, binders and pigments and pressed into a plate material at a relatively low heat of 120 to 150 degrees. As a final step, the tiles are given a thin coating for water resistance.

All of the ingredients are derived from biomass apart from the pigment, which accounts for the 0.5 per cent of the product that is not bio-based – a very low percentage in a field where even products containing small amounts of materials of organic origin are sometimes labelled as bio-based.

Photo of a person at a distance standing in a huge warehouse of bare corn cobs piled high into hills — The agricultural waste material was chosen because of its abundance

According to Massa, the companies were able to keep the product pure by focusing on interior wall applications only.

“If you want to create a product that can also be used on the exterior or as a flooring or in the shower, then you have to start adding chemicals to bind it, to make it more water resistant and stuff like that,” he said.

“We chose to start with this application because it’s relatively easy and the binder and the product is nothing else than the natural polymers that are already part of this biomass. Because of adding heat and pressure, these polymers are activated and bind together.”

Photo of four objects in flatlay — a full corn cob on the left, followed by a bare corn cob, then a small tray of shredded biomass, then a CornWall tile — The corn cobs are dried and shredded before being pressed into tiles

CornWall is also biodegradable according to official standards, with Massa saying it could be buried in a field and disintegrate in a couple of months.

The only thing that would remain is the water-resistant coating, which is not biodegradable but makes up less than 0,001 per cent of the total product meaning it does not affect its biodegradability overall, according to Massa.

“Unfortunately there are no 100 per cent biodegradable coatings on the market yet,” he said. “We’re working with our suppliers on this but it’ll take more time.”

Instead, the intent is to keep the product in use for as long as possible.

The companies wants to target retail and hospitality chains that frequently open and close locations – Starbucks is an example Massa gives – and work with them to make sure the tiles stay in a closed loop of material reuse.

He also believes CornWall offers good options for these kinds of businesses in the design stage, as it can be ordered in custom colours and embossed patterns to complement their branding.

“As far as we are concerned, this will become the new retail material,” said Massa. “Especially in those places in retail where they now use materials that are either glued or take a lot more energy to make or create a lot of waste when the shops are being renovated or demolished.”

“Production can also be done regionally because you don’t need a very complicated factory for it.”

CornWall is currently available in a base range of six colours and two sizes, developed in collaboration with Dutch design practice Studio Nina van Bart. Massa says additional textures will soon be added to the line.

CornWall is the fourth product from StoneCycling. The first was the WasteBasedBrick, which is made from 60 per cent waste and was used by Dutch architects Nina Aalbers and Ferry in ‘t Veld of Architectuur Maken to build their own house in Rotterdam.

Reference

Sustainable News

Reef Rocket is a bio-cement reef grown from plant enzymes

By Zarkon Group,08/01/2024

Industrial designer Mary Lempres has created a bio-cement structure developed to mimic naturally occurring oyster reefs that tackle coastal flooding, filter seawater and promote biodiversity.

Called Reef Rocket, the structure comprises a duo of bio-cement modules with ridged surfaces that can be stacked in two directions and create a rocket-like shape when assembled.

Reef Rocket by Mary Lempres — Reef Rocket is a bio-cement structure formed from two modules

Norwegian-American designer Lempres drew on biomimicry for the project, a practice that looks to nature to solve human design challenges.

The ridged modules were created to be placed underwater and emulate coastal oyster reefs, which naturally filter algae from seawater as well as attract and provide shelter for other aquatic organisms.

Bio-cement man-made oyster reef — Mary Lempres designed Reef Rocket to emulate oyster reefs

Oyster reefs also dissipate wave energy, mitigate storm surges and manage eroding coastlines, explained the designer.

Lempres collaborated with bio-geotechnical specialist Ahmed Miftah to develop a method for growing plant-derived cement that makes up the modules, which she described as “similar to the irrigation systems required for growing a plant”.

Close-up of textured oyster reef-like structure — The designer drew on biomimicry for the project

The pair poured a bio-based, non-toxic solution containing a crude extract from globally grown plants over crushed aggregate.

Sourced in New York City, the aggregate was created from crushed glass and oyster shells salvaged from local restaurants and New York Harbour.

“The packed substrate grows similarly to a plant,” Lempres told Dezeen.

Oysters attached to the structure — Reef Rocket was created to attract oysters

Saturated for three to nine days, the substance becomes natural concrete after the extracted biocatalyst causes minerals to form “mineral bridges” between the glass and shell waste.

“The resulting product is water-resistant, durable and comparable with standard concrete containing the same amount of aggregate,” explained the designer.

Shells and blocks of bio-cement — Lempres created the bio-cement with bio-geotechnical specialist Ahmed Miftah

“It can be grown in any environment without heat or otherwise burning fossil fuels and is derived from waste products, making it an affordable and scalable alternative to cement,” she continued.

“Bio-concrete is chemically identical to the material oysters produce to grow their reefs. The key difference is the bio-concrete we’ve developed grows in just several days, while oyster reefs take millennia to grow.”

This process closely mimics the natural processes that occur when oyster shells and coral reefs are grown, according to the designer.

“I was inspired by the ability of this reef-growing material to withstand extreme wave energy and corrosive saltwater,” she said.

Bio-cement structure in New York City — The structure was designed to be placed underwater

When creating the modules, Lempres and her team made “hundreds” of prototypes.

Eventually, they settled on prefabricated moulds, which the bio-cement can be packed into and set – “like sand” – without the need for heat or chemicals.

Bio-cement samples — Lempres and her team created “hundreds” of prototypes

Reef Rocket was deliberately developed to be small in size, lightweight and easy to assemble, making the design accessible to as many people as possible, according to the designer.

“Nature has the incredible ability to grow intricate and durable material, like shells and coral, without polluting its surrounding environment,” said Lempres.

“Reef Rocket harnesses the natural process of growing durable minerals to re-grow vital reef structures, benefiting humans and our ecology from the worsening effects of climate change,” she added.

“This paves the way for a future where hard and durable material can be grown like a crop, regenerating waste rather than polluting our environment.”

Previously, US design workshop Objects and Ideograms conducted a research project that involves 3D printing with calcium carbonate to create sustainable underwater “houses” for coral reefs and marine life to grow. Chinese materials company Yi Design developed a porous brick made from recycled ceramic waste that could be used to prevent flooding in urban areas.

The photography is courtesy of Mary Lempres.

Reference

Sustainable News

Design trend predictions for 2024 include rush for sustainable accreditation

By Zarkon Group,03/01/2024

After an unsteady 2023, Dezeen’s editorial director Max Fraser considers what 2024 might hold for design.

His predictions for what we will see when it comes to design next year range from the rise of material intelligence to the rush for sustainable accreditation.

Collective material intelligence

The pace of development in material innovation continues, in particular those made from supposedly sustainable resources as well as those salvaged from waste streams, such as fabrics made from bacterial fermentation and handcrafted biotextiles.

The appetite to use such creations in projects will increase in 2024 as designers strive to create products with greater material sensitivity. This goes hand-in-hand with a drive to lower the impact of our consumption on planetary systems as we continue to sharpen our focus on the climate crisis.

Trees in Formafantasma exhibition — Above: Formafantasma’s Cambio exhibition focuses on wood. Photo is by Paavo Lehtonen Photography. Top image: brick textiles by Natural Material Studio

Increasingly informed clients and customers, together with (hopefully) heightened regulations, will demand ever-more transparency around the origin of the materials, seeking justification for their implementation, as well as assurances around traceability and a low full-life impact.

An increasing number of designers will respond by shortening supply chains, opting for regionally-appropriate materials, harvested or mined closer to the place of production.

This will likely become more of a prevalent expectation in 2024, buoyed by an already enterprising surge in new biomaterials and fabrication technologies. The challenge is scaling this from narrow experimental work into more mainstream channels.

Greater appreciation of aesthetic imperfection

Product uniformity works well for items such as TVs, phones and washing machines. But when it comes to the use of natural materials in mass-production systems, the mindset of uniformity and perfection also prevails. This means that the inconsistent nuances in colour, texture or grain that are inherent in the likes of wood, wool, leather or stone become a hurdle to overcome.

There is a growing concern that stripping out the quirks of a tree, the striations of a rock or the blemishes on an animal hide just creates unnecessary waste. This was highlighted by Formafantasma’s Cambio research project when the design studio investigated the global impact of the extraction, production and distribution of wood.

Working with Finnish furniture brand Artek, one of the outcomes of the study was for the manufacturer to reassess its strict timber selection criteria. Previously only using regularly grained local birchwood without any natural marks, the brand has loosened its criteria to embrace imperfections. In 2023, characteristics such as insect borelines, knots and even bark first appeared on the iconic Stool 60 by Alvar Aalto as part of an evolving Artek collection.

This approach from a reputable brand sends a signal to the rest of the furniture industry that an ‘imperfect’ aesthetic sensibility needs to be embraced if we’re to reduce processing and production waste. This is something that I suspect will become more evident in 2024, helped by the economic case that customers will want to buy into the unique characteristics of these items.

Raw and mono-material products

Designers will further endeavour to reduce the complex interplay between different kinds of materials used in production. The motivation is to create products where the component parts can be dissembled and separated more easily for repair or recyclability.

Such intentions will need to be communicated to users and the inevitable aesthetic change celebrated.

Knuckle light — David Taylor’s Knuckle Light is made from aluminium

As circularity becomes expected, a ‘circular aesthetic’ will also emerge whereby products will be lauded for their efficient and singular use of materials, exposed fixings and true-to-material ‘raw’ finishes.

This was recently exemplified by the aluminium Knuckle light by David Taylor for Hem, an embodiment of raw, folded, uncoated aluminium and the winner of the lighting design of the year in the Dezeen Awards 2023.

Fifty shades of sustainable

For several years now, overuse of the word ‘sustainable’ across all areas of society has reached the point where its very meaning has become opaque. Take a trip to any trade fair or design week and you’ll leave with sustainability fatigue, so much is the word oversaid, overheard and overprinted.

Many smart brands recognise this and are eager to communicate the great lengths they go to to reduce their planetary burden, ensure reputable supply chains, create healthy work environments for all and deliver economic returns that benefit their communities as well as their shareholders. To that end, the B Corp rush is on.

B Corp Certification is one of the most rigorous and reputable certification schemes for any aspiring business, thoroughly assessing all of the aforementioned criteria and more. As one manufacturer joked to me, “It’s a tough process. Everything is opened, assessed and scored. It’s like letting a stranger look through your underwear.”

Manufacturers like Modus in the UK, Fredericia and Astep in Denmark and Andreu World in Spain all crossed the line in 2023 and I predict many more will pass the test in 2024: credibility from accreditation.

Trade fairs – a make-or-break year

It’s been another bumpy year for trade fairs, which have struggled to rebound to pre-pandemic glory. The considerable cost and enormous effort of exhibiting has brands questioning how often they can commit. The returns that fairs are expected to deliver for these exhibitors – namely via marketing, footfall and ultimately orders – is an increasing pressure when attendees have also become more discerning about which shows they choose to visit.

Alcova Miami hotel — Milan’s Alcova showed in Miami this year. Photo by Piergiorgio Sorgetti

The excessive waste generated by stand construction continues to be a challenge to overcome. I’ve become so distracted by the endless use of virgin materials to construct brand-ego-sized displays that I barely notice the product anymore. I call for greater brand humility and am hoping the previously-mentioned circular aesthetic will find its place on stand design as fairs continue to evolve.

It remains a struggle to make rather grim exhibition centres pleasurable, while reducing the environmental burden. Smaller, more nimble shows like Alcova and Material Matters will likely gather pace, able to better attain the sweet spot between quality content and distinct experience. Those that succeed will need to marry timely inspiration with responsible aspiration.

AI – will it deliver on the hype?

While hype, speculation and doom-mongering around the impact of generative artificial intelligence continues across multiple industries and at government-level, I expect the dust will settle somewhat in 2024.

For all of the wonders that AI promises, including analyzing data to inform design decisions, automating repetitive tasks, and simulating and testing designs, maybe there will be more skepticism as to whether or not it will live up to the fanfare we’ve witnessed this year.

Manah Bhata AI design — AI-designed projects created controversy. Image by Manah Bhata

One of the leading voices in AI, Gary Marcus, believes there are “many serious, unsolved problems” with the technology that could limit its usefulness. However, Airbnb co-founder Brian Chesky reckons designers should embrace AI otherwise the world “will be designed without them” as he stated in an interview with Dezeen in November. He added, “But, I am also wary of fetishization of technology” and, sharing this sentiment, I would caution the hype.

In off-the-record chats, I encounter plenty of individuals who are nonchalant about AI, so I would question the assumption that we must all want and need to use it. Within design, I wonder if we’ll see a revolution from artificial intelligence in 2024 – or perhaps its offerings will just become casually subsumed into the designer’s toolbox.

Polarising approaches to production will broaden

When it comes to fully scrutinising every action and proceeding with self-initiated care and integrity, many brands will find their mojo in 2024, particularly more nimble family-owned businesses with a clear eye on their legacy.

But I fear most won’t, as the pressures of increasing costs, stubborn inflation, volatile supply chains, debt repayments, shareholder expectations and hesitant citizen consumption trigger an urgent scramble to carve out new market segments. All of these touchpoints are and will continue to be directly or indirectly exacerbated by the desperate human conflicts and environmental disasters that we’ve witnessed globally in 2023.

Changing business models to circumnavigate these disruptions requires long-term vision and stability, two things seemingly in short supply right now. Those willing to evolve their enterprises deserve to succeed, however, I suspect many businesses will choose not to rock the boat.

Add to this the ongoing lacklustre governmental approaches to the climate crisis and it’s hard to envisage a world that can muster much excitement at the release of another new yet non-essential product. The time for the design industry to broaden its collaboration with other industries is now. The opportunities to work on game-changing solutions to some of our existential challenges are ripe for the picking.

Reference

Sustainable News

Dezeen’s top 10 most innovative materials of 2023

By Zarkon Group,18/12/2023

As part of our review of 2023, Dezeen’s design and environment editor Jennifer Hahn has rounded up 10 of this year’s most significant material innovations, including bricks made from toxic soil and a 3D printer for wool.

Over the last 12 months, designers found new uses for bacteria, using the microorganisms to colour textiles, grow a leather alternative and turn plastic waste into vanilla ice cream.

In architecture, researchers continued to reinvent concrete, with some using algae instead of cement as a binder while others rediscovered the secret to “self-healing” Roman concrete.

Energy efficiency was an ongoing concern in light of the recent energy crisis, with projects such as water-filled windows and colour-changing cladding aiming to passively heat and cool buildings without relying on fossil fuels.

Read on for Dezeen’s top 10 material innovations of 2023:

Water House by Water-Filled Glass — Photo courtesy of Water-Filled Glass

Water-Filled Glass by Matyas Gutai, Daniel Schinagl and Abolfazl Ganji Kheybari

One of Dezeen’s best-read stories of the year looked at how researchers from Loughborough University combined two ubiquitous materials – water and glass – in a new and innovative way.

As the name suggests, their Water-Filled Glass windows consist of a thin layer of water wedged between two panes of glass, which can reduce a building’s energy bills by around 25 per cent compared with standard glazing.

That’s because the water absorbs warmth from sunlight and heat loss from the interior that can then be diverted to help heat the building, while also limiting solar heat gain in the warmer months.

Find out more about Water-Filled Glass ›

DNA T-shirt by Vollebak coloured using Colorifix bacterial dye — Photo by Sun Lee

Colorifix by Orr Yarkoni and Jim Ajioka

Synthetic biologists Orr Yarkoni and Jim Ajioka have developed a way of colouring textiles using bacteria in place of toxic chemical dyes which is already being used by mega-retailer H&M and experimental clothing brand Vollebak (pictured above).

Their Colorifix technology uses bacteria that is genetically engineered to produce different colour-making enzymes, creating a dyestuff that is compatible with the textile industry’s standard dye machines.

Crowned material innovation of the year at the 2023 Dezeen Awards, the technology offers a scalable alternative to chemical dyes while using 77 per cent less water and producing 31 per cent fewer carbon dioxide emissions, the company claims.

Find out more about Colorifix ›

Packing Up PFAS by Emy Bensdorp — Photo by Sem Langendijk

Claybens by Emy Bensdorp

At Dutch Design Week, designer Emy Bensdorp presented a series of bricks made using clay contaminated with PFAS – toxic “forever chemicals” used for water- and fire-proofing, that can leak into our soils and waterways.

In the Netherlands, where PFAS can be traced in up to 90 per cent of soils, developers and landowners must now legally take responsibility for this contaminated soil, which ends up being hidden away and left to gather dust in depots with little prospect for the chemicals’ removal.

Bensdorp discovered that firing the clay into bricks at high temperatures can eliminate these highly durable chemicals while turning the soil from a burden into a useful building material via an existing industrial process.

Find out more about Claybens ›

Guilty Flavours ice-cream by Eleonora Ortolani — Photo by Mael Henaff

Guilty Flavours by Eleonora Ortolani and Joanna Sadler

Central Saint Martins graduate Eleonora Ortolani created a bowl of vanilla ice cream that she believes might the world’s first food made from plastic waste.

The ice cream was made by taking a small amount of PET plastic waste and breaking it down using genetically engineered bacteria to create synthetic vanillin – the flavour molecule in vanilla.

Originally developed by researchers from the University of Edinburgh, the process produces a flavouring that is chemically identical to vanillin derived from crude oil, which is commonly sold in stores. The only difference is that it uses a recycled instead of a virgin fossil feedstock.

Find out more about Guilty Flavours ›

Electrochromic cladding by the University of Chicago — Images courtesy of Hsu Group

Electrochromic cladding by the Hsu Group

Researchers from the University of Chicago have developed a “chameleon-like” facade material that can change its infrared colour – the colour it appears under thermal imaging – based on the outside temperature to keep buildings cool in summer and warm in winter.

The composite material appears yellow under thermal imaging on a hot day because it emits heat and purple on cold days when it retains heat. This colour change is triggered by a small electrical impulse, which either deposits copper onto a thin film or strips it away.

“We’ve essentially figured out a low-energy way to treat a building like a person,” said materials engineer Po-Chun Hsu. “You add a layer when you’re cold and take off a layer when you’re hot.”

Find out more about this electrochromic cladding ›

Model of 3D printed wool chair by Christien Meindertsma — Photo courtesy of TFT

Flocks Wobot by Christien Meindertsma

Dutch designer Christien Meindertsma has opened up new uses for the wool of European sheep, which is too coarse to form textiles and thus often discarded, by developing a custom robot arm that acts much like a 3D printer.

The Flocks Wobot connects layers of the material through felting to create three-dimensional shapes without the need for any kind of additional binder.

So far, Meindertsma has used the robot to produce a sofa – currently on display at the V&A – but in the future, she claims it could equally be used to create everything from insulation to acoustic products.

Find out more about Flocks Wobot ›

Local Colours by Loop Loop

Dutch design studio Loop Loop has developed the “world’s first plant-based aluminium dying process”, using bio-based pigments instead of ones derived from petroleum.

The Local Colours project adapts the traditional process of anodising, which involves using an electric current to oxidise the metal, creating a porous surface that is able to absorb colour before being dipped into a water-based pigment solution.

So far, the studio has created four different solutions – a deep pink made using madder root, a bright gold produced with red onion and a warm purple and mustard yellow derived from different flowers.

Find out more about Local Colours ›

SOM installation for the 2023 Chicago Biennial — Photo by Dave Burk

Bio-Blocks by Prometheus Materials and SOM

Colorado start-up Prometheus Materials has developed a “zero-carbon alternative” to concrete masonry blocks that is bound together using micro-algae instead of polluting Portland cement, which accounts for around eight per cent of global emissions.

The company is working with architecture studio SOM to explore applications for the material, with a dedicated installation at this year’s Chicago Architecture Biennial taking the form of a giant spiral.

“This project demonstrates how product development, design, and construction can come together to address the climate crisis in a meaningful way,” said Prometheus Materials president Loren Burnett.

Find out more about Bio-Blocks ›

Bou Bag made from bacterial nanocellulose by Ganni and Modern Synthesis from LDF — Photo courtesy of Modern Synthesis

Modern Synthesis by Jen Keane and Ben Reeve

Modern Synthesis has developed a plastic-free leather alternative that drapes much like cowhide but could generate up to 65 times less greenhouse-gas emissions than real leather, the British start-up estimates.

The material is made by bacteria that is grown on a framework of threads and fed with waste sugar from other industries, which is converted into a strong, lightweight material called nanocellulose.

Danish fashion brand Ganni has already used the material to create a version of its Bou Bag (pictured above) that was revealed at the London Design Festival and could be commercially available as soon as 2025.

Find out more about Modern Synthesis ›

MIT Harvard study finds secret to durability of ancient Roman concrete — Image via Pexels

Roman concrete by MIT and Harvard

This year, researchers from MIT and Harvard made headlines when they discovered the secret ingredient found in “self-healing” Roman concrete, which they are now aiming to bring to market.

The ancient recipe that has allowed structures such as the Pantheon (pictured above) to remain standing for millennia integrates quicklime instead of the slacked lime found in modern concrete, the scientists have posited.

As rainwater runs through the cracks that form in concrete over time and touches the quicklime clasts in the concrete, this creates a calcium-saturated solution that recrystallises to “heal” the fissures.

Find out more about Roman concrete ›

2023 review

This article is part of Dezeen’s roundup of the biggest and best news and projects in architecture, design, interior design and technology from 2023.

Reference

Sustainable News

Stella McCartney presents Sustainable Market at COP28

By Zarkon Group,08/12/2023

A grape-based leather alternative and sequins made from tree cellulose are among 15 material innovations on show as part of fashion house Stella McCartney’s exhibition at the COP28 climate conference.

In partnership with Stella McCartney‘s parent company LVMH, the Sustainable Market showcases “the possibilities of current cutting-edge or soon-to-be available technologies” that could transform the fashion industry.

Stella McCartney's Sustainable Market showcases sustainable fashion products — Stella McCartney is exhibiting the Sustainable Market at COP28

The 15 chosen innovators range from start-ups to established brands, providing plant-based alternatives to plastic, animal leather and fur as well as regenerative alternatives to traditional fibres.

“The fashion industry accounts for eight per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions,” McCartney said. “We need to get creative and innovative with alternatives, moving beyond the limited materials that the industry has been working with traditionally.”

“If we can work collaboratively with these goals, we can actually begin doing business in a way that regenerates our planet instead of only taking from it.”

Bioplastic sequin dress — Among the featured products are iridescent BioSequins by Radiant Matter

Among the featured companies is Radiant Matter, which produces plastic-free iridescent BioSequins, and Mango Materials, which transforms captured methane emissions into plastic as seen in Allbirds’ Moonshot trainers.

US start-up Natural Fiber Welding is presenting its plant-based leather alternative Mirum, which has already been used across Stella McCartney’s Falabella and Frayme bags as well as a series of fragrance-infused jackets by MCQ.

The Sustainable Market also showcases examples of finished products including crochet dresses and bags by Stella McCartney that are made using seaweed-based Kelsun yarn and the first-ever garment crafted from biologically recycled polyester by US company Protein Evolution.

Another stall highlights Stella McCartney’s collaboration with Veuve Clicquot to develop a grape-based leather using waste from the champagne house’s harvest.

Bag made from kelp yarn — Seaweed-based Kelsun yarn forms crochet Stelle McCartney bags

The Sustainable Market also highlights three student projects from the Maison/0 incubator at design school Central Saint Martins, which is supported by LVMH.

Automating Violacein by Charlotte Werth explores how an automated microbial dye process can be used to produce printed patterns for luxury textiles.

Other projects examine how bacteria, algae and food waste could offer bio-based alternatives to synthetic dyes, and how lab-grown keratin fibres could be used for luxury clothing.

The products are displayed in market stalls featuring 3D-printed walls infused with a compound by Spanish materials company Pure Tech, which it claims can remove CO2 and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from the air by converting them into harmless mineral particles.

Other brands invited to participate in the market include US company Brimstone, which claims to have created “the world’s first carbon-negative portland cement”, and Chargeurs Luxury Fibers, which produces wool using regenerative farming methods.

McCartney was asked to represent the fashion industry at COP28 to advocate for policy and regulatory change to incentivise sustainable business and the decarbonisation of the industry.

Mannequins wearing Stella McCartney garments at COP28 — Several Stella McCartney garments demonstrate the materials possible applications

Her delegation also seeks to promote human and animal welfare while building a coalition of global government and business leaders to scale investment in material innovations.

Recently named among Time magazine’s 100 most influential climate leaders, McCartney bills her eponymous brand as the world’s first luxury fashion house to never use animal leather, feathers, fur or skins.

Products by Nativa showcased at Stella McCartney's Sustainable Market — Chargeurs Luxury Fibers produces wool using regenerative farming methods.

The Sustainable Market concept was first launched as part of her Summer 2024 runway show during Paris Fashion Week and will continue to evolve over the coming year following COP28.

The exhibition is taking place at the climate conference until 12 December in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

Last year’s Conference of the Parties (COP), which was held in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, saw architect Norman Foster launch a set of sustainability principles for architects while a team of researchers developed an app that predicts damage to global cities from rising sea levels.

The event was described as “deeply depressing” by architect and engineer Smith Mordak in their opinion piece for Dezeen, with other architects and sustainability experts expressing frustration at the slow pace of global action to reduce carbon emissions.

The photography is courtesy of Stella McCartney.

Reference

Sustainable News

“Our task is not to live forever” says Paola Antonelli

By Zarkon Group,06/12/2023

MoMA curator Paola Antonelli believes humans will go extinct as a result of climate change, but is “very positive” about how designers can help to slow the decline, she tells Dezeen in this interview.

The Museum of Modern Art curator is the author of several books including Design Emergency (co-written with Alice Rawsthorn), and runs the Instagram account of the same name that explores how design can help build a better future in the face of serious global issues.

Among the exhibitions she has curated is Broken Nature: Design Takes on Human Survival, which showcased architecture and design projects from the last 30 years that explore our fractured relationship with the planet.

To Antonelli, the vital importance of focusing on these issues is obvious.

“When one has a pulse and a brain, one can not be aware of the climate emergency and not be concerned and tempted to do whatever one can, whatever is possible,” she told Dezeen.

“Design is a force for any kind of change that needs to happen”

Antonelli believes that design is well-placed to play a leading role in the global effort to solve or mitigate issues relating to climate change.

“Design is a force for any kind of change that needs to happen,” she said. “It’s a force for propaganda, for changing people’s behaviour, for re-addressing issues, for changing products so that they can become more attuned to needs.”

“It is like an octopus that has different tentacles and can touch multiple point pressures in the ecosystems that make up our life.”

Life Cycles exhibition at MoMA — Life Cycles: The Materials of Contemporary Design is Paola Antonelli’s latest exhibition

“When it comes to the climate emergency, design can take on many different roles,” she added.

“I don’t feel that design by itself can change or save the world – that is always a utopia, and it’s unrealistic – but I find that it is a fundamental part of any team effort, and all efforts have to be team efforts at this point to change the status quo.”

One way in which designers can work towards slowing the climate emergency is by creating products which, rather than using materials that contribute to the pollution of the planet, focus on upcycling, re-use and using waste instead of new materials.

MoMA exhibition explores design’s impact on the ecosystem

This is the theme of Antonelli’s latest exhibition at MoMA, Life Cycles: The Materials of Contemporary Design, which explores “the regenerative power of design”, examining how design can be elegant and innovative while still respecting the ecosystem.

Among the pieces on show are works by Mexican designer Fernando Laposse, who has created a marquetry material from the husks of heirloom corn species, and by designer Mae-Ling Lokko, who has a company in Ghana that creates building products from mushroom mycelium and coconut shells.

Corn by Fernando Laposse — Fernando Laposse works with heritage corn species

“[Lokko’s work] is about agricultural waste, but very localised to where it is, and I see many designers behaving that way,” Antonelli remarked.

In that vain, she believes designers should look to how people in their local environment have dealt with disastrous natural events in the past to help prepare for a future in which they will become more frequent.

“When you’re dealing with a disaster, it’s usually is a disaster that happens near you, so you could learn a lot from how things are done near you,” Antonelli explained.

“Floods have happened for centuries and they might be more frequent now, but cities and regions of the world have been dealing with them for a really long time,” she added.

“So they might have some structures already in place that need to be either relearned or deepened.”

This is already underway, Antonelli believes, with designers and architects increasingly “studying the local”.

“That is happening at many different levels,” she said. “There are architects and landscape designers that are really trying to understand Native and First Peoples approach to land, respect, land-use or land non-use.”

“Global technological efforts are important, but without that attention to local realities they will be simplifying, or at least overlooking, many important aspects.”

Coronavirus pandemic “gave us a feeling of what clean skies could be”

She argues the coronavirus pandemic also underlined how quickly things can change and that we can have an impact on the climate and how it behaves.

“The pandemic brought everything to a stop and gave us a feeling of what clean skies could be – I mean, we rapidly forgot about it, but there was still this moment of stunned recognition of the fact that skies can be blue if we all stop using cars for a few days,” Antonelli said.

MoMA’s Life Cycles exhibition looks at design’s relationship with the ecosystem

And with much of the world currently in turmoil, whether from the climate emergency or other human-driven disasters and wars, she thinks there is more of a willingness to take these questions seriously.

“There are so many tragedies that are happening in the world right now, there’s no respite, but I feel like it brings everybody more on an alert kind of attitude,” she said.

“So I feel that the climate emergency is considered with more seriousness because it undergirds many of the other crises.”

“Our task is to leave the planet in a better condition”

While Antonelli doesn’t think humans can design our way out of our own extinction, she believes design can play an important role in slowing the decline.

“Slowing the decline is very, very positive; I am very positive,” Antonelli said.

“Even though – as I was saying at the time of Broken Nature – I believe we will become extinct, we have a little bit of control on the when and a lot of control on the how,” she added.

“I’m optimistic that we can be dignified, responsible, and compassionate towards other people, towards other species and towards the planet.”

“And that is our task. Our task is not to live forever. Our task is to leave the planet in a better condition than we found it, or at least as good as possible.”

The exhibition photography is courtesy of MoMA.

Reference

sustainable design

We need to design for human behaviour to get rid of single-use plastics

Layer rethinks bed design with Mazzu disassemblable mattress

Our biggest climate challenge is no longer denial, but despair

CornWall gives discarded corn cobs new life as interior tiles

Reef Rocket is a bio-cement reef grown from plant enzymes

Design trend predictions for 2024 include rush for sustainable accreditation

Dezeen’s top 10 most innovative materials of 2023

Stella McCartney presents Sustainable Market at COP28

“Our task is not to live forever” says Paola Antonelli

Get in touch

about us

Company info

Useful Links

Newsletter