Radical Matter: Rethinking Materials for a Sustainable Future

A road map for product design professionals and students with ten revolutionary “Big Ideas” in material innovation.

A must-have for professionals focused on innovation in design, Radical Matter presents the ten “Big Ideas” that will shape and inform the choices of materials, design methods, and manufacturing processes made by designers in the years to come.

This timely paperback edition includes the same worldwide range of designers who are pushing boundaries with groundbreaking works that go beyond the notion of sustainable design. Radical Matter demonstrates how holistic systems of design, production, and consumption will benefit our world environmentally, socially, and economically. The ten “Big Ideas” unpack the themes that impact our material world through fascinating case studies and expert opinions: “Repair Is Beautiful”; “Today’s Trash, Tomorrow’s Raw Material”; “Natural Assets”; “The Waste Revolution”; “Lessons from the Past”; “Co-Creation”; “Material Connections”; “Short Life Materials”; “Living Materials”; and “Future Mining.” The book includes an invaluable directory of resources for cutting-edge materials and a definitive list of global research centers, innovation hubs, academic courses, and material libraries. Radical Matter contains a wealth of information to help design professionals and students turn revolutionary concepts into reality.

280 illustrations

Kate Franklin is a co-founder of FranklinTill Studio, a multi-disciplinary design, research, and trend-forecasting consultancy in London.

Caroline Till is a co-founder of FranklinTill Studio, a multi-disciplinary design, research, and trend-forecasting consultancy in London.