Reintroducing Materials for Sustainable Design: Design Process and Educational Practice

Reintroducing Materials for Sustainable Design provides instrumental theory and practical guidance to bring materials back into a central role in the design process and education.

To create designs that are sustainable and respond to current environmental, economic and cultural concerns, practitioners and educators require a clear framework for materials use in design and product manufacturing. While much has been written about sustainable design over the last two decades, outlining systems of sustainability and product criteria, to design for material circularity requires a detailed understanding of the physical matter that constitutes products. Designers must not just know of materials but know how to manipulate them and work with them creatively. This book responds to the gap by offering a way to acquire the material knowledge necessary to design physical objects for sustainability. It reinforces the key role and responsibility of designers and encourages designers to take back control over the ideation and manufacturing process. Finally, it discusses the educational practice involved and the potential implications for design education following implementation, addressing didactics, facilities and expertise.

This guide is a must-read for designers, educators and researchers engaged in sustainable product design and materials.

Mette Bak-Andersen is a Danish designer and researcher. She was educated as a designer in Barcelona and holds a PhD from the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, School of Design. Since 2008 she has explored ways to bring back materials into the design process, both in her design practice and in educational projects with design students, as well as in her doctoral research. In 2013 she founded the Material Design Lab at Copenhagen School of Design and Technology, which she directed until 2018.