Radical Matter: Rethinking Materials for a Sustainable Future

by Kate Franklin, Caroline Till

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 “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

Genres: Design, Art Design, Sustainability, Architecture, Academic

256 pages, Paperback

Published January 14, 2020

Reviews

[Akash Goel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lots of good ideas and introductions to sustainable materials. But lacks any depth whatsoever. The focus also seems to more on material aesthetics than usability and general applicability. But filled with lots and lots of photos.

[Ryan Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely love this book and refer to it for most of my design project. It has plenty of great examples of projects tackling a range of sustainable issues, all taking vastly different approaches with vastly different results. As the title would suggest, some of these are radically against the norm and highlight a new way of living.

[Marie-Michèle Larivée · Rating 4 out of 5]

Material focus book. Highlight the innovation and classed in subcategories: waste, human hair, etc.
A very nice overall work some are interesting, i flipped thru couple of pages as they are not all outstanding.

[Carter · Rating 5 out of 5]

There are a lot of possibilities, for 3D printing. This books showcases, some of the offerings, of computer fabrication startups. Recommended.

[Alana O'Flynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love all things Franklin Till related