We are all sensitive to the meanings of materials, whether consciously or subconsciously. And since everything is made from something, these meanings pervade our minds. We are being bombarded with them constantly by our environment. Whether we are on a farm or in a city, on a train or a plane, in a library or a shopping mall, they affect us. Of course, designers and architects consciously use these meanings to create clothes, products, and buildings that we like, that we identify with, that we want to surround ourselves with. In this way the meanings of materials are reinforced by our
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