The importance of materials and their ability to shape our lives
After last year’s hugely successful debut, the Material Matters fair returns to Bargehouse, Oxo Tower Wharf during the London Design Festival. The fair, which runs from 20-23 September 2023, will bring together over 45 world-leading brands, designers, makers, and innovators to investigate and celebrate the importance of materials and their ability to shape our lives.
New ways of working with waste
There will be a plethora of designers and brands re-evaluating materials and finding new ways to work with waste. For example, emerging designer BC Joshua will be showing a seat (created with designer Ella Doran) and lighting (designed in collaboration with Purva Kundaje) made from a newspaper pulp blend. Hagen Hinderdael and Novavita Design have joined forces to develop a new product collection made from coffee waste, milk packaging, and fermented sugar.
Planq will launch Rezign® materials – a new collection of materials made from textile waste such as post-consumer denim, army clothing, suits and white denim. This is combined with bio-based resources like flax and jute coffee bags to create veneer, multiplex board, and flex sheet materials.
Elsewhere, Yair Neuman repurposes discarded lenses from the eyewear industry to create a new material for his products. The designer is set to unveil an assortment of pendant, table, and wall lights, alongside his Delerex® sunglasses frames.
Working with nature
Material Magic comes from the Innovation Hub East-Groningen and Dutch designer Jack Brandsma. It investigates how binders like magnesium and potato starch can be combined with hemp fibres to create products.
A sense of craft
Bill Amberg Studio has long been one of the most important names in leather. Last year, it teamed up with the Knepp Estate, renowned for its ground-breaking rewilding project, to design and manufacture a sustainable furniture collection.
Features
In each edition, Material Matters throws the spotlight on a particular designer or practice. We’re delighted that Pearson Lloyd is 2023’s practice of the year. As part of studio’s ongoing research to improve circularity of the mass-produced products for which it’s responsible. And,Danish designer, Tanja Kirst, has created this year’s entrance installation for the fair.
Isola – Nothing Happens if Nothing Happens
Isola, the Milan-based design platform, will host a new exhibition on the third floor of Bargehouse. Nothing Happens if Nothing Happens will feature emerging designers using regenerative resources and repurposing waste materials.
「Material Matters fair 2023」
Open | Wednesday 20 - Saturday 23 September 2023 |
Opening hours | 10am-6pm |
Venue | Oxo Tower Wharf Barge House |
URL | https://materialmatters.design/ |