MATERIA
Material analysis and experiential research tool for material selection
MATERIA is a tool for material characterization that combines technical and experiential properties. It allows you to understand material potential holistically. In addition to properties, it includes application examples, material comparison, environmental benefits, and processability.
How to use MATERIA
Materials are the foundation for product development, the built environment, and many industries. Despite their central role, material characterization beyond technical properties can be challenging. This tool combines technical and experiential perspectives to characterize materials holistically. MATERIA is divided into six main sections where the two perspectives complement each other to characterize the materials.
MATERIA Example
How to use the manufacturing, production cost, and sustainability icons
These icons represent material characteristics, including manufacturing, production cost, and sustainability. Manufacturing processes are injection, casting, press, extrusion, and additive. Production cost indicates the material cost. Sustainability presents different life cycle phases, highlighting where the material has less environmental impact. These icons facilitate direct information on the material's processability, cost, and environmental impact.
MATERIA icons
MATERIA sections
Material Properties: a mix of technical and experiential properties
This section presents ten material properties divided into three categories: stiffness/flexibility, opacity/luminosity, and tactility/feel. The properties are evaluated with a 5-point scale to show the material's likeness to one or the other.
Material Properties and Technical Benefits
Applications: case study example
This section provides an example of existing products using the material to demonstrate material potential with photos to contextualize. Additionally, the section includes pictures of the material and the preferred manufacturing process icons.
Technical Benefits: a material comparison
The technical section emphasized quantifiable data to assess material suitability for various applications. This section includes ten categories divided into six technical properties and four experiential qualities. The scale used to present these properties is a 5-point scale, and the section includes a comparison between your material and two counterparts. Production cost icons are also part of the technical benefits.
Environmental benefits: material sustainability
The environmental section emphasizes the complexities and trade-offs of evaluating material sustainability. It is presented as a list of the material's benefits across its life cycle. It provides information to achieve environmental goals and visualizes the life cycle phases in which the material's environmental benefits are more significant.
Material Qualities: interaction with material at the four experiential levels
The material qualities section presents a material's characteristics based on the four experiential levels: sensorial, interpretive, affective, and performative. This section includes credentials based on built environment frameworks.
- Sensorial: sensorial descriptions (aesthetic experience). It refers to interactions between materials and users through the five senses – sight, touch, smell, and hearing.
- Interpretive (meanings): expressive/semantic and associative descriptions. The kinds of meanings attributed to materials after the initial sensorial input.
- Affective (emotions): emotional descriptions. Defined as people's subjective feelings towards a material.
- Performative (actions): actions descriptions.
Origin: a material description and manufacturer example
A brief description of the material, including some characteristics and processability, to provide context about the material. It also presents material manufacturers and certifications or approvals.
MATERIA is presented as an online tool for material characterization. However, it is projected to evolve to offer a material kit sample to create an experiential approach to interacting with materials. MATERIA material kits accommodate the diverse expectations and needs of the target audiences to facilitate material selection. Due to the tool's built-environment frameworks presented as credentials, environmental claims, life cycle environmental benefits, certifications, and approvals, third-party verification is necessary to validate the integrity of the data.
MATERIA Template
