Bio-based Material Explorations

Designers are increasingly interested in materials, discovering their role as creators of materials, diverging from a product-centered approach. This shift leads them towards a material-led approach, surpassing industrial and mass-customized solutions to embrace a mindset of tinkering with materials and experimenting through hands-on material interactions.

 As a result, product design, theories, and practices about materials design are changing, for example, the Do-It-Yourself (DIY) materials approach where design capabilities are influenced and shaped through “learning by doing” and “learning by interacting,” learning to embrace “imperfect aesthetic qualities.” They are characterized by intangible factors such as sensory appreciation, meanings, emotions, experience, and identity, leading to new tools and methods for materials selection, exploration, and design.