Dan is curating a day on the use natural and advanced materials in design. Through a series of debates and discussions we will be exploring issues and testing our preconceptions on how we define a sustainable material, what tools are available to help designers select sustainable materials and what support designers need when thinking about materials and design.
Breakfast panel debate:
Forbidden materials: PVC, bette noire or just misunderstood
Expect a lively debate about the role of PVC as a sustainable material. A panel of experts and practitioners will represent all sides of the debate: passionate advocates for, and opposed to, the use of the material, experienced designers and the country’s leading PVC research team.
Confirmed speakers include:
- Kevin Hemmings – Base Structures
- Michael Derby – Ferrari
- Marianne Gilbert – Loughborough University
- Rob Holdway – Giraffe
Morning session:
Consuming materials: knowledge transfer workshop
This session will unfold a new world of sustainable materials and the incredible range of possibilities they bring to design. A dynamic session where material manufacturers, experts in specification, chemists, material librarians, designers and R&D organisations will literally bring to the table materials that can positively change the way you design and your impact on the world. This session will be punctuated with short presentations of interesting case studies to stimulate you. Expect to participate. You are invited to bring your favourite object or material and have its sustainability credentials scrutinised and dissected. Specifying a sustainable material is complex but this session will help you understand how to go about it.
Speakers to be announced shortly
Afternoon session:
In association with Saint Gobain
The first of the afternoon sessions will be a workshop chaired by Ian Cox and Hugh Lucas of Aggregate Industries. They will be asking 'Natural materials, what are they?' and discussing 'The true story of quarry to landfill'. This is an interactive session that aims to test our considerations of sourcing versus the durability of materials.
In the latter part of the afternoon our attention turns to the use of advanced materials and their role in delivering a sustainable built environment. Saint Gobain will share their history of innovation in developing new materials and describe their journey from the Hall of Mirrors to Parabolic solar power stations. We will also be joined with a representative from the Institute of Materials and a designer with experience in the use of a new range of advanced materials.
Speakers to be announced shortly
Related event now added:
Take a tour of the Olympic Park (separate registration required)
N.B. Content of the day is subject to change
