Material Innovation

Material Innovation

Update June 2021

Hello, welcome to the June 2021 Colour Flow 2023 update on material innovation. This update contains concepts and ideas for the direction of future material development and is an extension of the materials identified in Colour Flow 2023.

As was already apparent in Colour Flow 2023, the investment in creating a positive future for the next generations affects the materials. The materials are the base for completely circular products from the idea of ​​leaving the world better than you found it. These materials combat waste, reduce emissions, can be recycled or are for heirloom-level longevity.

The resources needed to manufacture a colour, a material and a finish account for 50-80% of the total impact a brand will have on the environment. Making better material choices is a journey that requires a better understanding of where materials come from and how to use them. In addition to understanding the source of materials, inventions in materials making can contribute to better practices.

The economic transition to a low-carbon economy is accelerating; we are finally starting to get serious about the damage plastic is doing on land and at sea. This moment in time for plastic is comparable to coal in the early 2010s. We will take a new route for materials, but that does not mean that we will stop using plastic overnight. Plastic will be used and present in the world for a long time to come. As the material concepts show, there can be so much creativity in using the materials from post-industrial and post-consumer waste streams. The transformation of materials that are already present will lead to unique expressions.

The environments where we live, work, travel and play affect our physical and mental health. Wellness strategies for product development must mindfully integrate the restorative impact of materials. Materials can be supportive, create a positive experience and create comfort, innovation in materials can help us feel good about the objects and spaces we use every day. Materials can enhance well-being, be caring, soft and fluid; they can stimulate relaxation, the senses and connection.

Materials play an essential role in creating analogue counterparts of the digital world, investigations of the idea of materials in the digital realm influence physical expressions. In the digital, materials are rendered, textural expressions, a visual language with endless possibilities that envelops function, tactility, and unexpected beauty. Experiments in the digital come to life physically as almost otherworldly designs, taking you on a journey to new material expressions.

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Carbon Negative

 Understanding the carbon cycle

By understanding the carbon cycle, designers can work hand in hand with nature to develop sustainable materials. In order to achieve CO2 negativity, the CO2 footprint over the entire life of a product must be taken into account. Biomass can be the basis for CO2 negative materials. Biomass is organic material from plants and animals that absorbs CO2 from the atmosphere, as well as sunlight, and stores energy from the sun. Converting this absorbed, solid CO2 into a usable form is the next step.

Left to right, Aether carbon-negative diamonds, material composed of 90% atmospheric carbon by Made of Air, AirInk ink made from captured carbon emissions, Novacem carbon-negative concrete, Salt Lamp by Roxane Lahidji

Wood Innovation

Rematerialising waste

The materials used in the circular economy are either recycled or will be recycled and put back into the never-ending circular loop. Materials are made with biomass, derived from wood offcuts, using leftover materials available in abundance. The focus is on rematerialising waste such as 3D printed wood made from sawdust and textiles made from wood waste.

Left to right, Forust homeware by Yves behar 3D printed sawdust and tree sap, textile made from wood and agriculture residues by Spinnova, panels made from end-of-life plant-derived biomass by Circular Matters, 3D printed wood by Forust, wood alternative made from hemp fibers by HempWood

Soil Regeneration

Healthy soil

The strong link between well-being and sustainability stimulates the development of a new generation of materials with a biological basis. Natural materials start as plants, growing food and fiber with industrial techniques have devastated our climate. Regenerative organic methods can build healthy soil that helps pull carbon back into the ground. Regenerative Organic Farming mimics what nature itself does; if the earth can return to its natural, abundant state, it can solve global warming on its own.

Left to right, Long Life the Palm by Iwo Borkowicz and Ola KorbańSka, flax by Fibershed, hemp textile, organic cotton t-shirt by Harvest & Mill, regenerative farming at Hudson Hemp

From the Earth

Connection

Many of our products come from natural resources, and increasingly, materials are used in their raw, unpolished state to reflect on the relationship between nature and the products we consume. This material-oriented approach results in sculptural structural simplicity. Products are in between nature and culture and seem to be manufactured in pre-industrial times.

Left to right, Raw marble stool by Cylindrical stool Germans Ermics, Macaroni For Every Being by Karen Lee, Wearable Porcelain by Gijs Wouters, coat by Paolo Carzana, sculpture by Mattias Sellden

Mixed Media

Compositions

Materials and objects can be giving a new life by creating assemblages out of components. Dismantling objects and using unused materials can lead to crafted and highly original bespoke pieces that are made to last. Mixed media is a material story that invites creative thinking and placing materials in a new context.. Using materials from other industries can create innovative new concepts.

Left to right, recycled garment labels by Mariah Esa, Useless Machines by Kialy Tihngang, fused ceramics and textile by Nicole Mclaughlin, The Violet Ballet by Sally Smart

Experimental Weaving

Spatial

Under the influence of digital design, weaving moves into the next dimension, from the current known 2D materials into the 3D realm. Dimensional thinking and visualization make flat-woven units into 3D dimensional structures that have minimal use of materials. Depth is created by new techniques and the use of paper yarns and wire.

Left to right, woven paper yarn by Veronica Pock, rug by Carmel Ilan, Woven Wire by Carl Johnson, Standing Textile by Fransje Gimbrere, Seamless Loom by Jongeriuslab design studio

Soft Volume

Protective and comforting

Soft and voluminous materials can function as a padded protective layer between us and the outside world. Volume is created by filling textiles with foam or air as the materials are lightweight and have a floating feeling to them. For objects, three-dimensional shapes or casts are created in a mould. Soft volume is about a softness to hide in and to feel protected.

Left to right, blouse by Jordan Dalah, Fluffy Chair by Jinyoung Yeon, Birkenstock x Central Saint Martins, reinventing Texture by Toshiki Hirano, Circo Aéreo inflatable pavilion by Kogaa

Transparency

Playing with light

When light encounters a material, it can interact with it in several different ways. In the field of optics, transparency is the physical property of allowing light to pass through a material without being scattered. When humans encounter materials, we interact with them in several different ways. We perceive and understand materials for their particular physical qualities, and materials act back on us through metaphysical figures; the fictive qualities we inevitably ascribe to them.

Left to right, Flatscreen by Wang & Söderström, Segmentation series by Jiyong Lee, Enclosed Secret by Eeva Käsper, casted glass bricks by Studio Anne Holtrop, Intermediaries by Tara Donovan

Pleating

Sculptural

Materials are pleated to create volume and movement, taking aesthetics to another level through delicate material manipulation. Poetic and atmospheric silhouettes in lightweight textiles or in solid materials like wood play with the notion of weight and gravity. By pleating the materials, objects become timeless, layered sculptures.

Left to right, outfit by David Laport, shaped pleats by Twinspleating, cupboard by Vincenzo de Cotiis, Embrace by Richard Sweeney, Carme Genesis installation by Quintessenz

Foam

3D Volume

Foam materials that are shaped in moulds for objects and shapes that are voluminous, lightweight. The material is so soft and smooth that they invite you to touch it. The foam seems to black area’s, especially when used in bright colours. or in clean white. The softness of the material creates a sportive, comfortable playfulness.

Left to right, Domestic System by Célestine Peuchot, The Sculpt by Pyer Moss, Le Bomboca Sofa by Fernando and Humberto Campana, Paradise City by MVRDV

Screening

Textile dividers

Concerns about privacy create an intriguing game of solid and see-through materials. The screens are lightweight flexible structures that divide space and create shelter and privacy while keeping the airflow in a space. Textile is inspired by nomadic living and transformed into 3D architectural shapes, private zones can be created everywhere.

Left to right, Who is We Dutch Pavilion at the Venice Biennale by Afaina de Jong and Debra Solomon, Pavilion of the African Diaspora by Ini Archibong, screen at Bourse de Commerce by Studio Bouroullec, An Angolan Archive by Sandra Poulson, Moon Disk by Cecile Bendixen

Powered

Sensing surfaces

Technology will be omnipresent and will be integrated into textiles as well. Sensing textiles use sensors and conductive yarn to communicate. Every surface can have a function and textiles can harvest data or measure various activities of the human body or the environment. Conductive threads in touch-sensitive textiles are interwoven in more than one direction.

Left to right, Foil by Rashaad Newsome, textile by Karl Mayer, electronic fiber by the Laboratory of Photonic Materials and Fibre Devices, Energy harvesting yarn by The University of Texas and Hanyang University in South Korea, Google Jaquard, Intelligence Assistance by Marija Bozinovska Jones

Overview

Connection Colour Flow 2023

1/ The Natural Evolution focused on durable and natural materials. Taking care of the Earth is central to making material decisions. We explore materials that are carbon negative, that use what is already there and that make sure that the soil is healthy. These alternatives are steps in the journey to zero carbon.

2/Resonance showed expressive materials that were bold and bright or crafted and creative. The connection to the local, the soil is important, next to creative compositions and patchworks of various materials. Lastly, experimental weaving is structural en irregular, it explores the limits of traditional weaving looms and materials.

3/In Culture of Care well-being was vital, the materials focused on beauty and wonder. Here we further explore softness and comforting materials next to the magic of transparency. The pleating adds a sculptural feeling to light materials as well as more architectural materials like wood.

4/Synchrony materials are three dimensional. Foam is a chuncky and fat 3D concept, the screening adds soft divides in spaces and powered adds extra function to yarns and textiles.

Banner image, Primitive by Banz & Bowinkel

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