TRIENNIAL 2020: CRYSTALLINE, EREZ NEVI PANA / CRYSTALLIZATION SERIES, LUKAS WEGWERTH / THE GROWTH SITE SERIES, ELLIOT BASTIANON / DPPE POST COVID FACEMASKS, ALICE POTTS / REFLECTION, VICKI WEST / SALT BROOCHES, NAAMA BERGMAN / UNTITLED, BOSCO SODI / ACCRETIONS, TALIN HAZBAR / URCHIN CORALS, PIRJO HAIKOLA

The design of most consumer products is inextricably linked to systems of standardisation and industrial mass production developed during the twentieth century and made possible by the widespread use of non-renewable resources, such as petroleum-based plastics and metals mined from the land.  

As a consequence, a huge proportion of modern materials and consumer products cause some form of ecological harm. This could be caused during the extraction of raw materials, such as pollution created during processing and manufacture, or at the end of the product’s life when toxic materials degrade back into the environment.  

Rethinking this reality, where design acts ‘in opposition to’ the interwoven systems of nature, the works in this collection offer an alternative proposition and ask whether designers and manufacturers could protect nature whilE still producing objects and architecture. Together, using the processes of organic growth, crystallisation, or by turning a problem into a solution, these projects reveal that a sustainable future is most possible when we approach nature as an important collaborator. Bioplastics, plant, or mineral-based materials, coupled with digital technologies could soon enable us to cease using non-renewable resources, creating a virtuous cycle of manufacturing and consumption that can heal, not harm.