Explorez tous les épisodes du podcast Material Matters with Grant Gibson

Corin Mellor is the creative director of David Mellor Design – a brand that is synonymous with his father, David, but also the design and manufacture of beautiful cutlery, primarily made of stainless steel. 

According to Sir Terence Conran, David was ‘Britain’s most serious, modest and greatest post-war product designer’, who created everything from bins to bus stops before concentrating on cutlery. 

Corin took over the company in 2006, expanding the company’s range and material palette, as well as creating some delightful knives, forks and spoons himself.

In this episode we talk about: the extraordinary David Mellor campus outside Sheffield; his family’s relationship with architects Michael and Patty Hopkins; living next door to the Mellor factory; why the production of cutlery has barely changed since the turn of the twentieth century; being obsessed with control and sweating the small stuff; the properties of stainless steel and the importance of chromium; how knives are different; the changing face of Sheffield and finding the right skills in the city; being the custodian of his father’s legacy and growing up with his brilliant writer mother; not being good at school; the joy of finding new makers; and why he can’t design cushions.

For more information on Assemble with Material Matters go to: https://materialmatters.design/conference

And to purchase tickets go to: https://app.pairsoftware.io/material-matters/ou3085wj

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Nicola Turner is a UK-based artist who is best known for her use of horsehair and wool in her extraordinary, and often quite dark, sculptures. She originally trained as a theatre designer – working for the likes of the National Theatre, Royal Shakespeare Company, and the Sydney Opera House – before doing a Fine Art MA in her fifties. 

Since then, her work has featured in a string of locations – most notably, the Courtyard at the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition in 2024. Currently, she has an installation at the chapel of the Yorkshire Sculpture Park, as well as an upcoming exhibition at Annely Juda Fine Art in London’s Hanover Square.

In this episode, we talk about: discovering horsehair in a skip; naming her YSP show after a Shakespeare sonnet; her interest in death; her cancer diagnosis; visiting an abattoir as a student; her mother’s background in upholstery; creating site responsive pieces and using her intuition; how people respond to her work; moving from theatre design into fine art; opening her own studio in Bath, making clothes as a child; why she still writes to her school art teacher; and not being afraid to work at scale.

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Dublin-based architect John Tuomey first appeared on Material Matters in 2024 to talk about his brilliant memoir, First Quarter. Now he’s written the follow-up, unsurprisingly entitled, Middle Quarter. 

John is the co-founder of O’Donnell + Tuomey. He was the inaugural professor of Architectural Design at University College Dublin and visiting professor at Princeton, Harvard and Yale. Over the years, he has won numerous awards, including the RIBA Royal Gold Medal, and his practice is responsible for buildings such as V&A East, the Lyric Theatre Belfast, and the Glucksman Gallery in Cork. 

In this episode, he talks about: this year’s opening of V&A East; material as ‘tangible reality’ in architecture; why he wrote his new book (and why it isn’t a biography); being interested in mortality and melancholy; architecture and ‘endurance’; his relationship with his mother (and her friendship with actor Richard Harris); the purpose of poetry and the purpose of architecture; creating buildings with lasting value; being ‘lucky’ and working the way he wants; failure; the importance of music in his life; architecture as an ‘occasional art’; his inner drive; being drawn to the scared; oh... and telling Michael Graves to ‘fuck off’. 

You can buy the beautiful Middle Quarter here: https://shop.materialmatters.design/products/middle-quarter

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What if the materials a building needs are already sitting in a skip down the road?

Joel de Mowbray, founding director of Yes Make, joins Grant Gibson to explain how a regenerative design and build practice rescues high-quality construction materials from landfill — and builds a viable business around them. Earlier this year, Yes Make joined forces with interdisciplinary design collective Resolve Collective and architecture practice Material Cultures to launch Tipping Point East, a circular construction hub in east London that aims to divert tonnes of material from waste.

In this episode, we dive into the practical realities of reuse in construction. We discuss:

• Tipping Point East: Founding a circular construction hub and what it takes to make reuse work at scale.
• Cooking with what's in the fridge: How Yes Make designs around the materials it already has, rather than specifying from scratch.
• Elton John's purple kitchen: The strange, brilliant afterlives of salvaged fixtures and fittings.
• The 'wild west' of industrial sites: Working on the edges of the construction industry, and building a studio from materials already to hand.
• The challenges of reuse: Why the industry still finds it easier to demolish than to recover.
• Public engagement: Why bringing people into the process is central to the practice.

Joel also reflects on living on a former Dunkirk 'little ship', moving from Lambeth Council to start Yes Make, being a 'lost boy' growing up, why bike mechanics saved him, and how learning from — and working with — his father shapes the projects he takes on.

And remember, Material Matters London runs from 15-17 September at UNLOCKED Shoreditch. It's free for trade but you must register in advance. You can find more information here: materialmatters.design/The-Fair

New to the podcast? Head to materialmatters.design/podcast for our playlists — including 'Start Here', 'Design Icons' and our Material Focus collections on clay, timber, fibre and biomaterials.

Explore more: Visit materialmatters.design for more on our fairs and conferences.

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Welcome to another summer bonus episode of Material Matters with Grant Gibson, this time in association with Hyosung TNC.

In this special episode, Grant talks to the South Korean company’s marketing and sustainability director, Simon Whitmarsh-Knight, about an intriguing new material the company is spending nearly $1bn to develop – a bio-based elastane (or spandex) that has the potential to revolutionise the clothing market. 

In this episode they discuss: the history of elastane and its ubiquity in the fashion industry; issues around the material and carbon emissions; how Hyosung TNC is looking to different solutions to reduce carbon; why the company is spending $1bn on an elastane made from sugar cane; building a new fully integrated production system in Vietnam; the importance of infrastructure and collaboration within the fashion world; traceability; how the new product performs and what other environments it could be used in; and the future of bio-based products. 

This episode has been sponsored by Hyosung TNC. For more information go to: https://www.hyosungtextile.com/en

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Can algae reshape a global beauty brand's material future? In this special summer bonus episode — recorded live at Aesop's Copenhagen store during 3daysofdesign — Grant Gibson is joined by Rebecca Lawson, Aesop's head of sustainability, and multi-award-winning artist and designer Jessie French, founder of Melbourne-based studio Other Matter.

In this episode, we dive into the collaboration between a heritage skincare brand and a pioneer of algae-derived polymers. We discuss:

• The Philosophy of Aesop: The history and ethos behind one of design's most-loved brands.
• Products with Purpose: Where sustainability sits inside the brand's DNA.
• Working with Algae: How Other Matter is turning a marine resource into a revolutionary material.
• Systems Design: Why the smartest sustainability is structural, not superficial.
• A Revolutionary Signage Film: The Aesop–French collaboration bringing algae into the built environment.
• Waste as Luxury: How Jessie is transforming her studio waste into a leather alternative.

Rebecca and Jessie also reflect on why the two forces joined up in the first place, and where their partnership could go next.

Explore more: Visit materialmatters.design for more on our fairs and conferences.

This episode has been sponsored by Aesop.

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Can a $21 window help a nation survive a war? Harry Blakiston Houston, founder of Insulate Ukraine, joins Grant Gibson for this landmark 150th episode to discuss how a simple double-layer window — made from PET and manufactured entirely in Ukraine — is helping families stay warm, creating local employment, and offering a sense of normality in a country shattered by Russia's invasion. In this episode, we dive into what 'material intelligence' looks like when designing under the most extreme constraints.

We discuss:

• Cardboard to PET: How early cardboard prototypes evolved into a $21, locally-manufactured double-layer window.
• Trust, Innovation and Empathy: The values driving Insulate Ukraine's work, and why they matter in a crisis.
• Ukraine's Civic Heroes: Celebrating the people keeping the country running.
• An Unlikely Origin: How the death of the Queen helped lead to the founding of Insulate Ukraine.
• Designing Under Fire: The particular difficulty of R&D in the humanitarian aid sector, and building an installation system from scratch.

Harry also reflects on day-to-day life in a war-torn country, working with whatever materials people had to hand, growing up in Northern Ireland, how Catholicism and boarding school shaped his thinking, and why he wants to rethink the development sector altogether.

Find out more and donate at insulate-ukraine.org.

Explore more: Visit materialmatters.design for more on our fairs and conferences.

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Can imperfection reshape modern industry? Hella Jongerius — one of the most influential designers of her generation, and one of the field's sharpest critical voices — joins Grant Gibson to discuss craft, colour, and her enduring fascination with the messy edges of mass production.

In this episode, we dive into the politics of materials and the discipline of long-term collaboration. We discuss:

• From Droog to Vitra: Emerging in 1993 alongside Jurgen Bey and Marcel Wanders, and what those early years taught her.
• Tough and Sweet: Developing her critical voice and taking aim at the design industry's obsession with newness and marketing.
• Materials Are Political: Why every choice of clay, textile or yarn carries weight.
• Avoiding the Path of Nostalgia: How to honour craft without retreating into it.
• Changing Industry from Within: Three decades of collaboration with Vitra, KLM, IKEA, Camper and Maharam.
• Colour as Communication: Why colour is a tool, not a decoration.

Hella also reflects on her major retrospective at the Vitra Design Museum, running studios across the Netherlands and Germany, her fascination with animals, and exploring her spiritual side.

Explore more: Visit materialmatters.design for more on our fairs and conferences.

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Can a needle and thread mend more than fabric? Ceramic artist Leah Jensen joins Grant Gibson to discuss the radical pivot in her practice after a brain cancer diagnosis — and how stitching became a daily act of survival, documentation and repair.

In this episode, we explore making as medicine and the quiet power of slow, analogue craft. We discuss:

• Renaissance Patterns: The unexpected art-historical roots of Leah's intricate, geometric ceramic surfaces.
• 'Anti-Digital' Making: Why she rejects screens and software in favour of the hand, the eye, and the hour-long stitch.
• The Brain Tumour Book: How embroidery became a diary of diagnosis, surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy — exhibited this April at London's Fitzrovia Chapel with Cavaliero Finn.
• 'Sewing is an act of emotional repair': Using thread — and her own hair — to process trauma, memory loss and identity.
• Return to Clay: Re-entering the ceramic studio after illness, and how the two mediums now speak to each other.

Leah also reflects on collapsing behind a bar in the moment that changed everything, the role of her parents and partner in her recovery, and what making has taught her about being present.

You can support The Brain Tumour Charity via the Brain Tumour Book fundraising page: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/braintumourbookcharityfundraisingexhibition

Explore more: Visit materialmatters.design for more on our fairs and conferences.

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Can we actually recycle cigarette butts, dirty nappies, and coffee pods? Tom Szaky, founder of TerraCycle and the reuse platform Loop, joins Grant Gibson to reveal how 'Material Intelligence' can turn global rubbish into a viable business.

In this episode, we dive into the economics of waste and the design of a circular future. We discuss:

• The ‘Milkman’ Model: How Loop is bringing back convenient reuse.
• Dirty Nappies & Chewing Gum: The tech behind recycling the ‘unrecyclable’.
• The Problem with Sandpaper: Why some materials remain a design flaw.
• Business of Rubbish: From a ‘worm poop’ startup to a global powerhouse.
• Politics & Sustainability: Building a green business in a shifting climate.

Tom also reflects on his journey as a refugee, dropping out of Princeton, and why his office is permanently filled with trash.

Explore more: Visit materialmatters.design for more on our fairs and conferences, and sign up to our newsletter for regular updates and insights on material intelligence.

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Can a communication designer change the global conversation on rubbish? Sophie Thomas OBE—a rare blend of campaigner, chartered waste manager, and practicing designer—joins Grant Gibson to discuss her extraordinary, three-decade journey at the vanguard of sustainable design.

In this episode, we explore how ‘material intelligence’ and circular design thinking can inform activism. We discuss:

• Graphic Activism: How design can move beyond ‘guilt’ to create real environmental change.
• Rubbish Tours: a life-changing trip to a Dutch recycling center and what happens when you take a thousand designers to a landfill site.
• Obsession with the Toothbrush: Why a simple, ubiquitous object exposes a global design flaw.
• The Future of Ink: Why Sophie’s future career is shifting back to the most fundamental graphic material.

Sophie also reflects on starting her career at The Body Shop, working on the Earth Centre, and whether a designer can ever create without guilt.

Explore more: Visit materialmatters.design for more on our fairs and conferences, and sign up to our newsletter for regular updates and insights on material intelligence.

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Can a discarded pair of jeans become a luxury item? Anna Foster, founder of the sustainable fashion brand ELV Denim, has saved thousands of garments from landfill by proving that they can. She joins Grant Gibson to discuss how ‘material intelligence’ is redefined in the world of high fashion.

In this episode, we dive into the complex water footprint of denim and the design of a regenerative fashion loop. We discuss:

• East London Vintage: How ELV is proving that ‘women are born to innovate.’
• Radical Localism: Finding all her skilled makers within a three-mile radius of her studio.
• Rethinking Luxury: Value and desire in materials that other people reject.
• Expanding the Palette: Upcycling old hotel linens and expanding beyond denim.

Anna also reflects on her 20-year career as a fashion editor and why she prefers her denim without stretch.

Explore more: Visit materialmatters.design for more on our fairs and conferences, and sign up to our newsletter for regular updates and insights on material intelligence.

Important fact check: Grant misread some of his statistics in this episode. We produce between 4.5 to 6 billion pairs of jeans a year and a pair of jeans uses 3,800 litres of water to produce. We’re happy to correct these errors. 

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Can seaweed eradicate single-use plastic? Rodrigo Garcia Gonzalez, co-founder of the award-winning packaging company Notpla, joins Grant Gibson to discuss the rapid rise of one of the world’s most exciting alternative materials.

In this episode, we dive into the history of seaweed as a resource and the technology of material replacement. We discuss:

• The Earthshot Prize: How a student project in a kitchen won a global environmental award.
• The Perfect Replacement: Why seaweed is the ultimate regenerative substitute for plastic packaging.
• Ooho & The London Marathon: Using edible bubbles to eliminate thousands of plastic bottles.
• Scaling Up: Notpla's journey from a crowdfunding campaign to a global brand.
• Industry Resistance: The political challenges of replacing traditional plastic.

Rodrigo also reflects on his early water balloon experiments in Hyde Park and why he almost became an architect.

Explore more: Visit materialmatters.design for more on our fairs and conferences, and sign up to our newsletter for regular updates and insights on material intelligence.

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Can a multi-disciplinary designer turn agricultural and industrial waste into raw materials for creativity? Shubhi Sachan, founder of the Material Library of India, joins Grant Gibson to discuss unlocking the potential in India's complex waste landscape.

In this episode, we dive into the global and local impact of waste. We discuss:

• The Material Library of India: Establishing a new center for research in New Delhi in 2017.
• Waste Colonialism: Tackling the ethical dimensions of international textile waste.
• Reimagining Cotton: Why the crop needs to be completely rethought as climate-adaptive.
• Rejected Condom Streetwear: Turning manufacturing flaws into a radical new material collection.
• The Future of MLI: Reusing industrial materials in a capitalist world.

Shubhi also reflects on opening a textile thrift store and why her family has questioned her path.

Explore more: Visit materialmatters.design for more on our fairs and conferences, and sign up to our newsletter for regular updates and insights on material intelligence.

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Carole Collet is professor in Design for Sustainable Futures at Central Saint Martins. She is also director of Maison/0, the CSM – LVMH creative platform for regenerative luxury and co-director of the Living Systems Lab, a research group at the same university. 

During 2000, she founded the Textile Futures course at CSM, which went on to become Material Futures and has spawned a string of brilliant students attempting to get to grips with some of the most important issues of the day. Several have appeared on this podcast. She is, in many respects, the grande dame of new materials thinking. 

In this episode we talk about: the two platforms she runs at CSM; how creativity can be a catalyst for regenerative luxury; what terms like bio- and regenerative design mean to her; working with UNESCO in Bolivia; creating lab-grown fur; plastic problems in the Philippines; her groundbreaking BIOLACE project; founding the Textile Futures MA and creating ‘disobedient’ design courses; a brief history of fast fashion; the magic of mycelium; growing up in the French countryside and working in her mother’s flower shop; becoming interested in ecology; and the importance of collaboration in her work.

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This episode of Material Matters is as much about an object as it is a material. Tom Broughton is the founder of Cubitts, a modern spectacles company based in London’s Kings Cross. The company started in 2013 from his kitchen table and has grown to 20 stores across the UK and US, serving 250,000 customers across 100 countries. It offers frames in a number of materials – such as stainless steel and titanium – but is renowned for its use of acetate.

According to the company’s website Cubitts was ‘founded to help more people live better lives through spectacles they proudly wear – and create a better, and more responsible, industry along the way.’

In this episode we talk about: how early Modernism influenced Cubitts; living in (and loving) the Isokon building; founding his company and ‘literally doing everything’; not having a business plan; the joy of acetate and how the material defines his brand; a brief history of spectacles and London’s making legacy; why he has a problem with the word ‘eyewear’; being prescribed glasses at the age of 14 and collecting vintage frames in his 20s; getting bored easily and enjoying failure; disrupting the optics industry; being 'unrelenting' and making sacrifices in his personal life; and having an addictive personality.

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Brodie Neill is a Tasmanian-born but London-based furniture designer, who has made a name for himself by creating pieces from waste and reclaimed materials. In 2016, for example, he represented Australia at the inaugural London Design Biennale with his exhibition entitled, Plastic Effects. In it, he showcased the Gyro Table, with a top made of fragments of recycled ocean plastic that had been salvaged from beaches in places like Hawaii and Cornwall.  

Over the years, his furniture pieces have been made from dowels, reclaimed school floors, and wood found in some extraordinary places. He has also collaborated with brands such as Microsoft, Mercedes-Benz and Alexander McQueen, while his limited edition works feature in museums and galleries around the globe.  

In this episode, we talk about: why he found himself in the Antarctic earlier this year; sharing a ship with over 30 scientists; the new work that is emerging from the 'adventure of a lifetime'; how finding plastic on a Tasmanian beach proved a pivotal moment in his career; creating the iconic Gyro Table; how he collects ocean plastic; creating high end products from ‘underwater’ wood and old school floors; unleashing ‘material potential’; inheriting his grandfather’s tools; day dreaming at school; and why he needs to be near making. 

And remember the inaugural Assemble with Material Matters takes place on 20 November at the Bank of England Conference Centre. Tickets cost £175 (+ VAT) and are officially available until 6 November. To secure your place click here

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James Fox wears a couple of hats. He is director of studies in History of Art at Emmanuel College, Cambridge and creative director of the Hugo Burge Foundation. 

As well as that he is a BAFTA-nominated broadcaster and an author with a brand new book out. Craftland: A Journey Through Britain's Lost Arts & Vanishing Trades is his journey through Britain to discover the craftspeople that literally make this island. En route he meets dry stone wallers, a rush weaver, a thatcher, a letter cutter and a watchmaker to name just a few. 

The book illustrates what we once had and what we could be in danger of losing, while also highlighting the importance of hand skill and materiality in a digital age. 

In this episode we talk about: why ‘craft’ remains a contentious word; craft as both a contemporary invention and an approach to life; the relationship between hand making and digital culture; how Fox discovered art as a child; bridging the divide between fine art and craft; the field’s ‘inherent diversity’; what the state could do to help makers; crafts potential role in the transition to Net Zero; why Craftland is ‘nostalgic for the present’; the importance of tacit knowledge; and why the future of making in Britain is bright. 

You can purchase a copy of Craftland here. 

The full programme for Assemble with Material Matters, our new one-day conference held at the Bank of England Conference Centre on 20 November, is available here.

And you can secure your place at the conference here.

If you love the podcast, you’ll adore the conference.

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Bonnie Hvillum is a Danish designer and founder of Natural Material Studio, which, as the names suggests, makes its own materials using natural resources and various waste streams. 

Working at the meeting point between material science, art and design, the studio creates products, installations, exhibitions and research projects, working with clients such as adidas, Calvin Klein, Noma, Dinesen, Copenhagen Contemporary and the Danish Architecture Centre.  

Bonnie will also be part of Material Matters London, which takes place from 17-20 September at Space House,  with her education platform focused on supporting curious creators who strive to craft a more holistic, local, and nature-minded future, The Material Way, which she runs with curator Rita Trindade. 

In this episode we talk about: being on maternity leave; founding Natural Material Studio and The Material Way; pushing the possibilities of materials; bonding history with the future… in a poetic way; casting textiles; her breakthrough moment; the craft behind her work; creating an interior you can melt; the importance of fluidity; ‘redefining wood’; studying Nordic literature at university; and being uncompromising but collaborative. 

Material Matters London runs from 17-20 September at Space House. Register here. 

And we’ve also opened a new on-line bookshop featuring many titles that have been talked about on this podcast. You can find that here.

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Simon Terry is the brand and marketing director, as well as owner (or as he prefers to describe himself, custodian), of the lamp company, Anglepoise, a product that has genuine claims to iconic status. Initially designed by George Carwardine in the 1930s and manufactured by Herbert Terry & Sons, over the years, the product has been used by the likes of Queen Elizabeth II, David Lloyd George, Picasso, Roald Dahl and Barbara Hepworth to name just a few. 

More recently, Terry has collaborated with fashion figures such as Margaret Howell and Paul Smith, as well as writing a design manifesto which talks about the importance of durability and repair. Importantly, the company now offers a lifetime guarantee for all its products. 

Happily too, it will be showing prominently at this year’s Material Matters London – which runs from 17-20 September at Space House – celebrating the 90th anniversary of the 1227.

In this episode we talk about: the pros and cons of running a family business; being ‘a small company with a big name’; how mistakes can lead to opportunities; his morning routine (which involves a spring); how the Anglepoise stays in perfect balance; the genius of George Carwardine; the product’s evolution; why the Terry family handed the US market to Luxo; joining the family firm and making huge changes; his background in movies; initially feeling out of his depth; working with the brilliant Sir Kenneth Grange to reinvigorate the brand; the importance of repair; wanting to support design’s grassroots; and why materials and systems are the company’s future. 

You pre-register for Material Matters London here.

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Lulu Harrison is a researcher and maker in sustainable material development. She creates glass pieces that have often been inspired by ancient making techniques, working with local and waste resources. 

Over the years, she has collaborated with historians, material scientists, and artists to create ‘geo-specific’ glass. Lulu has recently won the Ralph Saltzman Prize for her project Thames Glass – which uses various waste materials from the River Thames, including river sand, wood ashes and quagga mussel shells – and has had an accompanying solo show at the Design Museum in London.

In this episode we talk about: moving to Cornwall and building her own studio; how glass is made and why Thames Glass is different; being inspired by traditional techniques; collaborating with everyone from academics to Murano glassblowers; using wine waste, river sand and mussel shells in her glass recipes; how Covid helped shape her practice; swimming in The Thames as a child; her (extremely) creative family; finding school tough; starting her own fashion label; and stumbling upon glass by ‘happy accident’. 

And remember, Material Matters London runs from 17-20 September at Space House. The fair is free for architects and designers but it’s vital you register in advance. For more details go to our website: material matters.design

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Robin Givhan is the Washington Post’s senior critic-at-large, writing about politics, race and the arts. She won the Pulitzer Prize for criticism in 2006 and is the author of The Battle of Versailles: The Night American Fashion Stumbled into the Spotlight and Made History. 

Her latest book is entitled Make It Ours: Crashing the Gates of Culture with Virgil Abloh, which charts the life of the late designer from his childhood in Rockford, Illinois to his position as artistic director at Louis Vuitton menswear collection in Paris, the first black person to serve in that role in the brand’s 164-year history. 

It also illustrates the profound changes that occurred in the luxury fashion industry over his short but fascinating career.

In this episode, we talk about: why fashion matters; the role of the critic; Virgil Abloh’s ‘confounding’ qualities; how he created an extraordinary community; his imprint on fashion; how the world of luxury shifted around him; being the ‘ultimate non-perfectionist’; his controversial 3 per cent philosophy; judging value; craft and luxury; why the designer was ‘the right kind of Black man’; a pivotal relationship with rapper and producer Kanye West; the importance of T shirts; how Abloh became artistic director of Louis Vuitton's menswear collection; his tragic death; and his legacy. 

To buy a copy of Make it Ours, priced £20, from Material Matters contact us at: shop@materialmatters.design

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Sabine Marcelis is a Rotterdam-based designer and artist who, in her own words, is ‘forever in search of magical moments within materials’. She’s probably best known for her work in glass, resin and stone, which often plays with light and water. 

However, most recently, she has been part of R100, a project with Hydro, which asks a group of internationally renowned designers to create pieces from 100 per cent post-consumer aluminium, sourced and produced within a 100-kilometre radius. It will be shown at Material Matters Copenhagen at Gammel Dok, Christianshavn from 18-20 June. 

Over the years, Sabine has collaborated with brands such as Vitra, Renault and IKEA and won numerous awards, including Designer of the Year at the Dezeen Awards in 2024 and the Monocle magazine Designer of the Year in 2023.

In this episode we talk about: working with Hydro’s recycled aluminium; trying to find the limits of any project; not designing chairs; her relationship with resin and how best to use it; fountains; working in Mies’ Barcelona Pavilion; learning from IKEA; growing up on a flower farm; snowboarding; fighting for her ideas in Eindhoven; never wanting to work for anyone else; forging her studio in Rotterdam; and finding inspiration in unexpected places. 

Material Matters with Sabine Marcelis is sponsored by 3daysofdesign.

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David Venables is the European director for the American Hardwood Export Council. Over the last 20 years, the organisation has created an array of extraordinary installations, sculptures and products – working with the likes of Alison Brooks, Waugh Thistleton, Heatherwick Studio, Jaime Hayon, Benedetta Tagliabue, and Stefan Diez to name just a few – that extoll the virtues of wood in general and US hardwood in particular. 

Its latest installation. No. 1 Common, will launch at this year’s Material Matters Copenhagen, which runs from 18-20 June at Gammel Dok, Christianshavn, and includes new pieces from Andu Masebo, Anna Maria Øfstedal Eng, and Daniel Schofield.  

Importantly, David is someone steeped in the wood industry from birth. This is a man who really knows his material.

In this episode we talk about: AHEC’s new installation at Material Matters and why it’s vital to promote what nature provides; how the organisation chooses the architects and designers it works with; his post-Covid desire to promote a ‘lost’ generation of creatives; the relationship between fashion and wood; the history of the US hardwood forest and why it’s an environmental success story; the benefits of cutting down trees; President Trump, tariffs and selling American materials globally; growing up in the family saw mill; being fired as a salesperson; and, ultimately, why wood is his passion. 

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Rosa Whiteley is a designer, writer and researcher, who trained as an architect at Manchester School of Architecture and the Royal College of Art. 

Subsequently, she has worked within Cooking Sections, the Turner Prize nominated design and art collective, as a project manager and lead researcher and, since 2021, she has been the director of Material Research for CLIMAVORE CIC, which is a long-term, site-responsive project, exploring how to eat as humans change climates.

As part of her practice, she has been working on the islands of Skye and Raasay in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland, to develop building materials from waste seashells. 

In this episode she discusses: how CLIMAVORE promotes alternative ways of eating and living; issues around salmon fishing; the creation of a ‘multi-species intertidal table’ (and what exactly that might be); encouraging local restaurants to stop serving salmon and use bivalves instead; how that created a surfeit of shells; using the shells to create lime mortar and making tiles; worries around the circular economy; training as an architect but not wanting to build; and the politics of air and atmospheres.

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Claudy Jongstra is a Dutch artist and designer who has become globally renowned for her, often monumental, textile installations and tapestries made from wool. 

After establishing her studio in Friesland in the Dutch countryside during 2001, she started an ecological venture, which involved maintaining a herd of indigenous sheep and creating a biodynamic farm near her studio to grow plants used for natural dyes – effectively combining her art with ecological stewardship. 

Her work is in the permanent collections of a number of museums such the Museum of Modern Art and the Cooper-Hewitt in New York and the V&A in London. And she has won a slew of awards, including the 2022 Interior Design Hall of Fame Award. 

Not only that, she designed costumes for the Star Wars movies.

In this episode she discusses: the ‘intelligence’ of wool; leaving her job and taking two years to understand the material; setting up her own farm; the organic nature of her career path; being an activist; the process behind her extraordinary pieces; the special qualities of the Drenthe Heath sheep; why we burn so much wool; the secrets of Burgundian Black; making really big pieces; her love of cooking; issues with the vintage clothing industry; working with her son; oh and creating costumes for the Jedi…

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Tim Minshall is an expert in manufacturing and innovation. He is the inaugural Dr John C Taylor professor of innovation at the University of Cambridge, the head of the Engineering Department’s Institute for Manufacturing and a fellow of Churchill College.

Importantly too, he has published a new book. Your Life is Manufactured: How we make things, why it matters and how we can do it better does exactly what it says on the front cover, working as a primer for our complex global manufacturing system and illustrating how we make, move, and consume the materials we extract, grow, or create.

In this episode we discuss: different nations' attitude to manufacturing; Covid’s effect on global supply chains; how he treated a hospital like a factory during the pandemic; tariffs; lettuces; why reducing waste has led to fragility in our global system; manufacturing and trade-offs; the effect war has on innovation; not being a fan of GDP; the history of the shipping container; material change and the kettle; silicon and the digital revolution; creating too much data and AI; making things more sustainably; green hushing; and saving the planet through manufacturing. 

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Seetal Solanki describes herself as a materials translator and has been in the vanguard of material thinking since she launched her practice, Ma-tt-er, in 2015. 

Three years later she produced the hugely influential book, Why Materials Matter, and she has gone on to work with a variety of brands, including Nike, Selfridges and Potato Head in Bali, as well as teaching at institutions such as Central Saint Martins (where, incidentally, she graduated from the Textile Futures MA)  and the Royal College of Art. 

Her latest project saw her joining forces with designer Jorge Penades in Madrid for Uprooted, an exhibition that explored Spain’s olive oil industry. 

In this episode, we talk about: helping people build a relationship with materials; why she’s working with olive tree roots; interviewing materials; her fascination with cookery (and her love of a cheese soufflé); growing up in Leicester and feeling rejected from her home city; the spiritual side of materials; being ‘broken’ by Central Saint Martins as a student; material discrimination; how her practice was built on frustration; and why she’s in a hopeful place. 

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Callum Robinson makes all sorts of things out of wood, as well as being the creative director of Method Studio, the company he established with his wife, Marisa Giannasi, 15 years ago. 

In 2024, he published a fascinating, lyrical memoir. Ingrained: The making of a craftsman, tells the story of his lifelong fascination with his material of choice, his relationship with his woodworker father, and running a small business in straightened times. 

Essentially, it’s a pean to the joy and importance of making things with your hands and to nature itself.

In this episode we talk about: converting an old saw mill into his workshop; publishing Ingrained; the relationship between writing and making; getting into a ‘flow’ state; growing up with wood and how it makes him feel ‘at home’; the material’s ability to ‘radiate nostalgia’; why elm is ‘the tenacious, swaggering dandy of the forest’; the danger of woodworking; machine tool vertigo; his pivotal relationship with his father; opening his own store; and re-training his hands.

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Neil Brownsword is one of the most intriguing – and uncompromising – ceramic artists currently practicing in the UK. His work is inspired by the de-industrialisation of his home city, Stoke-on-Trent, and, appropriately enough, his career in ceramics began when he worked as an apprentice in the Wedgwood factory as a 16 year old in the mid 1980s. Subsequently, he went on to study at the University of Cardiff and the Royal College of Art. 

Neil’s research examines the manufacturing histories of North Staffordshire’s ceramic industry, and the effects globalisation has had upon people, place and traditional skills in recent decades. 

Over the years, he has won numerous awards and exhibited across the globe, while at the same time maintaining an important career in education. He is currently a professor of ceramics at the University of Staffordshire.

In this episode we talk about: his latest show at the Crafts Study Centre in Farnham, Surrey; historical copying in the ceramics industry; inducing failure; working at Wedgwood on a YTS scheme; being good at art in school; creating his early, sexually-charged pieces; not selling pots; why his work changed radically at the turn of the century; escaping the ‘stranglehold’ of narrative; becoming ‘a post-industrial factory manager’; bridling against ‘factory tourism’; putting industrial artisans on a cultural platform; investigating the ‘marginalised potential of the past’; and why it’s important to safeguard rather than preserve skill.

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Zandra Rhodes is one of the most recognisable and influential figures in fashion, as well as the founder of the Fashion and Textile Museum in London. 

Describing herself as both ‘chaotic’ and ‘fastidious’, she possesses a unique sense of colour and pattern. Over the years, she has dressed some of the world’s most famous people from Freddie Mercury, Elizabeth Taylor, Debbie Harry and Diana Ross to royals including Princess Anne, Princess Margaret and Princess Diana. She has also appeared on TV shows such as Absolutely Fabulous and Masterchef. 

Zandra was made a Dame in 2015, while this year, she published an intimate biography, entitled Iconic: My Life in Fashion in 50 Objects, which shines a light on an utterly extraordinary career. 

In this Yuletide episode, we talk about: Zandra’s ‘more is more’ home and studio; the importance of working with your hands; festive fun with cult actor Divine; her collecting habit; becoming interested in textile design at art college; her love of drawing; nearly meeting Andy Warhol; why pink is a ‘complicated’ colour; how print leads the garment in her work; breaking America; Lauren Bacall stepping on a pin in her studio;  working with the royal family and dressing Freddie Mercury; the influence of friendship and travel on her practice; dealing with cancer; and founding London’s Fashion and Textile Museum.

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Aaron Betsky is a US-based writer, educator and critic, who has served as director of the Cincinnati Art Museum and the Netherlands Architecture Institute, as well as a curator of architecture and design at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. 

He has also written over 20 books with subjects ranging from Zaha Hadid, Frank Lloyd Wright, and the Dutch architecture practice MVRDV to the relationship between architecture and same-sex desire. 

He is about to publish another. Don’t Build, Rebuild: The Case for Imaginative Reuse in Architecture implores the construction industry to refrain from doing what it does most – building – and, instead, find new ways to use the materials and stock we already possess. 

In this episode, we talk about: the trauma of election day in the US; how we can reuse buildings imaginatively and effectively; working with relics of the industrial age; why the digital world is changing the architect’s role; making spaces more egalitarian; squatting; what architects can learn from artists; urban mining; taking inspiration from music festivals; hanging out in the legendary Studio 54; the importance of loft living; and much, much more.

(This episode was recorded on election day in the US.)

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Nicole Rycroft is the founder and executive director of the award-winning environmental not-for-profit, Canopy. Since it launched in 1999, the Vancouver-based organisation has worked with more than 950 companies – including Marks & Spencer, Tesco and Puma – to ‘develop innovative solutions and make their supply chains more sustainable to help protect our world’s remaining ancient and endangered forests’. 

It started by looking at the book industry and persuading publishers to use more recycled paper, before turning its attention to packaging and fashion – shining a light on the industry’s use of viscose, in particular. 

Nicole has won a slew of awards and was recently named in the Business of Fashion’s top 500 most influential people. 

In this episode we talk about: being a ‘professional treehugger’; dealing with textile waste in India; how viscose is made and its negative effect on the environment; developing new manufacturing models for the material; working with major fashion brands to help them become more circular; her journey from physiotherapist and rower in Australia to activist in Canada; how contracting a life-threatening virus changed her life; running her first environmental organisation at nine years old; documenting human rights violations in Burma; and successfully greening the Harry Potter books with JK Rowling.

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Mark Hearld is an artist and designer who has a fascination with flora and fauna and has worked in a range of different media – including lithographic and linocut prints, painting, ceramics, textiles and tapestry. However, he is best known for his collage pieces. 

A graduate of Glasgow School of Art and the Royal College of Art, he has curated installations and exhibitions at York Art Gallery and Compton Verney and is an avid collector of objects. Over the years, he has been a huge advocate for the importance of mid-Twentieth century British artists such as Edward Bawden and Eric Ravillious and the role of craft in the fine art world. 

Another edition of Mark’s book, Raucous Invention – The Joy of Making, will be published by Thames and Hudson in 2025. 

In this episode we talk about: his fascination with paper; his need to be around other people when he works; collaborating with Edinburgh’s Dovecot Studios on a new series of tapestries; the process behind his collage work; the ‘mystery, poetry, joy and darkness’ of Hans Christian Andersen; why collage is like stepping onto a dance floor; writing a collage manifesto; how edges contain exuberance; having imposter syndrome at the Royal College of Art; and swimming against the art world’s tide for many years. 

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Todd Bracher is a US-based product designer who has worked with brands such as Humanscale, 3M, Herman Miller, Georg Jensen and Issey Miyake through his eponymous studio, winning a slew of awards along the way. 

More recently, he created another company, Betterlab, in which he collaborates with scientists and innovators to, in his words, ‘shape emerging research and foundational technologies into game-changing products’. The company has taken a particular interest in the potential of light, for medical and other, perhaps unexpected, uses. 

Todd’s latest project is a book. Design in Context, which is out now, illustrates how design – and design-led thinking – has the potential to change and shape every facet of business.

In this episode we talk about: generating value for different clients; the importance of collaboration; why he launched Betterlab; how he’s using light to combat myopia; finding truth in design; how light becomes a material; learning to shape rather than style it; working with UVC and creating extraordinary products for health environments; leaving the US to study in Copenhagen; working in Milan; learning the ‘business of design’ under Tom Dixon; and designing net positive furniture for Humanscale. 

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Zena Holloway is a bio-designer and founder of Rootfull, which creates exquisite clothes, lights and sculptures from grass roots. 

She started her career as an underwater photographer, doing extraordinary high-end fashion shoots, as well as working with the likes of Kylie Minogue, Tom Daley, Katie Price and numerous other celebrities. At the same time, she was capturing the effects of pollution on the UK’s river beds. 

So how and why did her career shift so dramatically?

In this episode Grant and Zena talk about: how she came to work with wheatgrass; early lessons with other materials; why her process is like a school experiment; how beeswax provided a Eureka! moment; ‘collaborating’ with her material; roots’ potential in industry; working with Kylie; giving up underwater photography and becoming a full-time bio-designer; creating new products with fashion designer Phoebe English; being fuelled by optimism; oh and stealing her son’s Lego. 

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Alkesh Parmar is a designer and researcher. Over the years, he has hollowed out champagne corks and turned them into chandeliers, as well as transforming traditional Indian terracotta cups into light fittings. But he is best known for his work with citrus peel in general – and orange peel in particular.

Using a material generally thought of as waste, he has created a variety of extraordinary products including a juicer (for obvious reasons) and a lampshade. His practice combines craft with critical design and, it’s fair to say, he was a relatively early adopter in the design industry of working with local materials and questioning the effects of globalisation.

When he’s not working with waste, he is also a teacher at the Royal College of Art. 

Alkesh was one of the stars of the Material Matters fair when it launched in 2022 and he’s returning to Bargehouse when the doors open for the 2024 edition, which runs from 18-21 September. 

In this episode we talk about: why he’s researching the history of oranges for the Material Matters fair; the properties of orange peel and how it can behave like leather; how he sources his material of choice; the importance of failure to his practice; not wanting to run a large company; coming from a family of shoemakers; and his relationship with light. 

The Material Matters fair is free for trade but you must register in advance here: https://registration.iceni-es.com/material-matters/reg-start.aspx

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Sanne Visser is a Dutch-born, London-based designer. She describes herself as a ‘material explorer, maker and researcher’, who is best known for a string of installations and products using human hair. Since graduating from Central Saint Martins a little under a decade ago, she has exhibited all over the world and been nominated for a number of awards. 

Happily too, she will be one of the stars of this year’s Material Matters fair – taking place at Bargehouse, Oxo Tower Wharf from 18-21 September – with an installation called, Locally Grown, that invites visitors to explore their hair as a new material. Essentially, people will able to have a free hair cut and then (if they stick around long enough) watch it being spun and turned into rope. Sounds kind of interesting right? 

In this episode she talks about: her installation at the Material Matters fair (obviously); how she became fascinated by hair in the first instance; the processes she puts the material through; its (quite) extraordinary properties; the ethics around ownership of designing with hair; creating new material systems; collaborating with makers, hairdressers and scientists; the products it’s possible to make with hair; coming from a creative family; finding school testing; and the importance of teaching to her practice.

And remember the Material Matters fair is free for trade but you must register in advance here: https://registration.iceni-es.com/material-matters/reg-start.aspx

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Artist Bharti Kher was brought up in England before moving to India almost on a whim in the early ’90s. Since then, she has established herself as a major player on the international art scene. 

Her sculptures talk about women’s place in society and the female body. She has a fascination with mythology and mixing the real with the magical, as well as a profound interest in materials and found objects. She has melted down bangles, used saris, and ceramic figures, as well as casting people with plaster. But she’s best known for her work using bindis, made from felt. 

And she will be using bindis to create a huge piece on London’s Southbank, which opens in September. Right now, she has a wonderful exhibition at Yorkshire Sculpture Park, entitled Bharti Kher: Alchemies, which shows a range of pieces from 2000-2024.

In this episode she talks about: using things she finds – from radiators to bangles; how objects have inherent narratives and why she ‘exhausts’ them; the importance of bindis; breaking things; her fascination with negative space; casting people in plaster; growing up in Epsom and loving art from a young age; travelling to New Delhi on the toss of a coin; and being married to a fellow artist. 

And remember the Material Matters fair takes place at Bargehouse, Oxo Tower Wharf from 18-21 September. It's free for trade but you must register in advance here: https://registration.iceni-es.com/material-matters/reg-start.aspx

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Oliver Heath is a designer, architect, author and one of the world’s leading advocates for biophilic design. Along with his team and the sustainable platform Planted, he currently has an exhibition at the Roca Gallery in South London, which focuses firmly on bio design – illustrating what it is, why it’s important, and how it can be used in the spaces we inhabit. 

Oliver has been a fixture on our TV screens since 1998, working for the likes of the BBC, ITV, Channel Four, the Discovery Channel and Norway’s TV2. He is a regular on DIY SOS and was, of course, one of the designers on the iconic ’90s show, Changing Rooms.

In this episode we talk about: his fascination with biophilia and how it affects his practice; its core principles and history; why sustainability is about more than counting carbon; problems with architecture education; his issues with clay; the importance of evidence in his design approach; how wood effects the heart rate; being average at school; getting famous on Changing Rooms; reinventing himself professionally… and the importance of soup. 

And remember the Material Matters fair takes place at Bargehouse, Oxo Tower Wharf from 18-21 September. It's free for trade but you must register in advance here: https://registration.iceni-es.com/material-matters/reg-start.aspx

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Ernest Scheyder is an author and senior correspondent for Reuters. His new book, The War Below: Lithium, Copper, and the Global Battle to Power Our Lives, looks at the impact of the green transition in the US – and, more particularly, the tensions over the increasing need to mine for metals to decarbonise the grid (and power a plethora of devices) against the nation’s desire to conserve the environment. 

The book illustrates how materials effect geo-politics and the urge for energy security, inform the national debate, and impact at a very local level. It also suggests that  becoming more sustainable is anything but straightforward.

In this episode we talk about: why lithium and copper are vital to our futures; where the materials are mined and processed; 'material colonialism'; how the pandemic changed perceptions of our supply chains; why some mineral-rich nations are excluding the US; the role of China in the 21st century global economy and the withering of US hegemony; the new ‘green arms race’; why mining is in a ‘perpetual state of decline’; the tension between local desires and global needs; the role of religion and conservation; child labour in the Democratic Republic of Congo;  the ‘dualistic’ policies of President Biden; and Scheyder’s issue with leaf blowers…

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Adi Toch is one of the world’s most fascinating metal artists, who over the years has buried her pieces for months on end before digging them up, and even made them react to sound. She has also taken part in collaborations with furniture makers and glass artists. 

Adi has work in the permanent collections of the V&A, The Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge, Ulster Museum in Northern Ireland, and the Jewish Museum in New York. She won a Wallpaper Magazine Design Award in 2017, and in that same year was a finalist of the Loewe Craft Prize. 

She has also exhibited around the world from the FOG Design + Art fair in San Francisco with Sarah Myerscough Gallery to Make Hauser & Wirth in Somerset.

In this episode we talk about: her extraordinary studio and sharing with two other leading metal artists; the relationships she has with different metals; her creative process and her use of ‘ghosts’; why the pandemic was hugely creative; her fascination with mirrors; how metal communicates through sound and ‘screams’; burying her pieces for months; growing up in Jerusalem; getting rejected initially from design school; and how the Gaza crisis has impacted on her identity. 

We’re delighted that this episode has been sponsored by the wonderful Sarah Myerscough Gallery. Established in 1998, the gallery represents a distinguished group of contemporary craft and design artists, specialising in material-led processes with a focus on wood and natural materials. It also curates a fascinating programme of exhibitions. To find out more go to: www.sarahmyerscough.com

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Jonathan Smales is a housing developer like few others. He is the co-founder and executive chairman of Human Nature, whose new project, The Phoenix, on the outskirts of Lewes, East Sussex in the UK, has just won planning permission. 

What makes the development different? The Phoenix will contain 685 homes, designed by a roster of fascinating architects, who will be working in materials such as cross laminated timber and Hempcrete. 

The development will be pretty much vehicle-free, with residents encouraged to make use of a car share scheme, an electric bike service, or a shuttle bus. It will have amenities including a community canteen, event hall, taproom, fitness centre and makers studios. There will be shared courtyards, parks and green corridors to promote communal living and provide habitats for local wildlife. 

As the architecture critic, Rowan Moore, wrote in The Observer recently: ‘It looks, in a land where new homes are largely lumpen products of volume housebuilders, miraculous.’ 

Jonathan also has one of those CVs that makes you wonder what you’ve been doing with your time. Over the years, he has been managing director of Greenpeace, an advisor on sustainability issues to the government, and he also led the Earth Centre project, regenerating a former coal mine outside Doncaster.

In this episode we talk about: how he got involved in The  Phoenix; his fascination with cities; building in CLT and Hempcrete; mining the Anthropocene; choosing the project’s architects; why the UK has forgotten how to make places; growing up in a mining village; a school trip to Paris that changed his life; coming up with the idea for the Earth Centre and why it closed so quickly. We also chat about his love of punk…

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Adam Yeats is co-founder and managing director of Bert Frank, one of the UK’s leading lighting companies. Yeats started the brand with designer, Robbie Llewellyn, in 2013. Since then it has gone from strength to strength, opening a showroom in London’s Clerkenwell in 2019, exhibiting at home and abroad, and winning the Elle Decoration British Design Award for Lighting in 2016. The company was also the headline sponsor for last year’s Material Matters fair. 

Craft has always been an intrinsic element of the brand and Yeats comes from a family steeped in making and British manufacturing. So what’s it like to be an ambitious manufacturing company in post-Brexit Britain?

In this episode we talk about: growing up in his father’s factory; why he lives next door to his workshop; founding the Bert Frank brand; the importance of craft and skill to the company’s products; working with brass; learning his trade, from sweeping the factory floor to running the business; how Bert Frank has evolved over the past decade; wanting to create a legacy for his family; the economic consequences of Brexit; starting a new assembly facility in Belgium; the importance of immigration to his workforce; the state of manufacturing in the UK; and why he always wanted to be a marine biologist.

To find out more about Material Matters go to materialmatters.design or check out our Instagram page: materialmatters.design.

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Ptolemy Mann is a British artist who came to widespread attention with her woven textile pieces, often stretched across a frame and notable for her extraordinary use of colour. 

More recently, her practice shifted and she has turned to painting on paper with fascinating – and inevitably colourful – results. Her latest pieces combine the two, as she paints on her hand-woven artworks. 

Ptolemy is hard to avoid at the moment. Currently, she has a show of paintings at the Union Club in London’s Soho. During May, there will also be a solo exhibition with Taste Contemporary at Cromwell Place and her first monograph is published by Hurtwood that same month.

In this episode we talk about: why the time is right for her first book; her fascination with colour; being told she was a ‘terrible’ painter as a student; taking up weaving and her love of the craft’s restrictions; learning to stand up for her ideas; unexpectedly creating products for John Lewis; picking up a paint brush again; how the realisation she wasn’t going to have children changed her practice; why her new works are ‘an act of anarchy’; and growing up with her ‘bohemian’ father.

To find out more about Material Matters go to materialmatters.design or check out our Instagram page materialmatters.design. 

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Bas van Abel founded Fairphone in 2013. The company attempts to transform the way our smartphones are manufactured, by reducing e-waste, sourcing conflict-free minerals, and improving working conditions in its supply chain. It creates a product consumers are encouraged to keep longer and which, importantly, they can also repair themselves. 

Fairphone was an immediate hit, attracting 25,000 orders when it launched its first smartphone via a crowd-funding campaign. It has now sold over half a million phones and employs 150 staff. 

In 2018, Bas stepped back as CEO of the company – although he remains a non-executive board member – and, subsequently, co-founded De Clique, a circular start up that looks at ways of dealing with food waste. He is also author of Open Design Now.

In this episode we talk about: not owning a mobile before he founded Fairphone; how smartphones are made and the global supply chain they require; issues around mining minerals; the importance of repair and longevity; why recycling is 'stupid'; wanting to create a ‘values based’ economic system; how his son’s broken Nintendo DS played a role in starting the company; his initial doubts; the immense stress starting the brand put him under; the company’s ‘shitty’ first phone; and trying to change the system from within. 

If you’re interested in purchasing a Fairphone please use this link: 

https://www.fairphone.com/en/?utm_medium=social&utm_source=podcast&utm_campaign=material_matters

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Can memory itself be a raw material for design? John Tuomey, co-founder of the award-winning practice O'Donnell + Tuomey joins Grant Gibson to discuss how his formative years in rural Ireland continue to shape his landmark architectural projects.

In this episode, we dive into the relationship between landscape, narrative, and building. We discuss:

• First Quarter: The process of writing his lyrical memoir during lockdown.
• The Architecture of 'Beyond': How a peripatetic childhood created his design preference for being contained, but with a view out.
• Architecture as Narrative: Why every building is a form of storytelling
• Reflections on Dublin’s Development: From the early optimism of a ‘European city’ to the limits of architectural influence today.

John also reflects on love-at-first-sight with his partner Sheila O'Donnell, and why his family thinks his next material should be a detective story.

Explore more: Visit materialmatters.design for more on our fairs and conferences, and sign up to our newsletter for regular updates and insights on material intelligence.

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Sara Grady and Alice Robinson co-founded British Pasture Leather in 2020. The duo aim in their own words ‘to link leather with exemplary farming and, in doing so, to redefine leather as an agricultural product’. All of which means creating a new network of systems within the industry. Essentially, the pair are attempting to make the material we buy traceable in the same way food is. 

In 2022, they created an exhibition, entitled Leather from British Pastures, during the London Design Festival, which included collaborations with the likes of Mulberry and New Balance, as well as Material Matters favourites, Bill Amberg and Simon Hasan. 

More recently, Alice has written a new book, Field Fork Fashion, which charts a bullock’s journey from a field to a series of finished products and dishes – creating her own supply chain in the process.

In this episode we talk about: how most leather is made; issues around the chrome tanning process; how British Pasture Leather is trying to make a difference;  increased meat consumption across the globe and why it changes the value of a hide; building a new supply chain; the state of the British tanning industry; producing their material entirely in the UK; redefining quality and embracing imperfection; how leather brought them together; buying a bullock and writing a book. 

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Florian Gadsby is a bit of a phenomenon. The ceramicist currently has a new show at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park, and has also published a memoir, By My Hands, that charts his formative years with clay, including apprenticeships in the UK and, most intriguingly, Japan. 

Essentially, it unpicks his route to becoming a fully, fledged professional potter, while at the same time, providing tips about his thinking and process. 

Since he started on Instagram a decade ago, Florian has built up a social media following that can only be described as formidable. He’s part of a generation that has changed the way pots, in particular, but craft, in general, can be communicated, using Instagram and YouTube as educational tools but also as a hugely effective channels for selling work. 

In this episode we talk about: what his studio says about him; his YSP show; selling ‘merch’; being young to publish a memoir; comparing writing to pottery; his fascination with the colour green; going to a Steiner school; deciding against university; his love of mugs and the joy of repetition; his apprenticeship in Japan; resisting the tag of the ‘Instagram potter’; the pressure of social media; and wanting his own apprentice (eventually). 

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Christien Meindertsma is a Dutch designer who has a fascination with materials. She currently has an installation at the V&A, entitled Re-forming Waste, which shows new work based around her interest in linoleum, as well as technological advances with the material she has described as her first love, wool.

Christien came to wider attention initially when she graduated from the Design Academy Eindhoven in 2003, with a book that catalogued a week’s worth of objects confiscated at security checkpoints in Schipol Airport.

She followed that up a few years later, with PIG 05049, an extraordinary tome which looked at all the products made using a single pig.

Her work is the collections of MoMA, the V&A, and the Vitra Design Museum. Over the years, she has won numerous Dutch Design Awards, as well as creating the award for the prestigious Earthshot Prize.

In this episode we talk about: working alone; experimenting with linoleum; her family’s history with wool; the importance of provenance; defining failure and success; not being interested in selling things or mass production; working with the city of Rotterdam to find ways to deal with its wool; collaborating with a ‘wobot’; designing like a journalist, the energy of Design Academy Eindhoven; and the unexpected uses of a  pig…

We are delighted this episode has been sponsored by the Surface Design Show. The event of choice for architects and designers, it runs from 6-8 February at London’s Business Design Centre and you can register for free at surfacedesignshow.com. We hope to see you there. 

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