Cultivating materials commercially, or in a do-it-yourself way.
Ecovative uses mycelium, the root structure of mushrooms, to grow advanced materials for skincare, packaging and apparel applications.
Malai is a biocomposite material with a feel comparable to leather or paper, made from bacterial cellulose grown from coconut water.
Using material science and creativity to turn environmental excess into valuable new resources.
Structural Skin, by Jorge Penadés, is an entirely animal-based material that combines leather offcuts with glue made from bones, to create new functional objects.
Granbyware is a range of everyday dinnerware, made from 100% recycled materials like crushed glass, old tiles, factory sludge and other waste destined for landfill.
The ability of a material to change will offer designers the opportunity to create a new generation of products and interiors that adapt to shifting contexts or user preferences.
4D Printing, developed as a collaboration between the MIT Self-Assembly Lab, Stratasys and Autodesk, is a new process for printing customizable smart materials, with the added capability of shape-transformation.
Active Textile, a collaboration between the Self-Assembly Lab, Designtex and Steelcase, features fabric with small perforations that open and close in response to changes in light or temperature.
Materials that can generate energy in response to environment and body changes.
MIT researchers are working on harvesting energy from ambient, high-frequency terahertz radiation to power portable electronics.
Saudi Arabian researchers are developing a hydrogel insert that can convert ultrasound to electric energy, which can be used to recharge implanted medical devices, such as pacemakers and insulin pumps.
Materials that have the ability to filter out environmental hazards to create pollution-free habitats.
prosolve370e, by Elegant Embellishments, is a a decorative architectural module that can be applied to the façade of a building to clean the surrounding air.
IsoHemp’s Hempcrete masonry blocks have a high natural fire-resistance, regulate humidity due to their permeability and act as a carbon sink, actively absorbing CO2 from the air.