New Radicals: FranklinTill and the Materials Revolution

-Words by Anthony

In the not too distant future, we could be wearing trainers made from ocean plastics and single-use compostable paper clothing. We could sit on chairs fashioned from dust at tables made from human hair, to eat from bowls moulded from cow dung, beneath lights shaded with a canopy of home-grown mushroom. 

Published on 8 March, FranklinTill’s Radical Matter is a compendium of the people, ideas, materials and processes at the forefront of a revolution in design thinking, and a blueprint for a sustainable future in the making. They are all things being made now, across the world, by a new generation of designers bent on fixing the broken cycle of making, consuming and discarding that threatens the survival of our planet. 

Having snuck a look through its pages, we can confirm it’s a visually beautiful, brilliantly timely, inspiring and important book, full of head-turning innovations, daring experiments and visionary positivity – so we cornered the two main brains behind it, Kate Franklin and Caroline Till, and asked them how and, most importantly, why Radical Matter came to be…

What are your aims in releasing Radical Matter?

Caroline Till We believe design research and design thinking has the power to approach some of the major social and environmental challenges we are facing in the 21st century. We wanted to turn the current, rather gloomy, global context on its head and convey a positive view – that we are potentially on the brink of a materials revolution that could help rebalance our relationship with our planet and reshape society for the better.

Up to now, we have relied on a supply of natural raw materials that we transport to large factories and turn into products. We then ship those products around the world, where we enjoy them all too briefly and discard them when we no longer require them. This model is obviously now reaching its physical limits. We need a better, smarter, more cyclical approach, in contrast to our current linear ‘take, make, discard’ relationship with materials. Thanks to a raft of exciting designers and makers who are fostering disruptive approaches, we are beginning to see that alternative systems of production and consumption are possible – and we are recognising that material innovation will be crucial to achieving this.

The book aims to champion the designer and the maker as agents for change. These designers and makers are not taking ‘sustainability’ as a set of limitations, but using the challenges of the 21st century as a starting point for a more radical and disruptive approach. The case studies, designers and makers we feature are all linked by a very hands-on approach – researching through making and allowing the process of making to inform their output.

As well as focusing on a process-led approach, Radical Matter also aims to celebrate a more open and collaborative way of working. In the quest for improved sustainability and enhanced performance, makers become alchemists, designers become scientists, and artisans become social entrepreneurs. All are crossing boundaries in the pursuit of a multidisciplinary approach; a spirit of collaboration is encouraging the exchange and sharing of knowledge and ideas.

Kate Franklin It’s about opening up conversations about material sustainability to a wider audience. We didn’t want this to just be a sustainable materials directory; we wanted this book to be full of insight, information AND inspiration – it was key that the work we featured was not just ‘another materials project’ but work that has been executed beautifully and sensitively. We believe that if you make information accessible and inspirational you open up conversations to a wider audience and hopefully inspire more designers and consumers to address some of the issues we face now and in the future. Ultimately, we want to inspire and inform new ways of making and seeing. After all, consumption is incurable, but the symptoms are treatable – so how can rethinking materials help in the fight for a better future?

What was the starting point for the book? Was there a eureka moment?

CT The book is the culmination of 13 years of research and thinking about materiality and the sustainable agenda. We’ve written extensively about material innovation in many forms, so Radical Matter provided a fantastic opportunity to bring all this thinking together in one place. Until recently, material considerations have been relatively low consideration in the design process, and education around material origins and processing techniques has been lacking. Yet if you consider where materials have come from, the processes and transformation you put them through, and where they will go after use, the social and environmental impact of our products can be totally redesigned.

How did the process of bringing the book together unfold?

KF We proposed the title nearly two years ago, and it took almost a year to write, design, layout and then go through the editing process with the publisher. That’s a long time for us – we’re used to delivering publications and client work in very short timeframes, so this was a bit of a luxury! What’s most exciting is that much of the themes we have written about are already gaining traction, so the timing seems spot on.

CT We were thrilled to have such an amazing response from the designers and makers we approached, and through interviewing them and writing about the work we uncovered some really exciting stories. We also wanted to provide a deeper perspective, so we invited a series of experts working in relevant fields to engage with particular subjects. This includes people like Joni Stenier from Opendesk talking about the potential of co-creation and distributed manufacture, and leading geologist Dr Jan Zalasiewicz discussing the impact of moving into a new geological era, one in which human activity has begun to influence the materials we will mine in the future.

Radical Matter is broken down into eight chapters – what’s the rationale behind this structure?

The fact that so many designers are working towards sustainable manufacture is remarkable. Is a sign of a global shift in design thinking, or a sign of a new generational perspective (to put it crudely, is this a ‘millennial thing’?)

KF Absolutely! We definitely see a new breed of designers who are reinventing their practices and developing new ones to make a difference. Whether they’re tackling waste, addressing social issues or forging new links between communities, these makers and doers are pushing for positive change in their diverse fields. With Radical Matter, we wanted to capture this movement of radical materiality. All the exciting designers featured are crossing boundaries in the pursuit of a multidisciplinary approach; a spirit of collaboration (a very millennial thing) that is encouraging the exchange of knowledge and ideas. We are not suggesting that this manifesto offers a global panacea, but we do believe that small movements generate momentum and inspiration for wider action. Radical thinking on any scale can lead to great change.

Is there a particular process or material featured that you are personally excited about?

CT I am fascinated by the ‘Material Connections’ chapter and the more intangible idea that designers are using materials and making as the means to drive social innovation. This ranges from establishing and maintaining communities to disseminating and sharing skills, often used to refresh our connections with tradition. Communal raft and making – the manipulation of material – speaks to our desire for physical connection with material, as well as with others. In an increasingly technological world, in which we engage more than ever with screen-based activity, it also promotes a sense of agency, fulfilment and empowerment. Material culture, the connection of humans to material and they way materials are processed into objects has come to the fore. In a backlash against mass production, we are seeing a growing concern to preserve and celebrate material and craft tradition.

Now that Radical Matter is complete, are you optimistic about the future than you were? Are we moving towards the end of consumer culture?