Material Innovation
Update June 2020
Material Innovation
Update June 2020
Hi, welcome to the June 2020 update on material innovation heading towards 2022. These are additional to the material directions that are identified for Colour Flow 2022. Materials play a significant role in the experience of an object, how it feels and to understand an object’s workings. By creating unexpected combinations between material, colour and shape, objects can be experienced as new.
Materials are an important part of the supplychain. The systems we create to design, make and deliver our products is vulnerable. Production may move closer to home, materials are chosen more carefully for their impact, their durability and their afterlife.
Zooming into new material innovation for 2022, it becomes clear that we move towards tactility and warmer materials that have depth and character to them. The home has grown in importance and a place where we now also work. Instead of focusing on new technological advancements, the search in new materials is for safety, warmth, identity and tactility.
The focus on hygiene is an important new direction for the materials, how long the Covid-19 virus can survive on a surface matters for developing new materials that add to safety. We have seen the return of plastic but the necessity to replace it with a biodegradable alternative is still very valid.
Materials have a role in making objects that are individual and expressive and show an identity. Craft, the human touch and working with existing materials shapes objects that have a soul. People are protesting for a better world, a human world where we live in balance with nature and where we are not merely seen as consumers.
The digital domain influences physical materials and merge into one new world. Sometimes the physical part is no longer needed, the digital is rich enough as an expression to exist virtually. The freedom to play and express your self in new ways creates a new otherworldly language.
Volume
SOFT SHAPED
The new normal of social distancing and living in the 1,5-metre society will bring an increase in voluminous materials. These are fluffy and filled with air to create a private and protected space while being together. The materials used are soft and can be both matt and shiny; they look quite bulky but are surprisingly lightweight. The shapes refer to the effect of memory foam, remembering your form and preferences, bending with your body and space.
Copper
WARM & HYGIENIC
Hygiene is the new definition of safety, the ways that promote health preservation and disease prevention. This new focus will influence spaces, materials and also the way we work, play and travel. Copper is a multi-faceted material that kills bacteria. Surfaces that are commonly touched such as door handles, push plates and railings will be increasingly be coated with copper for hygiene reasons.
Mesh
Playing with perforation
Usually, perforated and wired materials are executed in the grey nuances of aluminium. For 2022, mesh comes in natural brown shades, emphasising a more natural appearance. Irregularly folded and with additionally perforated layers in brown tones make facades but also clothes, natural plays of light, transparency and shadow. Woven wire fabrics and close-knit mesh are used for solar shading, ventilation, and connection with the outside. The patterns are irregular and computer-generated to place functions in the materials.
Stacking
Balance & shape
Solid, concrete materials that are balancing are used for heavy objects that appear to float, finding a balance in weight, challenging constructions and the laws of nature. By stacking, vertically and horizontally, new dimensions and exciting new perspectives are created. How far can we push it?
Carbon Absorbing
Reducing CO2
Now that we are used again to cleaner air and living in more healthy environments, we want to keep it like that. Materials can help, such as carbon dioxide-absorbing materials and structures that can efficiently absorb carbon dioxide directly from the atmosphere. Cities will become greener and contribute to our quality of life. When materials can take over the function of our trees and buildings improve air quality, the environmental health risks in the world can be addressed.
Alternatives
Vegan & non-toxic
We depend on nature for our well-being. People enjoyed the more quiet, slower pace of life during the pandemic and are not looking forward to going back to their old routines. A more natural life means that the materials that are used should be environmentally friendly, and contribute to preserving the earth for the next generations. Materials are animal-friendly alternatives and non-toxic. Wool made from plants, fur made from hemp, padding made from saltwater plants and leather made from cacti, all are alternative materials with a smaller footprint. Colouring is performed with alternative colouring methods, using natural ingredients and less water.
Humidity
Water-repellent or absorbing
The air that we breathe is made up of numerous gases, including water vapour, humidity refers to the amount of this water vapour in the atmosphere. There is a link between infection rates from viruses and humidity in rooms. Humidity is something we can control to safe humidity levels and therefore, humidity related materials will attract attention. In a warmer atmosphere, the body tries to cool itself through evaporation of moisture on the skin. But when the air is humid, evaporating the moisture becomes more difficult. Materials that attract or repel moisture assist with cooling now that we are facing a warming climate. Materials can become both warming, cooling, adjusting to the circumstances, becoming suitable for all year around.
Smart Surfaces
Function
Technology is all around us, and every object will become an interface, connecting us with the digital, also our clothes. Invisible tech is integrated into the materials that support you with what you are doing. This can be, for instance, lightening up when it becomes dark, be protective or being informative. Coatings are smart and reactive and are made without toxic chemicals.
Mineral
From the earth
There is an appreciation of natural materials that are untouched by humans or as less as possible to make it a product. Materials that have a natural beauty such as natural stone, away from regularity and newness. The patina tells the story of the age and use of the object. These materials are surfaces to explore; timeless objects with character can be made. The mesmerising effect of the material itself is often enough; shapes can be simple.
Texture
Touch & volume
Objects become shelters with protective material textures to explore. The materials are irregular, layered and provide warmth. The materials are tactile and a move away from industrialised products that all have become the same. Materials that are down to earth, cosy and imperfect for more unique expressions. Experimenting with combining ancient techniques and classical shapes, creating warm objects to cherish.
Folk Craft
Decorated
There is a reappreciation of the hand-made and artisanal, folk craft is being reinstalled. Local craftsmanship for creating unique objects with a story and making a connection with people that make the objects. Creating a relationship with the makers and ensuring work, community and livelihood. Woven, cut and braided straw, not machine-made, creating products that are an antidote to mass-production.
Clash
Re-use and combine
A lot can be done with existing materials; you don’t need to make new materials to create unique expressions. Combine, stitch, glue and collage what is there, combine shapes, materials and patterns to tell a new story. These material combinations are one of a kind that can not be replicated. They are expressive, loud, unique, political and personal material expressions.
Animated
Playful
Digital design influences physical forms and materials. In the digital domain, anything can be created, and physical rules such as gravity don’t apply. This limitless thinking influences new physical material use. Digital renderings become physical objects with rubbery surfaces and stacked shapes. The materials have a glow of light to them; they play with transparency, a world comes to life we have not seen before.
Dichroic
Colour effect
Materials can become more lively because of colour use; expressions are directed by the use of colour. Combining colour and cutting things into colour can make something simple look avantgardistic. Futuristic colour effects are combined with neutral tones and matt, dull surfaces. In this case, form follows colour outbursts, the use of colour directs the expression.
Digital-only
Skins
The non-physical becomes as crucial for expressions as the physical, seen in rendered images that are digitally created and for digital use. A layer is added on top of an image to change the appearance, a playful way of designing, full of options and opportunities. Nothing is stable; everything is changeable. Expressions are non-physical yet very real. Fully immersive and engaging experiences come to life.
Fluid
Translucent & flowing
Translucency is vital for the materials of 2022, fluid materials that create shapes that look like underwater figures, balloons, blobs and bubbles. The material resembles plastic or glass but have a more elusive feeling to it, a bubble-like material like a thin film that appears to be moving constantly.
Overview
Connection Colour Flow 2022
1/Additional to the lightweight and fluid materials of Eastern Perspective and the materials that are inspired by nostalgic beauty and wood and bamboo, we see new directions with materials that are voluminous but lightweight, the use of copper because of its hygienic features, natural coloured mesh and stacking.
2/Altered Earth showed weathered materials, perforation, materials for low carbon lifestyles, materials inspired by technology and science. Carbon-absorbing materials, the search for alternatives continues, humidity (cooling materials) and smart surfaces now supplement these directions.
3/In History, Future, Now now new materials are used. Instead, the materials that are used are already there. History of the Earth, indigo dyed, and woven remix now are updated with mineral materials, heavily textured materials, expressions of folk craft and a clash of seemingly random materials.
4/Neuro Aesthetics materials are materialised metallics, materials with light effects, otherworldly materials and glowing materials. New editions are animated, dichroic, digital-only materials and elusive fluid materials. These materials make the digital becoming more dominant and exciting.
