Material Matters with Grant Gibson

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. Support the show

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. Support the show

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.Support the show

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.Support the show

A bit of a Christmas treat this… 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 at Christmas; 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.Support the show

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.)Support the show

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.Support the show

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. Support the show

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. Support the show

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. Support the show

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.aspxSupport the show

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.aspxSupport the Show.

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.aspxSupport the Show.

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 principals 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.aspxSupport the Show.

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…Support the Show.

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.comSupport the Show.

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…Support the Show.

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.Support the Show.

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. Support the Show.

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_mattersSupport the show

There have been over 100 episodes of Material Matters but, for listeners who might be new to all this, the idea is that I speak to a designer, maker, artist, or architect about a material or technique with which they're intrinsically linked and discover how it changed their lives and careers. However, once in a while I break my own self-imposed format and interview someone I've always wanted to meet. This is one of those episodes. Architect John Tuomey is the co-founder of multi-award winning practice O'Donnell + Tuomey, with his wife Sheila O'Donnell. The firm has designed the Glucksman Gallery Cork, the Lyric Theatre in Belfast and the upcoming V&A East Museum, while in 2015, John and Sheila were awarded the prestigious RIBA Royal Gold Medal. Towards the end of 2023, he published First Quarter, a gorgeous, lyrical memoir that tells the story of his formative years – from childhood in rural Ireland through to becoming a fully-fledged architect in London and Dublin.In this episode we talk about: writing First Quarter during lockdown; how an email from his sister started the process; his peripatetic childhood; growing up in rural Ireland; the storytelling aspect of architecture; the brutality of his school years; the pivotal relationship with his father; the up-ending of Ireland's clergy; being an extrovert introvert; moving to Dublin and London; meeting Sheila at university; working for James Stirling; and the possibilities of a derelict site…Support the show

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. Support the show

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). Support the show

Christien Meinderstma 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. Support the show

This special festive episode is slightly different because, as we come to the end of 2023, we thought it would be interesting to talk to someone who has had a breakthrough year. And we couldn't think of anyone that description fits better than UK-based designer, Simone Brewster. In June, Simone held her first solo exhibition at the NOW Gallery on London's Greenwich Peninsular, entitled The Shape of Things. While, in September, her installation Spirit of Place with cork company, Amorim, opened on the Strand in the centre of the capital. These came with what amounts to a blizzard of publicity, including a profile in the New York Times. In short, she has been hard to avoid.In this episode Simone and Grant talk about: her brilliant year; how The Shape of Things informed her practice; creating ‘intimate architecture' with furniture and jewellery; her (occasionally extraordinary) use of colour; the importance of taking herself seriously; the thinking behind her best-known pieces, The Negress and The Mammy; painting during the pandemic; why people didn't know what to do with her work; working with cork; her issues with studying architecture; making as salvation; not fitting in… until now; and her plans for 2024. We're delighted that this episode has been sponsored by the American Hardwood Export Council Europe. You can find its excellent podcast Words on Wood here: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/words-on-wood/id1559894669. It's well worth checking out.Support the show

Jeremy Maxwell Wintrebert is a Paris-based designer, maker, and artist, obsessed with blown glass. In an eclectic career, that has seen him travelling through the USA and Europe, before settling in France in 2007, he has shown work at the V&A, Vessel Gallery in London, and Palais de Tokyo among others. His pieces are also held in a number public collections including: Bibliotheque de France de L'Ecole National des Chartes, and Germany's European Museum of Modern Glass.In 2016, Jeremy was the subject of a feature-length documentary about his work and extraordinary life, entitled Heart of Glass, while in 2019, he was awarded the Prix Bettencourt pour l'Intelligence de la Main.In this episode we talk about: having conversations with hot glass and looking for the secrets of the universe; the importance of teamwork to the production of his pieces; dreaming about his material of choice; the physicality involved in making; glass' relationship with the worlds of art and design; how hot glass ‘grabbed' his soul; a car accident that changed his life; growing up in Africa and losing his parents early; his subsequent substance abuse; and his desire to break the barriers between disciplines.Support the show

Neil Thomas is the founder and director of Atelier One, one of the most creative engineering practices in the UK. The firm has worked on building projects such as Singapore Arts Centre, Federation Square in Australia, and Baltic in Gateshead, as well as with a hugely impressive roster of artists, including Anish Kapoor, Marc Quinn and Rachel Whiteread. It has also created stages for stadium rock shows from Pink Floyd, The Rolling Stones, U2, and Take That, often in collaboration with architect, the late Mark Fisher.The practice was the engineer behind the opening ceremony of London's 2012 Olympic Games and the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. While Neil also teaches at Yale and MIT.Over recent years, he has developed a fascination with bamboo and was part of the team that created the award-winning Arc building, a community wellness space and gymnasium for the Green School campus in Bali.In this episode we chat about: the role of a structural engineer; his ability to talk a number of design languages; the genesis of his obsession with bamboo and its extraordinary properties; overcoming bamboo's image problem; giving up a teaching post at Yale to build with the material; wanting to be an engineer from childhood; the importance of David Bowie to his life; and, er, having a pony tail in his youth.Support the show

Caroline Till is a consultant, author, curator, and academic. She founded Franklin Till, along with Kate Franklin, in 2010 and, since then, the future research agency has worked with the likes of international textile exhibition Heimtextil, paper giant GF Smith, Caesarstone, Tarkett, and IKEA's former blue sky thinking agency, Space 10. The pair has published magazines such as Viewpoint and Viewpoint Colour and co-written the influential book Radical Matter, as well as curating Our Time on Earth, a touring exhibition about the future of the planet which started at London's Barbican last year.  Not only that, but for many years, Caroline headed up the Material Futures course at Central Saint Martins, which has produced a number of designers that have appeared on this podcast. She's also a speaker who is much in demand internationally and opened the talks programme at this year's Material Matters fair.In this episode we talk about: being a climate optimist; why Franklin Till specialises in material and colour; her issues with trends; turning down projects; not being keen on the word ‘sustainability'; defining regenerative design; the importance of seduction; issues with capitalism; thinking of materials as systems; technology's relationship with nature; and the benefits of studying textile design. However, we kick off with her objection to the UK's current Home Secretary, Suella Braverman… Our thanks go to the headline sponsor for this series of the podcast – and the Material Matters 2023 fair – the brilliant lighting specialist, Bert Frank. For more details go to: bertfrank.co.ukSupport the show

Tom Lloyd and Luke Pearson co-founded the hugely influential design studio, Pearson Lloyd, in 1997. Since then, it has gone on to work in areas such as the workplace, transport and health care, with organisations like Virgin, Lufthansa, the Department for Health, and furniture giant Senator. The practice is the Designer of the Year at the Material Matters 2023 fair and will be using the space at Bargehouse to investigate how its use of materials has been transformed over recent years, including projects with clients such as Modus, Batch.Works, Howe, Flokk, Profim and Camira. In this episode we talk about: controversially criticising Arne Jacobsen's classic Egg chair; their installation at Material Matters 2023; marrying craft and industry; how their material perspective has changed; balancing environmental, social and economic needs; why they're still using plastic; building out obsolescence; the aesthetics of circularity; bringing contemporary workplace theory to schools; the importance of visible fixings, durability and repair; working with the aviation industry; the problem with paint; meeting at the Royal College of Art; being drawn into the furniture industry; celebrating their differences; and fearing boredom. Our thanks go to the headline sponsor for this series of the podcast – and the Material Matters 2023 fair – the brilliant lighting specialist, Bert Frank. For more details go to: bertfrank.co.uk And to register for the Material Matters fair, which runs from 20-23 September at Bargehouse, Oxo Tower Wharf go to: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/material-matters-2023-tickets-591491014547PS apologies for my slightly ham-fisted Monty Python analogy…Support the show

Marie Carlisle is CEO and co-founder of social enterprise (and Material Matters exhibitor), Goldfinger. The organisation opened its doors at the foot of West London's Trellick Tower in 2013 and makes high end furniture from wood – that has often been reclaimed or ‘treecycled' – in its workshop. Not only that but it has a showroom and cafe, as well as an academy that teaches marginalised young people the craft of wood working through its apprenticeship programme. It is a fascinating and, I think, important place.In this episode we talk about: how Trellick Tower shaped the business; making waste aspirational; bridging North Kensington's social divide; why Goldfinger works with wood; the relationship between wood and wellbeing; the importance of ‘treecycling'; collaborating with the likes of Arup and Tom Dixon; her fascination with food and setting up the cafe; the once a month community meal; how the pandemic changed the People's Kitchen model; working with young people in the academy; how the social enterprise has changed over the past decade; Goldfinger's future. Our thanks go to the headline sponsor for this series of the podcast – and the Material Matters 2023 fair – the brilliant lighting specialist, Bert Frank. For more details go to: bertfrank.co.uk And to register for the Material Matters fair, which runs from 20-23 September at Bargehouse, Oxo Tower Wharf go to: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/material-matters-2023-tickets-591491014547Support the show

My guest for the 100th episode of Material Matters is a British designer who sits somewhere between industry and craft. Michael Marriott has a fascination with materials – so much so that his web shop is called Wood Metal Plastic – and a love of resourceful design. Over the years he's created furniture for the likes of Established & Sons, SCP, and Very Good and Proper, as well as designing and curating exhibitions, working on interiors, and teaching. However, he seems happiest in his own workshop, working on batch production pieces. It's safe to say he's a pivotal figure in the recent history of British design. In this episode we discuss: standing on the edge of regular design practice; but not being a craftsman; how tools change design and the importance of a jig; creating cost-effective products; why ‘resourceful' could be his middle name; the problem with design as an extension of marketing; his love of wood; not working with big Italian furniture brands; readymades and waste; how a trip to Ford's Dagenham factory changed his life; struggling at school; and his discovery of modernism. It's a delightful way to mark our centenary. Our thanks go to the headline sponsor for this series of the podcast – and the Material Matters 2023 fair – the brilliant lighting specialist, Bert Frank. For more details go to: bertfrank.co.uk And to register for the Material Matters fair, which runs from 20-23 September at Bargehouse, Oxo Tower Wharf go to: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/material-matters-2023-tickets-591491014547Support the show

Alice Kettle is one of the country's leading textile artists. She uses embroidery to tell stories and throw the spotlight on contemporary issues – most noticeably the refugee crisis in her series Thread Bearing Witness. Currently, she has a solo installation at two sites in The City of London as part of her prize for winning The Brookfield Properties Craft Award. While an exhibition she co-curated, Threads: Breathing Stories into Materials, opened at Bristol's Arnoldfini in July. She is also professor of textile arts at Manchester School of Art.In this episode we discuss: creativity as a humanising force; how the refugee crisis affected her practice; why making is empowering; the importance of scale; the special meaning of the number three; being influenced by Greek mythology; growing up in a boys' boarding school; her interest in stitching after the tragic death of her mother; her move from abstract painting to thread; and taking risks with her pieces. Our thanks go to the headline sponsor for this series of the podcast – and the Material Matters 2023 fair – the brilliant lighting specialist, Bert Frank. For more details go to: bertfrank.co.uk And to register for the Material Matters fair, which runs from 20-23 September at Bargehouse, Oxo Tower Wharf go to: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/material-matters-2023-tickets-591491014547Support the show

Beatie Wolfe is a musician and artist, who has in her time been described as a ‘musical weirdo and visionary' and one of the ‘22 people changing the world'. In a relatively short career she has: created a 3D interactive album app and a musical jacket; worked in the world's quietest room to develop an ‘anti-stream'; fired her music into space; made a documentary with the Barbican; designed an environmental protest piece, entitled From Green to Red, which was shown at the Nobel Prize Summit; worked with people suffering from dementia; and recorded a track for a 12 inch record made of bioplastic, alongside Michael Stipe. Her latest project, Imprinting: The Artist's Brain, was on show as part of the recent London Design Biennale at Somerset House, and is a 'sonic self-portrait' that involves old-school telephones as well as a thinking cap designed by an iconic tailor. The theme running through all this is her desire to 're-materialise' music and give it back a sense of ‘tangibility and ceremony'. In this episode we discuss: keeping space rock in her pocket; her latest project at the London Design Biennale; being self-critical as a child; writing her first songs aged nine; working with renowned tailor Mr Fish; the importance of collaboration; sending her music into space; finding the balance between innovation and tradition; her childhood desire to be a ninja; being in a grunge band; the power of art; and the importance of neurologist Oliver Sacks to her career. Our thanks go to the headline sponsor for this series of the podcast – and the Material Matters 2023 fair – the brilliant lighting specialist, Bert Frank. For more details go to: bertfrank.co.ukSupport the show

Ndidi Ekubia creates extraordinary, almost liquid-looking, vessels from silver. She graduated from the University of Wolverhampton in 1995, before going on to the Royal College of Art. Since then, her work has been shown internationally at exhibitions such as TEFAF in Maastricht, Masterpiece in London, and Pavilion of Art & Design in New York.Her pieces are held in Winchester Cathedral, Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museum and The Asmolean Museum in Oxford. Currently, she has a series of vessels in Mirror Mirror, a new exhibition at Chatsworth House that also contains furniture, lighting, ceramics, and sculpture from designers such as Fernando Laposse, Samuel Ross, Faye Toogood, and Ettore Sottsass. Ndidi was awarded an MBE in 2017 for services to silversmithing. In this episode we talk about: why she loves silver; the rhythm that lies behind her process; listening to the metal and trying not to ‘torture' her material; silver's memory; the importance of function; the African influence in her pieces; wanting to leave Manchester as a child but returning as an adult; her early love of Lowry; discovering metal as a student; having her work reassessed in the wake of Black Lives Matter; and her relationship with her gallery, Adrian Sassoon.We are delighted that the headline sponsor for this series of the podcast – and the Material Matters fair – is the brilliant lighting specialist, Bert Frank. For more details go to: bertfrank.co.ukSupport the show

Henry Tadros is chairman of one of the country's most renowned furniture companies, Ercol. The firm was founded by Italian immigrant, Lucian Ercolani, in 1920 but it really found its feet after the Second World War with the Windsor Range – an industrial version of a traditional craft chair – that is best known for its steam bending process and using a combination of elm and beech wood. Over the years, Ercol's furniture, with its pared back – but somehow very British –aesthetic, has found its way into millions of homes across the globe. And the company has remained firmly in family hands. Henry is the fourth generation to run Ercol, taking over from his father, Edward, last year. In this episode we talk about: the manufacturer's history with elm and beech; Dutch Elm Disease and its effect on the brand; turning to ash instead; launching his new brand L.Ercolani; working with designers such as Matthew Hilton, Tomoko Azumi and Norm Architects; joining the family business and working his way up from the factory floor; his family's fascinating history; the influence of the Shakers; the importance of apprenticeships for Ercol; the company's sometimes fraught relationship with Modernism; where Henry's brands will be in 15 years time.We are delighted that the headline sponsor for this series of the podcast – and the Material Matters fair – is the brilliant lighting specialist, Bert Frank. For more details go to: bertfrank.co.ukSupport the show

Donna Wilson is a globally-feted designer. She initially made a name for herself in 2003 with a series of knitted toy creatures made of lambswools, which managed to be odd and endearing all at the same time. Since then, she has worked with the likes of SCP, John Lewis, V&A Dundee, as well as having a solo show at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park. Meanwhile, her range of products has expanded, encompassing furniture and accessories, sculpture, fashion, and magazines. There's also a book. In 2010, she was named Designer of the Year at Elle Decoration's British Design Awards. Most recently, she has launched The Knit Shop, a micro-knit factory in Dundee. She describes the new production facility as ‘my small bit to keep the tradition of knitwear and textile production in Scotland alive, so that these precious skills are not lost forever'.In this episode, we talk about: taking control of her production and the difficulty of manufacturing in the UK; how the pandemic re-shaped her business; becoming a brand; creating her creatures; preserving her craft essence; the importance of repair; having a poem written about her (yes, really); knitting; growing up on a Scottish farm and being inspired by her grandmother; and how getting spotted by New York design retailer Murray Moss changed her career. We are delighted that the headline sponsor for this series of the podcast – and the Material Matters fair – is the brilliant lighting specialist, Bert Frank. For more details go to: bertfrank.co.ukSupport the show

Julian Stair is one of the UK's leading ceramic artists. He has exhibited internationally since the 1980s and made his name making beautiful, pared-back everyday forms. Julian's work is in 30 public collections, including the British Museum and the V&A and he was awarded an OBE in 2022 In March, he launched a fascinating, and deeply moving, new exhibition at the magnificent Sainsbury Centre near Norwich, entitled Art, Death and the Afterlife. The show is his response to the pandemic and the cinerary jars and abstracted figurative forms invite visitors to meditate on the relationship between the clay vessel and the human body. To emphasise the point, in a number of the pots, the clay itself contains the cremated ashes of people donated by their loved ones. In this episode we discuss: how his new show was shaped by the pandemic; the relationship between the pot and the human body; why pots matter; using people's ashes to create his work and reflecting their personalities in a vessel; art's ability to cross boundaries; working against the tides of fashion; the importance of writing and history to his practice; and dealing with the death of his own son. This series of the podcast – and the Material Matters 2023 fair – is brought to you by the brilliant lighting specialist, Bert Frank. For more details go to: bertfrank.co.ukMeanwhile, this episode has been sponsored by Maak, the specialist auction house and art consultancy dedicated to contemporary ceramics and craft. To find out more go to: maaklondon.comSupport the show

Paul Cocksedge is a London-based designer who has built a reputation over the past twenty years for creating projects that push the limits of technology and materials. During that time, for example, he has melted polystyrene cups in an oven to make a lamp shade, treated steel as if it was a folded piece of paper, worked with concrete from the floor of his own studio, and fused metal under the snow. His CV contains major exhibitions at galleries such as Friedman Benda in New York and Carpenters Workshop Gallery in London, installations in Milan, public art projects such as Please Be Seated and Drop for the London Design Festival and products that range from picnic blankets inspired by the pandemic to a bluetooth device that gives old speakers a second life. His most recent exhibition, called Coalescence, which was held earlier in March at Liverpool Cathedral, investigated coal. In this episode we talk about: why he decided to work with coal; going down a mine in South Wales; emotionally ‘feeling' his ideas; the role anger plays in his creative process; his early fascination with light; the influence on his career of Marc Benda, Ingo Maurer, Ron Arad and Joana Pinho; making a steel table ‘dance' and turning the concrete floor of his studio into furniture; wanting to be a pilot as a child; ‘bribing' his way into the Royal College of Art with fake fivers; bonding metal under snow; and why he doesn't want to be an architect. Support the show

Ineke Hans is a world-renowned product and furniture designer. She originally studied art at Hogeschool voor de Kunsten Arnhem before switching to design. In 1993, she moved to London's Royal College of Art and, subsequently, worked for Habitat as a furniture designer. By the end of the decade she was focusing on her own work and, since then, clients have included Ahrend, Arco, Iittala, SCP and Magis to name just a few.  Currently, she spilts her time between Arnhem and Berlin, where she is professor in the product and fashion design department of UDK university in Berlin. Most recently she has created, Rex, a sustainable and recyclable chair for start-up company Circuform, which has won a slew of prizes – including product of the year at the Dutch Design Awards. As we'll hear, the product has a bit of history and is a piece that perhaps points the way forward for the furniture industry. In this episode we about about: splitting her time between two countries; being a ‘critical' designer; working with recycled plastic; the history of her award-winning chair Rex and how it's breaking new ground; why her parents didn't want her to go to art school; giving up sculpture for design; moving to London in the '90s; not being part of Droog; and her fascination with furniture.Support the show

Darren Appiagyei is a wood turner and founder of inthegrain. The Camberwell College of Arts graduate made his name with vessels fashioned from the Banksia nut. Subsequently, he has gone on to create pieces from waste wood he finds on a local farm not far from his studio in London's Deptford.  He believes his work is ‘about embracing the intrinsic beauty of the wood; be it a crack, texture, knots or lack of symmetry', adding that ‘it's about allowing the wood to speak for itself and enabling the inner beauty of the wood to shine'.His pieces have been included in shows such as 300 Objects during London Craft Week in 2020, Salon Art + Design at Park Avenue Armory in New York, and he had his first solo show at the Garden Museum in 2021. He will also be exhibiting with The New Craftsmen at this year's Collect fair which runs at Somerset House from 3-5 March 2023. Darren is definitely one to watch. In this episode we talk about: how table tennis played a vital role in his career; learning to turn as a student; discovering the Banksia nut by chance; how he ‘collaborates' with wood; his Ghanaian heritage; dealing with his mother's mental health issues as a child; why wood became a form of therapy; and writing his memoir.Support the show

Summer Islam is a founding director of Material Cultures, a not-for-profit organisation that in its own words ‘challenges the systems, technologies, processes, supply chains, regulations and materials that make up the construction industry with the aim of transforming the way we build'.Currently, Summer has an installation in London's Building Centre, along with her partners, Paloma Gormley and George Massoud. Homegrown: Building a Post-Carbon Future is notable for the large straw and timber structure at its heart. The trio has also published a new pocket-sized book, Material Reform, that attempts to set out the way we should build in the future, examining the ‘technification' of architecture, our reliance on extractive processes, and investigating how we should build with biomaterials. It's a fascinating, far reaching, read. In this episode we talk about: the philosophy behind Material Cultures; the problems with the construction industry and why it needs to change; being a ‘reformist' rather than a ‘revolutionary'; disagreeing with Norman Foster on concrete; how biomaterials can simplify the way we build; factories as places of experimentation; the importance of repair; architects' ‘arrogant' use of timber; why straw is vital to our future; and putting Material Cultures' ideas into practice. Support the show

Keith Brymer Jones is a potter, whose hand-made ceramics – which include the best selling Word Range – have been stocked in major stores, including Habitat, Laura Ashley and Heals. Over the years, he has been a ballet dancer, a front man in a nearly famous post-punk band, and a YouTube sensation. However, he is best known as a judge on the hugely popular The Great Pottery Throwdown, which is currently showing on Channel 4. His warm, and often confessional, autobiography Boy in a China Shop, is just out in paperback. It tells the story of a life that has seen him bullied at school, be attacked by a lion, and raise the roof at the Marquee Club. However, the thread that holds his story together is clay. In this episode we talk about: how it feels to throw a pot; discovering clay at school; how dyslexia shaped his career; auditioning for the Royal Ballet School; his relationship with his parents; drawing inspiration from Lucie Rie and Isaac Button; getting beaten up as a New Romantic; singing in a (nearly famous) band and getting played on Radio One; making pots in China; and becoming a TV star.Support the show

Peter Apps is a journalist and author, as well as the deputy editor of Inside Housing. His extraordinary, devastating new book, Show Me The Bodies: How We Let Grenfell Happen, looks at the evidence of the public enquiry into the circumstances leading up to, and surrounding, the fire at London's Grenfell Tower on the night of 14 June 2017. Unpicking evidence heard over the course of 300 public hearings and 1600 witness statements, he paints a deeply disturbing picture of the historical, systemic, and practical failures that took the lives of 72 people, telling personal, tragic stories with a deep sense of empathy combined with journalistic rigour. Show Me The Bodies also shows in stark detail why materials – and the stuff that literally surrounds us and is usually specified for us – really do matter.In this episode Apps illustrates: how combustible materials came to be wrapped around a 24 storey building; the relationship between big business and government; the role the Cameron administration's austerity policy played in denuding vital services; and the mistakes that were made on the evening itself. He also asks how important the issues of class and race were to the disaster and describes Grenfell's  shocking aftermath. This isn't an easy listen but it is vital.Support the show

Rosalie McMillan and Adam Fairweather are co-founders of the materials, design and manufacturing house, Smile Plastics. They have a factory in South Wales which takes plastics and other materials traditionally classed as waste and transforms them into extraordinarily eye-catching, large scale, solid surface panels. Over the years, the company has worked with the likes of Stella McCartney, Christian Dior, Paul Smith, Selfridges and the Wellcome Trust to name just a handful. Interestingly, this is the second coming for the material. I first came across it in the mid-1990s, when it was created by the designer and educator, Jane Atfield, for her renowned RCP2 chair, a piece that is in the permanent collections of the V&A and the Crafts Council and which is currently included the Yinka Ilori show, Parables for Happiness, at the London Design Museum.In this episode we talk about: the history of Smile Plastics; reviving the company in 2014 after it had closed four years earlier; how Adam and Rosalie started in a bomb shelter next to piles of compost; why the company was ahead of its time; the craft behind the material's process; Adam's early fascination with coffee waste; Rosalie's other career in jewellery; their live/work balance; calling the factory's machines Colin; and their ambitious plans for global growth.Support the show

Aric Chen is general and artistic director of the Het Nieuwe Instituut, the Dutch national museum for architecture, design and digital culture in Rotterdam. During one of those careers that makes you wonder what on earth you've been doing with your time, he has also been creative director of Beijing Design Week, lead curator for design and architecture at M+ in Hong Kong, curatorial director of the Design Miami fairs in Miami Beach and Basel, and professor and founding director of the Curatorial Lab at the College of Design and Innovation at Tongji University in Shanghai.As a result, he has a genuinely global perspective of the design industry. In this episode we talk about: the Instituut's new show that looks at design and energy; issues around decarbonising the grid; his problem with design manifestos; how the Instituut is becoming a ‘Zoop' and giving non-humans a voice (you read that right); providing agency to microbes; making new ideas visible; why he didn't become an architect; his first job in PR; the relationship between journalism and curating; the similarities between the US and China; and how the Instituut will curate next year's London Design Biennale. (For various reasons – mainly to do with microphones being held up in EU customs – the sound on this episode isn't up to our usually quality. Apologies but, frankly, I'm blaming Brexit.)Support the show

Professor Rebecca Earley is a design researcher and award-winning team leader at University of the Arts London and is based at Chelsea College of Arts where she is Professor of Circular Design Futures. Initially, she trained as a printed textile designer before creating her own fashion label, B.Earley, in 1995. Her prints and garments have been commissioned by the likes of Bjork and Damien Hirst. They are also in the collections of the V&A and the Pitt Rivers Museum in Oxford. More recently though, she has carved a global reputation as one of the leading thinkers around the need for fashion to become circular. Projects include HEREWEAR, which investigated how bio-based agricultural waste could be turned into material for locally-made clothing and TRASH2CASH that brought designers together with scientists to find ways to regenerate waste cotton and polyester. Not only that but she also co-founded World Circular Textiles Day in 2020.In this episode we chat about: how she started using polyester and why it's a problematic material; idealism versus pragmatism and transition rather than revolt; the value system we build around materials; discovering textile design by chance; empowering women through the education system; circularity's relationship with the market; designing systems; the importance of people; and her love of wild swimming.Support the show

As a special preview to Material Matters 2022, launching from 22-25 September at Bargehouse, Oxo Tower Wharf, we meet one of the stars of the fair. Benjamin Hubert is an industrial designer and founder of LAYER, the experience design agency that has worked with the likes of Airbus, Bang & Olufsen, Braun and Moroso, to name just a handful. The practice is celebrating the launch of its new monograph with an exhibition at the show. The book, written by Max Fraser and published by Phaidon, traces Benjamin's journey from graduate designer to establishing and, subsequently, expanding his own studio. In the process, it sheds light on the business of design and what it takes to create a successful practice. Don't worry though there is plenty on the importance of materials here too.In this episode we talk about: how his practice fared during the pandemic; why he's publishing a monograph now; how his process includes the use of watercolours; creating LAYER and a controversial speech in South Africa; expanding his portfolio from designing furniture to creating apps; the importance of making and painting as a child; being driven to succeed; having a thick skin and learning to accept rejection; working in 3D knitting; taking online abuse. It's a fascinating listen. To visit Material Matters 2022, it's really important register at this link before you arrive: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/material-matters-2022-tickets-373171364597Support the show

Hannah and Justin Floyd are the creators of an intriguing material, called SolidWool. The composite is made up of wool, which is used as the reinforcement, and bio-resin that acts as a binder. The wool itself comes from the Herdwick sheep found in the Lake District that was once a staple of the carpet industry but which has recently fallen out of vogue. According to the Floyds, some farmers have taken to burning fleeces because they were fetching next to nothing on the open market. So instead, they set about finding a new use for something increasingly considered as waste and imbuing it with value. The finished result is beautifully smooth and probably best compared to fibreglass. When Grant first came across the duo at a show in Milan almost a decade ago, they were displaying a range of items made from the material, including: knives, sunglasses, a table and, perhaps most importantly, the extremely elegant Hembury Chair. After a serious health scare, the pair sold their company to Roger Oates Design in 2020. It put a new version of the Hembury back into production, with Justin staying on as a consultant. In this episode we talk about: how SolidWool is made; the importance of beauty; issues with Herdwick wool; taking inspiration from where they lived; the desire to produce ‘products with purpose'; the importance of play; why designers love chairs; working together; overcoming cancer; selling the company; and Justin's unfinished business with SolidWool. And a reminder that to visit Material Matters 2022, which runs at Bargehouse, Oxo Tower Wharf from 22-25 September you need to register here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/material-matters-2022-tickets-373171364597Support the show

Simon Hasan made a name for himself when he graduated from the Design Products course of the Royal College of Art in 2008 with a collection of pieces made from Cuir Bouilli or boiled leather, an ancient material that was used to make medieval armour. The collection made quite a splash and, subsequently, he worked on a number of projects such as Craft Punk, during the Milan Design Week in 2009, the Designer in Residence Programme at the Design Museum and the Vauxhall Collective. His work embraces different scales from furniture to accessories and more recently, he has collaborated with the likes of Kvadrat, Another Country, Linley and Chloe. Simon has received two Wallpaper Design Awards and he has pieces in the permanent collections of the Crafts Council and the Fondazione Fendi. He taught for many years at the RCA and is currently Furniture and Product Design Course leader at London Metropolitan University.In this episode we talk about: the history of Cuir Bouilli; why he alighted on the material in the first place; his fascination with Dutch design; being the 'odd one out' at the Royal College of Art; never wanting to make life easy for himself; the relationship between craft, industry and fashion; working in the advertising industry before discovering design; failing to apply himself at school; collaborating with global brands; and why teaching is so important to him. And a reminder that to visit Material Matters 2022, which runs at Bargehouse, Oxo Tower Wharf from 22-25 September you need to register here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/material-matters-2022-tickets-373171364597Support the show

Michael Young is a world renowned product designer who initially made his name in London during the mid-90s, and quickly found himself working for significant brands, including Magis and Rosenthal. After a sojourn in Iceland, he traversed the globe and set up his practice in South East Asia. Over the years, his portfolio has become wildly eclectic. Young has designed furniture for Coalesse, speakers for KEF, suitcases for Mon Carbone, and bikes for Giant. He has also re-imagined the Mini Moke,  created his own beer brand, and produced gallery pieces to boot.In this episode we discuss: living and working around the world during the pandemic; managing a global practice in Hong Kong; launching a beer brand aimed at creatives; his fascination with making and how it informs his process; learning from Tom Dixon; redesigning the Mini Moke; being an ‘explorer'; copying in China; being diagnosed with dyslexia and the impact it has on creativity; the role Sir Terence Conran played in his nascent career; developing a thick skin; oh and why he hasn't yet designed a comfortable sofa. And a reminder that to visit Material Matters 2022, which runs at Bargehouse, Oxo Tower Wharf from 22-25 September you need to register here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/material-matters-2022-tickets-373171364597It's going to be great!!Support the show

Majeda Clarke is a weaver, whose work is concerned with identity and a sense of place. She combines traditional techniques from some very different parts of the world – such as Bangladesh and North Wales – with an aesthetic that has been influenced by Josef and Anni Albers. She came to textiles relatively late in life (having previously been in education) but has gone on to win a number of awards, as well as exhibiting at the Aram Gallery, Mint and Fortnum & Mason in London. She has also collaborated with the likes of The Rothschild Foundation and The Citizens of the World Choir. In this episode we talk about: her passion for collecting; why she makes scarves in Bangladesh and blankets in Wales; growing up on a tea plantation; being locked in a cell when she arrived in the UK at the age of five; producing art in lockdown; how the Black Lives Matter movement has shifted her thinking; the pressure of representing; her fascination with regional skills; and encouraging mistakes.Support the show