Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Radical Matter: Rethinking Materials for a Sustainable Future presents the eight 'Big Ideas' that will shape and inform the choices of materials, design methods and manufacturing processes made by designers in the years ahead.

This book draws from a global community of designers who are pushing boundaries with new and disruptive approaches to their use of materials and design processes that go beyond the notion of 'sustainable design'. Holistic systems of design, production and consumption that will benefit our world environmentally, socially and economically are now possible, and material innovation will be a crucial element in achieving that goal.

The eight 'Big Ideas' unpack the themes and ideas that are impacting on our material world through cutting-edge case studies and expert opinions: 1) Today's Waste, Tomorrow's Raw Material; 2) Natural Assets; 3) Shit, Hair, Dust; 4) Material Connections; 5) Co-Creation; 6) Designed to Disappear; 7) Living Materials; and 8) Future Mining. Each 'Big Idea' includes fully illustrated case studies from leading designers and engineers who are at the cutting edge of material and design technology.

Packed with expert ideas and radical solutions to the current global changes faced by the design and manufacturing industries, Radical Matter contains a wealth of information to help design professionals and students turn revolutionary concepts into reality.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Library Journal Review

This imaginative book offers many alternatives to the standard "take-make-discard" model of processing virgin materials to manufacture consumer goods. Coauthors Franklin and Till, partners of the London-based research and design FranklinTill Studio, set forth eight sections that address: reusing waste streams, minimizing by-products, making with detritus, making as community connection, digital fabrication on demand, truly disposable products, living materials, and future mining. Each chapter begins with an essay by a designer or academic. Sixty case studies offer brief descriptions, photos, and website addresses for projects or organizations. Attractive objects include construction materials, furniture, housewares, textiles, jewelry, and sculpture. A radical aspect is the revelation of humble source materials, such as algae, bioresins, cellulose, dung, dust, flax, fungus, glass, hair, newspapers, plastic, sand, seaweed, straw, or wire. Ingenious design and production largely overcome any "ick" reaction. "Making workshops" using common, discarded, or recycled materials are promoted for creating communities and livelihoods among disadvantaged groups. The Internet and 3-D printing allow customized production on demand, reducing redundant inventory. VERDICT This remarkable survey highlights possibilities for more sustainable living. Designers, materials specialists, and environmentalists will find inspiration.-David R. Conn, formerly with Surrey Libs., BC © Copyright 2018. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

CHOICE Review

Radical Matter is a compendium of case studies celebrating the creativity of disruptive approaches to alternative systems of production. With more than 60 fully illustrated, somewhat eclectic examples, Franklin and Tell (cofounders of a multidisciplinary design, research, and trend-forecasting consultancy based in London) pave the way toward a more sustainable material future. The volume comprises eight chapters, and together they inspire and inform innovative ways of making and seeing. The authors showcase radical approaches, extraordinary visions, parallel practices, even the exploitation of extreme waste. The case studies range the world over. The authors make a strong case for rejecting old assumptions about materials and objects and reimagining materials and process to provide for a more sustainable future. Summing Up: Recommended. All readers. --Robert Paul Meden, Marymount University