On March 13, 2024, Make Good: Rethinking Material Futures hosted its third symposium in the packed-out Lydia and Manfred Gorvy Lecture Theatre at the V&A. Here we share our recordings from the day.
The 2024 Make Good symposium brought together international speakers from disciplines spanning design, agriculture, manufacturing and architecture to discuss the potential of waste, re-use and circularity in production. It took its cue from the recent Make Good display: Re-forming Waste, which presented Dutch designer Christien Meindertsma’s groundbreaking research into waste wool and linoleum.
The day kicked-off with an introduction by Christopher Wilk, the V&A’s Keeper of Performance, Furniture, Textiles and Fashion, who spoke about the museum’s engagement with sustainability, before academics, architects, designers and industry leaders took to the stage to talk about wool, circularity, waste streams and scale.
Session 1: On Wool
In our first session, Andrew Hogley of British Wool, a farmers’ cooperative, showed us the cycle of wool from sheep to yarn; Mattia Trovato from Italian wool manufacturer Manteco talked about recycling wool at scale and Meindertsma demonstrated why we should apply technology to this age-old material.
Session 2: On Circularity
Our second session, On Circularity, was approached from a position of theory and practice. Designer and chartered waste manager Sophie Thomas talked about the vital role the circular economy will play in our energy transition, while PearsonLloyd’s Tom Lloyd took us into the detail of working to circular design principles – and the kind of decisions designers now need to make.
Session 3: On Waste Streams
In our third session we heard from designers and architects who centre their practice around the reuse of materials that are often discarded. Bobby Kolade of Kampala-based clothing brand Buzigahill told us why second-hand clothes are his raw material. Jorge Penadés introduced his on-going work with olive-tree roots and architecture educators Aude-Line Dulière and Juliet Haysom discussed demolition and re-use in construction and the new technology that is changing practice.
Session 4: On Scale
The final session of the day looked at how architects and designers are addressing questions of scale in their work. Andrew Waugh of Waugh Thistleton Architects spoke about scaling up the use of wood in UK construction while Tosin Oshinowo, curator of the recent Sharjah architecture triennial and Jan Boelen, artistic director of Atelier Luma, eschewed ideas of mass scale and presented projects focussed on hyper-local materials and typologies.
The 2024 Make Good symposium forms part of the V&A’s Make Good: Rethinking Material Futures programme, which aims to encourage the stewardship of natural resources and considers the responsibilities of designers and consumers towards the natural world in a time of climate crisis. If you want to learn more about this programme of talks and displays, please sign up to the Make Good newsletter.
That’s great, thanks, except the videos aren’t visible on my phone