Studio Better Matter

Positioned at the intersection of design, science, technology, and sustainability, the studio supports the development of a new design language attuned to the systems, scales, and sensitivities of matter.

The studio encourages students to ask: What kind of agency can materials hold? How do we learn from them, rather than simply use them? Rather than seeking instant solutions, students engage in long-term thinking, collaborative prototyping, and transdisciplinary dialogue. They are challenged to question dominant industrial paradigms and explore how design can generate ethical and ecological alternatives in the material world.

At the heart of this studio is a commitment to experimental practices in the development of bio-based, circular, and regenerative materials. We approach materials not as passive matter, but as active collaborators.

Working across design, chemistry, biology, and engineering, students will explore the affordances and implications of regenerative materials, develop applications for bio-based matter, and reflect on the sociopolitical dimensions of material innovation. They will work with a diverse range of emerging and traditional materials such as biopolymer blends, algae, wood and its innovative processing techniques, mycelium, chitin, silk protein, and bacterial cellulose. Assignments move between individual research, group collaboration, and real-world engagement with partner labs, industries, and institutions.

The studio is structured around three evolving frameworks:

• Material Encounters – Deep dives into the tactile, structural, and responsive qualities of selected materials, with a focus on low-impact and circular potential.
• Ecologies of Production – Mapping systemic flows and transformations of materials, examining sourcing, processing, and end-of-life within broader economic and ecological systems.
• Mediated Matter – Exploring the designer’s role as a communicator between scientific knowledge, material agency, environments, public understanding, and long-term impact.

Students gain practical skills in experimental fabrication, research methodology, and interdisciplinary collaboration, while learning to critically assess the long-term viability and ethics of the systems they help shape. By the end of the semester, students will have developed a personal position in the world of sustainable materials—bridging the gap between laboratory precision and design intuition. A scientific background is not required.