Material Matters with Grant Gibson

Delizia Media
  • 5,0 (2)
  • DISEÑO
  • MENSUAL

In Material Matters, host Grant Gibson talks to a designer, maker, artist, architect, engineer, or scientist about a material or technique with which they’re intrinsically linked and discovers how it changed their lives and careers.Follow us on Instagram @materialmatters.design and our website www.materialmatters.designMaterial Matters is produced and published by Delizia Media Ltd.

  1. 11 FEB

    Notpla's Rodrigo Garcia Gonzalez on seaweed and his mission to eradicate single-use plastic.

    Rodrigo Garcia Gonzalez is the co-founder of the seaweed-based packaging company, Notpla. He and Pierre Paslier started working together in a kitchen while students at the Royal College of Art and Imperial College in 2013 and have since gone on to create a genuinely global brand.  Essentially, Notpla aims to replace single-use plastic products – a huge issue with the world producing somewhere in the region of 400 million tonnes of plastic waste annually, and packaging estimated to account for 33 per cent of that.  Like many people, Material Matters first came across the company a little under a decade ago when it launched Ooho, an edible bubble made from a seaweed membrane that contained water – or in some instances a rather strong cocktail – and, since then, the company has gone on to win numerous awards, including the inaugural Earthshot Prize in 2022. In this episode we talk about: the mis-use of plastic; Ooho’s curious name; using seaweed at the London Marathon; why the material is the perfect replacement for plastic; the historic uses of seaweed – in glass, medicine and even beer; making paper and spoons from the material; flying water balloons over Hyde Park; how Notpla started as a side project; the importance of crowd funding to its beginnings; working from a kitchen table and being ‘parasites’ of Imperial College; scaling up; meeting resistance from the plastic industry; concerns over bio-plastics; the effect Covid had on the company; and not wanting to be an architect. Support the show

    56 min

  2. 28 ENE

    Shubhi Sachan on cotton, condoms and working with waste.

    Shubhi Sachan is a multi-disciplinary designer and the founder of Material Library of India. The New Delhi-based library was the first of its type in India and acts as a research and design consultancy committed to unlocking the potential of industrial and agricultural waste – of which India, a country with a population of over 1.4 billion people, has plenty. Over the years, MLI has worked with brands and organisations such as IKEA and the British Council, as well as presenting work and ideas across the globe, including at last year’s Material Matters London where it reimagined cotton as a climate-adaptive, culturally rich material. In this episode Shubhi discusses: setting up MLI in 2017; why she decided to tackle waste in the first instance; India’s relationship with textiles and ‘waste colonialism’; the importance of the ‘rebirth’ of industrial materials; how natural materials can look after themselves; her recent project on cotton and why the crop needs to be re-thought; opening a thrift store where textiles are the currency; refusing to reject capitalism; curating seeds for IKEA; creating streetwear from rejected condoms; studying in England; becoming a successful surface designer; and why her family have questioned her career choices. Support the show

    57 min

  3. 17/12/2025

    Carole Collet on the magic of mycelium and regenerative design.

    Carole Collet is professor in Design for Sustainable Futures at Central Saint Martins. She is also director of Maison/0, the CSM – LVMH creative platform for regenerative luxury and co-director of the Living Systems Lab, a research group at the same university.  During 2000, she founded the Textile Futures course at CSM, which went on to become Material Futures and has spawned a string of brilliant students attempting to get to grips with some of the most important issues of the day. Several have appeared on this podcast. She is, in many respects, the grande dame of new materials thinking.  In this episode we talk about: the two platforms she runs at CSM; how creativity can be a catalyst for regenerative luxury; what terms like bio- and regenerative design mean to her; working with UNESCO in Bolivia; creating lab-grown fur; plastic problems in the Philippines; her groundbreaking BIOLACE project; founding the Textile Futures MA and creating ‘disobedient’ design courses; a brief history of fast fashion; the magic of mycelium; growing up in the French countryside and working in her mother’s flower shop; becoming interested in ecology; and the importance of collaboration in her work. Support the show

    1 h 1 min

  4. 01/12/2025

    Cubitts founder Tom Broughton on acetate and the history of spectacles.

    This episode of Material Matters is as much about an object as it is a material. Tom Broughton is the founder of Cubitts, a modern spectacles company based in London’s Kings Cross. The company started in 2013 from his kitchen table and has grown to 20 stores across the UK and US, serving 250,000 customers across 100 countries. It offers frames in a number of materials – such as stainless steel and titanium – but is renowned for its use of acetate. According to the company’s website Cubitts was ‘founded to help more people live better lives through spectacles they proudly wear – and create a better, and more responsible, industry along the way.’ In this episode we talk about: how early Modernism influenced Cubitts; living in (and loving) the Isokon building; founding his company and ‘literally doing everything’; not having a business plan; the joy of acetate and how the material defines his brand; a brief history of spectacles and London’s making legacy; why he has a problem with the word ‘eyewear’; being prescribed glasses at the age of 14 and collecting vintage frames in his 20s; getting bored easily and enjoying failure; disrupting the optics industry; being 'unrelenting' and making sacrifices in his personal life; and having an addictive personality. Support the show

    1 h

  5. 04/11/2025

    Brodie Neill on ocean plastic (and reclaimed wood).

    Brodie Neill is a Tasmanian-born but London-based furniture designer, who has made a name for himself by creating pieces from waste and reclaimed materials. In 2016, for example, he represented Australia at the inaugural London Design Biennale with his exhibition entitled, Plastic Effects. In it, he showcased the Gyro Table, with a top made of fragments of recycled ocean plastic that had been salvaged from beaches in places like Hawaii and Cornwall.   Over the years, his furniture pieces have been made from dowels, reclaimed school floors, and wood found in some extraordinary places. He has also collaborated with brands such as Microsoft, Mercedes-Benz and Alexander McQueen, while his limited edition works feature in museums and galleries around the globe.   In this episode, we talk about: why he found himself in the Antarctic earlier this year; sharing a ship with over 30 scientists; the new work that is emerging from the 'adventure of a lifetime'; how finding plastic on a Tasmanian beach proved a pivotal moment in his career; creating the iconic Gyro Table; how he collects ocean plastic; creating high end products from ‘underwater’ wood and old school floors; unleashing ‘material potential’; inheriting his grandfather’s tools; day dreaming at school; and why he needs to be near making.  And remember the inaugural Assemble with Material Matters takes place on 20 November at the Bank of England Conference Centre. Tickets cost £175 (+ VAT) and are officially available until 6 November. To secure your place click here Support the show

    53 min

  6. 23/10/2025

    James Fox on his extraordinary journey through Britain's crafts.

    James Fox wears a couple of hats. He is director of studies in History of Art at Emmanuel College, Cambridge and creative director of the Hugo Burge Foundation.  As well as that he is a BAFTA-nominated broadcaster and an author with a brand new book out. Craftland: A Journey Through Britain's Lost Arts & Vanishing Trades is his journey through Britain to discover the craftspeople that literally make this island. En route he meets dry stone wallers, a rush weaver, a thatcher, a letter cutter and a watchmaker to name just a few.  The book illustrates what we once had and what we could be in danger of losing, while also highlighting the importance of hand skill and materiality in a digital age.  In this episode we talk about: why ‘craft’ remains a contentious word; craft as both a contemporary invention and an approach to life; the relationship between hand making and digital culture; how Fox discovered art as a child; bridging the divide between fine art and craft; the field’s ‘inherent diversity’; what the state could do to help makers; crafts potential role in the transition to Net Zero; why Craftland is ‘nostalgic for the present’; the importance of tacit knowledge; and why the future of making in Britain is bright.  You can purchase a copy of Craftland here.  The full programme for Assemble with Material Matters, our new one-day conference held at the Bank of England Conference Centre on 20 November, is available here. And you can secure your place at the conference here. If you love the podcast, you’ll adore the conference. Support the show

    1 h 3 min

  7. 15/09/2025

    Bonnie Hvillum on biomaterials and 'redefining wood'.

    Bonnie Hvillum is a Danish designer and founder of Natural Material Studio, which, as the names suggests, makes its own materials using natural resources and various waste streams.  Working at the meeting point between material science, art and design, the studio creates products, installations, exhibitions and research projects, working with clients such as adidas, Calvin Klein, Noma, Dinesen, Copenhagen Contemporary and the Danish Architecture Centre.   Bonnie will also be part of Material Matters London, which takes place from 17-20 September at Space House,  with her education platform focused on supporting curious creators who strive to craft a more holistic, local, and nature-minded future, The Material Way, which she runs with curator Rita Trindade.  In this episode we talk about: being on maternity leave; founding Natural Material Studio and The Material Way; pushing the possibilities of materials; bonding history with the future… in a poetic way; casting textiles; her breakthrough moment; the craft behind her work; creating an interior you can melt; the importance of fluidity; ‘redefining wood’; studying Nordic literature at university; and being uncompromising but collaborative.  Material Matters London runs from 17-20 September at Space House. Register here.  And we’ve also opened a new on-line bookshop featuring many titles that have been talked about on this podcast. You can find that here. Support the show

    45 min

  8. 09/09/2025

    Anglepoise's Simon Terry on durability, repair and creating an icon.

    Simon Terry is the brand and marketing director, as well as owner (or as he prefers to describe himself, custodian), of the lamp company, Anglepoise, a product that has genuine claims to iconic status. Initially designed by George Carwardine in the 1930s and manufactured by Herbert Terry & Sons, over the years, the product has been used by the likes of Queen Elizabeth II, David Lloyd George, Picasso, Roald Dahl and Barbara Hepworth to name just a few.  More recently, Terry has collaborated with fashion figures such as Margaret Howell and Paul Smith, as well as writing a design manifesto which talks about the importance of durability and repair. Importantly, the company now offers a lifetime guarantee for all its products.  Happily too, it will be showing prominently at this year’s Material Matters London – which runs from 17-20 September at Space House – celebrating the 90th anniversary of the 1227. In this episode we talk about: the pros and cons of running a family business; being ‘a small company with a big name’; how mistakes can lead to opportunities; his morning routine (which involves a spring); how the Anglepoise stays in perfect balance; the genius of George Carwardine; the product’s evolution; why the Terry family handed the US market to Luxo; joining the family firm and making huge changes; his background in movies; initially feeling out of his depth; working with the brilliant Sir Kenneth Grange to reinvigorate the brand; the importance of repair; wanting to support design’s grassroots; and why materials and systems are the company’s future.  You pre-register for Material Matters London here. Support the show

    1 h
Ver todo (144)

Valoraciones y reseñas

5
de 5
2 valoraciones

Información

In Material Matters, host Grant Gibson talks to a designer, maker, artist, architect, engineer, or scientist about a material or technique with which they’re intrinsically linked and discovers how it changed their lives and careers.Follow us on Instagram @materialmatters.design and our website www.materialmatters.designMaterial Matters is produced and published by Delizia Media Ltd.

Ficha técnica

  • Creado por
    Delizia Media
  • Años en activo
    2019 - 2026
  • Episodios
    144
  • Clasificación
    Explícito
  • Derechos de autor
    © 2026 Material Matters with Grant Gibson
  • Sitio web del podcast
    Material Matters with Grant Gibson

Quizá también te guste