Can Corn Do More Than Feed Us?

Hear how this popular crop is helping craft a more sustainable future in Mexico.

What do corn, craft, and Mexico have in common? The answer to this question comes in the form of Totomoxtle, a project and materials created by designer Fernando Laposse in collaboration with the village of Tonohuixtla. On view through July 7 in the exhibition Life Cycles: The Materials of Contemporary Design, Totomoxtle is an example of how good design can do more than please the eye—it can offer new pathways to preserving cultures, supporting local communities, and bringing balance to an ecosystem that has been exploited for far too long. 

For this Earth Month edition of the Magazine podcast, we sat down with Laposse to discuss the origins of his Totomoxtle project and how corn is helping build a more sustainable future for people and planet.

Access a transcript of the conversation here: https://www.moma.org/magazine/articles/1062