Material Matters with Grant Gibson

Delizia Media
  • 4,8 (45)
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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. -1 J

    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

  2. 9 SEPT.

    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

  3. 30 AOÛT

    Lulu Harrison on making glass from the River Thames.

    Lulu Harrison is a researcher and maker in sustainable material development. She creates glass pieces that have often been inspired by ancient making techniques, working with local and waste resources.  Over the years, she has collaborated with historians, material scientists, and artists to create ‘geo-specific’ glass. Lulu has recently won the Ralph Saltzman Prize for her project Thames Glass – which uses various waste materials from the River Thames, including river sand, wood ashes and quagga mussel shells – and has had an accompanying solo show at the Design Museum in London. In this episode we talk about: moving to Cornwall and building her own studio; how glass is made and why Thames Glass is different; being inspired by traditional techniques; collaborating with everyone from academics to Murano glassblowers; using wine waste, river sand and mussel shells in her glass recipes; how Covid helped shape her practice; swimming in The Thames as a child; her (extremely) creative family; finding school tough; starting her own fashion label; and stumbling upon glass by ‘happy accident’.  And remember, Material Matters London runs from 17-20 September at Space House. The fair is free for architects and designers but it’s vital you register in advance. For more details go to our website: material matters.design Support the show

    46 min

  4. 31 JUIL.

    Robin Givhan on her new book, Make it Ours, and how Virgil Abloh changed fashion.

    Robin Givhan is the Washington Post’s senior critic-at-large, writing about politics, race and the arts. She won the Pulitzer Prize for criticism in 2006 and is the author of The Battle of Versailles: The Night American Fashion Stumbled into the Spotlight and Made History.  Her latest book is entitled Make It Ours: Crashing the Gates of Culture with Virgil Abloh, which charts the life of the late designer from his childhood in Rockford, Illinois to his position as artistic director at Louis Vuitton menswear collection in Paris, the first black person to serve in that role in the brand’s 164-year history.  It also illustrates the profound changes that occurred in the luxury fashion industry over his short but fascinating career. In this episode, we talk about: why fashion matters; the role of the critic; Virgil Abloh’s ‘confounding’ qualities; how he created an extraordinary community; his imprint on fashion; how the world of luxury shifted around him; being the ‘ultimate non-perfectionist’; his controversial 3 per cent philosophy; judging value; craft and luxury; why the designer was ‘the right kind of Black man’; a pivotal relationship with rapper and producer Kanye West; the importance of T shirts; how Abloh became artistic director of Louis Vuitton's menswear collection; his tragic death; and his legacy.  To buy a copy of Make it Ours, priced £20, from Material Matters contact us at: shop@materialmatters.design Support the show

    1 h 5 min

  5. 10 JUIN

    Sabine Marcelis on recycled aluminium and resin.

    Sabine Marcelis is a Rotterdam-based designer and artist who, in her own words, is ‘forever in search of magical moments within materials’. She’s probably best known for her work in glass, resin and stone, which often plays with light and water.  However, most recently, she has been part of R100, a project with Hydro, which asks a group of internationally renowned designers to create pieces from 100 per cent post-consumer aluminium, sourced and produced within a 100-kilometre radius. It will be shown at Material Matters Copenhagen at Gammel Dok, Christianshavn from 18-20 June.  Over the years, Sabine has collaborated with brands such as Vitra, Renault and IKEA and won numerous awards, including Designer of the Year at the Dezeen Awards in 2024 and the Monocle magazine Designer of the Year in 2023. In this episode we talk about: working with Hydro’s recycled aluminium; trying to find the limits of any project; not designing chairs; her relationship with resin and how best to use it; fountains; working in Mies’ Barcelona Pavilion; learning from IKEA; growing up on a flower farm; snowboarding; fighting for her ideas in Eindhoven; never wanting to work for anyone else; forging her studio in Rotterdam; and finding inspiration in unexpected places.  Material Matters with Sabine Marcelis is sponsored by 3daysofdesign. Support the show

    54 min

  6. 3 JUIN

    AHEC's David Venables on US hardwood forests and using what nature provides.

    David Venables is the European director for the American Hardwood Export Council. Over the last 20 years, the organisation has created an array of extraordinary installations, sculptures and products – working with the likes of Alison Brooks, Waugh Thistleton, Heatherwick Studio, Jaime Hayon, Benedetta Tagliabue, and Stefan Diez to name just a few – that extoll the virtues of wood in general and US hardwood in particular.  Its latest installation. No. 1 Common, will launch at this year’s Material Matters Copenhagen, which runs from 18-20 June at Gammel Dok, Christianshavn, and includes new pieces from Andu Masebo, Anna Maria Øfstedal Eng, and Daniel Schofield.   Importantly, David is someone steeped in the wood industry from birth. This is a man who really knows his material. In this episode we talk about: AHEC’s new installation at Material Matters and why it’s vital to promote what nature provides; how the organisation chooses the architects and designers it works with; his post-Covid desire to promote a ‘lost’ generation of creatives; the relationship between fashion and wood; the history of the US hardwood forest and why it’s an environmental success story; the benefits of cutting down trees; President Trump, tariffs and selling American materials globally; growing up in the family saw mill; being fired as a salesperson; and, ultimately, why wood is his passion.  Support the show

    58 min

  7. 21 MAI

    Rosa Whiteley on shells and creating a new building material.

    Rosa Whiteley is a designer, writer and researcher, who trained as an architect at Manchester School of Architecture and the Royal College of Art.  Subsequently, she has worked within Cooking Sections, the Turner Prize nominated design and art collective, as a project manager and lead researcher and, since 2021, she has been the director of Material Research for CLIMAVORE CIC, which is a long-term, site-responsive project, exploring how to eat as humans change climates. As part of her practice, she has been working on the islands of Skye and Raasay in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland, to develop building materials from waste seashells.  In this episode she discusses: how CLIMAVORE promotes alternative ways of eating and living; issues around salmon fishing; the creation of a ‘multi-species intertidal table’ (and what exactly that might be); encouraging local restaurants to stop serving salmon and use bivalves instead; how that created a surfeit of shells; using the shells to create lime mortar and making tiles; worries around the circular economy; training as an architect but not wanting to build; and the politics of air and atmospheres. Support the show

    56 min

  8. 12 MAI

    Claudy Jongstra on working with wool and creating her own biodynamic farm.

    Claudy Jongstra is a Dutch artist and designer who has become globally renowned for her, often monumental, textile installations and tapestries made from wool.  After establishing her studio in Friesland in the Dutch countryside during 2001, she started an ecological venture, which involved maintaining a herd of indigenous sheep and creating a biodynamic farm near her studio to grow plants used for natural dyes – effectively combining her art with ecological stewardship.  Her work is in the permanent collections of a number of museums such the Museum of Modern Art and the Cooper-Hewitt in New York and the V&A in London. And she has won a slew of awards, including the 2022 Interior Design Hall of Fame Award.  Not only that, she designed costumes for the Star Wars movies. In this episode she discusses: the ‘intelligence’ of wool; leaving her job and taking two years to understand the material; setting up her own farm; the organic nature of her career path; being an activist; the process behind her extraordinary pieces; the special qualities of the Drenthe Heath sheep; why we burn so much wool; the secrets of Burgundian Black; making really big pieces; her love of cooking; issues with the vintage clothing industry; working with her son; oh and creating costumes for the Jedi… Support the show

    56 min
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À propos

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.

Informations

  • Création
    Delizia Media
  • Années d’activité
    2019 - 2025
  • Épisodes
    138
  • Classification
    Contenu explicite
  • Copyright
    © 2025 Material Matters with Grant Gibson
  • Site web de l’émission
    Material Matters with Grant Gibson

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