An Evolving Future of Sustainable Materials

Design Post Cologne

Design Post Köln is a key meeting point for Germany’s interior design community, connecting leading international brands with architects, interior designers and industry professionals around new ideas, materials and future perspectives.

They asked to create an educational and inspiring program for their clients during the Planner Days with the focus of sustainable materiality.

Client_ Design Post Cologne

Project_

Make sustainable materials approachable

Program & process

  • Trend Keynote: Three emerging material territories explored through the lens of sustainability, innovation and new material development.
  • Material Translation: Each trend was brought to life through curated material boards featuring materials derived from sources including potato starch, eggshells, mycelio, vegan leather and recycled ocean plastic.
  • Hands-on Exploration: Participants could see, touch and discuss the materials, turning abstract trend information into a sensory experience.
  • Collaborative Application: In a breakout session, participants worked in groups to explore creative ways these emerging materials could be applied in practice.
  • Curated Experience: Three material boards were developed and installed on site, creating a physical environment for the Trendsperience® session.

Outcome & solution

The session helped raise awareness of sustainable materials that are already commercially available and ready to be considered in real design projects, challenging the perception that more sustainable alternatives necessarily compromise performance, quality or design potential.

By allowing participants to see, touch and discuss the materials firsthand, the session connected emerging material innovation with practical specification opportunities, bridging the gap between knowing that alternatives exist and understanding how they can be used in practice.

We help making the abstract meaningful and actionable.

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