LONDON.- The Design Museum today announces details of ‘Restore’, a new display and publication which explore innovative and thought-provoking ways to help tackle the climate emergency. They are part of the Museum’s flagship Design Researchers in Residence programme which has supported a group of design-led thinkers to spend the past year incubating big ideas at the Museum to respond to the climate crisis. This programme forms part of the new Future Observatory initiative launched in partnership with the AHRC, part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI).
The free display – which runs from 24 June to 25 September 2022 – sees the four Residents each reveal ideas and concepts from one year of funded research in four dedicated exhibition sections. From pollution-absorbing seaweed and the untapped value of the human hair in London’s hairdressers, to a new vocabulary for understanding environmental justice and the speculative fashion and architecture of a less comfortable future, visitors will discover new ways of thinking which may help to solve the largest crisis facing our planet.
The Design Researchers in Residence for 2021/22 are: Thomas Aquilina, Delfina Fantini van Ditmar, Samuel Iliffe and Sanne Visser. They were tasked with responding to the theme of ‘Restore.’
Thomas Aquilina looks at spatial and environmental injustice in London. Over the course of his residency, Thomas has embarked on multiple walks in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, one of the most economically unequal areas in the country. Out of these walks and conversations comes a documentary film and a new kind of glossary: a collection of words and images that speak about social injustice and how it is quietly embedded in the Borough’s most well-known sites, from the Westway and Holland Park, to Grenfell Tower and the Design Museum itself. Thomas was accompanied on these walks by writer Ekow Eshun and local residents, including former Kensington MP Emma Dent Coad, and Tayshan Hayden-Smith, RHS Chelsea Flower Show award winning gardener.
Delfina Fantini van Ditmar presents a speculative provocation exploring the relationship between warmth, fashion and architecture. In the dispiriting context of the current energy crisis, ongoing war, increasing pollution and environmental damage, Delfina and her collaborators imagine an alternative scenario for a future world in which domestic comfort is radically reframed. This reimagined way of living takes a resourceful approach to reuse, where waste materials become experimental clothing and furniture to keep us warm and comfortable in surprising ways. In addition, an adaptable waterproof shelter, incorporating discarded clothing, offers a new type of home for a forest-based life. Another highlight is the Pinch, a piece of wearable furniture that can also function as a chair and can be transported on a person’s back.
Samuel Iliffe exhibits the seaweed farm he has designed to address freshwater pollution. According to a recent study by the Environment Agency, not a single river, lake or estuary in the UK is classed as ‘in good health’. The number one reason for this is phosphorus pollution, a harmful byproduct of agricultural production. Samuel presents his design for a lightweight, transportable seaweed farm that can help remove phosphorus from waters at risk of pollution.
Sanne Visser brings visitors to some of the ninety-seven hairdressers and barbers within one mile of the Design Museum. On average each of these will cut off 2.4 kilograms of hair every month, most of which will end up in landfill. Yet hair is a highly versatile material and like wool can be processed for use as a yarn or textile. Hair can also be broken down to its chemical components for medical uses or even as a plastic alternative. Sanne’s display shows prototypes of new equipment which could help establish a national large-scale hair recycling system, including a barber's chair that captures cut hair for sorting.
Tim Marlow, Chief Executive and Director of the Design Museum, said: “Climate change is the defining crisis of our time, and design will play a crucial role in helping us navigate this evolving landscape. I am delighted that the Design Museum’s four Design Researchers in Residence have been able to create such varied, thought-provoking and potentially game-changing ideas during their time with us.”
Justin McGuirk, Director of Future Observatory at the Design Museum, said: “We tasked this year’s residents with responding to the theme of ‘restore’. Faced with the climate crisis, restoration is becoming a valuable mode for design and research practices. We hope visitors will be inspired to think about the restorative relationships we can have with minerals, materials, each other, other species and the planet.”
The Design Researchers in Residence programme supports emerging design thinkers at the start of their careers to spend a year developing a new research project in response to a theme. It builds upon the Design Museum’s flagship designers’ residence which has supported emerging designers since 2007. Previous alumni include Asif Khan, Adam Nathaniel Furman, Jade Folawiyo and Lawrence Lek. It is part of the Museum’s Future Observatory programme, a new national design research programme based at and coordinated by The Design Museum and supported by the Arts and Humanities Research Council, part of UK Research and Innovation.
