FranklinTill and Dutch Invertuals teamed up on an exhibition exploring the future material potential of waste streams.

British futures agency FranklinTill and experimental Dutch design collective Dutch Invertuals teamed up to create Mutant Matter, an exhibition exploring the future material potential of waste streams ? driven by the understanding that we have entered the era of the ‘Antropocene’ when human-made materials and processes have become irreversibly intertwined with those from the natural world. “Geologically speaking, the fruits of the Anthropocene are yet to be witnessed,” says Caroline Till. “However, the acceleration of human industry has already made permanent changes to the planet, to the point that artificial geological phenomena are being documented worldwide. As a result, designers are beginning to consider not only the complications caused by these vast ecological changes but also the potential.”
Ten designers presented concepts that ranged from new materials and re-evaluations of old ones to experiments with recycled objects and repurposed waste streams and entirely new ways of making and thinking about design. “Radical Matter inspires us to observe the drastic evolution of materials,” said Dutch Invertuals founder Wendy Plomp ahead of the collective’s 18th appearance at Milan Design Week. “For Milan, we offer our joint vision on a small chapter of this broad and socially involved top...