Oliver Heath on biophilic design.

Material Matters with Grant Gibson

#Society #Grant Gibson #Graphic Design #Arts #Fine Arts #Craft #Makers #Material #Leather #Glass #Ceramic #Pottery #Woodturning #Handmade #DARN #Textiles #Timbers #Wood

51:57

On the Season 2 debut of Lost Cultures: Living Legacies , we travel to Bermuda, an Atlantic island whose history spans centuries and continents. Once uninhabited, Bermuda became a vital stop in transatlantic trade, a maritime stronghold, and a cultural crossroads shaped by African, European, Caribbean, and Native American influences. Guests Dr. Kristy Warren and Dr. Edward Harris trace its transformation from an uninhabited island to a strategic outpost shaped by shipwrecks, colonization, the transatlantic slave trade, and the rise and fall of empires. Plus, former Director of Tourism Gary Phillips shares the story of the Gombey tradition, a vibrant performance art rooted in resistance, migration, and cultural fusion. Together, they reveal how Bermuda’s layered past continues to shape its people, culture, and identity today. You can also find us online at ⁠travelandleisure.com/lostcultures Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices…

about a year ago 52:22

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Oliver Heath is a designer, architect, author and one of the world’s leading advocates for biophilic design. Along with his team and the sustainable platform Planted, he currently has an exhibition at the Roca Gallery in South London, which focuses firmly on bio design – illustrating what it is, why it’s important, and how it can be used in the spaces we inhabit.

Oliver has been a fixture on our TV screens since 1998, working for the likes of the BBC, ITV, Channel Four, the Discovery Channel and Norway’s TV2. He is a regular on DIY SOS and was, of course, one of the designers on the iconic ’90s show, Changing Rooms.

In this episode we talk about: his fascination with biophilia and how it affects his practice; its core principles and history; why sustainability is about more than counting carbon; problems with architecture education; his issues with clay; the importance of evidence in his design approach; how wood effects the heart rate; being average at school; getting famous on Changing Rooms; reinventing himself professionally… and the importance of soup.

And remember the Material Matters fair takes place at Bargehouse, Oxo Tower Wharf from 18-21 September. It's free for trade but you must register in advance here: https://registration.iceni-es.com/material-matters/reg-start.aspx

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134 episodes

Oliver Heath on biophilic design.

Material Matters with Grant Gibson

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published about a year ago

MP3•Episode home

Support the show

134 episodes

#Society #Grant Gibson #Graphic Design #Arts #Fine Arts #Craft #Makers #Material #Leather #Glass #Ceramic #Pottery #Woodturning #Handmade #DARN #Textiles #Timbers #Wood

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Material Matters with Grant Gibson

1
Sabine Marcelis on recycled aluminium and resin. 54:09

3 days ago54:09

54:09

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…

Material Matters with Grant Gibson

1
AHEC's David Venables on US hardwood forests and using what nature provides. 58:04

10 days ago58:04

58:04

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…

Material Matters with Grant Gibson

1
Rosa Whiteley on shells and creating a new building material. 55:47

23 days ago55:47

55:47

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…

Material Matters with Grant Gibson

1
Claudy Jongstra on working with wool and creating her own biodynamic farm. 56:09

5 weeks ago56:09

56:09

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…

Material Matters with Grant Gibson

1
Tim Minshall on manufacturing, tariffs, silicon, and green hushing. 1:09:04

11 weeks ago1:09:04

1:09:04

Tim Minshall is an expert in manufacturing and innovation. He is the inaugural Dr John C Taylor professor of innovation at the University of Cambridge, the head of the Engineering Department’s Institute for Manufacturing and a fellow of Churchill College. Importantly too, he has published a new book. Your Life is Manufactured: How we make things, why it matters and how we can do it better does exactly what it says on the front cover, working as a primer for our complex global manufacturing system and illustrating how we make, move, and consume the materials we extract, grow, or create. In this episode we discuss: different nations' attitude to manufacturing; Covid’s effect on global supply chains; how he treated a hospital like a factory during the pandemic; tariffs; lettuces; why reducing waste has led to fragility in our global system; manufacturing and trade-offs; the effect war has on innovation; not being a fan of GDP; the history of the shipping container; material change and the kettle; silicon and the digital revolution; creating too much data and AI; making things more sustainably; green hushing; and saving the planet through manufacturing. Support the show…

Material Matters with Grant Gibson

1
Seetal Solanki on olive tree roots, cooking, and why materials matter. 57:19

15 weeks ago57:19

57:19

Seetal Solanki describes herself as a materials translator and has been in the vanguard of material thinking since she launched her practice, Ma-tt-er, in 2015. Three years later she produced the hugely influential book, Why Materials Matter , and she has gone on to work with a variety of brands, including Nike, Selfridges and Potato Head in Bali, as well as teaching at institutions such as Central Saint Martins (where, incidentally, she graduated from the Textile Futures MA) and the Royal College of Art. Her latest project saw her joining forces with designer Jorge Penades in Madrid for Uprooted , an exhibition that explored Spain’s olive oil industry. In this episode, we talk about: helping people build a relationship with materials; why she’s working with olive tree roots; interviewing materials; her fascination with cookery (and her love of a cheese soufflé); growing up in Leicester and feeling rejected from her home city; the spiritual side of materials; being ‘broken’ by Central Saint Martins as a student; material discrimination; how her practice was built on frustration; and why she’s in a hopeful place. Support the show…

Material Matters with Grant Gibson

1
Callum Robinson on wood and his new book Ingrained. 53:38

17 weeks ago53:38

53:38

Callum Robinson makes all sorts of things out of wood, as well as being the creative director of Method Studio, the company he established with his wife, Marisa Giannasi, 15 years ago. In 2024, he published a fascinating, lyrical memoir. Ingrained: The making of a craftsman , tells the story of his lifelong fascination with his material of choice, his relationship with his woodworker father, and running a small business in straightened times. Essentially, it’s a pean to the joy and importance of making things with your hands and to nature itself. In this episode we talk about: converting an old saw mill into his workshop; publishing Ingrained ; the relationship between writing and making; getting into a ‘flow’ state; growing up with wood and how it makes him feel ‘at home’; the material’s ability to ‘radiate nostalgia’; why elm is ‘the tenacious, swaggering dandy of the forest’; the danger of woodworking; machine tool vertigo; his pivotal relationship with his father; opening his own store; and re-training his hands. Support the show…

Material Matters with Grant Gibson

1
Neil Brownsword on clay and safeguarding skill. 58:49

19 weeks ago58:49

58:49

Neil Brownsword is one of the most intriguing – and uncompromising – ceramic artists currently practicing in the UK. His work is inspired by the de-industrialisation of his home city, Stoke-on-Trent, and, appropriately enough, his career in ceramics began when he worked as an apprentice in the Wedgwood factory as a 16 year old in the mid 1980s. Subsequently, he went on to study at the University of Cardiff and the Royal College of Art. Neil’s research examines the manufacturing histories of North Staffordshire’s ceramic industry, and the effects globalisation has had upon people, place and traditional skills in recent decades. Over the years, he has won numerous awards and exhibited across the globe, while at the same time maintaining an important career in education. He is currently a professor of ceramics at the University of Staffordshire. In this episode we talk about: his latest show at the Crafts Study Centre in Farnham, Surrey; historical copying in the ceramics industry; inducing failure; working at Wedgwood on a YTS scheme; being good at art in school; creating his early, sexually-charged pieces; not selling pots; why his work changed radically at the turn of the century; escaping the ‘stranglehold’ of narrative; becoming ‘a post-industrial factory manager’; bridling against ‘factory tourism’; putting industrial artisans on a cultural platform; investigating the ‘marginalised potential of the past’; and why it’s important to safeguard rather than preserve skill. Support the show…

Material Matters with Grant Gibson

1
Zandra Rhodes on pattern, colour, and textiles. 50:27

25 weeks ago50:27

50:27

Zandra Rhodes is one of the most recognisable and influential figures in fashion, as well as the founder of the Fashion and Textile Museum in London. Describing herself as both ‘chaotic’ and ‘fastidious’, she possesses a unique sense of colour and pattern. Over the years, she has dressed some of the world’s most famous people from Freddie Mercury, Elizabeth Taylor, Debbie Harry and Diana Ross to royals including Princess Anne, Princess Margaret and Princess Diana. She has also appeared on TV shows such as Absolutely Fabulous and Masterchef . Zandra was made a Dame in 2015, while this year, she published an intimate biography, entitled Iconic: My Life in Fashion in 50 Objects , which shines a light on an utterly extraordinary career. In this Yuletide episode, we talk about: Zandra’s ‘more is more’ home and studio; the importance of working with your hands; festive fun with cult actor Divine; her collecting habit; becoming interested in textile design at art college; her love of drawing; nearly meeting Andy Warhol; why pink is a ‘complicated’ colour; how print leads the garment in her work; breaking America; Lauren Bacall stepping on a pin in her studio; working with the royal family and dressing Freddie Mercury; the influence of friendship and travel on her practice; dealing with cancer; and founding London’s Fashion and Textile Museum. Support the show…

Material Matters with Grant Gibson

1
Aaron Betsky on why architects should stop building (and reuse instead). 57:28

27 weeks ago57:28

57:28

Aaron Betsky is a US-based writer, educator and critic, who has served as director of the Cincinnati Art Museum and the Netherlands Architecture Institute, as well as a curator of architecture and design at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. He has also written over 20 books with subjects ranging from Zaha Hadid, Frank Lloyd Wright, and the Dutch architecture practice MVRDV to the relationship between architecture and same-sex desire. He is about to publish another. Don’t Build, Rebuild: The Case for Imaginative Reuse in Architecture implores the construction industry to refrain from doing what it does most – building – and, instead, find new ways to use the materials and stock we already possess. In this episode, we talk about: the trauma of election day in the US; how we can reuse buildings imaginatively and effectively; working with relics of the industrial age; why the digital world is changing the architect’s role; making spaces more egalitarian; squatting; what architects can learn from artists; urban mining; taking inspiration from music festivals; hanging out in the legendary Studio 54; the importance of loft living; and much, much more. (This episode was recorded on election day in the US.) Support the show…

Material Matters with Grant Gibson

1
Nicole Rycroft on viscose and her mission to save the world's endangered forests. 59:11

28 weeks ago59:11

59:11

Nicole Rycroft is the founder and executive director of the award-winning environmental not-for-profit, Canopy. Since it launched in 1999, the Vancouver-based organisation has worked with more than 950 companies – including Marks & Spencer, Tesco and Puma – to ‘develop innovative solutions and make their supply chains more sustainable to help protect our world’s remaining ancient and endangered forests’. It started by looking at the book industry and persuading publishers to use more recycled paper, before turning its attention to packaging and fashion – shining a light on the industry’s use of viscose, in particular. Nicole has won a slew of awards and was recently named in the Business of Fashion’s top 500 most influential people. In this episode we talk about: being a ‘professional treehugger’; dealing with textile waste in India; how viscose is made and its negative effect on the environment; developing new manufacturing models for the material; working with major fashion brands to help them become more circular; her journey from physiotherapist and rower in Australia to activist in Canada; how contracting a life-threatening virus changed her life; running her first environmental organisation at nine years old; documenting human rights violations in Burma; and successfully greening the Harry Potter books with JK Rowling. Support the show…

Material Matters with Grant Gibson

1
Mark Hearld on collage. 59:56

29 weeks ago59:56

59:56

Mark Hearld is an artist and designer who has a fascination with flora and fauna and has worked in a range of different media – including lithographic and linocut prints, painting, ceramics, textiles and tapestry. However, he is best known for his collage pieces. A graduate of Glasgow School of Art and the Royal College of Art, he has curated installations and exhibitions at York Art Gallery and Compton Verney and is an avid collector of objects. Over the years, he has been a huge advocate for the importance of mid-Twentieth century British artists such as Edward Bawden and Eric Ravillious and the role of craft in the fine art world. Another edition of Mark’s book, Raucous Invention – The Joy of Making, will be published by Thames and Hudson in 2025. In this episode we talk about: his fascination with paper; his need to be around other people when he works; collaborating with Edinburgh’s Dovecot Studios on a new series of tapestries; the process behind his collage work; the ‘mystery, poetry, joy and darkness’ of Hans Christian Andersen; why collage is like stepping onto a dance floor; writing a collage manifesto; how edges contain exuberance; having imposter syndrome at the Royal College of Art; and swimming against the art world’s tide for many years. Support the show…

Material Matters with Grant Gibson

1
Todd Bracher on light (and designing Net Positive products). 1:06:18

30 weeks ago1:06:18

1:06:18

Todd Bracher is a US-based product designer who has worked with brands such as Humanscale, 3M, Herman Miller, Georg Jensen and Issey Miyake through his eponymous studio, winning a slew of awards along the way. More recently, he created another company, Betterlab, in which he collaborates with scientists and innovators to, in his words, ‘shape emerging research and foundational technologies into game-changing products’. The company has taken a particular interest in the potential of light, for medical and other, perhaps unexpected, uses. Todd’s latest project is a book. Design in Context , which is out now, illustrates how design – and design-led thinking – has the potential to change and shape every facet of business. In this episode we talk about: generating value for different clients; the importance of collaboration; why he launched Betterlab; how he’s using light to combat myopia; finding truth in design; how light becomes a material; learning to shape rather than style it; working with UVC and creating extraordinary products for health environments; leaving the US to study in Copenhagen; working in Milan; learning the ‘business of design’ under Tom Dixon; and designing net positive furniture for Humanscale. Support the show…

Material Matters with Grant Gibson

1
Zena Holloway on grass roots. 46:41

33 weeks ago46:41

46:41

Zena Holloway is a bio-designer and founder of Rootfull, which creates exquisite clothes, lights and sculptures from grass roots. She started her career as an underwater photographer, doing extraordinary high-end fashion shoots, as well as working with the likes of Kylie Minogue, Tom Daley, Katie Price and numerous other celebrities. At the same time, she was capturing the effects of pollution on the UK’s river beds. So how and why did her career shift so dramatically? In this episode Grant and Zena talk about: how she came to work with wheatgrass; early lessons with other materials; why her process is like a school experiment; how beeswax provided a Eureka! moment; ‘collaborating’ with her material; roots’ potential in industry; working with Kylie; giving up underwater photography and becoming a full-time bio-designer; creating new products with fashion designer Phoebe English; being fuelled by optimism; oh and stealing her son’s Lego. Support the show…

Material Matters with Grant Gibson

1
Alkesh Parmar on orange peel. 45:07

39 weeks ago45:07