We just published our latest newsletter Get Inspired #04 – VEGAN, a special edition that reveals the first discoveries of last year’s research journey around the world.

VEGAN focuses on the beauty of plant-based materials, such as Vegetal Ivory and Golden Grass, and takes a closer look at the ‘Made Of..’ material library which opened its doors this month in The Netherlands. The newsletter also includes an invitation for companies, designers and students to participate at this year’s Materials Café, a special platform for sustainable materials and design. An additional surprise is the bamboo illustration on the backside of the newsletter that demonstrates the beauty and various uses of bamboo around the world. All together, happy reading!

Last month, 44 design experts from around the world were gathered in Germany to select the winning entries of the iF Design Awards 2012. During two days they explored the huge exhibition halls to review over 4000 entries featuring products, communication, packaging and materials – all brought on location. To get an impression of the enormous selection watch the iF closeup video (above) including juror statements and an explanation by Prof. Fritz Frenkler (awards chairman).

Material experts George Beylerian (Material Connexion), Michael Lanz (designaffairs) and Aart van Bezooyen (Material Stories) were jurors for the materials entries. Keeping in mind criteria regarding the material’s innovation, sustainability, presentation and commercial value we took a close look, and feel, to select the winning entries of the iF Material Design Award 2012.

What does this mean for Material Stories?
Material Stories gathered a lot of information by getting face to face with sustainability experts and by experiencing local crafts and natural materials. We love to inform and inspire you with materials and ideas that can make your designs more sustainable. If you share our interest in sustainable design – then keep in touch via Twitter or subscribe to the Get Inspired newsletter.

From March to August 2011, Material Stories is out of office, or better, traveling around the world for the It‘s Not Easy Being Green project.

It‘s Not Easy Being Green is a six month project by Aart van Bezooyen and Paula Raché focusing on sustainability in materials and design around the world. You can read more at www.itsnoteasybeinggreen.net

Want to see what we are doing?
- Join us on Facebook
- Follow us on Twitter

Last December, the Design Platform Limburg invited Aart van Bezooyen to conclude their great A-Z Lezingen lecture series for 2010. After some 600 kilometers of snowy landscape Aart arrived in Belgium at the Z33 venue for his lecture titled Aging focused on the use of time in design and materials selection (more materials lecture photos after the jump).

Unlike history, in 2011 we will put our focus on future of our planet. Material Stories is doing this with the following two projects.

Firstly, a special show titled Materials Café at this year’s Hannover Messe (from 4-8 April 2011) will bring together the latest materials developments and the people behind the scenes who made this all happen. All of this in an enjoyable setting bringing together great stuff with great coffee.

Secondly, if we talk about future we should talk about sustainability. Currently, Material Stories is planning a worldwide journey focused on sustainability in materials and design (Read: skills of people, materials of places and the lifetime of products). Stay tuned!

For now, best wishes from Hamburg – more writings soon!

See the full A-Z Lezingen lectures agenda here: www.a-zlezingen.be

Last week, the Stille Stars exhibition (Silent Stars exhibition) opened its doors at the Wilhelm Wagenfeld House. After entering the building we walk into a range of “super suits” made of innovative materials that protect us from burning fire, freezing water and dangerous chemicals and other harsh conditions – which is what this exhibition is all about. Silent Stars are materials that enable more innovative products, sustainable products and products that might save your life (see photo).

The exhibition can be visited until February 27, 2011. Watch more materials photos and information after the jump.

Materials information is available along a red wire.

Sustainable alternatives such as flooring made of bamboo.

Special sharpener made of a technical ceramic (made in one piece).

Light installation in front of the Wilhelm Wagenfeld House.

Wilhelm Wagenfeld House
The Wilhelm Wagenfeld House explores current trends in design and everyday culture with special exhibitions, conferences and lectures that explore current and historical trends and developments in all areas of design, with a focus on the significance of the creative industries for innovation.
Visit website: www.wwh-bremen.de

Congratulations to Claudy Jongstra who has been awarded with the DOEN | Materiaalprijs last weekend at the Dutch Design Week 2010. For years, Claudy Jongstra not only designs but also produces unique fabrics for objects and interiors. She even keeps her own herd of Drenthe Heath sheep and a botanic garden to grow natural dyestuffs and realize unique color schemes. We love her personal approach that goes from sourcing the raw material to finishing the final design.

I’ve added a short documentary to understand more about her creative process and way of working (see video above). The documentary itself is part of a new series of so called Dutch Profiles focusing on the international position of Dutch design, fashion and architecture.

Read on for more information about the DOEN | Materiaalprijs and Dutch Profiles videos.

The DOEN | Materiaalprijs was created in 2009 to promote sustainable design practice where the core values of innovation and sustainability go hand in hand with style and functionality. This annual prize intends to mobilise everyone at the cutting edge of art and design to devise new ways and means of designing for a sustainable future. Visit website: www.doen-materiaalprijs.nl

Dutch Profiles is a series of short documentaries about architects, graphic, product and fashion designers in the Netherlands. Dutch Profiles focuses on the conceptual, context-oriented and research-based practice of Dutch designers and includes interviews with, among others: MVRDV, 2012 Architects, Jurgen Bey, Claudy Jongstra, Gerard Unger, Paul Mijksenaar, Marlies Dekkers, Alexander van Slobbe and G-Star. Visit website: www.dutchdfa.nl/profiles

Tel-Aviv-Yafo is not only the place to be for beach tourists in Israel, it is also the venue of this year’s CASA Matter, a special conference on materials and technologies.

The conference takes place on 19.10.2010 during this year’s CASA 10 fair and is organized by Mrs. Efrat Friedland, founder an director of Israel’s materials library  iMatter. Together with materials experts Chris Lefteri, Dr. Isa Hofmann and Nina Saller, I welcome the invitation to lecture about materials (watch the video above for a first impression).

My lecture “RETHINK, RE-EDUCATE, RECYCLE” focuses on how we can use materials to do things differently in order to realize a more human, intelligent and sustainable future. You can download the invitation here (in Hebrew).

The 100% Materials stand is considered the platform where innovation hungry designers and architects are stimulated and inspired. Each year workshops, installations and demonstrations are engaging and interactive, but best of all they bring out the curious child in everyone.

This year our schedule of events are based on the theme of food (see the full schedule of events here). Make sure you join the tasty workshops featuring Suzanne Lee’s BioCouture, Jane ni Dhulchaointigh’s Sugru, Chiara Onida’s  Domestic Soundscape, even our own Materials Utopia is part of the show!

Get ready to be inspired and enjoyforward seeing you at this year’s 100% Design London.

“Artists and designers are innovators and pioneers. And, with the application of new materials and ground-breaking technologies, they can help to bring us closer to attaining a sustainable world.”

With this statement, the DOEN | Materiaalprijs awards two prizes. A sum of €15,000 for a final product and an incentive prize of €5,000 for an idea that has not yet been put into production. A nice extra is that selected works will be showcased during this year’s Dutch Design Week. Submissions are welcome from all designers, visual artists, fashion designers and architects living and working in the Netherlands.

See www.doen-materiaalprijs.nl for more information and submissions, closing date for entries is 10 September 2010