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Wil Sillen
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Future Materials Bank
The Future Materials Bank is an archive of materials that supports and promotes the transition towards ecologically conscious art and design practices. It is part of the Future Materials Foundation, a not-for-profit organisation located at the Jan van Eyck Academie in Maastricht (Netherlands).
A library full of knowledge about circular materials such as urine, hair and algae
An online and offline library, but for sustainable materials such as human hair, urine and concrete waste. That is the core of the Future Materials program, led by the Italian Giulia Bellinetti, who works at the Jan van Eyck Academy in Maastricht. She won the Marc Cornelissen Brightlands Award: 35,000 euros and access to the valuable network of Brightlands and its partners.
Feedback
For the success of a circular economy, it is important that the creative sector, the business community, architects and builders find each other better. A wealth of special and sustainable materials have already been invented that are eager to be used for all kinds of applications. To link the supply of these materials to the people who want to work with them, the Future Materials Bank was established in 2020: a public database of hundreds of different materials, provided with description, ingredients and inventor. Do you want to use such a material? Then all you have to do is send a line through the database to the person behind it.
Changing mindset
“With Future Materials we want to spread knowledge about sustainable materials developed by artists and designers,” says Bellinetti. “These can be special materials made of hair, urine or algae, for example, but also known materials made of recycled wood, paper or concrete. On the one hand, we want to use the database to change the mindset of how people view residual flows. Some materials look aesthetically fantastic, but originate from waste. On the other hand, we want to close the gap between artists, scientists, designers and architects. Wherever they live in the world, with the Future Materials database they can find each other and share knowledge about circular materials.”
Concrete, wood, algae and grass
Bellinetti initially focuses on the creative industry, in her view an underexposed sector when it comes to the circular economy. “Artists can help each other in their search for more sustainable raw materials, for example by replacing acrylic paint with a natural variant.” But the construction sector can also benefit from the database. “Future Materials first and foremost shows what the possibilities are for waste streams from construction, such as concrete and wood. In addition, the platform also offers inspiration for new building materials, made from grasses and algae, for example.”
Library full of materials
The digital database now contains more than four hundred different materials. Of these, about 160 materials are actually stored in the Future Materials Lab in Maastricht. “For materials invented by artists in New Zealand or materials made from specific native plant species, it makes less sense in terms of sustainability to bring them here,” says Bellinetti. “But we are still expanding the library. We will soon move to a new, larger location within the Jan van Eyck Academy.”
Brightlands Network
Earlier this month, Bellinetti won the Marc Cornelissen Brightlands Award with her idea, an innovation prize worth 35,000 euros that is awarded every year to sustainability pioneers. Bellinetti wants to invest the prize money in the further development of the database and the expansion of its business plan. But even more important to her are the doors that the award opens to the Brightlands network itself. “The Brightlands and Chemelot network is very valuable. After winning the award, we are constantly brought into contact with large companies, start-ups and other makers who want to work with sustainable materials.”
Healthy revenue model
The Future Materials program has now become independent into an autonomous foundation. In this way, the materials bank remains freely accessible to creative makers. Ultimately, the foundation must receive a healthy mix of income, ranging from subsidies, sponsors and customers. “We are thinking about different flavors of membership, for example a model for designers and start-ups, going up to licenses for large companies and investors. For example, the foundation can develop paid consultancy assignments and workshops and link individual makers to innovative companies. In any case, a healthy and diverse revenue model is essential to survive.”
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Future Materials Bank
Materials that support the transition towards a more sustainable artistic practice
https://www.futurematerialsbank.com/
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