Design + Smart Materials Bazaar

Dana Centre, Science Museum London, 19th & 20th September 2006

On 19th and 20th September the Smart Textiles Network at Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design and SMART.mat Materials KTN will host the Design + Smart Materials Bazaar at the Dana Centre, Science Museum London.

The aim of this workshop is to facilitate dialogue and broker partnerships between designers of products and environments, and developers/producers of smart materials, to generate a view of the future use of smart materials in our material culture, and outreach this view to the public. The event coincides with The London Design Festival 2006, and the conference How Smart Are We?, at RIBA on 15th September. These two linked events within The London Design festival fall into the emerging vortex of innovation, textiles, technology, fashion, design and enterprise. The Smart Textiles Network at Central Saint Martins and SMART.mat Materials KTN are collaborating with Westfocus Designplus to co-ordinate a national and international focus for networking within this dynamic theme.

18.00-21.30 19th September – Evening1: A view of the future
A view of the future will be explored through a presentation on consumer needs of the future in relation to emerging social trends by Michael Moynagh of The Tomorrow Project, and a presentation on smart materials, giving an overview of what’s in the public domain, as well as forecasts for the future, by Paul LeGood of SMART.mat. These presentations will be complemented by a smart materials bazaar, a collection of materials, gadgets, and products, with which people can ‘play’. The presentations will be followed by wine and canapés.

09.30-16.00 20th September – Facilitated brainstorm
Inspired by A view of the future, product concepts and project themes will be produced using design visualisation tools and ‘storyboard’ creation during the facilitated brainstorm. The workshop will be facilitated by Tom Inns, Chair of Design, University of Dundee.

19.00-20.30 20th September | Evening2: Outreach to the public: Tomorrow’s Textiles
The Outreach to the public comprises the final part of the event, which will be hosted and facilitated by the Dana Centre. How might technology-embedded intelligent textiles impact on our lifestyle in an increasingly security-obsessed yet stylish society? What would materials that respond to your emotions look like? Get tactile with tomorrow’s textiles and talkative with smart-material producers and product designers.

Entry is free of charge; please email s.baurley [at] csm.arts.ac.uk for an invitation

A story of smart

The current growth in the technical textiles and materials industries globally and the continuing advancement of the Knowledge Age, suggests that in the future objects and material technology will disappear into our material environment, turning them into active and intelligent participants in our lives. This emerging area of smart promises a new genre of clothing and environments that fulfill a range of needs, from health monitoring and personal security to new methods of accessing entertainment, culture, communication and expression, which seek to satisfy a future of mass-customised products that fulfill emotional, sensory and experiential needs.

The era of smart has implications for design. Necessitating a multi-disciplinary effort, design might become a collaborative activity instead of a singular one; designers may become facilitators or mediators to promote knowledge sharing and creation in multi-disciplinary teams. New methods may also be required to design products for an age of personalisation and participative culture, such as co-design that enable consumers to be proactive rather than reactive to technological change.

During The London Design Festival two linked events fall into this emerging vortex of innovation, textiles, technology, fashion, design and enterprise. The Smart Textiles Network at Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design and the SMART.mat Materials KTN are collaborating with Westfocus / Designplus to co-ordinate a national and international focus for networking within this dynamic theme: How Smart Are We? (15th September) and Design + Smart Materials Bazaar (19th & 20th September). Both events will be accompanied by a Smart Materials Bazaar, an array of smart materials, technologies and products for hands on experience by visitors and delegates.

These events signal the establishment of a regular annual forum, network and communications channels for bringing together the diverse audiences of designers, brands, research, textiles and technology companies.

Attendees
A1 Designs Ltd
Architect and Interiors School, University College for the Creative Arts
BAe Systems
Barron Gould
Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design
Centroid Creative Hubb
Cerebrum Design
Chas. A. Blatchford & Sons Ltd
Chelsea College of Art and Design
Clinical sciences Centre, imperial College
Clothing Design and Marketing, Coventry University
Conran & Partners
Corus
Coventry University
Dana Centre Science Museum London
Department of Design, University of Huddersfield
Dept. of Design, University of Central Lancashire
Dept. Physics and Astronomy, UCL
Westfocus / Designplus
DTI
DTI Global Watch Service
Eleksen
E-madesign
Fabrican Ltd
Imperial College London
School of Art & Design, Coventry University
Innovation Centre, CSM
Institute of Materials
Business Development, King’s College London
Kodak
Lancaster Institute for Contemporary Arts (LICA)
London College of Fashion
Loughborough University
Marks and Spencer
Material Inspirations
Materials and Engineering Research Institute
NAMTEC
National Physical Laboratory (NPL)
P2i Labs
Paperworks
Pera International
Peratech
Physical Sciences Department, Defence Science and Technology Laboratory
Prior 2 Lever
QinetiQ
Queen Mary, University of London, Dept of Clinical Biochemistry
Queen Mary, University of London, Dept of Materials
RCA
Royal College of Art
Scentsory Design, Imperial College spin out
School of Art and Design, Nottingham University
School of Construction Management and Engineering, University of Reading
School of Engineering and Design, Brunel University
School of Engineering, University of Brighton
School of Textiles and Design, Heriot-Watt University
Science Museum
SMART.mat
South East England Development Agency (SEEDA)
Strategic Research Centre, Rolls-Royce plc
Department of Design, University of Huddersfield
TechniTex
TEP/TR
The Future Laboratory
The Tomorrow Project
The Welding Institute (TWI)
Toray Europe Limited
Trans.forma Design
Trendstop Magazine
Tyco Safety Products
UCL
University of Brighton
University of Dundee
University of the Arts London
VT Halmatic
Warwick Innovation LTD

Report
Workshop report