Built from the ground it stands on: Lot 8 in Arles, France
The renovation of a former nineteenth-century electrical depot draws its materials, almost entirely, from the few kilometres of southern France around it.
Journal
The journal archive features insights on interior design, sustainable architecture and innovative material research. Stay inspired with the latest in eco-friendly design trends.
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From hempcrete to biodiversity: Regenerative design in focus
At HIP V. HYPE’s ParkLife2 building, About Futures and B Local Melbourne hosted a relaxed but pointed conversation about regenerative design – covering nature-positive decisions, material selection, social connection and how stories can help shape how we build.
Join us in Melbourne for The Future of Design is Regenerative event
From carbon-positive buildings to biodiversity-led business models, the most compelling work in the built environment is no longer satisfied with ticking green boxes. The Future of Design is Regenerative is an event inviting the Melbourne’s design community into a candid conversation – hosted at HIP V. HYPE’s Better Building Exchange – this B Local Melbourne event will dive into what it really takes to design places that give back more than they take.
NGV’s new exhibition Making Good: Redesigning the Everyday puts bio-materials in the spotlight
From mushroom leather handbags to seaweed straws and air-purifying paint, the National Gallery of Victoria’s new exhibition is a love letter to the ingenuity of designers reimagining the materials of daily life.
10 exhibitions about bio-materials and waste to see at Melbourne Design Week 2025
Melbourne Design Week is now in its ninth year, continuing to grow in scale and ambition. I was lucky enough to attend the inaugural event as editor of Australian Design Review — and it’s remarkable to see the shift since then. This year, a surge of shows explores bio-materiality, waste and reuse with new urgency. Here are 10 exhibitions worth adding to your list.
Big Glow by Studio Truly Truly redefines lighting with a bio-composite wool
Studio Truly Truly’s latest lighting design for Rakumba, Big Glow is a bold material experiment fusing innovation and sustainability.
Coffee concrete – An award-winning material reinventing sustainable construction
Researchers at RMIT University have developed an innovative way to transform spent coffee grounds into a high-performance construction material, strengthening concrete while tackling the mounting problem of organic waste.
The evolution of bio-composites
The explosion of bio-composites as a new avenue for materials without petro-chemicals is a process that has been going on longer than we might think.
What are bio-composite materials?
A deep dive into bio-composite materials to uncover the composition, different types, history and the varied applications.
Where is material science heading?
For material science, the future holds immense promise with the emergence and advancement of nanomaterials and biocomposites.
About Futures is an independent magazine documenting the homes, ideas and conversations shaping a new era of sustainable design.
The most exciting architecture being built right now is sustainable. About Futures covers the groundbreaking materials, the alternative building processes, and the people reimagining what home can look like when it’s designed for the future.
