Matter Matters

Designing with the World

Author: Karen Barad, Ethel Baraona, Andreu Balius, Jane Bennett, Francesca Bria, Benjamin Bratton, Isabel Campi, Rossend Casanova, Blanca Callen and Maria Antonia Casanovas

Matter Matters examines environmental and social crises through materiality, focusing on objects' political ecology in a carbon-neutral future. Based on the Museo del Disseny-Dhub exhibition, it features 500+ pieces and eight chapters by material type, blending articles and visuals to showcase historical and contemporary design dialogue.

Product Unavailable

PRODUCT INFORMATION

Summary

Description

Matter Matters reflects on the current environmental and social crises through the lens of materiality, positioning matter as the focal point to address the political ecology of objects in a society striving for carbon neutrality by 2050.

The publication is based on the homonymous exhibition at the Museo del Disseny-Dhub, featuring over 500 pieces, including more than a hundred contemporary designs in dialogue with the museum's historical collection.Matter Matters is structured into eight chapters according to materials: Petrochemical, Plant-based, Animal, Microbiological, Mineral, Digital, Intangible, and Affection-Fiction. Each chapter includes articles by international and local authors, as well as micro-narratives that visually showcase the pieces from the exhibition in various juxtapositions.

Addresses urgent global challenges like resource scarcity, carbon neutrality, and decolonization.
Timely response to 2050 carbon-neutral goals, offering actionable insights for a sustainable future.
Offers a new perspective on extractivist principles, crucial for both academic and professional debates in design and sustainability.
Richly illustrated with over 500 images, including photographs of historical and contemporary objects.
Texts by leading thinkers across various fields.

About the Author

Olga Subiros is an architect and curator of exhibition projects that provide an integrative approach to twenty-first century culture and the far-reaching transformations of the digital era and systemic crisis. Olga Subiros is a current lecturer on Data and Design Master at Elisava, Barcelona School of Design and Engineering, Master of Design and Production of Spaces CCCB-UPC and a PhD candidate in Architecture and Design at RMIT.