London Design Students Showcase Renewable, Circular Products
Global biorefining and technology organization UPM has teamed up with London’s Central Saint Martins (CSM) University of the Arts to challenge students to envision a future based in renewable materials.
The educational institution has revealed a collection of innovations developed by students in collaboration with UPM that reimagine everyday products typically made from fossil raw materials like petroleum in sustainably sourced, bio-based inputs. Designed to disrupt traditional learnings around product design, CSM said the partnership has spurred “transformative designs [that] enable sufficiency, recyclability and reuse as well as the substitution of fossil materials.”
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Throughout 2023, 50 product and industrial design students were tasked with redesigning everyday products using recycled, recyclable and bio-based materials like bio-plastic, with the goal of advancing circular innovation in the consumer product space. Projects were evaluated by a panel of judges with expertise in industrial design, product design, textile development, environmental science and fashion journalism based on the quality of the designs presented, contributions to renewable circularity, and commercial viability. Submissions were also judged on their potential to disrupt traditional development and design across a range of industries.
The winning designs and innovations will be showcased at CSM’s Design Transforms ’23 gallery now through October. Shortlisted finalists included a modular, easy-to-disassemble shoe that tackles the issue of footwear waste by promoting repair, a mono-material and modular motorcycle armor, furniture made from a single sheet of bioplastic which was designed to be shipped flat and assembled by consumers, and a stylish and wearable “plogging” set that encourages joggers to pick up litter while exercising.
“We are scaling a first-of-its-kind biorefining business to offer a new generation of biomass-based renewable materials, helping brands globally to reduce their CO2 footprint and de-fossilize their products,” UPM vice president of stakeholder relations Martin Ledwon said. UPM develops biorefined alternatives to traditional materials like plastic. “Creating a vision for this de-fossilization is a task that goes beyond one company—it’s a collective effort, best driven by ingenious minds and disruptive ideas,” Ledwon added.
Ledwon said UPM partnered with the university because it has taught generations of designers to think disruptively “and to design against the big challenges of our times.” In 2019, the university launched the world’s first master of arts course in biodesign.
“These new designs exhibited at Design Transforms ’23 undoubtedly have the potential to inspire brands and designers to exit fossil-based materials.” The students’ work encourages the broader consumer products world to reappraise their conventional thinking while advocating for change through new concepts and ideas, he added.
Through the project and the exhibition, UPM and CSM hope to bring together organizations, investors and communities engaged in conversations about circular design. “Through our stimulating partnership with UPM, we have gained an invaluable opportunity to engage with concrete and pressing needs in design for manufacturing,” CSM program director for product, ceramic and industrial design Nick Rhodes said.
“This collaboration has challenged us to develop compelling propositions that not only demonstrate but advocate for the urgent transition away from fossil fuels to renewable sources in manufacturing materials,” Rhodes added.
The Design Transforms ’23 showcase will be open through Oct. 15 at London’s Lethaby Gallery in King’s Cross.
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