Country Always

Caring for Country

A Corner of the Empire

The Garden Palace

The Holding Pen

The Agricultural Hall

Regional Networks

Across New South Wales

A Museum of Doing

Technological Museum

Expanding Stories

Evolution of the Castle Hill site from botanical research station to Museum Discovery Centre

Transforming the Tramsheds

Powerhouse Stage 1 and the Harwood Building

A Symbol in Time

Sydney Observatory

Ongoing Transformations

Powerhouse Ultimo

Applied Arts and Sciences

Defining the terms in the 21st century

Powerhouse Renewal

A transformative renewal program across four sites

We Rise

Blak Powerhouse

Powerhouse-1 Mission Launch to the ISS

An initiative of the Powerhouse: Future Space program

2024

Exoskeleton

Powerhouse Parramatta

Sydney Design Week

Across Sydney12—24 Sep

2023

Program

Material Matters

Name: Materials Matters | Sydney Design Week
Start: 2023-09-22T05:00:00.000Z
End: 2023-09-22T06:15:00.000Z
Location: Ace Hotel Sydney

Talk

Material production and consumption cycles are inherently linked to issues of waste and inform our sustainability strategies. This panel brings together experts in materials science and material culture studies to discuss innovative materials and their implications for design.

Andrew Simpson, founder and director of Sydney-based design house, Vert, leads a conversation exploring how the physical and mechanical properties of materials are entangled within cultures and politics.

The discussion will give insights into materials innovation, designing with new (and old) technologies and transitioning towards renewable and sustainable materials and systems.

Speakers

Andrew Simpson is the founder and director of Sydney-based design house Vert and has designed a huge range of products over its ten years of operation, from the intimately hand-crafted through to mass-produced industrial products. Constantly searching for meaning and value in design, Andrew’s approach considers the human connection, while his experimental work in the studio has led to several innovations including the development of sustainable materials made from waste such as the iconic HuskeeCup. Since 2010, he has been director of Best Practice Plastics, specialists in injection molding of sustainable materials and working with clients like Unilever, Nestle, Mecca, Sydney Water and more. Simpson’s work has been exhibited in Australia, Europe, North America and Asia. He mentors emerging designers and lecturers and teaches at numerous Australian educational institutions, as well as providing public lectures, judging of national and international design awards and board advisory.

Dr Kate Scardifield is an artist and co-director of the UTS Material Ecologies Design Lab. Her research charts materials through states of transformation, emphasising the importance of transitioning production systems away from petrochemicals and towards more sustainable material futures. Scardifield leads interdisciplinary and collaborative research projects that bring together material culture studies and materials science, connecting science with creative practice and driving innovation through expanded forms of design. Key research projects include designing with algae-based biopolymers as alternatives to plastics, and the development of biomaterials to provide carbon capture and storage solutions in the built environment.

Professor Veena Sahajwalla is an internationally recognised materials scientist, engineer and inventor revolutionising recycling science. She is renowned for pioneering the high temperature transformation of waste in the production of a new generation of ‘green materials’ at the UNSW Sustainable Materials Research and Technology (SMaRT) Centre, where she is founding director. Professor Sahajwalla is the inventor of polymer injection technology, known as green steel, an eco-friendly process for using recycled tyres in steel production. In 2018, Professor Sahajwalla launched the world's first e-waste MICROfactorieTM and in 2019 she launched her plastics and Green Ceramics MICROfactories, a recycling technology breakthrough. She is the director of the ARC Industrial Transformation Research Hub for microrecycling and is the leader of the national Sustainable Communities and Waste Hub. In 2021, she featured in the ABC’s Australian Story and was named the 2022 NSW Australian of the Year.

Dr Alice Payne is a Professor and Dean of the School of Fashion and Textiles at RMIT. Her research focuses on environmental and social sustainability issues throughout the life cycle of clothing. Recent work has examined labour issues in the cotton value chain, as well as technologies to address the problem of textile waste. Alice is part of the Australian Fashion Council-led consortium designing the National Clothing Product Stewardship Scheme. She is author of the book Designing Fashion's Future, co-editor of Global Perspectives on Sustainable Fashion, and is an award-winning designer and educator.