We invited five designers in Mexico to explore local materials that better represent people, land, culture, and craft.
The pandemic exposed considerable flaws in our global supply chain. Paired with a growing climate emergency, we need to re-examine the unsustainable ways we manufacture and move goods around the world, and find creative ways to build future homes.
Designing for local contexts
To explore these new paths, we reached out to five material designers: Paloma Morán Palomar, Taina Campos, Karen Kerstin Poulain, Bertín López, and Gabriel Calvillo. As part of our Mexico City Pop-Up and in collaboration with Ma-tt-er and Biology Studio, the five designers prompted us to look at the abundant soil beneath our feet, at precious native beeswax, and the opportunities in material waste from fruit and vegetable harvests to imagine better ways of making.
Following six weeks of intensive research, prototyping, and experimentation, we presented the resulting projects in the exhibition, Pieces of Home. The exhibition received an honourable mention in the LATAM and Materials categories in Fast Company’s 2022 Innovation by Design Awards. Following the pop-up, the exhibition continued on a nationwide tour to venues including Museo Franz Mayer, Casa UC, ITESO Galería Universitaria, and Pad Jalisco.
Scaling change
From structural walls to objects that preserve and enable nourishment, the designs invite us to consider how we can design, make, and build our homes and everyday objects in connection with land, culture and time — and in regenerative ways. They provide inspiration for people to explore these questions and possible outcomes in their context, paving the way for new materials and local ventures to emerge around the globe.