Matter Matters reframes the environmental and social crises of our time through the politics of materiality, positioning the physical substance of objects as the terrain on which the battle for carbon neutrality must be fought and designed.
About This Book
Grounded in the exhibition at the Museo del Disseny-Dhub, Matter Matters brings together over 500 objects — more than a hundred of them contemporary designs — in conversation with the museum's historical collection. Structured across eight material categories — Petrochemical, Plant-based, Animal, Microbiological, Mineral, Digital, Intangible, and Affection-Fiction — the book maps the political ecology of objects against the horizon of a carbon-neutral society. International and local authors contribute essays to each chapter, while micro-narratives stage the exhibition pieces in unexpected juxtapositions. For designers, architects, and material researchers working at the intersection of sustainability, production, and critical practice, this is a genuinely expansive reference.
Key Features
- 396 pages of exhibition documentation, critical essays, and visual micro-narratives across eight material chapters
- Edited by Olga Subirós
- Over 500 exhibited pieces including more than 100 contemporary designs in dialogue with the Museo del Disseny-Dhub historical collection
- Published by Actar Publishers, ISBN: 9781638401759
What You'll Discover
- How materiality functions as a political and ecological category, not merely an aesthetic or technical one
- The tensions between petrochemical dependency and emerging plant-based, microbiological, and digital material futures
- How contemporary design objects read differently when placed alongside historical counterparts — what continuity and rupture in material culture actually look like
- The role of the museum and the exhibition as instruments for staging urgent questions about production, consumption, and carbon neutrality by 2050
About the Author
Olga Subirós is the editor of this publication. [Details available upon request]
Specifications
- Format: Softcover
- Pages: 396
- Dimensions: 170 × 256 mm
- Language: English
- ISBN: 9781638401759
- Publisher: Actar Publishers
- Publication Date: [Details available upon request]
Perfect For: Designers, architects, and material researchers engaged with sustainable practice, circular economy thinking, and the critical history of industrial materials.