This week, Dezeen reported from Dutch Design Week where a series of talks, installations and exhibitions tackled the role of architecture and design in both causing and fighting the climate crisis.
In a talk hosted by Dezeen's founder Marcus Fairs, a panel of architects including Thomas Rau, Marco Vermeulen and Overtreders W's Hester van Dijk discussed how a circular economic system could be integrated into their practices.
During the discussion, Vermeulen suggested that switching to timber as a locally sourced building material could prevent 100 megatons of carbon from entering the atmosphere while solving the Dutch housing shortage.
Meanwhile, local designers Atelier NL created benches from fallen trees for visitors to rest on.
Studio Drift reduces plastic bags into blocks for Materialism installation An installation by Amsterdam-based Studio Drift, condensed 3,000 plastic bags into an equal number of blue blocks, while an exhibition of work from Design Academy Eindhoven alumni explored the global scale of waste.
French designer Dorian Renard presented a series of undulating plastic furniture and sculptural pieces at the degree show of current Eindhoven graduates, that treat the material as something to be cherished rather than thrown away.
Dorian Renard blows plastic like glass for a collection that reconsiders the material's value
Elsewhere in design, alternatives to plastic in the fashion industry were explored as Native Shoes created a trainer from algae-laced foam, w...