The Regenerative Design Award champions contemporary design practices, which restore, renew or revitalise the environment. The award aims to support a broad range of mediums, including craft, product, material, and or service design and architectural practices that aim to give back more to the environment than they take. Meet the shortlist:
William Eliot
William is a designer and artist whose practice merges the realms of art, science, and nature.
Aurélie Fontan
Aurélie is a bio designer and entrepreneur working in the fields of fashion and product design with symbiotic and regenerative principles.
Emma Money
Emma is an interdisciplinary designer, research artist, and co-founder of Cyanoskin: a novel photosynthetic paint company helping to combat the climate crisis.
Rhea Thomas
Rhea is a transdisciplinary designer and climate innovator, and passionate about merging design, technology, and behavioural sciences.
With thanks to our independent Jury Prof. Alex de Rijke, founding Director of dRMM and Broadcaster; Prof. Mirella Di Lorenzo, Professor of Biochemical Engineering and Associate Dean International for the Faculty of Engineering and Design, Bath University; and Sarah Ichioka, Urbanist, strategist, curator and writer, who said:
“All the designers demonstrated creativity and commitment to their respective research and development processes. It’s often challenging to sustain a practice in this emerging field, where access to facilities, materials and technical support can be limited, so as a jury, we were impressed that all the shortlisted designers had managed to test and iterate their work in real-world scenarios.”
The Arts Foundation has a long history of supporting progressive and imaginative design practices having launched an award for Material Innovation a decade ago in 2014. Mary Jane Edwards, Director of The Arts Foundation says:
“We are thrilled to continue our support of forward-looking designers and creative practitioners. We are always greatly encouraged by the ingenuity and collaborative practices of all four designers working with materials and design approaches that are regenerative, with the emergent capacity to restore, renew or revitalise the environment. We have no doubt their respective work will have a significant impact, not only from a design-research perspective but also in moving the dial on complex, long-term environmental change. As the global climate crisis deepens, we are proud to have been an early advocate of innovation in material and social design, and to have supported a formidable body of thinking and work in this space.”
The Arts Foundation Futures Awards support the UK’s most promising artists and creatives at a pivotal moment in their careers to enable them to concentrate on their creative development, experiment, and realise their artistic potential. The recipient of the £10,000 Fellowship will be revealed on 28 February 2024, with all artists receiving £1,000 towards their practice.