WeVux was founded in 2011 and it’s a platform for the sharing of projects of design and architecture connected with sustainability and emerging talent, through precise curation, a professional approach and a specific critical viewpoint. Today, through its technical director Giuseppe Barbalinardo, creative director Teo Sandigliano, and Mattia Lanzarone, WeVux presents Materials Design Map.
Materials Design Map is a free online tool that documents and illustrates – for sector professionals and all pertinent parties – the most interesting projects and companies around the world that focus on experimentation with sustainable materials, selected with the help of a committee of experts.
Material Design Map stems from the desire to map projects already completed or in progress, to share them and grant them maximum visibility, putting the experimenters into contact with industrial production systems.
Through the introduction of a map and the participation of companies and products already on the market, the initiative sets out to make a contribution to the circular economy, nurturing small solutions on a local scape, avoiding or limiting practices that are damaging for the environment, such as the transport of refuse, disposal in dumps and the phenomenon of downcycling.
“The idea was to try to provide a real contribution for the world of design,” says Teo Sandigliano. “We believe in multidisciplinary approaches to the sector and in design as a method to promote a transition towards a more sustainable future. Materials Design Map is our first project launched: an online database, free and available for anyone with a connection, enabling them to get in touch with companies and designers, while also helping them to understand what kinds of projects are now being developed in a given geographical area.”
The database is composed of an interactive map where it is possible to geographically locate the project in question, or the entire range of projects related to new materials in a given location.
This is followed by a list of projects, organized in terms of four filters: design name, resource type, business type and the home nation of the studio/company. Clicking on the results, it is possible to have a description of the project, its location, its status (early prototypes, call for financing, etc.) and the web contact of the designer.
The service requires no fees for participation or registration. The information comes directly from the designers, studios and companies, and the materials are updated on a monthly basis. Anyone who has created or is creating a sustainable material can take part, filling out a simple form at the contacts page.
The idea arose following observation of certain critical factors in the field of experimentation with materials: first of all, the development of the concept, i.e. the interaction between experimentation and industrial production systems; then the fragmentation of systems of recycling and reuse of waste, caused for example by the fact that in Italy the rules change from region to region, or even from city to city. A complex world in which to share information on a capillary level. An idea that can lead to true progress.
