LDF Network Evening 2016

The Post-resource Economy, which took place at the Goldsmiths’ Centre in Farringdon, London, featured a panel discussion between Seetal Solanki, founder and director of research studio Ma-tt-er, Tina Gorjanc, designer of the Pure Human project, and Hannah Robinson, visual editor at LS:N Global.

Gorjanc stressed the importance of changing the framework around the word rather than changing the word ‘sustainability’. ‘I think sometimes people feel overwhelmed when you say we need a whole new sustainable process that will work on every level,’ she told the audience. ‘You need to work out which aspect of sustainability is the most important for your business to be addressing.’

Solanki said that sustainability shouldn’t be thought of as a luxury but should just be part of everyday life. ‘I think when it’s a choice it can be considered a luxury. If manufacturing processes became adapted to more sustainable solutions then I think it would become more mass-market.’

Gorjanc spoke about the need to learn from our environment and shape our industries so that they mimic the natural system. She also discussed the current issue of scaling up sustainable processes, which at a small-scale level work well, but on a larger scale begin to break down.

After the panel discussion guests were encouraged to look around the displays, which featured Hanan Alkouh’s Sea-Meat Seaweed, made from the marine algae dulse, and Gorjanc’s Pure Human bag, a conceptual proposal for a range of leather-like products made from the DNA of Alexander McQueen.