The second edition of Green Grads is to return to the Planted Cities design show during London Design Festival 2022 this September, showcasing the pioneering work over 50 graduates.
Giving a platform to newly graduated students, the ongoing initiative Green Grads seeks to highlight their pioneering work that addresses the world’s most pressing eco issues. The projects and ideas will focus on everything from circular production, waste and pollution, and the climate crisis through to biodiversity and sustainable materials.
Packed into the innovative Samsung space at Coal Drops Yard in King’s Cross, there will be a plethora of designs and innovations to explore and each with its now unique story. Mycelium, for example, is a material that is getting a lot of attention, and you can discover how Loughborough University graduate Georgie Gerrard has grown mycelium in plastic moulds to create characterful vessels.
“We are not saying that all the projects and ideas we show will be commercially viable, or indeed possible right now in the ‘real world’ but they are seeds to nurture and grow, the results of in-depth research and dedicated hours in studios and workshops,” explained Green Grads founder and curator Barbara Chandler. “Their inventors are the talent we so sorely need to help solve our eco-crises.”
Charlotte Werth’s Moving Pigment machine creates lines and gradients of colour on fabric, using little water and no harmful chemicals
Taking centre stage will be a large and futuristic-like machine that grows pattern on cloth, using no harmful chemicals. Moving Pigment, as it has been named, is the invention of Central Saint Martins’ graduate Charlotte Werth who looked at using bacteria to embellish fabric. “It’s a collaborative process with living organisms,” she says. She believes her methods could replace the petrochemical dyes that pollute water and landscape, and destroy ecosystems.
The Green Grads initiative has already linked many graduates with industry professionals, furthering their opportunities. For example, Bruno Schooling from Manchester School of Art has already won a prestigious award from the Conran Shop. His “site-specific” project Ground is tableware made from the iron-rich earth of Keepers Cottage Organics, a farm in the Peak District National Park.
With all this and lots more, it means that an array of innovative ideas and inspiration to save our planet will fill the exhibition space. Also, as a backdrop to the event, there will be a large Samsung screen showing a rolling video montage made by the graduates to bring the stories and efforts behind their projects to life.
You can visit the Green Grads event during London Design Festival 2022 on 24th and 25th September at Samsung UK, Coal Drops Yard, King’s Cross.
Make sure you put Planted Cities in your diaries – it runs from 23rd-25th September with a nature-inspired off-grid cabin, and an exciting talks programme in Granary Square in London’s King’s Cross.
Also, look out for Green Grads at the Ecocity World Summit (from 6th-8th June 2023) at the Barbican, London.
Discover more talented makers in our Meet the Maker interview series here on enki.
enki is supporting Planted Cities
