Reflect for a moment on where you are now:
Probably sitting somewhere….Wearing something (if not, I hope you are not in public)…Your feet are resting upon something…You’re looking at a screen, touching it perhaps..you are smelling and feeling the hot cup of coffee in your hand…the rings on your fingers…
Your experience of now is mediated through materials of all types, shapes and sizes. The clothes, upholstery, floor, cup, tablet screen, coffee cup, the coffee, even the air, your skin…all materials…
Materials are so foundational to our experience of life that we often just take them for granted.
But, these are exciting times.
New materials are being created daily, materials that respond to temperature, to vibration, to light…materials that change shape in magnetic/electric fields, materials that don’t pollute the environment…
What we can make in the world is limited more so by materials than by our dreams…
Here are some really cool websites, some free, some not free, but all display a dizzying array of materials of all types.
OpenMaterials.org This site is all about ways to DIY amazing materials. It’s about sharing material experiences. Check this out.
Materials for Designers – Great site from the Materials Information Society. Great database.
Transmaterial – Materials that redefine our physical environment. Amazing stuff here.
Material ConneXion – This is a great site. It is also a subscription based site. However, these folks offer more than just materials, they can be innovation partners. And, if you live in the areas where they have their display rooms you can actually see and touch the materials in their database. It’s worth a subscription to these folks.
Materia – Similar to Material ConneXion but this database is free. There tagline is “Materialize the Future.” Their website is a great place to start.
This list is by no means exhaustive, so if you have any other sites, please share them.
Henry David Thoreau said, “The youth gets together his materials to build a bridge to the moon, or, perchance, a palace or temple on the earth, and, at length, the middle-aged man concludes to build a woodshed with them.”
Please don’t settle and let your dreams become woodsheds. Learn about, and experience new materials.
~The more we know materials, the more we can make dreams reality~
