Designing with Kinetic Materials

Abstract

Some of the difficulties designers and design educators face when attempting a project with smart materials are their limited availability, high cost, and lack of practical but reliable information. The design community responds to these problems in many creative ways. Tinkering and experimentation with materials and simple tools is becoming popular as a process to generate valuable knowledge for practitioners. Web-based platforms, blogs, databases, and videos specifically aim to share information and create networks for collaboration. Some kinetic materials are prepared from more accessible materials. Workshops are organized during studio projects and workshops. Some of these projects from different parts of the design world are briefly presented in this chapter. New material visions that emerged from design experiments are discussed. These visions aim to leap into a new era of materiality including the development of new interfaces or means that directly link the digital and material realities.