Materials

Physical properties, visual characteristics and cultural codes of matter

About the collection

Material is not a background or a neutral medium. Stone, metal, wood, textile, glass: every material carries the history of technology, a cultural code and a visual logic. This collection covers archival material studies available in the VANSMITHLAB knowledge base.

Stone and concrete

• Granite — mass, grain, polished geology.
• Limestone — soft mass, porosity, architecture.
• Marble — origin, types, finishes, visual language.
• Travertine — origin, properties, applications.
• Concrete — architectural and visual material.
• Terrazzo — fragment, binder, seamless surface.

Metal

• Steel — structure, frame, industrial honesty.
• Stainless Steel — architecture, object, design.
• Aluminium — lightness, anodising, technical surface.
• Brass — composition, patina, warm metallic light.

Wood

• Oak — grain, durability, cultural memory.
• Birch Plywood — layers, pressure, modern form.

Glass and transparency

• Glass — transparency, reflection, architecture of light.
• Acrylic — transparency, colour, light, thickness.

Textile

• Cotton — fibre, everyday textile, global code.
• Wool — warmth, crimp, felt, suit, tactility.
• Polyester — fibre, film, mass clothing, surface.
• Nylon — from industrial material to luxury.
• Silk — properties, types, applications.
• Leather — tanning, luxury, production.
• Tweed — woollen cloth, Chanel, space and movement.
• Jacquard — pattern, programme, mechanism.
• Knitwear — form created by the loop.
• Knitting — producing surface and form at the same time.
• Lining — the invisible architecture of clothing.
• Architectural Textiles — membranes, light, space.

Technical clothing components

• The Zipper — the technology that changed clothing.
• The Button — function, sign and industrial object.

Composites and technical materials

• Carbon Fibre — lightness, strength, technical luxury.
• Fibreglass — composite, shell, lightness, industrial form.

Surface and patina

• Patina — the controlled ageing of material.
• Charred Wood — protection, black texture, yakisugi.

Porcelain and ceramics

• Porcelain — whiteness, fire, thinness, strength.
• Tile — module, hygiene, pattern, public surface.

Research platforms

• Material ConneXion — an international library of innovative materials.
• Materiom — an open database of biomaterial recipes.
• Formafantasma — a studio researching the origin and lifecycle of materials.
• The New Raw — a studio working with recycled polymers and digital production.