15th Jan 2025
Our new & improved digital Materials Library
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15th Jan 2025
Things are afoot in the world of the Materials Library, with lots of exciting new developments happening in our digital catalogue.
This year we have been working hard to fill our publicly accessible digital Materials Library with as many more juicy images and expansive stories about wondrous materials as possible.
Dive into our new and improved catalogue to explore the natural wonders of glass formed by lightning, the revolutionary effects of man-made marvels like glass fibre, translucent concrete and carborundum, and the intoxicating power of the rarest raw perfume ingredients in the world.
To complement the development of our new Experimental Kitchen we have extended our collection of spicy, crunchy and fragrant materials, with the addition of freeze-dried ice cream, cinnamon, cloves, ambergris, damask rose, tuberose and cheesy wotsits to the catalogue.
We’ve grown the selection of vitreous materials that we have out there in the world by adding glasses formed by lightning, volcanoes and meteorites. We’ve been exploring our softer side with new profiles exploring waste-based pineapple leathers, arctic furry gloves and sophisticated 3D knitted fabrics.
You can also read more about revolutionary, historically important and experimental materials like supple and spongy mushroom leather, glittery and abrasive carborundum, tough glass fibre reinforced polyester, dramatic translucent concrete and much, much more…
Our new and improved online catalogue also has a whole host of functionalities.
Use the filters in the sidebar to explore different properties of interest like a material’s colour, category (e.g. animal, mineral, polymer or metal), form (e.g. coil, crystal or honeycomb) or how it has been processed (e.g. polished, extruded or grown).
Using the search bar, you can search for a material by name (e.g. carbon, copper or slime), or by an eclectic range of keywords (e.g. as edible, acoustic, scarce or smelly).
You can also browse our curated selections of materials, which include materials collections on the themes of bodily materials, cubes, waste or stickiness.
And finally, you can curate your own selection of materials that delight, disgust, intrigue and inspire you in the bookmarks area.
Don’t take our word for it: dive into the catalogue and have a look for yourselves.
For inducted members using our space you will also find a brand new Materials Library Guide booklet at the front of the library area that escorts you through using the collection and catalogue for the first time.
Also coming later this year: we will be building a second Materials Library over on our Stratford site, which should be ready by the autumn.
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