ArtEZ Centre of Expertise Future Makers

ArtEZ established the Centre of Expertise Future Makers (FM) in 2015. The Centre of Expertise (CoE) brings together the ArtEZ’s Professorships Fashion and Product Design & Interior Architecture, along with other knowledge partners. At FM (practice-based) researchers work on research projects in cooperation with public partners such as universities and governments, private partners like companies and trade associations and social partners.

ArtEZ Centre of Expertise Future Makers initiates and realizes design-driven innovation and research projects that contribute to a diverse, inclusive and sustainable society. Many projects aim to make value chains in fashion and textiles more sustainable, while also developing future scenarios through experimentation and speculative design interventions. Our projects are, for example, focused on extending the useful life by, among other things, quality of materials, emotional bonding with products and possibilities for repair, recycling in design and design for recycling, and the development of completely new, closed value chains based on renewable raw materials and sustainable production technologies. Instead of focusing primarily on optimising existing value chains, we highlight the importance of experimentation and new material development for radically new value chains.

Future Makers carries out research together with designers, companies and knowledge institutions such as in the projects Going Eco Going Dutch (development of a new, local, value chain based on hemp), The Future of Living Materials (development of new types of textile, dyes and production techniques based on living biomaterials), Emotionally Durable Design (development of design principles and practices to increase the emotional bond with fashion and textiles) and Going Circular Going Cellulose (development of new circular design principles for interdisciplinary collaboration and co-creation within a circular value chain). In all these projects, designers have a prominent role to bring about innovative interventions in existing value chains or develop entirely new ones based on their vision, knowledge and experience.