ABSTRACT
This chapter presents a pilot study for introducing designing materials in design education. Considering the early stage of a materials-driven design approach, our research question is: how to introduce designing materials content in design studio classes? We argue that design students should become familiar with materials-driven design content facing the changes to materials around the world: social, environmental, economic and social issues. Moreover, they should be touched by the subject, considering the innovative character involved. To illustrate our proposition, we planned a workshop and an exercise using the materials-driven approach based on personal experiences of participants. We describe the objective, challenge, approach, process, results and outcomes from a workshop where participants were invited to create a material-product. Then, the step-by-step workshop structure is presented. Finally, we present general observations about the experience and a proposed structure.
