Until recently, most periods of technological development, such as the Iron Age, were linked to changes in use of materials. However, it has become increasingly evident that the driving force for materials innovation and design is information technology.
In this talk, Professor Graeme Were, University of Bristol, examines materials innovation from a Melanesian perspective. He reveals how plant materials used in design projects are selected on the basis of their informational capacities and so are productive of thought and action. Their selection criteria – such as inbuilt capacity...
