WEEK IN REVIEW

STEP INSIDE ‘MATTER DIPLOPIA’ AT LONDON DESIGN BIENNALE 2025

During the 2025 London Design Biennale, designboom steps inside Matter Diplopia, the research-led exhibition by VCUarts Qatar that draws on collective memory, contemporary challenges, and cultural hybridity. Across three thematic pathways – Material Innovation, Cultural Narrative + Tech, and Observing Environments – the exhibition presents nine projects that call on viewers to embrace multiple perspectives and deeper interpretations of place. 'Matter Diplopia is about seeing from more than one perspective,' Amir Berbić, Dean of VCUarts Qatar, explains in an exclusive video interview with designboom. 'It’s an invitation to look again, to see differently and to discover how design can reveal connections we might otherwise miss.' Watch our conversation in full here, and discover more recent interviews here.

EXPERIMENTING WITH MICROALGAE FOR NATURAL COLOR PIGMENTS

In SO-Colored, we+ investigates the potential of microalgae to produce natural, sustainable color pigments. Found everywhere from water and rocky surfaces to roadsides and even inside homes, the microorganisms are able to produce vivid and profound natural hues, 'unlike any other in the natural world.' For this project, the Tokyo-based studio blended powdered microalgae with naturally derived resins to develop an original material, which is then used to craft furniture. See more submissions by our readers here, and find out how to upload your own project here.

The weekly is an inside review curated by Sofia Lekka Angelopoulou.