Sustainability-Driven Design and Biomaterials: Perception as a Guide for Application Development

The increase in consumption last decades reinforces the responsibility regarding the choice of materials used in different industrial sectors. Then, the knowledge about the origin, properties, material selection processes and triggers of meaning can be useful in the exercise of designing. The pillars of sustainability, well-being and innovation have been directing attention to the use of materials with low environmental impacts. However, the application of a material does not only concern its technical performance, but also the subjectivity of its interaction with individuals. Thus, the perception of a material concerns both aspects related to the palpable nature itself and contexts involving the users’ perception experience, the icons common to society and the context given to the object or material in its presentation. The application of circular bioeconomy principles, focusing on the reuse of waste from the food industry, represents a valuable opportunity for society. In this context, researchers have been betting on the transition from a linear economy to a circular model through the creation of closed-cycle, efficient and low-cost systems, using organic waste as raw material to replace the extraction of virgin natural materials; wastes, once perceived as garbage, is then transformed into raw material with high added value. Furthermore, emerging design practices at the intersection of design, materials science, biology, and the arts have stimulated the transition of design’s role from a mere passive receiver to an active creator of materials. From this intersection arises a great material diversity, resulting from the encounter between design and biology. In this chapter, we present three initiatives involving the development of driven-designed biomaterials based on bacterial cellulose and mycelium, highlighting the main challenges during the design process and their potential applications.