Designworks Launches MATERIA: The Garden of Possibilities, Exploring the Future of Biomaterials.

• Immersive exhibit by Designworks, BMW Group’s strategic design consultancy, explores the future potential of biomaterials and their possible applications in manufacturing. 
•   MATERIA is open to the public through November 15th from 10:00 AM to 7:00 PM daily at [SPACE] by BMW at The Grove in Los Angeles.
•   The exhibit utilizes BMW’s first-ever, fully electric BMW iX Sports Activity Vehicle as a guidepost, highlighting the vast array of materials – and biomes - available in California within its electric range.

Woodcliff Lake, NJ – October 29, 2021… Designworks, BMW Group’s strategic design consultancy, opened today MATERIA: The Garden of Possibilities -- an immersive exhibit which explores the future potential of biomaterials and their possible applications in manufacturing.  MATERIA serves to underscore the BMW Group’s commitment to innovation, sustainability, and circularity by exploring environmentally friendly alternative materials which may benefit a variety of industries including, but not limited to the automotive industry.  The exhibit is free to the public and open daily from 10:00 AM to 7:00 PM through November 15^th at [SPACE] by BMW, the brand’s experience venue at  The Grove  in Los Angeles (189 The Grove Dr, Los Angeles, CA 90036) . 

The name “MATERIA” is latin for material and references science and its connection to nature. Inspired by nature’s innovation, this installation is part lab, part garden; in process, never static. Displays include bioluminescent algae -- a playful and beautiful nod to electrification in nature; hemp wood which grows 100 times faster than – and 20% stronger than – hardwoods like oak; chitosan, a biopolymer obtained from the hard exoskeleton of shellfish that is produced in nature 400 times more than plastic is consumed, and can biodegrade within two weeks; mycelium, a root network of mushrooms, that could become a sustainable form of packing material, and more.

“Designworks’ main charge is to look toward the future, to understand, find and define what’s next,” said Holger Hampf, president of Designworks.  “As companies like BMW continue to drive toward a more sustainable future, the materials we use will serve a very core function in the way we design, manufacture and live in the years to come.” 

Using BMW’s first-ever, fully electric BMW iX Sports Activity vehicle and its electric range of around 300 miles as a guidepost, Designworks set out to explore the vast array of materials that can be found within California’s diverse ecosystem.  As a result, each of the eight materials exhibited in MATERIA can all be found within driving distance of Designworks’ CA studio.

Central to the Designworks’ creative process on MATERIA is the idea that to design using biomaterials is a shared process between designer and nature. Rather than forcing a material to comply, you have to allow the living organisms to grow and thrive for the design to be whole, making the process a collaboration with nature itself. To bring the project to life, Designworks connected with biomaterial artists, scientists and manufacturers across the state of California and beyond. Working together with experts in the biomaterial space added an additional layer of understanding that enabled Designworks to push the boundaries of what these materials can be used for now and in the future.

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About Designworks

Designworks, a BMW Group Company, is a global creative consultancy offering services which foster innovation and business growth for companies worldwide.  Using cross-industry knowledge and experience, its culture of innovation and future-focused approach catalyzes its passion for visionary design. Designworks leverages the power of BMW Group’s culture of innovation and cutting edge design to advance the goals of its external clients, including John Deere, Virgin Hyperloop One, Siemens, Corsair, 3M, Orbital Marine Power, Brunswick, and Singapore Airlines, whilst bringing outside perspectives and impulses to the BMW Group through knowledge and experience gained with client engagements.  More information in Designworks is available here.

About BMW Group in America

BMW of North America, LLC has been present in the United States since 1975.  Rolls-Royce Motor Cars NA, LLC began distributing vehicles in 2003.  The BMW Group in the United States has grown to include marketing, sales, and financial service organizations for the BMW brand of motor vehicles, including motorcycles, the MINI brand, and the Rolls-Royce brand of Motor Cars; Designworks, a strategic design consultancy based in California; a  technology office in Silicon Valley, and various other operations throughout the country.  BMW Manufacturing Co., LLC in South Carolina is the BMW Group global center of competence for BMW X models and manufactures the X3, X4, X5, X6 and X7 Sports Activity Vehicles.  The BMW Group sales organization is represented in the U.S. through networks of 350 BMW passenger car and BMW Sports Activity Vehicle centers, 143 BMW motorcycle retailers, 116 MINI passenger car dealers, and 38 Rolls-Royce Motor Car dealers.  BMW (US) Holding Corp., the BMW Group’s sales headquarters for North America, is located in Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey.

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