Barometer

By WGSN Materials Team , 10 January 2011

The barometer highlights the season's key messages, which have been developed to inform early design
thinking. Here, we confirm the evolution or continuation of previous themes, or comment on new
directions. These stories will then be further developed in our seasonal textile, knit and material
forecasts.

Archaic
Evolving from the shredded constructions of Nest and the unruly, craft-inspired aesthetic of Primitive,
theme Archaic continues to dig deep into the evolution of nature, re-evaluating the origins of materials
with a seemingly prehistoric authenticity.

Horse-hair nest by Sandi Gunnett

Spanish Pavilion for Shanghai Expo 2010 by

Miralles Tagliabue EMBT

Mark Pimlott & Tony Fretton at Venice Biennale,

2010

Juxtapose
Mixing remains a constant dialogue; piled up and stratified in theme Stacked,stripped back to honest
material pairings in Utilitarian and refined in Juxtapose through considered joinings of opposing old and
new or rich and poor.

WGSN 2014

Book/staircase by Levitate Architects

Cleft Oak stool by Simon Hasan

Concrete Cabinet by Studio Rolf

Atmospheric
Temporal materials were first indicated in Deceptive using reflection to evoke shifting surfaces later found
through challenging the notion of perceived fragility in Transparency. Shifting through to Atmosphere,
materials now have innate sensory and responsive properties.

Carl-Viggo Hlmebakk

Tree/tray by Jaeun Park for Fabrica x Secondome,

2010

Les Aments (Filet) by Noemie Goudal, 2010

Framework
Moving from the loose tensile formations in Strung to a more chaotic disarray of questionable structures
in Dangerous, surfaces rearrange in a newly required order through exposed and articulated formations
in Framework.

WGSN 2014

Unseen Current by Ball-Nogues Studio, 2008

On Off by Graham Hudson, 2008

Land of Giants by Choi & Shine, 2010

Post Nature
Nature's influence continues to inspire thinking, evolving from the rapid prototyping digital molecular
structures in Scientific Nature,through the intricate micro-formations seen in Delicate Nature,to a
laboratory-inspired artificially synthesised material approach in Post Nature.

Cellular Automation: Origin of Species 2 by Ross

Lovegrove, 2008

Harvest by Asif Khan, 2010

Hylozoic Ground by Philip Beesley, 2010

Rehab
The playfulness and naivety of the theme Transhybrid reappears in the spontaneous quick-craft DIY
repair and remake aesthetic of Rehab, in which unexpected textural mixes create a sense of optimism.

WGSN 2014

Two-some by Martino Gamper, 2006

Paper and fabric pots by Emily Jo Bufton

WGSN 2014

Peckham Shield by El Ultimo Grito, 2010