Brief: Students responded to four interdisciplinary themes: Being Digital, Caring Society, Social Justice, and Climate Crisis, which served as prompts for ambitious cross-programme collaboration and were further explored through sub-themes reflecting emerging considerations.

RCA Material Archive Project

We are a team of five RCA students from Graphic Design, Design Products, Architecture, Contemporary Art Practice, and Painting, brought together through AcrossRCA, an interdisciplinary programme connecting students across all MA pathways. United by a shared interest in sustainability, we set out to explore the environmental impact of materials within our creative practices.

As part of the Climate Crisis theme, we developed a proposal for the Material Archive - a growing collection and resource of sustainable materials at the RCA. To guide evaluation, we created the Hexagon Material Index, a simple framework for assessing materials based on six factors: responsivity, decomposition, reusability, sourcing, material characteristics, and potential as an alternative.

The first iteration of the Archive was exhibited at the Battersea Campus Library and Design Products studio. Inspired by the hexagonal index, the display takes the form of a modular, beehive-like structure with hexagonal tiles. Each tile can be handled physically and links via QR code to the digital archive, where visitors can explore details, applications, and sourcing information.

The Material Archive is designed to grow collaboratively, inviting contributions from students and staff across the RCA. Together, we hope to build one of the UK’s most dynamic university-based material libraries, expanding possibilities for sustainable, responsible making.