ECO Solidarity Returns to ICFF

At a time when environmental and humanitarian crises reach a critical apex, architects and designers must re-examine their role in creating and solving these problems. Are they complicit in maintaining the status quo instead of developing new responses to address issues related to waste, well-being, sustainability, and economic and social equality?

ECO Solidarity was formed to help designers act together on these issues. This year, the initiative, founded in 2020 by the Polish Cultural Institute New York in partnership with WantedDesign and in collaboration with the European Union National Institutes for Culture (EUNIC), will return May 21 to the International Contemporary Furniture Fair (ICFF) for a discussion on materials usage.

Moderated by Jonsara Ruth, co-founder and design director of Healthy Materials Lab at New York’s Parsons School of Design, Ethics in Materiality: Restoring Sustainable Balance will feature three leading European talents discussing ways to create aesthetically alluring functional design that respects local resources, contains healthier substances, and is produced with end-use in mind.

Panelists include Warsaw-based Paulina Grabowska, whose studio NASDRA Conscious Design develops urban farms, circular-economy schemes, and climate-change mitigation processes. Grabowska is also the founder of Moodfarm, which crafts healthy and regenerative work environments for multinational companies.

From the Czech Republic is Dagmar Zvonickova Fredholm, co-founder of Novavita Design Lab. Focusing on sustainable material research and development, Novavita produces materials made predominately of waste and recycled ingredients.

This year’s EUNIC partners include Czech Center New York and the Polish Cultural Institute New York, with generous support from the Consulate General of Portugal in New York and the Consulate General of Spain in New York.

Ethics in Materiality: Restoring Sustainable Balance will take place Tuesday, May 21, at 1:30 on the Oasis Stage at ICFF