Case Example: Experimenting with Circularity to Guide Future Exhibitions
The Design Museum
London, UK
The Design Museum in London, England is dedicated to exploring the art and science of design. Recognizing the role that design plays in the excessive amount of waste coming from fashion and buildings and industrial-designed products, they created an exhibition focusing on waste and zero waste solutions.
The Waste Age designers applied a variety of circular principles in production of the exhibition including particular attention to materials choices.
- The exhibition reused elements of previous exhibitions for a central wall and plinths.
- Rooms and structures were constructed from regenerative and biodegradable materials including wool, locally-sourced clay, and they used algae for 3D-printed objects and wall panels.
- They sourced a type of engineered timber with lower embodied energy.
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- Planning and design included commitment to unbuilding and fully reusing some elements, including a wall made of unfired adobe bricks. The wall was constructed without fittings, allowing the materials to be easily disassembled for reuse.
The Design Museum’s fabrication and installation teams went through a learning process of working with unfamiliar materials. While this presented challenges at times, the Waste Age exhibition inspired the Design Museum to reevaluate its wasteful practices across the organization, as well as in the planning, design, and production of all exhibitions.
The museum commissioned a consulting firm to conduct a lifecycle assessment of the exhibition, using the findings to guide more informed decisions for future exhibitions. The Design Museum recognized that to understand their impact, they must measure the carbon footprint of their operations and exhibitions.
They also published two publications to inspire other museums and galleries to reduce the environmental impact of their exhibitions. Exhibitions Design For Our time addresses waste and materials reuse and other sources of greenhouse gas emissions. Check out the Design Museum’s two guides in Resources & Inspiration.
Tools for GhG Calculation & Tracking Waste
Visit our Resources & Inspiration page for free GhG calculator tools developed for museums, galleries, theatres and arts events and productions. Also see tools specifically for tracking waste and for keeping an inventory of use (reuse, repurposing, recycling) your materials at the end of theatre productions and exhibitions.