Dossier 24: Reconfiguring Materialities Through Biodesign and Biomaterials

2026-06-11

(Vol. 11, No. 2) Dossier 24: Reconfiguring Materialities Through Biodesign and Biomaterials | Revista de Ensino em Artes, Moda e Design (REAMD) – University of State Santa Catarina, Brazil, edited by Cynthia Gómez Ramírez, Lais Kohan and Ivis de Aguiar Souza.

Deadline for article submissions: 28 December 2026.

We are pleased to announce the call for papers for Dossier 24 of the Revista de Ensino em Artes, Moda e Design (REAMD) – Santa Catarina State University, Brazil. Entitled Reconfiguring Materialities Through Biodesign and Biomaterials, Dossier 24 will be published on 1 June 2027.

Scope: Although still in a limited manner, as the world has come to recognise that the impact of its actions degrades the environment, materials that decompose or biodegrade – so-called sustainable materials – have assumed a prominent role in industry and society, constituting an increasingly relevant area of research. Materials play a significant role in shaping the world around us, from the products we use to the buildings we inhabit. Nevertheless, traditional materials and the anthropocentric processes employed to produce them often generate a negative impact on the environment (Bell et al., 2024).

For centuries, our relationship with materiality was mediated by a lack of genuine care for nature. Today, this relationship appears even more fragmented. Materials circulate at ever-increasing speeds, transform rapidly and disappear without leaving visible traces – whether through fast production processes or through invisibilisation/erasure – yet their effects persist in ecosystems. Matter which once accompanied us now accumulates; what was once repaired is now discarded.

In this context, the need arises for design practices that overcome the limitations inherent in production processes Humanity has experienced the production processes of the Anthropocene an epoch associated with the onset of major impacts on atmospheric chemistry, radioactivity and materials deposited on the Earth's surface caused by industry – for example, practices linked to unsustainable extraction, linear supply chains, and dependence on fossil-based polymers. From this period, a transition has occurred towards the paradigm of biomaterials and biodesign, characterised by an inversion that reorients design practice: instead of passively using and exploiting nature, the designer becomes a co-creator, including by working with living organisms. Furthermore, it is necessary to move beyond the mere use of organism-derived (bio-based) materials and to promote the active integration of biological processes – such as growth, metabolism and self-repair – into the very core of the manufacturing process. The cultivation of fungi (mycelium) applied to materials, bacteria (e.g., bacterial cellulose from kombucha), or plant roots exemplifies this 'practice of cultivation' (Growing Design), in which the designer acts less as a builder and more as a curator of conditions that allow the organism to manifest its inherent material properties (Keune, 2021; Zhou et al., 2021).

It is in this sense that an education promoting a reconfiguration of the designer's vision, focused on biodesign and biomaterials, is necessary. Furthermore, the integration of biomaterials and biodesign into curricula also represents the need to make them more interdisciplinary and to foster the intersection of design, engineering and the biological sciences. New practices in biodesign education, which are gradually being introduced into curricula, must move beyond laboratory practices and design project work restricted to a narrow view of sustainable design. Indeed, the training of future professionals should integrate technical, ethical and philosophical knowledge, while also privileging the creation of a biocentric vision – where living systems are not resources but agents with whom relationships are established. Through this new approach, designers will be better prepared to reflect upon and develop projects grounded in a new paradigm focused on nature as part of the design process. This change opens up the possibility of rethinking materiality from a broader perspective, one that regards materials not simply as isolated objects but as part of living systems in constant interaction.

In this context, Dossier 24: Reconfiguring Materialities Through Biodesign and Biomaterials seeks to receive works that articulate and discuss design course curricula, theories, and practices in biomaterials and biodesign, and that address the following thematic axes:

Design

  • Digital design and biomaterial
  • Biobased textile materials (fibres, composites)
  • Material structure
  • Biobased material and finishing (textiles)
  • Fashion design (manufacturing, materials, digital biofabrication)
  • Interdisciplinary design research
  • Material processing
  • Algorithmic geometry and biodesign

Design theory and methodology

  • Design theories, processes and methods
  • Practice-led design research (i.e., advanced product and service design)
  • Ecosystem design research
  • New paradigms

Education

  • Education in biomaterials and biodesign
  • Design and fashion design curriculum and biomaterials and biodesign

Proposals may address, without being limited to, the topics within the scope presented above.

Publishing Guidelines

  • Texts submitted to the editorial committee must be original and unpublished.
  • The maximum number of authors per article is three. Exceptional cases will be evaluated by the editors.
  • Articles must be at least 18 pages long, including bibliographic references, illustrations, graphs and tables.
  • Articles may be written in Portuguese, Spanish, English, French or Italian.
  • Every article published in the themed issue must contain an extended abstract of 1000 to 1200 words in English [or in Portuguese if the original text is in another language], following the provided template.
  • All formatting must comply with the journal's norms (in case of doubt, consult a recently published article).
  • Bibliographic references must follow the standards defined by ABNT NBR 6023:2023.

Organisation

Cynthia Gómez Ramírez: holds a degree in Textile Design, a master's degree in Business Administration, and has studied fashion marketing, lifestyle trends, sustainable fashion and textile experimentation at Central Saint Martins School. She has received recognition as a top designer and is considered one of the 50 successful women in Mexico by the Expansión group and the Universal newspaper. She founded her studio in 1996, where she develops her eponymous brand, specialising in knitted textiles for Fashion and Interior Decoration, characterised by its chromatic richness. She has participated in Fashion Week México, Desfila and Días de Moda platforms for over 10 seasons. Her collections have been exhibited at the Carrillo Gil Art Museum in the exhibition "Boutique", at the Ex Teresa Arte Actual Museum in "Modas Terminales", and at Design Week Mexico in the Mexico City Museum Space. She has been the coordinator of the Sustainable Fashion and Textile Design programme in the Design Department at IBERO University (Mexico), currently is a full-time professor and a researcher in biodesign and textile biomateriales. She has been teaching for over 10 years, lecturing in strategic design, fashion and textile design, and business management. She has dedicated herself to research in biomaterials and biodesign.

Lais Kohan: holds a double doctorate in Textile Engineering from the University of Minho and in Engineering and Materials Science from the University of São Paulo.

Ivis de Aguiar Souza: is a doctoral candidate in Textile Engineering at the University of Minho in partnership with the spin-off eDynamics and Empa – Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology (Switzerland).