Make Good Symposium 2025

The 2025 Make Good symposium brings together leading foresters, material specialists, authors, architects, producers and makers to discuss the potential of our woodland resources, how we can cultivate them and regenerate the land on which they grow. As such, it takes its cue from Material Cultures’ pioneering research into bark, natural glue and pine needles currently on display at the V&A in Woodland Goods.

The symposium forms part of the fourth iteration of the Make Good: Rethinking Material Futures programme, supported by John Makepeace OBE. The ten-year project launched in 2022 and encompasses an annual display in the Dr Susan Weber Gallery of Furniture, an annual symposium and a programme of acquisitions dedicated to exploring the use of natural, renewable materials in design and architecture at a time of climate emergency.

 

Symposium overview:
 Introductions by Anna Bates, V&A and Summer Islam, Material Cultures

Land
Keynote by Guy Standing, economist

Forestry
Jez Ralph, Evolving Forests
Sarmīte Polakova, Studio Sarmīte
Q&A chaired by Summer Islam
 
 Goods
 Humphrey Bunyan and Sam Holland-Bunyan, Cecence
 Rosa Whiteley, Cooking Sections
 Rodrigo García González, Notpla
 Inês Rodrigues, Amorim
 Q&A chaired by Anna Bates
 
 Education
 Lesson with Seetal Solanki, Ma-tt-er

Building
Christian Benimana, MASS Design Group
Loretta Bosence, Local Works Studio
Q&A chaired by Ruth Lang, architect, researcher and writer
 
 Concluding remarks by Christopher Wilk, V&A

Please use the #makegood tag when posting about the symposium. To find out about future events and sign up to our quarterly newsletter, please sign up here. 

This event will be held in-person. For those who prefer to join remotely, we are offering streamed online tickets as a separate option.

Onsite tickets are sold out, but livestream tickets are still available here. The symposium will also be recorded.

If you would like to join the waiting list for the onsite event, please email Victoria at v.sperotto@vam.ac.uk.