Material reGeneration [reGen] 2024
DFUEL Research Project, Royal Docks Centre for Sustainability, University of East London
reGen was an arts-led research project exploring sustainability, material transformation, and the relationship between digital technologies and local material ecologies. Developed in industrial East London, a landscape historically shaped by the Thames and the docklands, the project investigated how waste materials move through urban environments influenced by water, industry, and infrastructure
Working with hyperlocal waste streams, reGen focused on the reprocessing of discarded materials, including oyster shells - remnants of historic river and estuarine economies tied to fishing, trade, and food distribution along the Thames. These materials were treated as active collaborators rather than passive resources, forming the basis for new biomaterial composites and ceramic systems
Combining traditional making methods with emerging digital processes such as 3D modelling and fabrication, the project explored how waste-derived biomaterials could be transformed into new forms through low-waste, circular approaches. Material testing and experimentation foregrounded regeneration as both a technical process and a form of ecological care, examining how industrial and biological systems intersect within urban material cycles
reGen was funded by an East London Impact Scholars Award (ELISA) and led by artist Marie-Louise Jones in collaboration with creative technologist Paul Nichols. The project engaged UEL academics, student researchers, local businesses, and communities, extending material research into shared spaces of learning and exchange. Outcomes from the project were presented at MATERIALISE for Dundee Design Festival and as part of the Future Materials Table at the V&A Dundee
Through material research, collaboration, and site-responsive making, reGen reflects an ongoing inquiry into how cities manage waste, value materials, and imagine more regenerative futures shaped by environmental responsibility and care
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