The Programme
Design Researchers in Residence is Future Observatory’s residency programme hosted at the Design Museum. This programme supports thinkers at the start of their careers to develop new research on environmental concerns centred around a particular theme.
Each year the residency accommodates four researchers, working in different design disciplines to develop a piece of independent research in response to the theme and brief. Towards the end of the residency, the work of the four residents is presented in a free display at the Design Museum and in an accompanying print catalogue. There may also be an opportunity to contribute to a material lab in the re-thinking of the Design Museum’s collections gallery.
This year’s residency theme is Grown. Future Observatory is interested in design research projects that focus on the cultivation of natural, renewable and biodegradable materials.
Design Researchers in Residence: Grown will run from October 2026 – June 2027. The accompanying residency display will run from June 2027 – September 2027.
To apply, please download and carefully read the Call for Entries document before filling out the Application Form. All applications must be submitted by 11:59pm (UK time) on Sunday 6 September 2026 and application enquiries can be directed to grants_futureobservatory@designmuseum.org.
2026/27 Theme: Grown
Algae, fungi, yeast, natural fibres... grown materials are substances cultivated with living organisms, rather than being extracted from the earth. They are natural, renewable and biodegradable, whether they are grown in a lab or on land.
The UK's bioeconomy is a government growth priority: the 2025 Modern Industrial Strategy names engineering biology as one of six frontier industries, with an ambition for global leadership by 2030. Globally, the market for mycelium-based materials alone is projected to grow from around $3.6 billion today to over $5 billion by 2030, as fashion, construction and packaging industries look for alternatives to plastic, leather and other petrochemical- and animal-derived materials.
Yet the UK's own living landscapes for grown materials are themselves under threat. Seagrass meadows on the west coast of Wales have depleted by 92% over the last century, while only around 30,000 hectares remain of Scotland’s temperate rainforests. The UK's grown ecosystems are as fragile as they are abundant.
Design Researchers in Residence is open to designers and researchers from disciplines including but not limited to: biodesign, fashion and textiles, industrial design, architecture, systems and policy research, material innovation, craft or graphic design.
We are interested in research that spans the hand-made and tactile to the biofabricated and engineered, embedded in natural intelligence. This includes Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK), biodesign and biofabrication practices that work with living systems.
