In the Age of Material Transformation: Textile Design and Upcycling

Abstract
Is textile recycling a trend or has it become a necessity?
This study explores the relationship between textile design and upcycling. As an urgent need to transform the way of creation and production as a result of accelerating climate change. The material itself has now become a design project. From the invention of the first synthetic fibers, which were initially conceived as a strategy to preserve as many natural resources as possible. To the proliferation of synthetic materials that revolutionized industry, construction and design.
While these innovations previously brought important technical and aesthetic possibilities, they created other complex consequences on the environment. The production of materials continues to affect natural systems, even in cases where the use of natural fibers is not directly involved. In this study, design is not simply a discipline but a critical mediator, between material innovation and environmental responsibility. The role of this research is closely linked to pedagogy and the way in which the concept of upcycling should be presented in design education.
The aim is not to present sustainability as a limitation, but as a creative opportunity and as a necessary cultural attitude. Not seeing nature as an inexhaustible source of materials, but maintaining a reflective attitude towards the products they bring to the market.
Through the analysis and presentation of student projects developed in courses on form and material, the study compares two approaches: designing a project and then selecting the material, versus starting the creative process through the upcycling of the material itself. In this way, a pedagogical model is proposed where material awareness becomes an integral part of thinking and creating.
Keywords: material, pedagogy, methodology, nature, synthetic