Designer Natsai Audrey Chieza will speak at Dezeen Day on 30 October about future materials including biofabrication and using microbes instead of chemicals.

Chieza, founder and director of multidisciplinary agency Faber Futures, will present her work during a discussion designing without plastic.

She will be joined on the post-plastic materials panel by architect Arthur Mamou-Mani and designer Nienke Hoogvliet.

Born in Zimbabwe, Chieza moved to the UK when she was 17, later studying architecture at Edinburgh University and then gaining a masters degree in materials futures at Central St Martins in London.

Chieza is part of a new generation of designers exploring biofabrication, which involves making materials and products from living materials, as an alternative to conventional manufacturing processes.

Faber Futures describes itself as a "biodesign future agency" and explores how design can come together with living systems to help tackle global problems such as pollution and climate change.

In 2017 she gave a TED talk about her work developing biological solutions to reduce waste generated by the fashion industry.

Natsai Audrey Chieza gave a TED talk about her work in 2017

Her Project Coelicolor, which investigates how bacteria could replace harmful chemicals used to dye fabrics, was a winner at this year's Index Awards.

Dezeen Day takes place on Wednesday 30 October at BFI Southbank, set on the Thames in central London. Part of the brutalist South Bank arts complex, BFI Southbank has recently been refurbished by architects Carmody Groarke.

Dezeen Day aims to set the global agenda for architecture and design and will address key topics including future cities, transforming design education and the circular economy. See the full schedule for Dezeen Day and read about all the speakers announced so far.

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The illustration is by Rima Sabina Aouf.