Behind every classic of design lies some innovation in materials or fabrication. So what materials will tomorrow's brilliant new products be made from? Material Connexion, a materials library for designers, has just unveiled its inaugural MEDIUM awards, for the best materials of the year. The grand-prize winner and the 11 honorable mentions will then be shown in January at the Material Connexion showroom in New York. Here's an exclusive sneak peek of a few of those mind-bending innovations.

Above: Abtech Industries's Smart Sponge, which took an honorable mention. The material absorbs oil but not water--thus potentially solving the once intractable problem of oil-spill cleanup.

The handiwork of the Objet Geometries's revolutionary new 3-D printers. Rapid prototyping typically only allows you to build objects out of only one material--either cutting it away with drills, or building it up with lasers and plastic. These printers, however, allow prototypes made all at once, out of multiple materials, thanks to jet printing.

Innegrity's Innegra S fiber, the lightest alternative to Kevlar that's currently on the market. While it looks delicate, this stuff can stop bullets when layered; one application is in army helmets.

Quin Media Arts & Sciences creates textured metal cladding for buildings, which changes colors based on lighting and where the viewer is standing.

One application.

The rubbery foams used in sports shoes are pretty nasty--they're resource intensive, since they're derived from oil. Arkema's Pebax Renew is the first plant-based alternative. Comprised of 95% plant-based materials, they reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 30%.

Cellucomp's Curran has a strength that rivals carbon fiber. But instead of carbon strands, the "biofiber" is made from--get this--processed carrots.

And now the grand-prize winner: Concrete Canvas. The fiber is impregnated with concrete; it only hardens when you add water. Thus, you can create "buildings in a bag"...

The first stage: Roll out...

...forming the canvas...

...and bingo, a concrete building that can be erected almost as quick as a tent. The applications abound, from food storage in disaster areas, to military barracks.