Plant Architectures Across Scales

We are looking forward to the transdisciplinary exchange »Plant Architectures Across Scales« with architect Susanne Brorson and material scientist Lorenzo Guiducci on Tuesday, 12 May 2026, 5-7 pm at »Matters of Activity« in Berlin-Mitte. Join us, connect, and take part in the discussion!

Architect Susanne Brorson (STUDIO SUSANNE BRORSON, Rügen) constitutes her practice as an experimental laboratory on building materials, local typologies and climatic conditions. Material scientist Lorenzo Guiducci (Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces, Potsdam) works on material activity, shape-programmable structures and bioinspirational design. ids and Interfaces, Potsdam) works on material activity, shape-programmable structures, and bioinspirational design. Based on their talks Making Architecture and From Plant to Material: Structure, Processes and Properties of Hemp, we will discuss the structure, processing, and material properties of plant fibers such as hemp, as well as their potential for architectural design. This transdisciplinary exchange across scales and disciplines is part of the Material Focus Studio: HEMP – Ancient Plant for New Design at the Department of Textile and Material Design, led by Prof. Christiane Sauer at weißensee school of art and design.

Susanne Brorson, born in Stralsund, Germany, received her diploma in architecture from Bauhaus-University in Weimar in 2004, with studies at the University of the Arts Berlin and Politecnico in Milan, Italy. After working in renowned architecture practices in Oslo, London, and Berlin, she founded her own award-winning firm STUDIO SUSANNE BRORSON on the Baltic Island of Rügen, Germany. The work of her practice is closely connected to her research on climatic and regenerative architecture in the Baltic Sea region. The »Eco Village Rügen« received a German Design Award 2022 in the category »Excellent Architecture, Eco Design« and BDA Preis 2024, while the »Experimental House Rügen« was recognized with the BDA award 2021 and Callwey Award/Best Houses in 2024. Already in 2017, Susanne established the »Baltic Vernacular – Experimental Laboratory« teaching format that she taught at various architecture schools, involving design research and 1:1 experimentation. Susanne has published and lectured internationally, with guest professorships at RISEBA University Riga, HafenCity University Hamburg, University degli studi RomaTRE, Rome, and the Academy of Fine Arts, Vienna. In 2027, she will be holding the Professor in Practice guest professorship at UC Berkeley. Her contribution »Seasonal Wall Dressing« was part of the exhibition +/-1 – in search of well-tempered architecture at the Slovenian Pavilion at the 18th Architecture Biennale in Venice 2023, and at her exhibition Seasonal Spontaneousness was shown at Weissenhof Gallery in Stuttgart in 2024 and SPARK Gallery in Malmö, Sweden. Susanne was awarded the German Rome Prize in architecture 2023/24 at the German Academy Villa Massimo in Rome, Italy.

Lorenzo Guiducci holds a Master’s in Biomedical Engineering from Politecnico di Milano. His scientific career began with a PhD in Physics – Science of Biomaterials at the Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces, where he studied how material organization and microstructure drive mechanical actuation in plant tissues responding to water. This work sparked a lasting interest in shape-changing materials and structures. As part of the Cluster of Excellence Image Knowledge Gestaltung at Humboldt Universität zu Berlin, he explored active matter and the unexpected — sometimes misbehaving — responses of materials to external stimuli. Most recently, as a research associate in the Cluster of Excellence Matters of Activity, his focus has shifted toward elastic metamaterials, textile-based 4D printing, and multi-scale paper-based structures, developed in close collaboration with the Department of Textile and Material Design at weißensee school of art and design berlin.

What drives this work is not just scientific curiosity — it’s a genuine belief that the most interesting questions sit at the edges of disciplines. That’s why the research regularly pulls in perspectives from the humanities, architecture, and design. In particular, many of these questions emerge directly from teaching in a design school environment — specifically from working with students who focus on materials design and hands-on fabrication with bio-based materials. Complementing empirical hands-on knowledge of materials through making with precise mechanical modelling and rigorous physical framework keeps generating new questions and opening up unexpected directions for research.

Participation on-site or via Livestream

This is an on-site event; no registration needed. Due to strong interest, we are offering the option to watch the talks via livestream.