Material as Environmental Device

The event is organized by the Cluster projects Material Form Function and Weaving, by Dipl. -Ing. M.A. Iva Rešetar, Prof. Dipl.-Ing. Christiane Sauer and Dr. Mareike Stoll.

Since the appearance of environmental technologies in the early 20th century, architecture has increasingly been built around the logic of insulating interior from exterior spaces, with the idea of conserving energy and maintaining a steady indoor climate. Against the background of modernist practices of climate separation, which make a clear distinction between the built structure and environmental technology, the workshop aims to explore complex interdependencies between material, climate, and environment in different socio-technological contexts.

Beyond passive constructions and mechanical systems for climate control and the current focus on energy efficiency, we would like to broaden the discussion on sustainability to investigate architectural materiality that actively engages with the climate. Examples of such environmental ›operativity‹ range from pre-modern and vernacular dwellings, ecological habitats developed through community knowledge, to grown biological or energy-storing materials – all of which question the capacity of materials to exchange between environments and reveal fluid boundaries between the living, the natural and technological.

The workshop »Material as Environmental Device« gathers researchers and practitioners from the fields of Architecture, Ecological Anthropology and the Natural Sciences to discuss the status of the material as an active element of environmental design on the basis of past and contemporary buildings and current research in the Cluster »Matters of Activity«. Three thematic sessions – »Materials and Environments«, »Essential Material« and »Active Skins« – focus on different aspects of material activity, addressing design and production techniques, ecological and cultural implications and the prospects of climate-responsive architectures.

Schedule

Thursday 10 September – Virtual Event

09:00-09:15am
Welcome and Introduction Christiane Sauer

09:15-10:00am
Screening of a documentary film by Kristina Pfeifer:
»The Black Tent: A Documentary about the Yoruk Nomads and their Black Tents«

Session 1 »Essential Material«

Moderation: Iva Rešetar

10:00–10:30am
Anupama Kundoo / Anupama Kundoo Architects /
Yale University / FH Potsdam:
»Rethinking Materiality in the Age of Climate Change«

10:30–11:00am
Laurence Douny / Matters of Activity:
»Earth Structures: Containment and Scarcity in the Sahel«

11:00–11:30am
Discussion

11:30am–12:00noon
Break

Session 2 »Materials and Environments«

Moderation: Christiane Sauer

12:00–12:30pm
Kristina Pfeifer / Vernacular Architecture, Maissau:
»Black Tent Research«

12:30–1:00pm
Bastian Beyer and Skander Hathroubi / Matters of Activity:
»Co-weaving with Biofilms: Grown Cellulosic Structures«

1:00–1:30pm
Discussion

1:30–2:30pm
Break

Session 3 »Active Skins«

Moderation: Mareike Stoll

2:30–3:00pm
Christiane Sauer and Iva Rešetar / Matters of Activity:
»Skin as Environment: Between Softness and Solidity«

3:00–3:30pm
Daniel Barber / University of Pennsylvania, Stuart Weitzman School of Design:
»Thermal Practice – Climate, Design, and Politics in Brazil, c. 1936«

3:30–4:00pm
Thomas Auer / Transsolar Energietechnik Stuttgart & TU München:
»Material Based Climate Control«

4:00–4:30pm
Discussion and Conclusion

Link to the Virtual Event

Zoom link

Meeting-ID: 923 3880 4517
Password: 635065

Thursday, 10 September 2020
9:00am–4:30pm