Design Lab #13: Material Legacies

23.02.2023, 6.00– 7.30 pm

Architectural Yarns negotiate between the scales of textiles and architecture and the different timescales and life cycles of building elements. As a design intervention into the built space, in contrast to solid construction, they are less concerned with permanence and more with adaptation and flexibility of use. Yarns show the possibility of building differently – with thermally active phase change materials or with plant fibers. Various textile techniques are explored in this experiment to create soft, provisional architectures. Through the tactile practice of making, yarns are formed into a structure with many possible arrangements, only to be unravelled again later. Such a bodily engagement with the textiles conveys a »tangible thinking,« – similar to the handcraft techniques of tapestries and carpets – and in the case of our experiments, a way of interconnecting plants, things, bodies, and environments which find their contact surface in fiber, yarn, and the built fabric.

Christiane Sauer in discussion with Emanuele Coccia, Peter Fratzl and Beatriz Morales. Moderation: Iva Resetar

English

18.02.2023, 12–6 pm

Flax as a natural material is deeply rooted in textile culture, and the processing of plant fibers into fabrics and ropes has a long standing history. Natural plant fibers have shaped the tools of the textile industry for centuries. When Ritzi and Peter Jacobi began creating relief tapestries from natural plant fibers in the 60s, they began exploring a new language of forms using non-traditional crafting techniques. In this workshop, we revisit their work and take inspiration for a transdisciplinary exchange between textile design, material science and architecture. During a hands-on exploration with off-the-loom textile techniques, we seek to transfer our knowledge into an architectural context. We take a closer look at plant fibers and various binding techniques, and explore large fiber bundles as the basis for a new construction method - Architectural Yarns.

m.schneider@kh-berlin.de

English

9.2.2023, 6.00–7.30 pm

Assembling the Coast is a sensorial-ethnographic investigation of a coastal replenishment project on the Baltic Sea. Erosion and rising sea level lead to coastal retreat and frequent replenishments are used to counteract this process. Together with cinematographer Konstantin Mitrokhov and sound designer Andreas Kühne, Michaela Büsse developed a film work that captures the transformation of the coast into a landscape that is both natural and constructed. During the round table participants will discuss the role of artistic practice in researching material transformation and environmental change.

Design anthropologist and Cluster Member Michaela Büsse will discuss her work with geographer Katherine Dawson (University College London), communication expert Hannah Tollefson (McGill University Montreal) and environmental anthropologist Jerry Zee (Princeton University). Moderation: Jeff Diamanti (University of Amsterdam)

English

26.01.2023, 6.00– 7.30 pm

From the point of view of today's wood industry, bark represents a remnant that is difficult to recycle. Since bark represents about 10-20% of the total volume of trees, the amount of waste in the current timber plantation economy should not be underestimated. What new applications can these »leftovers« be put to? And has tree bark always been primarily a waste product everywhere? We take up these questions and will explore new design approaches and postcolonial histories of this material. The exhibition station on bark results from a cooperation between material and cultural science: On the one hand, Charlett Wenig at the MPI for Interfacial and Colloidal Research is concerned with tree bark, its processing and woven structures. Robert Stock researches at the Institute for Cultural Studies of the HU Berlin on the historical and material genealogies of bark and wood.

Charlett Wenig in discussion with Ferréol Berendt (HNE Eberwalde) and Nikolaus Stolle (Goethe-Universität Frankfurt). Moderation: Robert Stock.

German

22.01.2023, 12.00 pm

Guided tour through the exhibition with Charlett Wenig

German

13.01.2023, 4.00 pm

Guided tour through the exhibition with curator Emile de Visscher

German

12.01.2023, 6.00– 7.30 pm

Vascular structures are paradigmatic examples of the biological realm. Organs, corals, or mycelium all exhibit complex tubular geometries which optimize exchanges and provide room for healing, evolution and activity. Although slow to grow, these systems are extremely e·cient and rely on little energy compared to mechanical or electrical alternatives. Vascularization explores di‰fferent methods to generate vascular structures in biocompatible materials. It sparked from the scientiŠfic work of Igor Sauer, surgeon and Head of the Experimental Surgery Lab at Charité Hospital, and Marie Weinhart, biochemist at Freie Universität Berlin, who collaborate to Šnd innovative ways of producing artifiŠcial organs with hopes to alleviate donation scarcity. Extending this research in oncology and biochemistry to design and architecture. The project investigates spontaneous tubular material formations.

Emile de Visscher and Igor Sauer in discussion with artist and designer Lyndsey Walsh. Moderation: Martin Müller.

English

8.12.2022, 6.00–8.00 pm

Humans have always been drawn to patterns in nature. In our project we investigate »Tessellated Material Systems« such as the armour of armadillos and boxfish, to design and fabricate synthetic materials. Naturally-inspired motifs such as tilings and tessellations have found application as building strategies and in decoration from antiquity onwards. In the panel we will relate to objects of the KGM collection that employ techniques of tiling on curved surfaces. We will deconstruct how decor leads to a self-descriptiveness emphasising the object’s geometry, its aesthetic quality and functional aspects.

Felix Rasehorn, Lennart Eigen and John Nyakatura in discussion with Jörg Petruschat and Alwin Cubasch. Moderation: Karola Dierichs.

German

24.11.2022, 6.00–8.00 pm

»Self-Shaping Textiles« focuses on creating meter-scale surface structures by transforming 2D surfaces into 3D wrinkled structures. Inspired by morphogenetic processes in plant leaves, it proposes using 3D printing on pre-stretched textiles as an alternative, material based form-Šfinding technique to obtain meter-scale surface structures for architectural elements such as facade panels and shading elements. In particular, it explores the design space of non-intersecting lines that self-organize into visually complex macroscopic patterns and surface textures upon fabric tension relaxation. The large format prints featured are both an opportunity to establish a dialogue with the spectator while constituting »Šfieldwork« experiments to test the e‰ffect of additional external conditions.

Lorenzo Guiducci and Agata Kycia in discussion with the architect Giovanni Betti and the fashion sociologist Antonella Giannone. Moderation: tbc.

English

20.11.2022, 2.00 pm

Guided tour through the exhibition with Helen Pinto.

17.11. 2022, 1.00 pm

A guided tour with the exhibitions curators and participating researchers. Satellite Event of MoA's Annual conference Deep Material Futures.