Sommersemester 2020, BA/MA Textil- und Material-Design Exzellenzcluster

10.09.20: Material as Environmental Device. A Virtual Workshop

We would like to cordially invite you to a virtual workshop on »Material as Environmental Device« on 10 September 2020, between 9:00 and 4.30, to be held via Zoom. The workshop is organized by the Cluster of Excellence "Matters of Activity. Image Space Material"(MoA).

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.

Please find more information and the Zoom link on the event webpage: www.matters-of-activity.de/en/activities/2249/material-as-environmental-device

The workshop is jointly organized by the Cluster projects »Material Form Function« and »Weaving«, and the program is attached. We look forward to seeing you, Iva Rešetar, Christiane Sauer und Mareike Stoll

Teilnehmer Mareike Stoll
ProjektkategorieInformation Projekt-Fächer BA/MA Textil- und Material-Design
Material as Environmental Device_Program
Material as Environmental Device_Program