Material Cultures
Material Cultures

Planting Buildings, 2023

▣ TYPE: Postgraduate technical research
▨ INSTITUTION: ETH Zurich

▤ KEY MATERIALS: Cork / Eucalyptus / Eelgrass / Hemp / Oak / Reed / Scots Pine / Typha / Wheat

▦ METHODOLOGY: Film / Drawing / 1:1 mockups

▥ COLLABORATORS: Francesca Leibowitz / Sara Sherif / Rachael Milliner / Felix Hilgert / Werner Schmidt / Nicolas Balmelli / Rémi Jourdan

Our experimental studio at the ETH explored the complex interrelationship of ecosystems, communities, and landscapes within ecoregions across Europe. Working through film, drawing, and making, our students studied existing material supply chains, questioning how they could be radically reimagined in a post-carbon future. With the plants and minerals of Europe's ecoregions as the starting point the studio looked at regenerative practices, designing radical new housing systems which respect our planetary limits. The group also learnt how to build with bio-based materials, exploring the implications for labour and the body of a new, decarbonized built environment.

Material Cultures

The studio began by researching the environmental impact of the building industry through the lens of the raw material, with a focus on cultivated plants. We asked how design can contribute meaningfully to transformative change: how our building designs can relate productively to and work the landscape around them. The projects tread a fine line between conservation, cultivation, and construction.

Material Cultures

The methods are investigative, practical, and hands-on. The project promotes the importance of learning through making and working together. Part of the semester was focused on the construction of 1:1 building prototypes, through which students learnt different building skills, as well as the complexity of coordinating a construction project and incorporating interdisciplinary input into a single output.

Material Cultures

STUDENTS: Nikola Endres, Anna Hess, Elina Leuba, Annick Bächle, Maximilian Bächli, Manuel Scherrer, Senga Grossmann, Antoine Hansen, Caspar Trueb, Luca Bolfing, Pascal Hiestand, Carla Waeber, Arianna Charbon, Moritz Hahn, Andrej Harnist, Stan Bezencon, Philippe Jenny, Dominik Koch, Anton Krebs, Aurelia Perschel, Giacomo Rossi, Ella Bacchetta, Léna Grossenbacher, Elisa Nadas, Anna Caviezel, Chiara Hergenröder, Jamila Scotoni

Planting Buildings, 2023

▣ TYPE: Postgraduate technical research
▨ INSTITUTION: ETH Zurich

▤ KEY MATERIALS: Cork / Eucalyptus / Eelgrass / Hemp / Oak / Reed / Scots Pine / Typha / Wheat

▦ METHODOLOGY: Film / Drawing / 1:1 mockups

▥ COLLABORATORS: Francesca Leibowitz / Sara Sherif / Rachael Milliner / Felix Hilgert / Werner Schmidt / Nicolas Balmelli / Rémi Jourdan

Our experimental studio at the ETH explored the complex interrelationship of ecosystems, communities, and landscapes within ecoregions across Europe. Working through film, drawing, and making, our students studied existing material supply chains, questioning how they could be radically reimagined in a post-carbon future. With the plants and minerals of Europe's ecoregions as the starting point the studio looked at regenerative practices, designing radical new housing systems which respect our planetary limits. The group also learnt how to build with bio-based materials, exploring the implications for labour and the body of a new, decarbonized built environment.

Material Cultures

The studio began by researching the environmental impact of the building industry through the lens of the raw material, with a focus on cultivated plants. We asked how design can contribute meaningfully to transformative change: how our building designs can relate productively to and work the landscape around them. The projects tread a fine line between conservation, cultivation, and construction.

Material Cultures

The methods are investigative, practical, and hands-on. The project promotes the importance of learning through making and working together. Part of the semester was focused on the construction of 1:1 building prototypes, through which students learnt different building skills, as well as the complexity of coordinating a construction project and incorporating interdisciplinary input into a single output.

Material Cultures

STUDENTS: Nikola Endres, Anna Hess, Elina Leuba, Annick Bächle, Maximilian Bächli, Manuel Scherrer, Senga Grossmann, Antoine Hansen, Caspar Trueb, Luca Bolfing, Pascal Hiestand, Carla Waeber, Arianna Charbon, Moritz Hahn, Andrej Harnist, Stan Bezencon, Philippe Jenny, Dominik Koch, Anton Krebs, Aurelia Perschel, Giacomo Rossi, Ella Bacchetta, Léna Grossenbacher, Elisa Nadas, Anna Caviezel, Chiara Hergenröder, Jamila Scotoni