A research project at the Chair of Building Construction and Building Materials Science at the Technical University of Munich under the direction of Prof. Dipl.-Ing. Florian Musso.

Basis

The starting point for the research project is the consideration that, according to UNESCO, almost half of the world's population live in areas where there is not enough water for at least one month a year. The water shortage currently affects around 3.6 billion people. One solution to this water shortage is to desalinate seawater. Around 19,000 desalination plants are already in operation around the world, extracting drinking water from seawater and returning the extracted salt to the sea. In the United Arab Emirates alone, this amounts to around 120 million tonnes of salt per year. This increased salt content in the sea threatens fish stocks, corals and aquatic plants.

In order to counteract this problem, the possibilities of using salt as a new building material for architectural applications are to be investigated. Sea salt is porous at room temperature, dissolves in water and stores three times more thermal energy than water. As it is not possible to use the material directly, a combination with other binding agents should influence the properties of the building material.

The resulting salt material composite offers new insights in the perception of the material through smelling, seeing, hearing, tasting and feeling. The utilisation of the available material in combination with bondable materials offers the potential for a pressure-resistant material composite that can take on climate-regulating functions. In this way, salt-based building elements can be created for walls, even though salt is normally considered a substance that is harmful to buildings. The main aim of the research project is to design and plan the exact mixture of such materials.

New possibilities for sensory perception

Salt blocks should not only be the main structural component, but also influence people's sensory perception. Taking this into account, the properties are to be investigated using demonstrators on a 1:1 scale:

- Smell: The influence of salt on the quality of indoor air will be investigated here. Increasing humidity has a negative influence on the perception of odour. In addition, salty air is already used in medicine to treat respiratory diseases. The salt block is intended to improve humidity and the perception of odours.

- Vision: The visual comfort in a room is to be analysed through light reflection, colour and surface structure of the material.

- Hearing: The ability of the new material composite to absorb sound is to be analysed.

- Tasting: The toxicity of the material will be tested and it will be found out whether salt blocks are also suitable for an environment with children.

- Touch: The thermal comfort of the material will be investigated by analysing the surface temperature.

Research project at the Institute of Building Construction, Chair 2, Faculty of Architecture and Urban Planning, University of Stuttgart under the direction of Prof. Martin Ostermann

Foam is a multitude of gaseous bubbles that adhere to each other and are enclosed by solid or liquid walls. Foam has no edges, no solid outlines, no describable form. It is transient, unstable, porous and dissolves. Foam yields to pressure, is light and soft. Its structure is directionless, it is freely mouldable and workable. Touching foam is perceived as unpleasant. It reacts unpredictably, reflects sound in all directions, dampens and insulates.

While conventional building materials such as stone, concrete, painted wood, plaster etc. are almost exclusively cold to the touch, foamed surfaces radiate warmth. The energy comes from the human body and is reflected back to it.

Based on these fundamental differences from conventional building materials and considering the specific properties of foam, the project's goal is to investigate the sensory effects of foam and refine its perception in terms of sensory experience.

The starting material is a bio-based, industrially compostable rigid foam that is currently used in the packaging industry. This new type of rigid foam is cradle-to-cradle (EPEA, 2015) certified and 100% CO2-neutral. It is completely harmless and can be processed like normal rigid foam.

From foaming to heating to cutting, the possibilities of material production and processing are being explored. The aim is to develop modular system parts that can be joined together to form a space-creating structure. Particular attention is paid to the development of details for joining the material that enable a secure connection despite its softness.

Not only the material, but also the three-dimensional processing and surface design promise diverse acoustic, haptic and visual levels of experience.

The resulting solutions should be ‘cradle-to-cradle’, i.e. all connections are detachable to allow the materials to be reused.

Christiane Sauer, formade 2018/19

As part of the TXXL-Upscaling Textiles research project, the potential of the textile process technology of warp knitting for functional architectural interior elements was tested using material studies and demonstrators. Coarse knitting is a special form of warp knitting technology that can be used to process yarn-like elements with a material thickness of up to 30 mm. Flexible surfaces with a thickness of up to 3 cm and a width of 1 metre can be produced from the roll in free lengths. This means that this textile technology can be used on a scale that corresponds to architectural materials. Until now, coarse warp knitting has mostly been used in technical applications, e.g. for geotextiles in slope stabilisation. The challenge of this project was to develop design approaches that fulfil design requirements in addition to technical properties. In the course of the test series, the focus was particularly on sustainable and cost-effective concepts for room acoustics and room air conditioning and corresponding materials such as recycled fibres or phase change materials (PCM) were examined in this respect. All demonstrators bind the components exclusively through textile construction, which allows the individual elements to be very easily detached and separated into their original materials at the end of their life cycle. This is a major advantage over conventional structural elements in which functional components are firmly integrated, e.g. by means of a binding matrix or lamination.

In the manufacturing process, fibre-like components were first processed into flexible, centimetre-thick ‘yarns’ using a special process for producing strands (Kemafil®) and then bound into surfaces using coarse knitting. The realised examples show a wide range of possibilities for producing functionally effective and flexible semi-finished textile products in a simple way. Curtain-like panels, which can be used in front of windows, walls or hanging freely as room-defining elements, also serve as acoustic or climate control elements. The result is lightweight, flexible modules for interiors that can be adapted ‘off the roll’ to any desired length and geometry, are easy to transport, easy to stow, cost-effective and simple to install. In particular, sustainable material concepts were investigated, such as the recycling of used textiles (tear fibres), felt cuttings from the textile industry or renewable raw materials such as hemp residues from the insulation industry. For climate-regulating functionalisation, paraffin-based phase change material (PCM) was used, which buffers temperature peaks in the interior and thus protects against overheating or cooling through large glass surfaces, for example. For this purpose, functionalised, non-textile elements such as tubes or rods were incorporated into the material in the weft direction during the knitting process.

Room acoustics: Plant fibres or used textiles are already widely used for sound insulation purposes, but not as flexible curtain elements. As part of the research work, new design approaches were developed for the processing of aesthetically inferior used textiles, textile industrial waste or insulating materials. The fibre materials are used unmodified as supplied. Their insulating properties due to the fibre structure are retained and are used directly for acoustic absorption. The result is visually and haptically appealing surfaces that do not hide their origin but, on the contrary, utilise it as an individual design feature. The textile processing of the resulting demonstrators transfers recycled or residual materials into a high-quality design context. The result is an upcycling concept that enhances the original material by transferring it to a new area of application. The knitted panels, which are easy to transport and install, are particularly suitable for retrofitting existing rooms. In addition, textile surfaces have the advantage that they can be individually adapted to different usage scenarios or acoustic requirements as movable elements and can also be used as free-hanging elements for spatial organisation. The textiles have been designed in such a way that they fit equally well in a home, office or school environment. In working and learning environments, good acoustics are a decisive factor for well-being,attentiveness and user comfort. The results show cost-effective and resource-saving, sustainable solutions for this.

Indoor climate: As window areas and large glass surfaces in particular cause additional heat to enter the building, climate-buffering curtains in the interior can also be suitable as an easily retrofitted air conditioning measure in addition to efficient external sun protection. As part of TXXL, climatically effective phase change materials (PCM) were incorporated as rods or tubes with textile technology. The resulting panel curtains can be used in front of windows or hanging freely in the room as room dividers. The PCM elements store heat during the day and release it back into the environment with a time delay when it cools down at night. A mass integration of PCM material in tubes or hoses with a diameter of 1-2 cm has the advantage that relevant quantities of the active material can be integrated. Compared to existing PCM-coated fibres, from which textiles can also be made, a significant increase in effectiveness can be expected due to the greater mass of the active material introduced. Depending on the climatic requirements and room size, the arrangement and density of the rods or tubes can be adapted - while at the same time being transparent and visually connected to the outside. The visible phase transition from solid to liquid is also a fascinating visual spectacle. Retrofitting in existing buildings is very straightforward. The technical elements can be adapted to changes in use or individual preferences and, like panelled curtains, can simply be pushed to one side or easily removed or moved. Air conditioning technology is no longer hidden, but becomes an active and customisable element in the room. This concept of ‘smart material’ air conditioning textiles could reduce the energy consumption of conventional air conditioning systems or possibly replace them altogether. Technical measurements of the demonstrators will provide further application-orientated findings as part of future studies.

Coarse knitted fabrics as functional surfaces

The research project ‘NAVAPA - Sustainable composite components made of paper materials’ by Dr. Stephan Schütz from the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar has been selected for funding by the Fritz and Trude Fortmann Foundation as part of the first call for proposals 2016/17 ‘Cost-effective building materials and construction methods for residential construction’. The aim of the project is to open up new areas of application in architecture for honeycomb panels made from recycled paper, which have primarily been used in the packaging industry to date. The aim is to use folded honeycomb panels to develop and analyse ecologically sustainable, material-saving and energy-efficient wall elements as a cost-effective and recyclable alternative to conventional metal stud walls for interior design.

The project is based on geometric studies already carried out on the foldability of honeycomb panels as well as tests with folded column and beam geometries and a realised experimental building. Building on this, holistic wall elements for the interior with a core structure of folded honeycomb panels and panelling with, for example, wooden panels or plasterboard are now to be developed. The aim is to combine the supporting structure and panelling in one component and to develop an assembly system with easy-to-handle connection details. The advantages compared to conventional metal stud walls would be a high degree of prefabrication and the resulting significant reduction in the amount of labour required for the interior work, as well as a positive ecological balance due to the material-saving structure and the use of recycled paper. Overall, the costs are expected to be low in terms of the specifications, while the quality of workmanship is expected to be high.

The funding provided by the Fritz and Tride Fortmann Foundation will be used for material procurement, test series and the construction of an experimental building at the University of Weimar.

Research project ‘NAVAPA - Sustainable composite components made of paper materials’
Bauhaus University Weimar
Chair of Design and Structural Engineering, Prof. Rainer Gumpp / Dr. Stephan Schütz
Implementation period: 2017-2018

Jaime Alonso Lobato Cardoso
Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM)
and Prof. Dr. Román Alfonso Castillo Diaz
Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM)

Prof. Dr. Pinar Yoldas
University of California San Diego

Malu Lücking
Biodesign, Budapest
with Juni Neyenhuys
mujō lab OHG

On behalf of Prof. Mette Ramsgaard Thomsen, Det Kongelige Danske Kunstakademi, the following took part:

Dr. Aurelie Mossé
L'École nationale supérieure des Arts Décoratifs (EnsAD)
and Daniel Suárez,
Humboldt University of Berlin

Claudio Flores and Danilo Flores
Founders of Mimotype Technologies GmbH, Berlin

Prof. DDr. Alberto T. Estévez
Universitat Internacional de Catalunya, iBAG (UIC)

Dr. Jae-Seong Yang
Universitat Autónoma de Barcelona, CRAG (UAB)

and

Dr. Yomna K. Abdallah
Universitat Internacional de Catalunya, iBAG (UlC)

Prof. Dr. Nico Dissmeyer
University of Osnabrück

Some of the research work presented is already on the threshold of application and incorporates the bioluminescent properties of different organisms as a possible source in the generation of light. Fungi, algae and bacteria played fundamental roles in the projects. One of the projects presented, for example, aims to create a multipurpose, multifunctional, and multiscale system to activate sustainability and beauty, which is to be used in art, architecture, and design in conjunction with bioluminescent genetically modified organisms. Another aim is to optimise the new light from bioluminescent sources and transfer it to architectural and artistic contexts in order to evaluate and further develop variables and results in the laboratory.

Many open research questions were addressed - and answered in different ways - for example, which organisms are promising for further research, how they can be further developed, how the lighting properties can be influenced and enhanced, or in which materials these organisms can be integrated. The integration of bioluminescent organisms into textiles was one of the approaches presented in order to preserve bioluminescent cultures in the long term and integrate them into architecture. The many visually appealing attempts at realisation that were presented provided an initial coherent picture of how this research could one day become visible and integrated into everyday life.

The first contribution was made by the Barcelona-based Genetic Architectures Research Group with the architect Alberto T. Estévez and the two scientists Jae-Seong Yang (computational and synthetic biology) and Yomna K. Abdallah (architect, computational designer, microbiologist). The second contribution came from biodesigner Malu Lücking and designer and illustrator Juni Neyenhuys. The following presentation was given by a Copenhagen-based working group led by architect Mette Ramsgaard Thomsen, who heads the Centre for IT and Architecture (CITA) at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts. Aurélie Mosse presented the group's research approach. She teaches and researches design and is a co-leader of the Soft Matters research group of the EnsAD Lab, an internationally recognised French research laboratory for art and design at the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Arts Décoratifs (EnsAD) in Paris. She was accompanied by Daniel Suárez, a Berlin-based architect who is involved in research into innovative materials, design interfaces and technological processes for architectural production in the context of the Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin's Cluster of Excellence Matters of Activity. The subsequent lecture was given by Claudio Flores, founder and CEO of the Berlin start-up company Mimotype Technologies. This was followed by a talk by Mexico City-based computer scientist and artist Jaime Alonso Lobato Cardoso from the Art, Science and Complexity Research Group of the Centre for Complexity Sciences at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) in tandem with molecular biologist Román Alfonso Castillo Díaz, who also works at the Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology at UNAM. The San Diego-based artist and architect Pinar Yoldas then presented her project on speculative ecology and gave an insight into the BioArchitecture Lab she founded at the University of California San Diego. This was followed by the final contribution in the series by biochemist Nico Dissmeyer, who works at the University of Osnabrück, Department of Biology/Chemistry, Division of Plant Physiology & Protein Metabolism Laboratory.

The introductory lecture by Prof. Dr. Ingeborg Reichle at the beginning of the event, which brought together the various approaches, and the project presentations stimulated lively discussions between all participants. The detailed expert discussion led by Prof. Dr. Susanne Hauser and Prof. Dr. Ingeborg Reichle led to a highly professional, engaged and riveting exchange that identified key questions for future research. The opportunities for dialogue on the day were complemented by a variety of informal discussions, during which the invited experts networked with each other.

Due to the detailed project presentation of all participating researchers, the board of the Fritz and Trude Fortmann Foundation is now pleased to be able to support two of the projects over a period of two years with funding totalling EUR 150,000 each. The scientific work will be documented by the researchers and the results of their work will be published after completion so that they will be available to the international research community.

The presentation of the exhibition at the DAZ was supported by the Fritz and Trude Fortmann Foundation

Exhibition theme

Crisis and caring - these are the two poles of the exhibition title ‘Critical Care’. In English, the term ‘critical care’ also stands for intensive care unit. In any event, the exhibition conceived by the Architekturzentrum Wien fits in well with the BDA's annual theme of ‘Repair and Care’.

The earth in the emergency room. Man-made ecological and social disasters are threatening to make the planet uninhabitable. The situation is critical, and dominated by the interests of capital, architecture and urbanism are entangled in the crisis.

But there is another way, as the exhibition ‘Critical Care’ shows with 21 current international examples. These include: earthquake-proof and sustainable village development in China, flood protection using traditional low-CO2 construction techniques in Pakistan and Bangladesh, the diverse conversion of modernist buildings in Brazil and Europe, an ecological community land trust in Puerto Rico, the revitalisation of historic irrigation systems in Spain and new concepts for public spaces and mixed urban districts in Vienna, London and Nairobi.

The ‘Critical Care’ exhibition is a plea for a new mindset: for architecture and urbanism of caring. It proves that architecture can contribute to revitalising the planet. The repair of the future has begun.

Information

The exhibition of the Architekturzentrum Wien was curated by Angelika Fitz and Elke Krasny
Exhibition architecture: the next ENTERprise
Exhibition graphics: Alexander Schuh

Exhibition opening: 7 February 2020, 7 pm

The speakers were:
Angelika Fitz, Director of the Az W
Susanne Wartzeck, President of the BDA
Matthias Böttger, artistic director of the DAZ

Y-Table Talk: 24 February 2020, 7 pm

with curator Elke Krasny, Matthias Böttger and guests

Topics and participants:

Caring for water, land and soil:

URBANA / Kashef Mahboob Chowdhury
CICLICA and CAVAA
Fideicomiso de la Tierra del Caño Martín Peña CLT
Estudio Teddy Cruz + Fonna Forman
Colectivo 720

Caring for repair:

de vylder vinck taillieu
Paulo Mendes da Rocha and MMBB Architects
Lacaton & Vassal with Frédéric Druot and Christophe Hutin
ZUsammenKUNFT Berlin

Caring for skills and knowledge:

Rural Urban Framework
Yasmeen Lari / Heritage Foundation of Pakistan
EAHR, Emergency Architecture & Human Rights
Anupama Kundoo

Caring for public space:

muf architecture/art
City administration in Barcelona
StudioVlayStreeruwitz

Mixing: Nordbahnhof

Caring for production:

atelier d'architecture autogérée
Kounkuey Design Initiative
Anna Heringer
Xu Tiantian / DnA_Design and Architecture

Publication:

On the occasion of the exhibition, MIT Press published ‘Critical Care. Architecture and Urbanism for a Broken Planet’, edited by Angelika Fitz, Elke Krasny and the Architekturzentrum Wien. The book contains all 21 case studies as well as 12 essays by international authors on the topics of labour, economy and ecology in architecture.