Building with cork, reed and eelgrass
An exhibition at the ETH Materials Hub features eight 1:1 scale mockups that illustrate plantbased constructions. They were built by students from the guest studio of the architecture practice Material Cultures.
What could material supply chains in a post-fossil construction industry look like? And what role can cultivated plants play in this? The guest studio of the architectural group Material Cultures investigated these questions in the fall semester of 2023. Based on typical cultivated plants such as cork, reeds and seagrass from various European ecoregions, housing systems were designed that bridge between the disciplines of conservation, cultivation and construction. The students built eight 1:1 scale mockups that showcase the buildup of various parts of a building. They are part of an exhibition on plantbased constructions that Material Cultures organized with the ETH Material Hub in the Architecture and Civil Engineering Library.
«Planting Buildings. Housing the Ecoregion»
Studio Material Cultures, Fall semester 2023
Teaching team: Francesca Leibowitz, Sara Sherif, Paloma Gormley, George Massoud, Summer Islam
Image gallery of the mockups
Students: Nikola Endres, Elina Leuba, Anna Luzia
Cork (Quercus Suber)
Students: Annick Bächle, Maximilian Bächli, Manuel Scherrer
Eelgrass (Zostera Marina)
Students: Senga Grossmann, Moritz Hahn, Antoine Hansen, Caspar Trueb
Eucalyptus (Eucalyptus Globulus)
Students: Luca Bolfing, Pascal Hiestand, Carla Waeber
Oak (Quercus)
Students: Stanislaw Bezençon, Philippe Jenny, Dominik Koch
Pine (Pinus Sylvestris)
Students: Andrej Harnist, Anton Krebs, Aurelia Perschel, Giacomo Rossi
Reed (Phragmites Australis)
Students: Ella Bacchetta, Arianna Charbon, Léna Grossenbacher, Elisa Nadas
Wheat (Triticum)
Students: Anna Caviezel, Chiara Hergenröder, Jamila Scotoni
Plantbased constructions
The exhibition by Studio Material Cultures and the ETH Materials Hub runs from April 17th to June 17th in the Architecture and Civil Engineering Library at ETH Hönggerberg in Zurich. The opening will take place on April 16th at 6:00 p.m., together with the vernissage of the magazine “werk, bauen + wohnen”, which has dedicated the April issue to plantbased construction.