Future
Materials
Conference

Exhibition

The installation is a suspended roof-like frame clad with shingles made from a self-developed bio-composite. It places material experimentation within a low-tech, do-it-yourself context, emphasising accessibility as a central dimension of sustainable innovation. Rather than aligning solely on industrially complex or laboratory-based practices, it demonstrates how material futures can also emerge from simple, reproducible, and resource-efficient processes.

The choice of the shingle references a vernacular architectural element, bringing cultural continuity into the exploration of new ecological materials. By combining a traditional building motif with an experimental bio-based composite, the installation illustrates how established architectural forms can provide a framework for reinterpreting material practices under contemporary ecological imperatives.In addition to the suspended structure, the installation includes a series of narrow, trough-like elements that display different stages of the raw material. Walnut leaves are shown in successive forms – fallen leaves, ground matter, and prepared as a composite base – making the transformation process visible alongside the architectural application.In doing so, the work contributes to a plural understanding of material futures, positioning them at the intersection of technological advancement, cultural embeddedness, and everyday accessibility.

The relationship between the suspended structure and the trough elements also recalls vernacular storage architectures, such as hay-drying racks, where a lightweight roof protects the harvested material. Similarly, in this installation the bio-composite shingles symbolically shield their own raw material – the walnut leaf – presented in different stages of transformation. This parallel underscores the continuity between traditional resource practices and contemporary ecological experimentation.