BA & MA Studio, SoSe 25
Trash as Treasure
worked as teaching assistant at FG Making Matters
Technical University Berlin
Contemporary concerns for sustainability recognise that post-industrial building construction habits and large supply chains based on a linear economy generate enormous resource wastage, alongside other challenges such as increased transportation and the loss of local skills and know-how.
In this context, and addressing society's demand for a circular economy, our studio investigated Berlin’s urban waste and trash culture – which offered a substantial opportunity for rethinking the sourcing of building materials, how we design, use, and maintain our buildings. A wide range of materials collected as ‘urban waste’, generated by the habits of contemporary lifestyle, was examined as unconventional materials that could be repurposed as building components.
Our aim was to remove materials from their original context and reinterpret them architecturally. We worked both analog and digital, hands-on, and at a 1:1 scale. The studio encouraged ideas that aimed to make a practical difference.
The studio incorporated input from practitioners who had successfully reused waste, brought broader perspectives, and shared insights related to supply chains and circular economy concepts. It helped students develop the vocabulary to collaborate effectively and to take a greater role in interdisciplinary efforts to address the transition to a non-extractive economy.
