CLIMADE - Textile Explorations into Climatic Design

Matters of Activity (MoA) Design Research Studio
Design Project III, FG Textile and Surface Design


Architecture and its spatial boundaries - from walls to curtains - have always had the task not only of facilitating different uses, but also of providing protection from heat and cold, from wind and weather. Yet the building sector is itself one of the biggest consumers of resources and energy for the construction and operation of buildings. New approaches to climatisation of the spaces we inhabit therefore become a central challenge of the future. What questions do we have to ask as designers in order to find novel and more sustainable answers with increasingly extreme wheather conditions?

The project explores construction and material that can influence interior climate and question the idea of comfort. We will investigate the interactions of temperature, material and perception in an interdisciplinary way in the fields of architecture, art, design, nature and culture.

In exchange and in collaboration with architecture students from TU Munich / Institute of Building Technology and Climate Friendly Construction, Prof. Thomas Auer, we will design materials, surfaces, objects and spaces as physical prototypes that modulate climate and comfort in interior spaces. We will cooperate with the research facility "Sense Lab" led by Bilge Kobas at TU, which investigates the interaction of body and environment.

Weekly tutorials are complemented by project-integrated events: Lectures, interdisciplinary workshops, participation in climate symposia, and a field trip to Munich where we will visit Frei Otto's textile architectures and learn about conservators' perspectives on the interaction of materials and climate.

Supervision as part of of the Research Cluster of Excellence "Matters of Activity. Image Space Material", Humboldt Universität zu Berlin:

Prof. Christiane Sauer, Jessica Zmijan, tutor Jasmin Sermonet,
Prof. Thomas Auer / Bilge Kobas, Building Technology and Climate Friendly Construction, Technische Universität München

in cooperation with:
Prof. Dr. Lucy Norris, Theory and History
Prof. Dr. Claudia Blümle, History of Art and Images, Humboldt University of Berlin
Iva Rešetar, Architecture, Humboldt University of Berlin
Dr. Heike Illing-Günther, Saxon Textile Research Institute Chemnitz STFI

together with contributions from:
Tim Bechthold, Restoration, The New Collection, Pinakothek der Moderne Munich.
Dr. Charlotte Holzer, Restoration / Exhibition Technology Textiles, Deutsches Museum Munich
Sebastian Soukup, Production Design, Film