After successful completion of the course, students are able to collectively conceptualise, design and plan an architecural proposal which serves as the basis for a realisation within the built environment.
By physically building prototypes that eventually translate into a mobile woodworkshop during the course of the semester, students will gain knowledge of group-based decision making and hands-on construction methods within an on-site building process.
Biofabrique Vienna is a pilot project of the Vienna Business Agency and Atelier LUMA, a programme of LUMA Arles. Based on its methodology of the bioregional approach; finding, connecting, implementing and sharing – the Biofabrique operates as a network as well as a knowledge and production platform that processes raw and repurposed materials which are tailored to each bioregion’s resources and needs. Bioregional design practices give us a framework for asking useful questions: what resources are available and how can we use them in a way that makes local environmental and social systems stronger? By building alliances within Viennese industry, academia and creative professionals, Biofabrique Vienna aims to strengthen the bioregion itself.
Considering the current paradigm shift in the building sector, how can we as architects, designers and artisans intersect with existing networks of infrastructure, know-how and material? How can we contribute to a responsible dealing with these resources? What are alternative resource streams? In light of the undeniable impact of humans on the balance of nature and its resulting ecological crisis we are searching for sustainable design solutions in architecture based on material understanding. Examination of vernacular and historical material expertise, combined with the integration of advanced climate-resilient construction methodologies, yields expeditious solutions, notably within the domain of resilient timber construction.
The design studio „Wiederverwenden“ is a series of workshops that will develop a tool - the Mobile Woodworkshop- which allows us to be an actor in these existing networks. Wherever it travels, by means of public transport, the Mobile Woodworkshop will be our physical plug-in to the specific contexts by providing the minimal set of tools to intervene and build. In this first design studio, without yet having access to the Mobile Woodworkshop, we will explore its potentials and limitations through researching and prototyping. These tests will provide the parameters for its physical manifestation. What is its maximum dimension and weight to comfortably be moved through the urban fabric by public transport? What are the essential tools to build with timber, which nonessentials need to be borrowed from the local network? With whom do we need to collaborate?
These hands-on workshops are focusing on designing from interaction with waste wood sourced from the urban space and our future collaborators. Through a series of systematic research tasks - by researching the Viennese timber context, workshops and mobility systems - the design studio will propose and collectively build the Mobile Woodworkshop. The result will serve as the tool for all our hands-on workshops in the future and will travel all over Austria and beyond. Its first stop will be in the „European Capital of Culture Salzkammergut 2024“ in the summer.
The design studio will act as a partner of Biofabrique Vienna and help demonstrate its first public participatory test phase in 2024 as part of major cultural events like the Klima Biennale and the Vienna Design Week.
Research, Observation, Documentation
The initial phase of the design studio will look closely at the given context of Vienna. We will be analysing timber cycles from production to processing and recycling. During this phase we will visit different workshops in Vienna, study their processes and learn from them. We will also go on a joint one-day excursion with all three design studios of Holzbau und Entwerfen in and around Vienna.
Together with students from the design studios "Biofabrique Vienna: Adaptive Reuse" and "Biofabrique Vienna: Material Assemblies", both design studios by Gebäudelehre TU Wien, we will document this research and present it as part of the Biofabrique Vienna project at the Klima Biennale which will be our home for the rest of the semester.
Lectures
Throughout the semester, as part of the Biofabrique, we will receive external input from individuals practicing and researching in various related fields.
Workshops 1+2
Research+Protoype / Prototype+Design
The previously acquired knowledge will be tested through physical action, by researching existing mobile units/workshops and building prototypes that relate to the raised questions and makes them tangible.
Workshop 3
Design+Build
The final 10-day workshop allows the Mobile Woodworkshop to be manifested, learning from the previous experiences and research.
Presentation and Exhibition
Both the research and the final structure of the Mobile Woodworkshop will be presented and exhibited at the Klima Biennale, before the Mobile Woodworkshop will move on to Gmunden as part of the Entwerfen urbaner Holzbau I - Weiterbauen "Bioregional Assembly Gmunden".
The design studio will be held in German and English.
It is possible to attend both Entwerfen working with the mobile woodworkshop:
Entwerfen urbaner Holzbau I - Weiterbauen "Bioregional Assembly Gmunden"
Entwerfen urbaner Holzbau I - Wiederverwenden "BioFabrique Vienna"
The Entwerfen Entwerfen urbaner Holzbau I - Nachverdichten can not be attended in parallel!
Prüfungsimmanent
No specific prior knowledge is required, other than the shared motivation to work, design and build together.
Students who like to learn and practice with their hands are strongly encouraged to apply.
