The Exploded View Materials & Methods

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268449

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Submitted

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NEW EUROPEAN BAUHAUS AWARDS : existing completed examples

Project title

The Exploded View Materials & Methods

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Description

The Exploded View stands for a radical new look at the realization of a home: pulling apart and dissecting the endless amount of applications that are present in a house, in order to rebuild them with circular applications and biobased materials. The ones that already exist but are still difficult to find their way to the construction site but also developments that still need serious support to develop and scale up. Applications and materials of today, tomorrow and the day after tomorrow.

Where was your project implemented in the EU?

When was your project implemented?

Has your project benefited from EU programmes or funds?

Which programme(s) or fund(s)? Provide the name of the programme(s)/fund(s), the strand/action line as relevant and the year.

Please provide a summary of your project

The Exploded View is the representation of a multi-year research program of "The Embassy of Circular and Biobased Building" in which designers, entrepreneurs, researchers, policymakers and storytellers, work together. The Embassy is actively asking itself the question: which climate and people-friendly solutions can be found and realized for the enormous construction task facing the Netherlands? They formulate and materialize the questions and answers in a "live research" and "storytel" installation. “In the model and on a life-size blueprint we show what we have discovered, but also show what we do not yet know. We discuss the qualities of biobased materials and circular methods and indicate where the growth opportunities lie. And we invite everyone to think and act with us. Because there is so much knowledge and there is not one specifically correct working method or solution for sustainable building and living, ”says designer Pascal Leboucq of Biobased Creations. The Exploded View stands for a radical new look at the realization of a home: pulling apart and dissecting the endless amount of applications that are present in a house, in order to rebuild them with circular applications and biobased materials. Applications and materials that already exist but are still difficult to find their way to the construction site to developments that still need serious support to develop and scale up. Applications and materials of today, tomorrow and the day after tomorrow. The Exploded View also refers to the endless, potential material flows that are in stock and are not or hardly used in the construction world. For example material flows from food, textiles, sewage water, buildings or even our own living environment. We show a search for materials that can keep the production circle as small and efficient as possible.

Please give information about the key objectives of your project in terms of sustainability and how these have been met

The pressure on the Dutch housing market is high. The demand is greater than the supply. Not only does a lot of construction need to be done quickly. But also energy neutral, without depleting raw materials and without CO2 and nitrogen emissions. One of the agreements in the 2019 climate agreement is "By 2050, the industry will be circular and will emit virtually no greenhouse gas." Via the Building Decree Regulation, the government will set increasingly strict environmental requirements for the production and use of building materials. Sustainable design and construction is therefore becoming increasingly important and the sector must become even more aware of the possibilities of now and the near future. By researching and telling about the strength and possibilities of biobased materials with high design quality and conceptual construction methods, we raise awareness among a wider audience and offer new perspectives on sustainable construction.

Please give information about the key objectives of your project in terms of aesthetics and quality of experience beyond functionality and how these have been met

A clear visual language has been chosen, namely an archetypal house. New materials and methods are given a place in our current understanding of what a home is. In this way you as a visitor are taken into your personal living environment and challenged to look again at what you consider normal. We want to touch and inspire them, by imagining what it is like to live in a sustainable and aesthetic home and to be in contact with natural beauty 24 hours a day. We offer a platform to designers of innovative materials with a high design quality. This contributes enormously to propagating and spreading understanding and love for biobased and circular design and construction. Tactility and physical experience are an essential part to be able to inspire visitors, all materials can be smelled and felt. A conscious choice was made to show a very wide spectrum of possibilities, because we do not believe in 1 correct working method, but in 1 large network of possibilities. By linking each room to a specific material group or method, we can take professionals and the general public step by step into many ways of thinking and producing. You zoom out and experience the house as a link in a much larger chain, then you can also zoom in. The artistic quality is high thanks to a long-term research by designer Pascal Leboucq, his team from Biobased Creations and an expert panel with scientists. We have intensively followed up the production process of materials at many material partners and helped to take new innovative steps. In doing so, The Exploded View is a source of inspiration for the professional and the general public.

Please give information about the key objectives of your project in terms of inclusion and how these have been met

The Exploded View Materials & Methods makes connections. Partly because The Exploded View focuses on two challenges, the construction task and the climate task. It is a multidisciplinary study in which researchers, designers, entrepreneurs and policymakers come together. An expert panel has been set up with experts from the knowledge institutes, the construction world, the materials world and the broader biobased world. This diversity of specialisms enabled us to complete the entire bio cycle (from cultivation to harvesting to processing), the qualities of the materials (properties such as climate control, health, fire retardancy, construction, etc.) and the application possibilities in building and living (certificates, upscaling ,chain, etc). Unique to The Exploded View is that the public not only gains insight into our research and manufacturing process, but can also be part of it. The public is seen as experts and part of the knowledge chain. With this we send an important larger signal, namely that we can only achieve the turnaround in thinking if we all do our bit and do not wait for “people” to solve it. The public has been encouraged to participate through questions we have put to them. This was done both offline via the installation and online via the website. These questions concern, on the one hand, the search for certain materials, certain producers and certain designers and, on the other hand, the search for filling in all points on the passports per material. We dont’t know everything yet and the chance that someone from the public can help with 1 aspect is very high. The installation is easy to move, which allows us to present very flexibly on different platforms. In addition, we have been able to create a program in an accessible way, in which we can share and collect knowledge. We present the installation in museums, (construction) fairs, training courses, knowledge centers and construction companies, so that we can share this project broadly.

Please give information on the results/impacts achieved by your project in relation to the category you apply for

This project contributes to solving the SDG 11 sustainable cities and communities and SDG 13 climate action. In concrete terms: "how can we build (more), so that everyone can live, while ensuring that it fits within the increasingly strict climate objectives? What is possible now and in the near future? And which pain points and obstacles do we encounter in this respect? These are the questions we explore in this program and one on which we develop new perspectives. It is an open source research process in which we collect biobased materials with more than 40 material and knowledge partners. An expert panel has mapped and assessed these. All materials and methods can be found online with information about the production process, its qualities and pain points. We also tell what we don't know. We call on visitors to contribute ideas and to supplement the research with new knowledge. In addition, The Exploded View has served as a development trajectory for designers. We ask designers to further develop their material into a form that is relevant for construction and support the upscaling of the production process, so that they are better equipped to enter the market. The producers of the materials we use have seen an increase in interest in their material. The program creates awareness. As an iconic installation, it shows the latest state of affairs in biobased materials and thus appeals to the professional and the general public. We inspire and activate designers, architects and the construction industry in the Netherlands and abroad to get started with biobased materials and circular methods and inspire the consumer / resident of the future with the possibilities of biobased materials. Stories and imagination help enormously in spreading understanding and love for sustainable design and construction. In addition to realizing the installation, we have also set up a network of partners who together comprise the entire construction chain.

Please explain the way citizens benefiting from or affected by the project and civil society have been involved in the project and what has been the impact of this involvement on the project

Unique to The Exploded View is that the public not only gains insight into our research and manufacturing process, but can also be part of it. The public is seen as experts and part of the knowledge chain. In this way we inspire and activate the consumers to ask for more sustainable homes.  With this way of working we send an important larger signal, namely that we can only achieve the turnaround in thinking if we all do our bit and do not wait for “people” to solve it. The public has been encouraged to participate through questions we have put to them. This was done both offline via the installation and online via the website. These questions concern, on the one hand, the search for certain materials, certain producers and certain designers and, on the other hand, the search for filling in all points on the passports per material. We dont’t know everything yet and the chance that someone from the public can help with 1 aspect is very high. The installation is easy to move, which allows us to be present on different platforms. We present the installation in real life or through lectures and video yours in museums f.e. Design Museum Gent (Belgium) and Museum de Fundatie Zwolle (The Netherlands) , (construction) fairs f.e. Building Holland and Dutch Design Week, training courses, knowledge centers f.e. Blue City Rotterdam (The Netherlands) and construction companies f.e. Eco+Bouw (The Netherlands). So that we can share this project broadly and interact with a broad audience to gain more knowledge.  

Please highlight the innovative character of the project

We work with materials and methods of today, tomorrow and the day after tomorrow with high design quality and their own aesthetics. Many biobased materials are still too often offered as an environmentally friendly alternative to conventional materials. It is stated that they are equally good and indistinguishable from conventional materials. We consider this a sign of weakness: why no longer develop and present biobased materials from their own autonomous strength, with their own recognizable identity? In this way we offer a future perspective for sustainable design, construction and living from our own aesthetics.  We also show that construction and agriculture, as well as the textile sector and construction, can be strongly linked, both in materials and in working methods, that completely new chains are created through sustainable construction. In the context of the artistic environment surrounded by the story, the opportunity often arose to experiment together with the producers of the materials, and to communicate transparently. This was new for many producers and designers. Our experience is that many are still insecure and protective. Both in application and in sharing knowledge. The pavilion offers them a "safe" environment in which to experiment and scale up production.

Please explain how the project led to results or learnings which could be transferred to other interested parties

What we have learned is that story and imagination help enormously in propagating and spreading understanding and love for biobased and circular design and construction. We also learned that doing together and executing together is essential to reach new heights. We're not going to get there on our own. Together we can scale up, innovate and make implementation feasible and affordable. In addition, a lot of knowledge must be acquired and, above all, shared. After all, a lot is already possible, but we often do not know about each other, let alone that a wider group of builders and citizens know. We are talking about materials, techniques, properties, certificates, figures, health aspects, contacts, etc. We have also learned that concrete example projects are needed. The more buildings and entire neighborhoods show that we can build and live sustainably, the more we can convince builders, citizens and policymakers that it is indeed possible. We also recognized that there must be a reappraisal of what is of value. How do you stimulate what is good and demotivate what is not? Or rather, how can we increase the value and appreciation for the sustainable and at the same time adjust the value and appreciation for the polluting downwards?

Is an evaluation report or any relevant independent evaluation source available?

By ticking this box, you declare that all the information provided in this form is factually correct, that the proposed project has not been proposed for the Awards more than once under the same category and that it has not been subject to any type of investigation, which could lead to a financial correction because of irregularities or fraud.