Stimuleringsfonds

Despite growing attention to sustainability and social wellbeing, a large part of the building industry remains focused on short-term returns. This article highlights seven projects in which architects and designers explore how they might reverse this trend. With support from the Architecture Grant Scheme, they are investigating experimental material applications and new construction processes as a way out of the narrow path the industry currently finds itself on.

This is a descriptive translation of the original Dutch essay by Teun van den Ende.

The Architecture Grant Scheme supports projects that contribute to the quality, development, or deepening of the field of architecture in the broadest sense. In recent years, the Creative Industries Fund NL has supported a number of projects exploring alternative materials and construction techniques. Although relatively modest in scale, these initiatives help equip architects and designers for the challenges ahead. But for that to happen, the field needs to pay far greater attention to the knowledge and insights that are being generated, so argues Teun van den Ende.

Reed from China

More than 80 per cent of the reed used for thatched roofs in the Netherlands comes from China, despite the existence of alternatives that builders in the Netherlands could grow, process, and apply themselves. This is just one example, but a telling one, of how the current building industry operates. Any logic in selecting materials and construction methods on the basis of local knowledge, let alone circular principles, is hard to find.

The building industry relies heavily on global supply chains and highly industrialised processes, making it complex, polluting, and rigidly standardised. Design and production have become detached from one another. How different things were a century and a half ago, when working with locally sourced materials and regional building methods, closing short supply chains, and reusing materials - in other words, building in a circular way - was the very foundation of the profession.

To understand how we arrived at this point, we need to look back in time. Before standardisation and industrialisation took hold, architects possessed detailed knowledge of regionally available materials such as natural stone, clay, timber, lime, and metal. That began to change towards the end of the nineteenth century, when prominent master builders such as Pierre Cuypers (1827–1921) and H.P. Berlage (1856–1934), assured of a steady stream of commissions, began to optimise their working methods for efficiency: existing techniques and processes were scaled up to accelerate or simplify production. As the master builder could no longer oversee the construction process from start to finish, there arose a need to standardise procedures and certify materials. This led, for instance, to the establishment of the Dutch Normalisation Institute in 1916, founded by the Dutch Society for Industry and Trade and the Royal Institute of Engineers.

Today, the architect's freedom in applying traditional building crafts is subject to an ever-growing body of standards and regulations. Not only is this dependency increasing, but clients are also placing ever greater weight on the prescriptions of the construction industry and government bodies. The architect's room for manoeuvre continues to shrink, and at the same time, materials or building methods that may be compelling from a circular or environmental perspective are pricing themselves out of the market. The industry has also become so sensitive to economic cycles that long-term investment in the research and development of alternative materials and construction methods has become far too risky.

Renewing building practice requires catalysts and experimental thinkers. Architects can step into these roles themselves, but the chances of success are often greater when they seek out collaboration. Engaged clients with a shared vision are essential to stimulating research. For some public clients, such as museums, research and experimentation are integral to their vision and policy. One example is the Schoenenkwartier in Waalwijk, which spotlights not only the history of shoemaking but also contemporary makers and making processes. In the entrance zone of the Schoenenkwartier, a tiled wall designed by Laura van Santen of design agency la-di-da bears witness to this ambition. She collaborated with ceramic studio Cor Unum to develop handmade tiles. The installation in the museum is a tangible outcome of the research project (Tegel-)zetje in de rug. The museum is proud of it and is eager to share the story of how the wall came about with its visitors.

The project is part of a series of research projects by la-di-da into building materials (see also this video from the annual report of the Stimuleringsfonds). Each one begins with a curiosity about the origin and properties of materials whose applicability in contemporary construction has not yet been proven, but appears promising. Selecting, harvesting, or extracting materials is an essential part of building. By reflecting on how materials are processed and how they can be reused, the entire life cycle comes into view, and materials need not be discarded as waste after use. In this way, the research generates knowledge about circular construction.

Another way to keep the environmental impact of construction as low as possible is to select materials that are available near a building site. With their project Kijken in de grond (Looking into the Ground), CHRITH architects and Studio Stephan Schagen aim to stimulate exactly this kind of thinking. They conducted soil borings at sixteen nature reserves managed by Natuurmonumenten and assembled the soil types they encountered into a library. They then tested each soil type's suitability as a building material by pressing 'air-dried' bricks from the earth: clay, sand, marl, and so on. Through this working method, the architects seek to investigate and strengthen the interconnections between land use, landscape, and building materials.

Like laboratory scientists, designers are immersing themselves in the study and understanding of alternative building materials.

While Kijken in de grond covers the whole of the Netherlands, another research project takes a more regional starting point. It focuses on the potential applications of Miscanthus (also known as elephant grass) in the northern Netherlands. The initiator of this research, DAAD Architecten, discovered that the region is home to many farms with asbestos roofs in need of remediation. The area also faces a major replacement challenge due to earthquake damage in Groningen. Could Miscanthus serve as a building material for some of these challenges? For instance, as a replacement for thatched roofs?

That question piqued the interest of several clients in the material's properties. A first proof of concept is taking shape on a farmyard in the village of Rottum. The research process also involves other private individuals in Groningen: a cooperative of farmers in the Westerkwartier region has taken it upon themselves to test the properties and possibilities of Miscanthus, making the lessons they learn available to improve the process from cultivation to application.

Farmhouse in Rottum with a Miscanthus roof by DAAD Architecten.

Limiting Factors and Opportunities

Acting as laboratory scientists, the designers behind these projects have immersed themselves in studying and understanding alternative building materials. The Schoenenmuseum Waalwijk, Natuurmonumenten, and the agricultural clients from Groningen all offered time and/or funding for experimentation. This type of client, however, is rare. In general, research of this kind takes place within knowledge institutions such as universities of applied sciences and research universities. Alongside this more theoretical knowledge development, the Netherlands also has spaces where practical craftsmanship is coupled with research. Workshops such as the Hembrugterrein in Zaandam, Keramische Werkplaats Cor Unum in Den Bosch, the RDM Innovation Dock in Rotterdam, and BlueCityLab Rotterdam bridge both creative processes.

Designers do not always manage to build on insights generated by earlier research.

Designers create the most promising conditions for research by collaborating with these knowledge institutions and workshops. Yet persistent barriers stand in the way of taking experimental material applications and production processes further. This is partly due to risk-averse behaviour throughout the construction supply chain. Tendering procedures impose constraints, locking down design and build processes within strict legal frameworks. Environmental and safety requirements also present obstacles - not without reason, it should be said. In terms of product development, this frequently means that certifying new materials for use in construction is complicated, if not impossible.

Developing new products and methods therefore requires a long-term commitment. In the day-to-day reality of most design practices, research is rarely the top priority. The design world lacks a well-developed scientific tradition that would enable designers to build on one another's insights, unlike fields such as medicine or physics. This gap becomes particularly apparent when new initiatives emerge: without adequate time and funding, promising ideas often fail to come to fruition.

Designers are not always aware of each other's work and do not always manage to build on insights generated by earlier research. This 'hidden' knowledge is something that preoccupies a number of designers. The library of soil types produced by Kijken in de grond, for instance, may eventually find a home at the Materials Hub of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich (ETH Zürich). Another effective way to disseminate research findings is through digital media. Archaeologist and writer Maikel Kuijpers, a partner in the project, drew attention to Kijken in de grond in an article for De Correspondent (see 'Wie slim is, bouwt met aarde' by Maikel Kuijpers, published on 2 January 2024).

One tradition that is well established in architecture is public events and prizes. They serve as a showcase for the design sector, help raise awareness and foster mutual exchange, and attract public and media attention. This is where publications and other material on design research find their way into exhibitions and public programmes, and where opportunities arise to find potential collaborators and funders for follow-up research.

The Architect as Catalyst

With a visible and knowledge-intensive role in research, the architect can act as a catalyst in the renewal of the building craft. Working with innovative materials and techniques can, however, be time-consuming and therefore costly, placing financial viability under pressure. Automating production processes can help circumvent expensive labour. Digital design and fabrication also offer other advantages, such as greater formal freedom. Digitalisation opens doors to developing alternatives to existing construction processes and the commercial interests attached to them. This leads to a rethinking of materials and methods in which values other than financial ones - such as sustainability, wellbeing for people and animals, and fairness - can take precedence. Four research projects, described below, illustrate the breadth of this field.

The first example shows that designers can use digital tools to create new opportunities for collaboration with architects. The project Tooling for Dynamic Architecture by RNDR studio for interactive media design investigates, in collaboration with architecture studio RAP, the integration of (moving) light or imagery into architecture. This yields a responsive living environment that can deepen the engagement of users or passers-by with their surroundings. Particularly when installed in public space, lighting technology attracts the interest of passersby in a highly direct way.

The next example demonstrates that twenty-first-century crafts such as programming and parametric modelling can also draw on the 'old' building tradition as a source of inspiration. In Branch Out! by Summum Engineering, architectural history is in fact the primary source of inspiration. The design method Antoni Gaudí used to conceive the structure of the Sagrada Família has been translated, with the aid of software, from a two-dimensional into a three-dimensional mode of design. The research enriches existing professional knowledge by delegating complex computational exercises to the computer, placing digital modelling at the service of deepening and broadening the applicability of the building craft.

Then there is Coraltecture by Shaper & Maker (Nadia Fani), a project concerned with nothing less than the survival of the planet. By producing artificial rock structures to which aquatic life can attach itself, it becomes possible to support the recovery of coral in locations where it has disappeared. The research positions itself outside the traditional design field by taking the living natural world as its client. Yet its research method is not so different from the other projects described here: it, too, uses technology to reverse processes of degradation and pollution.

Simulating natural processes naturally also generates deeper knowledge of nature itself. At a similarly fundamental level, the fourth and final project, SHELL_ter by Studio Sway, is focused on understanding material properties, in this case those of eggshells. The research forms part of a longer-running study into natural, (partially) porous, biodegradable, and in the ultimate sense, regenerative materials. The project is not yet complete, but the involvement of a number of scientists has already laid a solid foundation for its continuation.

The risk-averse attitude of clients limits innovation.

Renewal from Within

Each of the seven projects described above represents an exploration of a side path leading away from the narrow route the building industry currently finds itself on. As exemplary projects, they help equip architects and designers for the challenges of the future. Many practices in the design sector are small, however, and their research therefore has limited reach. Research also tends to take place in fairly isolated groups, dependent on limited or temporary funding. Long-term research culminating in publications with major publishers or in mainstream media is out of reach for most designers. Because the scale and reach of research in the design world is limited, the existing body of knowledge, and current knowledge developments, is difficult for most designers to survey.

All the more important, then, that research findings resonate with clients in the construction sector. As noted above, there are clients (such as museums) who embrace material and process innovation to give their buildings, or the public realm, greater meaning and presence. But beyond these public clients, the uptake of new techniques or materials remains a struggle. Most clients opt for the most efficient possible construction process, which means keeping a tight grip on cost and time. This risk-averse attitude limits innovation.

It is therefore vital that designers continue to develop their practice with genuine curiosity and are able to conduct research into innovative construction methods in order to explore the application of promising materials. Whether or not supported by digital tools, they are capable of renewing the building industry from within. In doing so, designers broaden their role and give their work social relevance — for instance, by drawing attention to the pollution caused by unnecessarily high CO₂ emissions. The current dominant approach to construction, which still relies heavily on concrete and steel, has a profound impact on the health of people, animals, and plants, and depletes the ground beneath us. Quite simply, alternatives are needed.

Teun van den Ende is an independent writer and researcher. He focuses on the online and public debate around the transformation of city and landscape.