Under the motto "Get Set," the 2022 DDW exhibited more than 50 art and architectural installations to call out designers and communities for a shift from preparation to action facing the challenges of our time. Led by Miriam van der Lubbe, Creative Head of DDW, with Marjan van Aube and Formafantasma as ambassadors, the 21st edition of the Dutch Design Week took place the last week of October in Eindhoven, the Netherlands closing with a Graduation Show of over 200 students of the Design Academy Eindhoven.
Inspiring designers to incorporate innovation and sustainability and familiarize the public with all the technology has to offer, ArchDaily has selected 9 relevant works focused on bio-materials and modular systems. Highlighting ongoing design research, the list underlines projects that reinvent how we deal with nature and the space we live in.
Explore the full program on the 2022 Dutch Design Week official website.
Building biodiversity
The prototypes Buildmatterial and Itbettermatter show the near-future scenario for construction and infrastructure products in a 3D-printed biodegradable slope. The exhibition honors nature, fauna modules, and degradation as inventors. Omlab also displays Speculative fauna modules: biodegradable architecture for insects, birds, and other city dwellers. The project is developed in co-op with MVRDV, Climate Collective, Raven Kiss, and Mobilane.
Embassy of Circular & Biobased Building
World Design Embassies deploy the power of design in developing new perspectives and concrete directions to societal challenges. With an exhibition in the shape of a house, more than 100 pioneers presented their research and materials for biobased and sustainable buildings.
The "Possible Landscapes" exhibition converts perspectives into model installations with storytelling and imagination. The stakeholders can use these installations locally to share their stories and enter into a dialogue with other stakeholders and residents. The model installations question what is possible now, tomorrow, and the day after. Also, what the landscape of the Netherlands can look like, but mainly what the associated chains and value systems are.
The Living Bin
Studio Hendrikx strives to restore the parasitic relationship between humanity and its environment by expanding the horizon of human imagination by exploring living materials. The 'Nibble' bin is hand-blown out of glass into an organic shape, so it can host specially grown sea anemones capable of eating organic waste and provide a light show through their luminescence. This living exhibition will travel worldwide to advocate a planet where junk is alive.
Rotor Home
Rotor Home is a tiny eco-friendly habitat with a unique rotating exterior wall system that transforms the façade into an outdoor kitchen. The goal is to open up community homes to share living together by putting living with nature first. The concept comes as an eco-friendly and prefabricated wooden habitat equipped with a rotatable wind and watertight portal. This patent pending wall system opens like a pivoting wall and serves as a platform for various design applications and markets.
Small Scale, Big Impact
Sixteen students delivered and displayed 119 experimental houses in an experimental environment at the Jacoba van Beierenlaan housing complex in Delft. The project takes temporary architecture to discuss existing buildings, show the qualities that might be worth preserving, and make the everyday experience visible. The initiative highlights the power of stepping back - the idea of architecture without architects.
Solar Pavilion
V8 Architects | Marjan van Aubel Studio
The Solar Pavilion is the closing piece of the Solar Biennale 2022. Working as a gigantic panel, the Solar Pavilion harvests the sun’s energy, which is then used to spread the sun’s heat in the dark space under the ‘solar cloth’ employing infrared radiation. Natural phenomena are connected with technological innovations, and visitors are offered an impressive experience as they stand half in darkness and half in light.
Urban Reef
Urban Reef is a young startup focused on researching, developing, and designing situations and interactions for more-than-human urban environments. The prototypes of bio-inclusive cities link philosophical theory, computational design, and 3D printing techniques.
The wilderness-stimulating prototypes are called Reefs. These are natural algorithms' labyrinths of shelters and are printed with (living) materials (mycelium, bacteria, and clay). The proposal also explores other environments such as a Rain Reef, Tidal Reef, and Zoo Reef.
Unselfish Cabin
Fé Ramakers
The Unselfish Cabin is a concept for tiny houses that densify the city while adding a network of functions to their surroundings. The cabins offer solutions for urban problems regarding water, heat, biodiversity, social cohesion, and food production.
The proposal displays several typologies, according to specific scenarios: The Water Capturing Cabin collects water during heavy rains and releases it in dry periods. The Public Waste Cabin offers an organic waste container and a public toilet. The Animal Crossing Cabin bridges small roads and paths, reconnecting fragmented pieces of nature and increasing biodiversity.
Wow House
Conceived as " a statement for living in the 21st century" the WoW House offers residents complete freedom regarding organization and layout. The plan can vary from a single-family home to a ground-floor apartment to a home for students or asylum seekers. Choosing a different type of staircase leads to a different typology and a different use of space. Moreover, the model is completely prefabricated and can be transported by road.
The 2022 Dutch Design Week is one of a series of events worldwide that curate, bring, and display the best in architecture, art, and design, such as the 2022 Biennale of FRAC in the Centre-Val De Loire Region, France, and the TAB -Tallinn Architecture Biennial 2022. For more events, explore the Architecture Events to Pay Attention to in 2022 and the Architectural Events list: September's Packed List of 29 International Happenings.
