BioHouse
ZS 2023
This winter semester, Studio Maas and The Why Factory will explore the use of biological materials at the scale of the human body, the room and the house. Following the research premise from Biotopia, the theme explored in the winter semester of 2022 at CTU, the new studio BioHouse, begins with the same belief; that we can only survive on our planet if we transform Earth into a place where humans can live in symbiosis with nature.
Can we imagine our houses as a living environment that respects ecological limits through self-sufficiency and zero waste, that is fully adaptable, durable and reusable, all while regenerating the broader ecosystem?
The aim of the studio BioHouse, will be to research, propose and apply future technologies, materials and strategies that will turn our households into energy and carbon-neutral environments, capable of providing the desired comfort of living for many years to come. This knowledge will be combined with a detailed analysis of the needs and ecological impacts of current housing, obtained through spatial analysis and digital data, enabling us to design sustainable houses and households that the future has yet to bring.
Questions the studio will ask:
- What is the ecological footprint of our current household?
- How do current technologies meet our current requirements, and where can we perform better?
- Can we make an extensive list of inventions leading to the achievement of a BioHouse?
- Can we fabricate a new material that merges all these inventions; a new ecological complex? Or maybe one material? A material that gives light, creates energy, that filters, contains and makes sweetwater, that houses plants and animals, that grows and shrinks instantly, that recycles, feeds and moves…
- How can we live in this truly biological household, only made of this new bio-matter?
- What ecosystems, and housing infrastructure would emerge?
The semester’s work will result in a series of proposals of what a future household may consist of. These results will be showcased in a day-in-the-life immersive film, a book compiling the underlying research and designs, a physical installation in the faculty’s atrium and an accompanying presentation giving this all a narrative.
More detailed information about the format of how Studio Maas will operate and some supporting material can be downloaded as The Brief below.
We now welcome applications sent in via email to strnadova.br@gmail.com in the form of a digital portfolio of your work and a brief motivation letter explaining why you would like to join this studio. Your portfolio can include academic, professional and personal projects that relate to the topic and/or method of this studio (i.e. animation, filmmaking, etc.)
Online applications close on Wednesday 13th of September at 13:00. Decisions to be sent out on Friday 15th of September, with a limited amount of places available in person in room no. 649 after the whole school studio presentations finish on Monday 18th September. We are looking forward to receiving your work.