`Material trends for the future` is the theme of the exhibition and the lectures held at Deubaukom in Essen. Current trends that Materia has identified include biomimicry, biobased materials, new techniques and smart materials. For instance the newest insights of biomimicry examples, which can be an inspiration for the creative professional. We will show you the new and engineered wood, like the lightweight Dendrolight and the sustainable Accoya.

And what will be the new wood like the newest engineered bamboo or cork? What do you think of building with our own waste? The price of wood and other natural sources will increase, so our own waste will become more and more interesting and valuable, like panels of peanutshells, macademia nutshells, parquet of old wine- or whiskey barrels, and bioplastics made of agricultural waste. But also leather made of mushrooms, wood made of old newspapers, and tomato plants in concrete.

New techniques like CNC milling and 3D printing and even 2,5D  and 4D printing allow us to create the most fantastic freeform architecture, like Enrico Dini with D-Shape, or relief surfaces with the 2,5 D printing techniques. Computer robots build walls, nanotechnology creates self healing materials and CO2 absorbing concrete, and what about facades or windows that can clean themselves?

Smartness is the newest trend. They are not new at all, but architecture and design is discovering these fantastic interactive materials in a rapid tempo. Facades which are self sunprotecting, or materials that are able to harvest energy from the difference in temperature or just by pressing it like the piezoelectric cells in highways. What huge possibilities lies in these undiscovered properties? Materia will show some exiting examples during the lectures and hopes to inspire and stimulate you to increase a better, sustainable and smart build environment.

Future Building

No one can predict the future of building exactly. Precision is achieved in little steps that we constantly refine as we learn more about the world we live in and the materials that are used to shape the designed and built environment. At Materia, we closely monitor the most successful materials around, as well as the newest, the most innovative, and the most popular. Popularity is an important aspect because it shows the trends that are currently important to architects. In fact, the popularity of materials on the Materia website is an indication of future architecture trends, as people search for a material that they will use for a new project.

So come and get inspired by our exhibition and lectures from 15 – 18 January in Essen, Germany!