HYBRID FUTURES. SPECULATIONS BY VERA MEYER AND SVEN PFEIFFER

Both speakers will exhibit objects in Futurium that give an insight into their research: Printed Tower – an architectural tower printed with the help of a robot using 3D technology, as well as composites made from fungi and plants, which are ideally suited for stable lightweight construction.

Together, Vera Meyer and Sven Pfeiffer are trying to find new ways of using mushrooms to create (building) materials of the future. The collaboration has already produced initial results, which will also be presented on December 10. They will also talk about what new perspectives the symbiosis of architecture and biotechnology brings to sustainable construction. How have ways of thinking that previously influenced work perhaps also changed? And how can bioeconomic solutions come into the public eye?

The conversation will begin by looking at the past of disciplines and how they are increasingly intertwined. Using scenarios from art and science, the two interlocutors will then develop a speculation on the future shape of their scientific disciplines.

Guests

Vera Meyer is a biotechnologist and professor at the Technical University of Berlin, where she heads the Department of Applied and Molecular Microbiology. In her scientific research with fungi, she combines methods from the field of synthetic biology and systems biology to be able to produce drugs, proteins and platform chemicals in the sense of a sustainable bioeconomy. The application potential of these is diverse - from medicine to building materials, which is reflected in her research collaborations. She is also known as an excellent communicator who relies on dialogue with citizens in her research. In her art, she translates the transformation and metabolic potential of her research objects into mushroom sculptures whose philosophical tone is subtle but unmistakable: nothing disappears in nature, everything is transformation.

Sven Pfeiffer is Professor of Digital Design, Planning and Construction at the Department of Architecture at Bochum University of Applied Sciences, where he works on the experimental integration of digital simulation and production tools in the architectural design process. He turns wood, clay and mushrooms into materials for innovative architecture using newly conceived, additive manufacturing mechanisms. With the help of robotic arms and other digital technologies, architectural compositions are created that not only look unusual, but also possess structural qualities beyond our current norm.

Anyone who would like to contribute to the evening with questions about building the future, bioeconomy and working between art and science can join the live chat with the speakers on Social Media on 10 December.

Hybrid Plattform

The Hybrid Platform, an initiative of the Berlin University of the Arts and the Technical University of Berlin, serves the interdisciplinary exchange between the arts, science and technology. Here, artists, scientists and experts work together on promising topics and issues beyond the boundaries of the individual disciplines and universities. This gives rise to unique projects, new networks, further platforms and innovative approaches in teaching and research.

A cooperation event with the Hybrid Plattform, a project platform of the Berlin University of the Arts and the Technische Universität Berlin as part of Campus Charlottenburg.