Teaching
ETH Zurich Seminar Week: What is Next?
New Material Developments
Studio Adam Caruso, ETH Zurich
20 October 2020
with Marlise Blaser, Katharina Lehmann, Summer Islam & Paloma Gormley
To achieve the net-zero greenhouse gas emissions objective, and keep the global temperature increase to 1.5°C, the building sector needs to shift its goals towards carbon-negative construction materials. In the first talk of the seminar week, the studio invited Marlise Blaser (Elementwerk Istighofen), Katharina Lehmann (Blumer Lehman Holzbau), Summer Islam & Paloma Gormley (Material Culture) to discuss the future of construction materials.
Marlise Blaser is owner and director of Elementwerk Istighofen since 2002. The company specialises in fabricating facade elements and other bespoke precast concrete elements, using their own mix of concrete. Marlise Blaser studied business management and civil engineering in Bern and worked for Zeltner Ingenieure AG and Walo Bertschinger AG before becoming director of Elementwerk Istighofen.
Katharina Lehmann studied economy at HSG and is the CEO of the Lehmann Gruppe since 1996, where she runs Blumer Lehmann AG. Blumer Lehmann has extensive experience in the design, production planning, fabrication and assembly of timber constructions and are leaders in developing know-how about working with wood. They are investigating technical innovations to achieve sustainable and durable solutions.
Summer Islam & Paloma Gormley are both young architects based in London, running their own practices Studio Abroad and Practice Architecture. They are the founders of Material Culture, a non-profit research organisation working at the intersection of low embodied carbon and high efficiency off-site construction, where they are working with ARUP to develop prototypical designs for low and high density housing, commercial and cultural uses
Related news
The Architecture Foundation presents a week of seminars from 19-22 October 2020 curated by Studio Adam Caruso at ETH Zürich exploring the architecture of crisis. Invited speakers include Carolyn Steel, Summer Islam, Paloma Gormley and others in the disciplines of architecture, politics and economics. Across 9 talks over 4 days, panelists will be asked to reflect upon the unit's posed question: What is Next?
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In conversation
Valerie Verhack with Adam Caruso and Freek Persyn
Live-stream from Leuven, Belgium
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