“Would you like a plastic bag?” No thanks ... Erm ... What? But that was a thing of the past, consigned to the annals of history? You’d think so ... Retailers simply circumvent the plastic bag ban as it doesn't apply to very thin or very thick bags. In Germany, the powers that be have banned plastic bags with a thickness of less than 50 micrometers. However, they cannot do much more than that since the European Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive stipulates that packaging that is permitted in one EU member state cannot be banned in another. Globalization? Environmental protection? What's going wrong here?

© Amazon

A monobloc plastic garden chair for just €20? What's wrong with that? After all, everyone can afford that. Well, what exactly is the problem? What do you mean, the remains of all this plastic waste are polluting our oceans? Now all that's missing are the fish ... or the food. What? Oil, fossil fuels, industry, emissions? Next, you'll be telling me about global warming.

A 45m² bathroom? Well yeah, why not? If you have a villa, that’s of course possible. What’s that you say? The impoverishment of society? Who can afford that? What? Living space is also a resource? Well, then we'll just make the living room 12 m². No, that’s too small – even for social housing? Well, don’t ask such silly questions. There’s still enough space on our planet. And would you please stop moaning about everything ...

I'm sure you've already guessed how this could go on and on. At the heart of it all, there's really just one question: What is sustainability and where does it begin? Because sustainability is more than just a label on the packaging of organic vegan sausages. And what does sustainability look like in the construction industry, a sector with one of the highest contributions to global warming? Surely, sustainable construction should be compulsory. But is it?

© EK-ll

Should we sit out the debate on sustainability? It’s only a topic for specialists, right? Quite the opposite, in fact: there's a huge amount of general interest. And the entire topic of sustainability is equally as huge. But how do we (sustainably) develop greater awareness of sustainability? The Chair of Architectural Design and Construction II has taken a playful approach to the topic by focusing this time on an everyday object – one that is used far more than any other object.

© EK-ll

The task and the results of the exercises, which were devised by students in a Design_Build workshop, will be shown in an exhibition at Saxony's Center for Architecture (ZfBK - ZENTRUM FÜR BAUKULTUR SACHSEN).

Opening reception on Thursday, July 4, 2024, 7:00 pm

Exhibition from July 5 to July 27, 2024
Opening hours: Tue. – Sat., 1:00 pm – 6:00 pm, admission is free
ZfBK - ZENTRUM FÜR BAUKULTUR SACHSEN
KULTURPALAST DRESDEN
SCHLOSSSTRASSE 2 | 01067 DRESDEN

Implementation of seminar and exercise supervision:
Chair of Architectural Design and Construction II
Prof. Michael Vaerst and WMA Dipl.-Ing. Felix Beyer