SustainLab is an explorative research platform in the context of sustainability that connects art and design with scientific methods and questions. We design sustainable futures there to simultaneously provoke new practical approaches and discourse.

The lab’s core mission is to enable the growth and harvesting of knowledge. We use artistic and design-related practices as a catalyst for interdisciplinary research and science as an inspiring tool for the examination of materials and technology in the context of ecology.

Critical reflection and new conceptual lenses are the instruments with which we encounter familiar patterns of thought and action. We support student works, collaborate with external partners, and design communication spaces.   

Within the framework of selected annual themes, we pursue our own research projects. In an accompanying final exhibition, we take a close look at diverse aspects and enter into discourse.

SOLUM – generous sediments and rare loads

While ever greater effort is being expended to extract geogenic materials, critical loads in the earth are increasing. Under the working title “SOLUM – generous sediments and rare loads”, the question we are asking in our research is what kind of soil we are standing on. From the geological perspective, the solum comprises the surface and subsoil layers that have undergone the same soil forming conditions. We read soil as a material and, at the same time, a complex system. It is a habitat, raw materials source, site of recycling, producer and product, foundation and archive.

How much soil do we consume every day? And in which form? What changes are geogenic material flows subject to as a result of anthropogenic influences? What do alternatives and paths to using sediments sustainably look like? And how can art and design bridge the gap between abstract academic visions and the actual conditions of everyday life?

SustainLab is in the BURG material collection and no environment could be more appropriate. In the midst of this tangible collection, material is considered as a whole: from its origin, properties, and context of use to the end of its service life and the consequences for the environment.

The SustainLab associates combine their experience and different approaches from the environmental sciences and design, supporting seamless transitions into free art.

A metaphorical toolbox supports them. SustainLab developed the Terra Ocular methodology to consider various sustainability-related perspectives with the help of detailed question modules and explore the boundaries of new strategies for research and practice in art and design.

SustainLab uses various approaches and tools from a wide range of disciplines. For example, methods such as life cycle assessment, material flow analysis, field experiments, and field research from the environmental sciences join with various tools from design research, sustainable design, and process-orientated approaches to artistic research. Working in the lab also includes developing one’s own tools for examining the various thematic fields.

Das SustainLab nutzt verschiedene Ansätze und Werkzeuge aus den unterschiedlichsten Disziplinen. So verbinden sie zum Beispiel Methoden aus den Umweltwissenschaften wie Life-Cycle-Assessment, Material-Flow-Analysis, Freilandexperimente und Feldforschung mit verschiedenen Tools der Designforschung und nachhaltigen Gestaltung sowie mit prozessorientierten Ansätzen der künstlerischen Forschung. Zur Arbeit im Lab gehört es außerdem, eigene Werkzeuge zur Untersuchung der verschiedenen Themenfelder zu entwickeln.