ifa GALLERY STUTTGART PRESENTS FIBRA: CONTEMPORARY ARCHITECTURE WITH PLANT FIBERS
Architecture with plant fibres has high sensual and haptic qualities, and in terms of the selection criteria of the FIBRA Award also high aesthetic quality. The FIBRA Award is given by amàco, the research and experimental centre for natural building materials in Villefontaine in France, and curator Dominique Gauzin-Müller.
Plants are remarkable organisms. They are the material basis of our lives and our culture, and are both beautiful and useful at the same time. They are local resources that keep growing, store carbon dioxide, and are completely biologically degradable. Building with plant fibres not only means that there is a perfect ecological balance, but also has positive social, economic, and cultural effects. Local know-how is preserved and further developed, jobs are created locally, and traditional ways of building are sourced and revitalised.
The international jury chaired by Anna Heringer, has selected 50 buildings where various materials have been used – bamboo, straw, reeds, willow, rattan palm, hemp, palm leaves, tree bark, and grasses. The uses of plant fibres include bearing and bridging structures, insulation, filtering, and dividing, veneers, and outfitting.
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© Kengo Kuma & Associates, Takumi Ota Photography. Guest house and public market, Yusuhara, Japan, Kengo Kuma & Associates; © Kengo Kuma & Associates, Takumi Ota Photography
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© Alberto Cosi. Bamboo Sports Hall, Panyaden School, Namprae, Thailand, Chiangmai Life Architects, Markus Roselieb and Tosapon Sittiwong; © Alberto Cosi
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© Amy Barkow, courtesy of The Living. Hy-Fi pavilion in the courtyard of MoMA PS1, New York, USA, The Living / David Benjamin; © Amy Barkow, courtesy of The Living
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© Markus Roselieb. Bamboo Sports Hall, Panyaden School, Namprae, Thailand, Chiangmai Life Architects, Markus Roselieb and Tosapon Sittiwong; © Markus Roselieb
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© William Berré. Beautour Center for Biodiversity, La Roche-Sur-Yon, France, Guinée*Potin Architectes, Oteis/Isateg (BET bois), Guillaume Sevin Paysages; © William Berré
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The exhibition shows plant materials and practical application examples. Photo: Jens Volle
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Exhibition views. Courtesy of FIBRA
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Exhibition views. Courtesy of FIBRA
The buildings presented here with pictures, texts, models, and prototypes are from 23 different countries and all continents. They are dwellings, schools, bridges, a construction yard and a wine cellar that together show the diversity of possible uses and the ecological, architectural, and aesthetic qualities of plant fibres in contemporary architecture.
Encouraging creators and designers to reflect on how we will want and need to live in the future, building with plant fibres is highly innovative and retrospective at the same time.
