A Matter of Time: An explorative enquiry into the attending of the material and the constitution of the 'we'

A Matter of Time ist ein Buchprojekt, entstanden aus der forschend experimentellen Auseinandersetzung mit dem Thema des Materials im Rahmen meiner Diplomarbeit. Es sucht im künstlerisch-wissenschaftlichen Schreiben und Imaginieren eine Sprachlichkeit, um materiell-zeitliche Fragen der architektonischen Praxis tiefgehend bearbeiten zu können. Nicht um abschließende Antworten hervorzubringen, sondern einen Zugang zu entwickeln, eine Haltung, sich mit der Welt in Beziehung und auseinanderzusetzen.

In light of the climate crisis and growing focus on sustainability, the work addresses the question of how to attend to material in a human-centred, ‘accelerated’ world. Initiated with the question of how to act reasonably within architectural practice, it branches out into more fundamental questions: the relationship between humans and nature, the understanding of matter, and the notion of ‘we’. By theoretically and experimentally tackling them, an approach towards the world is formed—one that begins from intricate relations and immersion. Through the terms of ‘material’ and ‘tempus’, a space is created in which voices can emerge, in which matters of the ‘we’, its material, and of the making of world can be continuously negotiated.

Whether built structures, or untouched earth—the project approaches material in an initially egalitarian manner, an encompassing gesture. This is grounded in the conviction that we must overcome rigid distinctions between resource and waste, and instead a rm the metamorphic processes we are as much a part of as that which we produce and undo again. It is only a matter of how we participate in this ongoing process; and it is a matter of time whether we contribute to self-destruction or to shared prosperity and kinship. Consequently, the book nds its place in a material-temporal angle towards architecture, a weaving motion of matter. It does not shy away from upending existing practice and a possible reformulation of the profession as such.