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(Archive) Embassy of Circular & Biobased Building

This project was part of DDW 2022
Nature Building Kit — © Quint Verschuren

The question we ask at The Embassy of Circular & Biobased Building is challenging but clear: How do we ensure that the millions of houses that have to be built and renovated are CO2 and nitrogen negative, contribute to soil quality and biodiversity and ensure a healthier living environment?

With an extensive network of designers, material producers, construction companies, researchers, nature experts and policymakers, we have been looking for new perspectives and solutions for this question for several years now.

During DDW 22 we will look back in the form of the exhibition 'Ode to the Frontrunners' and set the tone for the coming years. In addition, we present our new program 'Possible Landscapes'.

Possible Landscapes

In this multi-year program we investigate new perspectives for a sustainable living environment. With storytelling and imagination we convert those perspectives into model installations. These installations can be used locally by the stakeholders to share their story and to enter into a dialogue with other stakeholders and residents. The model installations together form an experiential exhibition about what is possible now, tomorrow and the day after tomorrow. What the landscape of the Netherlands can literally look like, but especially what the associated chains and value systems are.

Ode to the Frontrunners

Last year DDW, we presented The Exploded View Beyond Building. An exhibition in the form of a house in which more than 100 pioneers presented their research and materials for biobased and sustainable building. Since then, more than 150,000 visitors, from construction professionals to citizens, have visited this installation. But more importantly, in the meantime our pioneers have worked incredibly hard to further develop their products and plans. In recent months, they have taken serious steps, often together, to make our construction more sustainable than ever. This takes guts and perseverance. In this exhibition we show the quest of some of these frontrunners.

In recent months, TNO has tested 9 innovative materials and building methods from The Exploded View Beyond Building in a field lab to see whether and how they can contribute to CO2 and nitrogen reduction in construction.
We present the results of this research as well as an agenda with action points that are crucial to make the switch to a sustainable building system and that the producers alone cannot tackle. A call to action for everyone who sees a role for themselves in this transition to take the next steps.