D - Entwerfen und Wohnen: Salvage House: Practices of Material Mining

Salvage House: Practices of Material Mining Records of European building practices from the early twentieth century show that demolition was not always viewed as a loss. In some cases, contractors would generate income by carefully dismantling buildings and salvaging materials for reuse. As architectural historians have demonstrated, the extraction and reintegration of building components was once a common and cost-effective practice. Indeed, the reuse of materials is deeply embedded in the history of construction where economy of means and resourcefulness have long shaped the act of building. With the rise of industrialisation, building materials increasingly became commodified products within linear systems of production and consumption. As a result, new construction came to depend on newly manufactured materials, while demolition was reduced to a clearance process preceding reconstruction. The potential value of materials found on site was largely lost. Today, the environmental consequences of this model are evident, with the construction sector accounting for almost 40% of global CO2 emissions. However, emerging architectural and cultural practices are challenging this status quo. Grassroots movements are advocating the reuse of materials as an ecological and social necessity, while industry-driven frameworks such as circularity and upcycling are changing how resources, waste and materials are understood and valued within the built environment. This seminar will examine these contemporary practices through critical analysis and design experimentation. Students will investigate architectural approaches to material recovery and adaptive reuse. They will closely examine a few buildings in Darmstadt that were built in the 70s and are now approaching the end of their life cycle and/or earmarked for demolition. Drawing on a “salvage ethos,” students will learn to carefully assess the potential resourcefulness of each building's materials and engage in a design exercise focused on a domestic project, for which they must use salvaged materials. The course encourages students to question prevailing construction logics and to explore the architectural, environmental, and cultural potential of existing structures. The seminar is structured in two parts: an analytical phase, in which students will investigate and dissect building systems and available materials of a selected case; and a one-week-long workshop at the end of the semester (20-24 July 2026), in which students will practice material mining and construction using material resources from the building itself.