Materials Week at Center rog

Materials as Part of Everyday Practice

Work in the labs at Center rog takes place with a wide variety of materials: solid wood, clay, steel and other metal profiles, copper and brass sheets, various composites, raw materials for preparing material mixtures, filaments for 3D printing, and textile materials. In the hands of mentors and users, these materials transform into prototypes, objects, and starting points for new ideas.

Materials Library

This year, we began systematically collecting materials in a Materials Library, which is gradually taking shape in individual labs as a collection of samples for inspiration, research, and educational work.

Our goal is to create an open and dynamic space of shared knowledge, where materials are not merely samples on a shelf but encourage reflection on how we use, combine, and understand them in contemporary production. During Materials Week, we will present the Materials Library to our community of users and to the wider public.

The Materials Library therefore does not only raise questions about the properties and uses of individual materials, but also encourages broader reflection on where materials come from, how they circulate, and how they can be integrated into new creative processes.

Biomaterials, Circularity, and New Approaches

Every material has its own life cycle. Instead of the linear model in which materials are extracted, turned into products, used, and eventually discarded, contemporary practices increasingly understand materials as part of a circular process. These approaches include the thoughtful use of natural resources, reuse and recycling of materials, and biological processes in the creation of new materials.

At Center og, an important role in this area is played by the Green Lab, where waste materials from work processes in the Food Lab and Wood Lab become starting points for new experiments.

As part of Materials Week, the exhibition Biomaterials in Practice will be on view in the glass annex. It will present research and development processes of biomaterials in the Green Lab and highlight possibilities for resource reuse and the role of living organisms in the creation of new materials. Samples of biomaterials developed within guided programs of the Green Lab as well as in independent projects by users will also be presented. The exhibition was conceptually developed by Maruša Ramšak, head of the Green Lab, and mentor Julija Karas.

Lectures, Seminars, and Courses

The program of Materials Week will offer insight into various material practices – from biomaterials and natural building to circular approaches to the use of resources.

At the seminar Biomaterials in Practice: Research, Innovation, Architecture, researchers from the Department of Design at Politecnico di Milano, students from the Department of Industrial Design at ALUO, architect Katarina Živkovič, and the team of the Green Lab at Center rog will present their projects.

Under the mentorship of Davor Kržišnik from the Department of Wood Science and Technology at the Biotechnical Faculty, the course Mycocomposites – Creating with Mycelium will also begin. On Friday and Saturday, an intensive course Natural Materials in Architecture and Interior Design will take place, led by Belgrade-based architect Katarina Živkovič.

Program for Kindergartens and Families

Throughout the week, the Materials Playroom will also take place, organized in collaboration with the Family Center Mala ulica. Intended for kindergartens and families, it will give materials from the labs that no longer have practical value a new life. Through free play, they will become starting points for creating, experimenting, and discovering new possibilities for use.

Program

Monday and Tuesday, April 13–14
9:30–11:00 – Materials Playroom for kindergartens

Tuesday, April 14
16:30–18:00 – Materials Playroom for families

Wednesday, April 15
17:00 – Presentation of the Materials Library in the labs
18:00 –Biomaterials in Practice: Research, Innovation, Architecture – project presentations
19:00 – Opening of the exhibition Biomaterials in Practice

Thursday, April 16
16:30–18:00 –Materials Playroom for families
17:00–20:00 – Start of the course Mycocomposites – Creating with Mycelium (4 sessions)

Friday, April 17
10:00–18:00 – Intensive course Natural Materials in Architecture and Interior Design (2 days)

Saturday, April 18
10:00–12:30 – Upcycling workshop: Vase from a Bottle
10:00–13:00 – Materials Playroom for families
10:00–18:00 – Intensive course Natural Materials in Architecture and Interior Design
11:00–12:00 –Guided tour of the labs with presentation of the Materials Library

Photo: Megi Pilko