Visiting Material Futures

Co-Speculation Workshops at Futurium, Berlin, March–June 2024

In cooperation with Matters of Activity and Futurium

In the »Visiting Material Futures« workshop series, researchers from the Cluster of Excellence »Matters of Activity« speculated with visitors to Berlin’s Futurium, under the guidance of CollActive Materials. Together, we envisaged speculative futures in which active materials will play a pivotal role: How could thermally activated materials help cool the cities of the future? What uses might we find for tree bark? From which kinds of bio-based materials could the machines of tomorrow be designed? How might we work with fungal mycelium to make public spaces more livable?

The three-hour workshops in this series took place at Futurium from March to June 2024 as part of the Open Lab Evenings. In total, around 100 co-speculators shared their knowledge of materials with researchers from »Matters of Activity«, developed their own scenarios, and designed prototypes and artifacts of possible futures. These explorations went beyond the question of which materials the world of tomorrow could be built from, as we also asked what impact these materials might have on people and other living organisms: What developments might shape how we handle materials as individuals, collectives, and societies in the future?

Futurium visitors were able to explore the outcomes of the co-speculation workshops in the »Visiting Material Futures« pop-up exhibition, which was presented in the Futurium Lab from May to August 2024.

CollActive Materials Team
Concept & facilitation: Dr. Kristin Werner, Antje Nestler
Graphic design: Eva Bullermann
Support: Richard Ley