Materia Prima: Hylozoic Spatiotemporalities

In this project, a holistic design approach is used, governed by the intense relationships created between the triptych of space, matter and human. Main directions were the management of the excess matter in the urban landscape, the expression of the different materials in a building that would project its function in the city, functioning as well as an exhibit of its processes, along with the problem of the individual’s position in a society where the need for a participatory process in the management of matter emerges. According to Aristotle, the world is built by the Prime Matter, which has the innate potential to be shaped, transformed and recreated. Matter is interwoven with process or change: matter is a change of substance. It is a living and self-sufficient being, a physical element, matter and energy are inseparably united. Therefore, emerges the need of fitting the logic of vibrant matter into a wider context of changing the attitude of society. A building is proposed, in which the excess matter of the city is leaded, with the aim of its potential to be explored by the inhabitants. A building, with educational and practical role, through interactive information, material research and its implementation, both in the construction of the building and in a small-scale production. By using both conventional material processing methods and new prosthetic and subtraction technologies, the public has the ability to participate in an active material life cycle in a creative way. The recycling process returns matter to a former state by allowing it to be reformulated and its inherent potential to be explored. More specifically, wood, glass, metal, and paper are processed in the building, and the composition and capabilities of bio-plastic and bio-receptive concrete are investigated.

As a comment on the structure of the dense urban fabric, with the rectangular repeating blocks, a glass volume is proposed that follows the outline of the plot. Within this, a three-dimensional scaffolding is being created, in which the material processing cores are gradually developed. The building is under continuous development, directly related to the available stock of the city. The spatial dimension of the building is depicted in time frames. In the time frame presented the building consists of eight autonomous spaces, their functions are: processing of glass, paper, metal, wood, bioplastic and bio-receptive concrete research and development areas, assembly and reuse area, an amphitheater and office space. The material processing follows a cycle, starting from bottom to top. In the basement, there are the recycling facilities. Then, the materials are distributed to the production cores where a second stage of processing takes place. The ground floor of the building is a public passage in which there are the product sales and exhibition areas of the building's activity. Main position occupies a large atrium that offers a total experience of the building's life. The material processing areas are arranged around it, while people, raw materials and objects, that is, living and non-living matter, move through it and form part of its vitality. Bridges cross the atrium and connect the different spaces. The production cores incorporate the whole material processing. In the spaces that surround and unite the cores there is freedom of movement and open plan organization so that the extension of their uses is possible. Each production space is made of horizontal and vertical rings, on which a mesh is placed as a base where the outer surface is additionally formed. The materials could potentially be channeled from a tube system to the robotic arms. The building is also a production machine, where all its parts are involved in this process. The surface that is additively formed can be synthesized with various methods, such as welding of various parts of the material, spraying with fine dust, resulting from its shredding, aggregations, or by mashing and deposition.