Open Materials

design research project,
Critical Maker Lab / Weizenbaum Institut;
since 2019

The term Open Materials was defined on the basis of exemplary projects and practices centered around the design and distribution of new materials. Open Materials describe materials that can decompose, that are locally accessible, and that are self-manufacturable.

Beyond desk-reserach, hands-on material experiments informed the project and the development of a workshop format to rethink devices from a New Materialist perspective. Different approaches to the DIY development of new bio-materials are mapped and contextualized as strategies of emancipated and responsible thinking-making.