Surplus materials given new life in New Neighbour

Aarhus School of Architecture has teamed up with the organization Bank Of Materials, in the launch of a material bank of surplus materials from four Danish manufacturing companies.

02.10.2019

Every day surplus materials are discarded because they do not fit into standardised production methods. However, these materials are often of high quality and have a nature and a potential that is worth exploring. This is why Aarhus School of Architecture, working together with Kvadrat, Sørensen Læder, ZURFACE and Dinesen, has launched Bank of Materials. An initiative that gives materials a new lease of life.

Bank of Materials collects surplus materials from the four companies and makes them available to people who wish to turn the materials into creative projects. Bank of Materials is thus a bank where the value is social, and materials are the currency. In this way, knowledge and inspiration are exchanged. This benefits the creative processes and exciting stories that come into being when you work with the materials.

‘Our mission is to explore the potential of these surplus materials, each of which contains its own unique qualities and stories. The things that cause the materials to be sorted out in standardised production processes are the things we see opportunities in – it is the beauty of the imperfect. You can see BOM as a kind of exploratorium for materials and an incubator for new ideas and connections’, explains Lennart Ellegaard, ‘Bank Manager’, Bank of Materials.

Part of the school’s New Neighbour project

Bank of Materials is housed in Aarhus School of Architecture’s new container building, New Neighbour. Which is located at the construction site of our future school: NEW AARCH. You are welcome to drop by during opening hours and see the materials. You will find New Neighbour in Aarhus at Skovgaardsgade 5A.

Besides housing the material bank, New Neighbour comprises an office community for several small businesses and entrepreneurs. It also contains teaching facilities the school can use for workshops and project work that are not held at the school’s current address at Nørreport.

‘The construction industry as a whole uses a lot of resources and materials. This is something we are very aware of at Aarhus School of Architecture. This is why we want to explore new approaches to sustainability. Bank of Materials allows us to explore the potential of surplus materials. And the project also matches the school’s vision: Engaging through Architecture’, says Kristine Leth Juul.

Anyone can apply to use the materials

Bank of Materials invites all who are interested to experiment with the materials and show how they can be transformed and given new life. If you have an idea or project that you would like to share, visit www.bankofmaterials.org to learn more about how you apply for access to the materials.

Selected projects that make use of the materials will be on display in Onsite Gallery, the architecture gallery of Aarhus School of Architecture, on 15 December 2019.