New generation material combination experiences

Nowadays material research and material experimentation has become the focal point of contemporary design. In the post-industrial age, everything is feasible or will be feasible: we live the era of finished products, fast changing problems and fast responses. Therefore, in the world of contemporary design, emphasis is shifted from “WHAT?” to “WHY?” and “HOW?”. Design-driven innovation seeks answers to these questions, focusing on material experimentation and material research, specifically for art and / or design purposes.

The material experimentation courses on concrete fit into this international, contemporary way of thinking. The basic material of the courses is concrete which, as a young material, is particularly suitable for creative experimentation purposes, for acquiring experimental way of thinking. During the courses the students experiment with the combination of concrete with other materials, with creating forms and surfaces. The experiments and the research work do not aim to create a “finished product” or a functional object, but rather to find the boundaries of the material, to acquire experimental methods and attitudes, and to incorporate them into the students’ own creative way of thinking.

Extending the boundaries of object creation, experimenting with the combination of different materials bring newer and newer, so far unknown, new-generation materials into the area of the New Craft and design. Nowadays concrete is undergoing a step-change: from the bilding-architectural material it is fast becoming one of the newest materials in contemporary design in front of our very eyes. In the course of our material combination experiment series we use a special high-strength, innovative HPC fine concrete that opens up a whole new perspective for object creation through its virtually limitless moldability.