Architecture – and thus also D-ARCH – generates enormous amounts of paper waste. This highlights the urgency of a more conscious approach to this raw material. Against this backdrop, the project examines the potential of paper as a building material in interior design and questions its role within existing material cycles.
Numerous architectural experiments have already shown that paper is much more than a short-lived consumer product: its structural properties, lightness and good insulation values make it a surprisingly effective building material. Building on these qualities, the elective course explores how paper constructions can be used in the interior of the HIL – as flexible, lightweight and resource-saving building elements.
Building with paper is still in its infancy. Nevertheless, the material offers enormous potential due to its sustainable origin and complete recyclability. Its use in construction could give new meaning to the recycling cycle and at the same time open up new avenues for reversible, easily replaceable interior structures.
The aim of the project is to explore the structural, design and ecological possibilities of paper on an architectural scale, thereby contributing to a more responsible material culture.
Workshop Summary
As part of the transformation of the HIL building, students investigated how paper and cardboard can be used constructively – and how the positive properties of these materials can be deliberately activated.
One half of the students examined the properties of paper as a raw material and developed new building materials from leftover materials generated in everyday use. The results include acoustically effective panels made from recycled paper, as well as ecological building panels for room partitions made from a mixture of recycled cardboard and clay.
The other half of the students collected additional cardboard waste from everyday life at HIL, such as plotter rolls, and used it to develop structures for temporary workspaces, flexible room dividers and a mobile DIY photo studio.
Insights for the Future of HIL
- A material storage facility for cardboard rolls and other reusable objects from everyday university life could be established in HIL. Existing initiatives such as “La Boîte” could be further developed for this purpose – not only with waste from model-making, but also with other residual materials. This would make it possible to critically question the throwaway culture in architectural education and practice.
- The combination of cardboard, paper and clay is promising. The materials complement each other in their properties: clay can serve as a sustainable binder, while cellulose fibres provide reinforcement. The resulting building panels are suitable for lightweight construction and room partitions. This ecological material should be further investigated in material research.
- Panels made from recycled paper can be produced with targeted porosity and different surface textures. As a result, they could have acoustic properties. The material should therefore be subjected to acoustic testing.
- There is a need in HIL to divide work areas with temporary and movable elements. This could create workspaces that are acoustically and visually protected. Thanks to their lightness and other material properties, cardboard structures could make an important contribution to this.
- The capacity of the photo studios should be increased. Possible solutions include a booking app, temporary photo studios in HIL, multifunctional rooms or shared use of external photo studios.
