Exhibition: Halfforms – Halfways

 

 

 

Halfforms – Halfways presents the latest outcomes of research on material agency, hybrid fabrication, and the architectural potential of vulcanized fiber.

Hosted by the Institute for Experimental Architecture Building Design and Construction Schmidbaur Group at the University of Innsbruck, the exhibition showcases work developed within the arts-based research project Halfforms, led by Prof. Karolin Schmidbaur and funded by the Austrian Science Fund (FWF) — PEEK Programme, as well as teaching work carried out at the Institute.

Venue

Ortner & Stanger, Fürstenweg 66, Innsbruck (entrance via courtyard / parking)
The exhibition is open every Friday of December 2025 and January 2026 from 14:00 to 16:00 (except on December 19, December 26, and January 2) and by appointment.

About the Research

Halfforms investigates how architecture can emerge from the intrinsic behaviors of materials rather than from predetermined forms. At the center of this inquiry is vulcanized fiber—a cellulose-based biopolymer whose natural deformation during drying generates unique, self-formed geometries. Strong, lightweight, and ecologically promising, the material enables new construction logics in which digital methods mediate the designer's intentions and the material behavior. The project proposes an architectural methodology rooted in material intelligence, hybrid production, and the co-authorship between designers and matter.

Funded through the FWF PEEK Programme, this research advances an arts-based understanding of how material agency can reshape architectural thinking and making.