Biofabrique Kantine
Vienna, Austria
2024

* Title: Biofabrique Kantine

* Address: Vienna, Austria

* Year of construction: 2024

* Thematic focus: bioregional design approach with waste material

* Project text: How do you create new valuable materials from waste materials? The Biofabrique Kantine is an experimental material experience in which urban waste finds a new use. Excavated clay from Vienna's metro construction sites is used as tile glaze for the bar counter, carbon lime from sugar production holds the table top in the form of rammed bricks. The project questions the exploitation of natural resources and shows an approach to how local urban (residual) materials could function in a circular construction industry. Bioregional, recyclable and adaptable make a statement for a new way of building. Whether it's a decomposable table base or a portable bar - every building element is designed to last beyond the festival, be it in a new form or in a different location.

The Biofabrique Kantine is a festival cafe designed and built by studio dreiSt., which was commissioned by the Business Agency and VIENNA DESIGN WEEK for this year's exhibition. Materials such as a brick made from mineral waste from Vienna's surroundings are the results of the experimental phase of the pilot project BIOFABRIQUE VIENNA, initiated by the Vienna Business Agency and TU Vienna, which is based on the bioregional design approach of Atelier LUMA and took place as part of the Vienna Climate Biennale. For a semester, students from the Vienna Technical University (Institute of Architecture and Design) experimented with urban waste materials from agriculture, the food industry and the construction industry in order to jointly strive for a rethinking of resource use.

01 Why is this project particularly relevant for PIONIRA?

The Biofabrique Kantine is a small start, but shows potential for something much bigger. The built implementation of the festival cafe using experimental building materials shows a real application to go beyond just prototyping. An approach to think more about what working with regional (residual) resources could look like in the present and future and to focus on working with what is already available (locally).

02 What have you learned from the project? What challenges did you encounter, and how did you solve them?

Unknown materials require a lot of patience and a willingness to adapt. For example, the table base was redesigned and adapted several times because the unfired bricks made of organic materials deformed during the drying process and then behaved differently in the construction than originally expected. In such an experimental way of designing, you ran the lap sometimes several time from idea to execution without knowing which exit will lead you to the finish line beforehand.

03 What advice could you provide, based on the project?

Do not work alone. Our project would never have come to fruition, if we would not have collaborated with industries, specialists, the university and else. Exchange ideas, use infrastructure that already exists and think twice about purchasing something new. Sometimes unconventional and not always the most comfortable decisions lead to surprising results. Also just jump into the cold water and do not overthink.

04 How would you like to build in the future?

1. With more understanding of the material. Material is not always easy to understand, especially if it is not a conventional building material that you have learned to work with. It takes an experimental approach and patience for the demanding path to the long-lasting goal.

2. More collaborative. In discussions, many new approaches emerge, taking unconventional paths, sharing existing infrastructure and finding solutions for mutual satisfaction. Depending on the scale, also working more with small or large craft businesses and industries in order to achieve the right scaling of the project.

3. Mainly with regional (residual) materials. Our mineral resources are limited and supposed (waste) materials are sometimes available in excess. Why not use what is already there and give it a new identity and language?

Name: Biofabrique Kantine
Location: Vienna, Austria
Text by: Dreist
Photography by: Paul Sebesta
Type: Places
 
Posted: April 2025
Categories: hyperlocal, raw materials, reuse, rural future, vernacular

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