“Grunt” by Ukrainian architects Anna Pomazanna and Mykhailo Shevchenko (Materià Lab) investigates regenerative reconstruction through the use of compressed earth blocks made from locally sourced and contaminated soils in Ukraine. Advancing an encapsulation strategy to ensure safe application, their fellowship moves from research to implementation at Eco Hub Plastova in Lviv, combining material testing, low-tech verification methods, and real-world construction to develop scalable, locally grounded building practices.

The Fellowship continues the Experimental Fellowship at Bauhaus Earth held by Grunt in 2025.

Experimental Fellowship at Bauhaus Earth started as a collaboration between Bauhaus Earth and Experimental in 2022. The program supports emerging protagonists of the Bauwende, or the changing building culture, with the aim of developing new forms of expression for a sustainable built environment. The fellows will receive financial support and access to an intellectual and professional network (for a period to be determined depending on the project) that will allow them to pursue their experimental questions and design approaches. The projects are strongly encouraged to challenge existing building codes and conventions.

The fellowship projects aim to bring together experts, students and local stakeholders to promote knowledge of bio-regional, regenerative and circular construction and to bridge the gap between institutional research and building practice.

An international, interdisciplinary team of external experts advises Experimental on content and on the selection of scholarship recipients:

Prof. Jan de Vylder
ETH Z D ARCH Chair for Architecture and Design, ETH Zurich, Architecten Jan De Vylder INGE VINCK A JDVIV, Brussels/Ghent

Prof. Regine Leibinger
Barkow Leibinger, Founder and Director Experimental Foundation

Dr. Philipp Misselwitz
CEO, Bauhaus Earth, Berlin

Prof. Dr. Elli Mosayebi
Founder and Partner Edelaar Mosayebi Inderbitzin; Professor for Architecture and Design, ETH Zurich

Chrissie Muhr
Program Director Experimental Fellowship at Bauhaus Earth ; Co-Managing Director and Artistic Director, Experimental, Berlin

Prof. Florian Nagler
Professor of Architectural Design and Construction, TU München / Florian Nagler Architekten

Prof. Christiane Sauer
Professor of Material Design, Weißensee Kunsthochschule Berlin

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Jan Wurm
Professor of Regenerative Design and Biofabrication in Architecture, KU Leuven / EU Engagement and Venturing Lead Europe, Arup

Dr. Sabine Wittmann
Independent Artist and Architect, Wiesbaden

 

Former Jury Member:

Karen Stein
Independent Critic and Architectural Advisor

Prof. Dr. Anna Ramos
Adjunct professor for Architectural Technology, ETSAB – UPC / Direktorin Fundació Mies van der Rohe, Barcelona

Experimental Foundation is pleased to announce the start of the Experimental Postdoctoral Fellowship at Harvard Graduate School of Design “Experimental Fellow ––– Harvard GSD” . Supporting practice-oriented researchers working with the GSD’s Laboratory for Design Technologies (LDT), the year-long fellowship has a thematic focus on health, wellness, and sustainable material systems for buildings, landscapes, and cities. In the spirit of Professor Regine Leibinger’s approach—as an architect, GSD alumna, and founder of Experimental—the collaboration seeks to connect academic research with practical application, particularly with regard to the use of regenerative materials and innovative construction methods for real-world implementation.

The two selected fellows, Juan Pablo Ugarte (MArch ’14, DDes ’23) and Noam Attias, are conducting their research in the context of the LDT. Ugarte has begun work on a project assessing how workspaces that include wood and other natural materials can alleviate stress and promote wellness. Attias’s research focuses on studying new approaches to bio-fabrication with fungi.

More information about work at the LDT is available here.

This collaboration with Arch+ aims to promote an experimental understanding of architecture within the framework of a thematically linked editorial internship. Scholarship holders will have the opportunity to contribute to the research/exhibition/publication project "The Great Repair: The Politics of the Repair Society". In this way, they will gain insight into the current discourse and learn how to put their findings into practice. In addition, they will be put into contact with internationally renowned architecture firms, authors and experts and will be provided with key skills and orientation aids that will benefit their further professional development.

The first Experimental at Arch+ fellows are Lea Scherer and Mona Rauch.

The first Fellows at Bauhaus Earth (BE-FELLOW) are Summer Islam, George Massoud and Paloma Gormley from Material Cultures in London. Their project “Constructive Land Berlin/Brandenburg” investigates the relationship between regenerative land management systems and the built environment – in this case, the rewetting of peatlands in the Sernitz lowlands in Greiffenberg, a district of Angermünde in northeastern Brandenburg.

The results of the project are published in the report "Wetlands and Construction: An opportunity for Berlin-Brandenburg" and prototypical Paludi construction fragments, which have been presented as a contribution to the exhibition ‘The Great Repair" at the Akademie der Künste in Berlin.

Report Download
Wetlands and Construction: An opportunity for Berlin-Brandenburg (EN)
Moore: Potentiale für die Zukunft des Bauens (DE)

The second Fellowship has been awarded to Baukreisel for the innovative deconstruction case study “concrete.matters – primary structure laboratory.” Baukreisel will work on the case of the deconstruction and re-use of structural concrete building elements from the former Max Planck Institute high-rise building in Dortmund.

Download Pamphlet Series
Pamphlet 1: Why concrete matters (DE/EN)
Pamphlet 2: Why reuse matters (EN)
Pamphlet 3: Making concrete reuse matter (DE/EN) 

Third Fellow, the awarded South African based architect Kevin Kimwelle investigates his circular practice of building with reused components. "90% plus" compiles a project-based catalogue of reused building components and prototypes in the context of Berlin that experimentally rethink and develop circular material reuse and recycling further.

Selected fourth Fellows are Angie Dub (architect) and Heidi Jalkh (experimental designer) from Argentina. "From Mono-Material to Multi Performance" explores the potential of mineralized biogenic materials, as seashells and eggshells, to create a low-carbon alternative to various construction systems (i.e. cladding) by transforming waste into a bioceramic at room temperature. Investigating potential regional value chains from food waste in the region of Berlin-Brandenburg, goal is to design and fabricate constructive systems as fragments with varying mechanical and aesthetic properties.

“Earth, Lightly”, the fifth fellow project by architects and artists Maria Lisogorskaya and Kaye Song, explores new approaches to forms of regenerative architecture. During the fellowship, they will test and develop prototypes for earth-based construction using techniques that engage both the aesthetic and haptic dimensions of art and architecture. Centering our bodily relationship to ecological architecture, the initiative focuses on earth plasters and minerals, bioregional and reused materials, performance, and play.

Download report 

“Grunt” (Ukrainian for “earth”), as sixth fellow team, the architects Anna Pomazanna and Mykhailo Shevchenko investigate the potential of regenerative reconstruction using earth sourced from contaminated soil in conflict zones, with a focus on Ukraine. Their project aim is to address war-induced environmental pollution, making its counteraction an integral part of reconstruction and engaging architects in the effort. Central is fostering multidisciplinary cooperation networks and developing guidelines that can be applied to other conflict zones worldwide.

Building on geological surveys and soil sampling, Anna Pomazanna and Mykhailo Shevchenko developed strategies for working with contaminated materials. A key outcome was the construction of a pavilion in Lviv, the first in Ukraine built from compressed earth blocks, making sustainable building visible in the context of reconstruction.

The Fellowship is accompanied by a documentary movie by Dmytro Pashko, available for download with English and Ukrainian subtitles.

Documentation Download
Grunt (EN subtitles)
Grunt (UA subtitles)

“Situated Regionalism" by Vietnamese architect Ha Nguyen (arb architects) and U.S. Assistant Professor Hojung Kim explores the potential of unfired brick construction across Vietnam’s seven ecological zones—from upland forests to coastal wetlands. Their fellowship will unfold between Vietnam and Berlin, combining fieldwork, prototyping, and digital research to advance regenerative earthen construction rooted in local knowledge and ecological sensitivity.