This report was developed collaboratively by Material Cultures and Bauhaus Earth as part of the Experimental Fellowship with Bauhaus Earth, following an analysis of the Brandenburg region’s paludiculture (wetland farming) and bio-based material supply chains and production cycles. Material Cultures’s research project aims to contribute to the development of a new architectural vernacular: one whose aesthetics are rooted in circular and bio-based principles. They seek to demonstrate the potency of cross-industry and interdisciplinary collaborations, and the critical urgency of addressing the conditions and health of our landscapes.

This report examines how environmentally responsible paludiculture cultivation can provide a source of renewable, carbon-capturing construction materials whilst regenerating peatland landscapes. Using the Sernitzmoor area within the German state of Brandenburg as a case study, this report explores how a land practice which promotes peatland carbon capture and the decarbonisation of the construction sector could be implemented at scale to deliver climatic, ecological and economic benefits.