Just sit out sustainability?

“Do you want a plastic bag?” No... Er... What? That was yesterday and belongs to the past? Well, you might think so... Retailers are simply getting around the plastic bag ban, because it does not apply to very thin or very thick bags. The legislator has banned plastic bags with a thickness of less than 50 micrometers. But that is all they can do, because the European packaging directive stipulates that packaging that is permitted in the other member states cannot be banned in one member state. Globalization? Environmental protection? What is going wrong here?

The Monoblock plastic garden chair for only €20? And that is wrong? After all, everyone can afford it. What, that is exactly the problem? What, the crumbs from all this plastic waste are polluting our oceans? Here they go with the fish... or the food. What? Oil, fossil resources, industry, emissions? There we go with climate chage and global warming.

A 45 square meters bathroom? Of course, if you have the villa to go with it, then it's possible. How? Impoverishment of society? Who can afford that? What, space is also a resource? Well, then we'll just make the living room 12 square meters. No, that's too small even for social housing? Now don't ask such stupid questions, there's still enough space on our earth. And stop criticizing everything...

You can already imagine how endless the previous story can go on. Behind all of this is the question of what sustainability is and where sustainability actually begins. Because sustainability is more than just a label on the packaging of vegan organic sausages. And what about the construction sector, an industry that is responsible for one of the highest contributions to global warming? Sustainable construction should actually be mandatory. But is it?

Simply sit out the debate about sustainability, because there are specialists for that? Quite the opposite, there is huge general interest. The entire topic of sustainability is just as relevant. But how do you develop a sustainability awareness (sustainably)? In order to approach the topic in a playful way, the Chair of Design and Construction II has focused on an everyday object that is used far more than any other object.

The task and the results of the exercises that were implemented by the architecture students at TU Dresden in a design-build workshop are shown in this exhibition.