When in the late summer of 2012 we decided on the title for this current issue, we already knew that the title we chose, a play on words with the analogous translation of the German phrase – „a weakness for materiality“ –, which we transformed into „weak materiality“, would require an issue covering a wider ground than „just“ the topic of materiality. This also prevented a reiteration of the same „classical“ discourse on materiality, which could be seen, for example, in the issue „Magie der Werkstoffe“ of the magazine Daidalos (June 1995), and which has shaped especially the Swiss-German architecture over the last three decades.

While Switzerland explored material and its consistency, the worldwide discourse turned towards the immaterial realm. The discovery of the cyberspace as a virtual space made of bits sparked the collective imagination. However, the ­architect’s longing for tangibility remained also in times of digital body- and weightlessness. The intent to materialise virtual visions was the driving force behind the progress and led, over the years, to a shift of focus from space to mater­ial. Hence today, the new field of digital fabrication transforms the weak and vague materiality of the digital world into a novel, strong and physical materiality.

Looking for references for these new production methods, the evaluation of real phenomena brings hidden strengths of the seemingly weak to light. For example, when the hardening of folds of a cloth, be it through congelation or concreting, leads to an optimisation of the bearing structure. While in the past, weak material could only be explored through experimentation – Heinz Isler has to be mentioned as a protagonist in this respect – digital tools for analysis and production now ­enable engineers and architects to discover unanticipated strengths, which are starting to change our aesthetic sense of right and wrong.

Nevertheless, this issue also aims to question technological progress and contrasts digital manufacturing with traditional crafts and trades. The purpose is less to discuss the pros and cons of each and more to provide the ground for a mutually beneficial exchange. Michael Hansmeyer’s sandstone 3-D prints that are worked on under the supervision of a church conservator show, how in a post-digital era different disciplines and movements come together to form new cooperations. In order for this to succeed, knowledge passed down through generations has to be protected and preserved, skills in handling and processing materials, attained through observation or oral exchange, have to be fostered and maintained. This is of special importance for the emerging and thriving countries of Asia, where the speed of industrialisation fuels a cultural change that puts weak knowledge under pressure.

As in life, the truly weak has to struggle in the editorial as well and is thus mentioned last. But in how far does the weak have to gain strength, has to steel itself to find its way into architecture? A very personal answer to that might be offered by artist Heidi Bucher’s skin rooms, an entertaining one by the introduction of the bouncy castle into the canon of architecture.
The editors

Architektur Aktuell
10 Dem Volke Staat zeigen. Neuer Gerichtshof in Hasselt von J. Mayer H. Architekten, Berlin, a2o architecten, Hasselt, LensAss architecten, Hasselt | Florian Dreher
18 Ein Refugium in der Innenstadt. Wochenendhaus in São Paulo von SPBR/Angelo Bucci, São Paulo | Steffen Hägele

Natur
26 Die «Eigenwüchsigkeit» der Natur. Über ein dynamisches Naturverständnis und unser Verhältnis zur Natur | Norman Sieroka
32 Organic Architecture – still a relevant concept? History of an alternative modernism | Peter Blundell Jones
38 Erweiterung der Architektur. Gefalteter Raum, bewohnte Landschaft | Eduard Kögel
44 Berliner Gewächse. Die Wissenschaftsbauten der Architekten Fehling Gogel | Florian Dreher
48 Back to Nature? New Tendencies in Nordic Architecture | Eeva-Liisa Pelkonen
54 Die Natur als Haustier. Über das Naturverständnis junger Architekten in Japan | Steffen Hägele und Tina Küng
62 «Im Anfang war der Pneu». Frei Ottos IL Mitteilungen des Instituts für leichte ­Flächentragwerke, Universität Stuttgart | Elisabeth Bergmann
ATLAS Von der Natürlichkeit zum Algenhype. Eine Bildübersicht zum Naturverständnis in der Architektur | Paula Strunden und Hannes Mayer
64 Wasserkunst und Kunstlandschaft. Der Wasserfall als technisches Bauwerk des 19. Jahrhunderts | Uta Hassler, Julia Berger und Kilian Jost
70 Biopolis. Patrick Geddes und die Idee der Region als Stadt | Volker M. Welter
72 Das Paradox der Nachhaltigkeit als Modeerscheinung. Architektur und Natur in Zeiten des Biokapitalismus | Kim Förster
78 Die Bewegung in der Umweltbewegung. Sechs verbreitete Irrtümer über die sogenannte Ökobewegung | Joachim Radkau
82 Erster Entwurf einer Beschreibung der vierten Grundform. «Kleine Kosmogonie» – oder Prinzip und Schöpfung im Raum der Architektur | Hannes Mayer
88 Secular Vitalism or Fluid Automata. The Milieu of Synthetic Biology | Ionat Zurr and Oron Catts

Rubriken
92 Carsten Krohn im Gespräch mit Hitoshi Abe. Das Ende des Masterplans
94 Fabricate 2014
95 Nachruf | Zum Tod von Ulrich Conrads (1923–2013)
96 fsai
102 Neues aus der Industrie
110 Lieferbare Hefte
112 Vorschau und Impressum