About Materfad

Materfad Materials Centre in Barcelona performs a research and technological surveillance task in the field of new materials and provides consultancy and training services for companies, professionals, universities and technology centres. Its aim is to facilitate technological transfer between widely different sectors such as biotechnology, construction, transport or textiles, among others.

 

In its Spanish showroom located in the Design Hub Barcelona,  Materfad presents a wide range  of materials samples (biomaterials, ceramics, composites, polymers, etc.). Materfad is part of FAD – Fostering Arts and Design, a private, independent and non-profit association that seeks to promote design and architecture in the country’s cultural and economic life.

 

Materfad also promotes the building up  of an international network of affiliated centres, thanks to the collaboration, until now,  with Aguascalientes Autonomous University (Mexico), the University of Valparaiso (Chile) Pontificia Bolivariana University of Medellin (Colombia) and MIND (Mexico).
 

Website and Online Materials Database

www.materfad.com

 

Contact

Materfad. Barcelona’s materials centre
Pl. de les Glòries Catalanes, 37-38
(Disseny Hub Barcelona Building)
08018 Barcelona (Spain)

+34 932 566 781

activities@materfad.com

«The Future under Construction»

New eco-efficient materials for the construction and rehabilitation of buildings

A collection of 70 eco-efficient materials, available on the international market, ready to be used in both rehabilitation and new construction projects, together with concrete examples emphasizing their functionalities and benefits in terms of sustainability.

Materfad has been commissioned by the Direction of Housing of  the Territory and Sustainability Department of the Government of Catalonia to conduct an investigation and identify 60 advanced materials and associated technologies to promote improvements in the field of energy efficiency in the construction and rehabilitation of buildings.

How to improve the environment in which we live, both in the construction and the rehabilitation of buildings? The eco-efficient enhancement of existing buildings is crucial for the environment, even more so at a time when the industry is replacing new builds with rehabilitation.

This show is the result of a double investigation: research conducted among the architects’ collective and research conducted in other sectors of activity. The 70 selected materials to be found in it have two characteristics in common: they are innovative and are available on the international market, ready to be used. A real-case application is associated to the majority of them.

The exhibition has been devised to become a useful tool at the service of professionals, to enable them to design or refurbish more efficient and more energy-sustainable buildings. This explains why its contents are organized according to the functionalities that the materials are able to bring to the building:

. Solar radiation control
. Thermal insulation
. Acoustic regulation and waterproofing
. Thermal regulation
. Generation and collection of energy
. Optimization of lighting systems
. Ambient regulation

Materfad also produced a documentary, thanks to the collaboration of the Territory and Sustainability Department of the Government of Catalonia, in which experts discuss the key concepts that mark the future of construction: energy, sustainability, industrialisation, rehabilitation, materials, technology and legislation.

Curators
Javier Peña, PhD in Chemical Science, scientific director of Materfad
Valérie Bergeron, Architect, director of Materfad’s materials library

Production and travel operator
Materfad (Barcelona, Spain)

Type of exhibition
Eco-efficient materials, construction, architecture

Availability
2014 onwards

Touring exhibition content
. 70 material samples with detailed  list (includes unit number, formats and codes to identify every sample and determine exhibition lay out and display requirements)
. Documentary 50′ (Spanish/Catalan)
. Crating (13 boxes, 1, 27 m3, 180 Kg approx.)
. Graphic digital information of every material and project, exhibition poster (all documents in English, Spanish and Catalan)
. Space planning of the Barcelona exhibition (situation of each material within its thematic family) as a reference.

Space requirement
100-200 sqm.

Loan duration
2 months maximum (between departure from origin and departure to next venue or origin). Conditions for longer loan upon request.

Catalogue


Original version in Catalan currently sold out.
Re-publication in Catalan or Spanish, A5 format (14, 85 cm x 21 cm), 162 p., 500 copies. Estimated cost:  5 000 €.
Other conditions can be studied, such as co-publication in other languages including featuring the re- publishing partner on back cover.

More info about the exhibition context
Article “Pasaje Arquitectura” Magazine
Blog Materfad, post on “The Future under Construction” exhibition

More info about us
Materfad, Barcelona materials centre

Contact
Valérie Bergeron, Materials library manager, Materfad Barcelona
vbergeron@fad.cat