In the preceding research Nets Stretched into the Unknown. Bauhaus Women in British Exile (Master’s thesis 2018, Bauhaus-Universität Weimar), I examined Bauhaus women in British exile, dealing with the question of what similarities and relevant differences the artists shared in life, how the ideas of the Bauhaus influenced them, and what significance they had for Britain. Among others, I have noticed the ambitious teaching activities of these women at British art educational institutions and the significant link between handcraft and design theory. The PhD project with the working title Material Dramaturgy: Tracing Trails of Dust in the Architectural Design Process (since 2020, Arkitektur- og designhøgskolen i Oslo) evolves from this existing work.

Based on two different types of context – post-war architectural education and today’s architectural practices – the dissertation project aims to establish a broadened historical and contemporary understanding of material. It suggests that one way, in which to approach the question of how knowledge is transmitted, conserved and developed within architectural culture is specifically through the study of the preconceptions architects attach to the notion of material. In developing that idea, the dissertation returns to the notion of craft as a key term in understanding the contemporary development of architectural practice.

The aim is to reveal the interaction with material as a communicator and as an experimental platform for designing architectural construction systems and spaces. In fact, assuming that the full immersion in the material and its actors enable an inventive and more social-contextualized architecture. There is a need to observe the orbit of materials used within the architectural design process.