Digital & Circular, VIENNA BIENNALE FOR CHANGE 2021
In the context of the VIENNA BIENNALE FOR CHANGE 2021, the exhibition DIGITAL & CIRCULAR: Towards a Circular Society is presented at the MAK. The main focus is placed on the spectacular research project ON CONCRETE AND TREES: Soil sealing in Austria which was initiated by internationally renowned social ecologist Associate Professor Helmut Haberl (Institute of Social Ecology, BOKU, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna) and analyses the material stock in Austria with so far unmatched precision. The two design studios EOOS NEXT and Process present the results of this research in a spacious installation to a wide audience.
On Concrete and Trees: Soil Sealing in Austria by EOOS NEXT & Process
A photograph taken from space showing planet Earth in all its vulnerable beauty for the first time once became the icon of the environmental movement. Today, satellites could explore the surface of the Earth with unforeseen accuracy and generate an unbelievable mass of digital data in the process. In the context of the research project On Concrete and Trees: Soil Sealing in Austria, these data were used to determine Austria’s material stock via artificial intelligence.
In ecosystems a majority of the biomass is stored in trees. In buildings, concrete is the dominant material constituting more than half of the entire material mass. It even ranges way before bricks. The exhibition not only raises awareness of threatening soil sealing but also shows the structure of material flows linked to our economic activity and, in doing so, highlights an even bigger problem—in addition to the known “TAKE—MAKE—WASTE”—of our linear economy: We are accumulating more and more material at a dramatic pace. Production and operation of buildings and infrastructure come with enormous material and energy flows every year that severely damage the global climate.
Exhibition at the Works on Paper Room (Kunstblättersaal) at the MAK
The exhibits of the exhibition in the Works on Paper Room are based on an intensive dialogue between the design studios EOOS NEXT and Process with associate professor Helmut Haberl and his colleagues at the Institute of Social Ecology at the BOKU Vienna, a worldwide renowned research center for national and global material flows.
Concrete, 2021
Digital pigment print on cotton rag paper (1.5 × 3 m)
The map shows the infrastructure of streets, parking lots, and railway lines as well as all buildings—from factories and supermarkets to family homes—derived from satellite data with the help of artificial intelligence. The data behind the image also allow for an analysis of the mass of accumulated human-made material. The darker the presented areas, the larger the amount of built-up mass per unit area.
The map can also be accessed in digital form via https://concrete.process.studio.
Video, 3 Minutes 38 Seconds
The animation shows the principle of generating and analyzing data of a pilot project on circular economy based on remote observation data from two satellites from the European program Copernicus. The new procedure makes it possible to not only from space document soil sealing on the surface of the Earth with an accuracy of 10 × 10 meters but to also estimate the corresponding materials and their quantity.
Digital pigment print on cotton rag paper (1.5 × 3 m)
On the basis of actual satellite data, Austria’s entire biomass (trees, fields, meadows, etc.) was assessed with the help of self-learning algorithms. The presentation is based on the scientific raw data and uses digital tools from graphic design to paint a picture from big data with so-far unmatched detailedness of Austria’s natural resources.
