Emerging Fields – Michal Matlon: Biophilic Design

We broadcast a recording of the interview with Michal Matloň. The conversation took place in the frame of the course Emerging Fields in Architecture, TU Vienna (WS 2023/24). Students were investigating the ‚essentials‘ in relation to current and future issues relating to our environment, sustainability and humanity. For this series, they asked researchers, creative people and experts from different disciplines and research fields about the following questions: What kind of future do we want to create? Which role(s) does architecture have in which context? What can / must architecture offer? What can we learn from other disciplines for contemporary architecture? What visions are there and where do they lead? And what can / must be learned from the past for future projects?

Architecture is for human beeings right?

But somehow this important factor-humanity- disappeared from process of designing. We care more about sustainability in a way of newest technical innovations and certificates, technology etc., which is important too, but the most sustainable building is the one which still exists. In this case beauty is also sustainable because a building that inspires human beings and raise their positive emotions and feelings is a long-lived one. How long will something last if no one loves it? We see hundreds of cases where buildings are torn down and replaced by new one just because people don’t like it. Demolishing and replacing buildings are one of the biggest environmental catastrophes in terms of sustainability.

We want to discuss the topic of biophilic design and beauty as an important part of sustainability, how to avoid the demolishing process by different point of view while designing space. We invited our special guest Michal Matloň, who is an place&architecture psychilogist.

Lenka Libarikova and Sona Jantakova conducted the interview and produced this broadcast as part of the course Emerging Fields in Architecture at the Vienna University of Technology.

Links:

https://sk.linkedin.com/in/michalmatlon

https://www.instagram.com/michalmatlon/?img_index=1

https://www.instagram.com/venetianletter/