Während des Lehrprogramms »Über Transformationen und Metamorphosen«, bei dem Studierende Kleingärten in den Stadtteilen Neureut und Daxlanden besuchten, wurde deutlich, dass Kleingartenvereine (durchgezogene Punkte auf der Karte) und ihre Mitglieder eine unschätzbare Quelle für praktisches Wissen über Kompostierung sind. Parallel dazu bieten kommunale Kompostierungsanlagen (umrandete Punkte) die großtechnische Infrastruktur, die erforderlich ist, um die biologisch abbaubaren Abfälle der Stadt zu nutzbarem Kompost zu verarbeiten.
Medien-Beschreibung (en)
During the education programme ‘On transformations and metamorphoses’, where students visited allotment gardens in the city boroughs of Neureut and Daxlanden, it became evident that allotment garden clubs / Kleingartenvereine (solid dots on the map) and their members are invaluable sources of practical knowledge about composting. In parallel, municipal composting facilities / Kompostierungsanlagen (outlined dots) provide the large-scale infrastructure required to process the city’s biodegradable waste into usable compost.
The Living Library is a transdisciplinary project developed at the Bio Design Lab of the Karlsruhe University of Arts and Design. Over the course of two years, it fostered practice-based learning focused on locally sourced raw materials within a 50-kilometre radius around the academy, experimental making, and regenerative modes of production.
The project is a hybrid and continually evolving ecosystem. It brings together a physical archive showing material samples, tools, processes, and workshop artefacts, and a digital archive featuring interactive maps, research, and material documentation. Guided by the principles of compostability, locality, and sustainability, the project follows ecological rhythms of seeding, growing, harvesting, and decay. Students, researchers, and local practitioners collaborated to map regional resources, harvest and transform bio-based materials, and investigate their lifecycles from origin to decomposition.
This publication reflects the project’s circular approach. It documents the physical and digital Living Library and brings together a series of essays that explore themes such as the archival qualities of soil or the garden-like cultivation of digital platforms. These essays invite readers to reconsider how knowledge can be grown, shared, and ultimately returned to the ground from which it emerged.
Das pixelige Muster unterscheidet zwei Arten von Wald: Gebiete, in denen Laubbäume die dominierende Baumart sind (dunkle Schattierung), und Gebiete, in denen Nadelbäume vorherrschen (helle Schattierung). Diese Unterteilung ist zwar nicht absolut, liefert aber nützliche Informationen über das in den einzelnen Gebieten verfügbare Holz: Laubbaumarten produzieren in der Regel Hartholz, während Nadelbaumarten Weichholz liefern. Die im Rahmen des Lehrprogramms »Über Extraktion und Resilienz« rund um die Stadt Bühl besuchten Orte sind auf der Karte als ausgefüllte Punkte dargestellt.
Medien-Beschreibung (en)
The pixelated pattern distinguishes two types of forest: areas in which broad-leaved trees are the dominant species (dark shading) and areas dominated by coniferous trees (light shading). Although this division is not absolute, it provides useful information about the wood available in each area: broad-leaved species generally produce hardwoods, whereas coniferous species yield softwoods. Places visited during the education programme ‘On extraction and resilience’ around the city of Bühl are shown on the map as solid dots.