Paola Bagna, spamroom.net "Thoughts about Sustainability in Architecture and Design" Paola Bagna was born in Figueres (Catalunya, Spain), with Catalan, Argentinian and Italian background. Trying to decide between physics and graphic design, she finally chose to study architecture in Barcelona. After graduating in 2007, Paola worked in award winning offices in Barcelona, London and Berlin. Berlin has for the last five years been her base city, where two years ago her professional project “spamroom” started, focussing on the use of recycled materials in the design, collaborations with like-minded designers and the close work with craftsmen. A year ago, she started a degree in Multimedia in an internationally recognized online catalan university, Universitat Oberta de Catalunya. spamroom was born from the strong belief that architecture and design, no matter the scale of the project, has to seek and achieve certain sustainability principles such as minimizing the waste and energy during construction. I decided that if architecture is the field of work I will be involved in (my personal conflict in architecture: new building in free spaces vs. transforming the existing built space), then it would have to comply with some sustainability-ethics. This is related/associated with the Cradle to Cradle Design principles started by William McDonough. The first spamroom built project was Plus One Berlin (http://www.spamroom.net/plus-one-berlin/). This one room hotel was partially built (40%) with salvaged materials (wood panels, tiles, lighting,...) sourced from demolition works from construction sites, the street or second hand shops from Berlin and surrounding areas. From the experience I gained with the design and construction of Plus One Berlin, I became aware that in order to design and build spaces with salvaged materials without delays on the site (with the right products that a client can see and choose), it is important to source them beforehand and store them until they are needed at a later date. The concept of the space first, and the construction following afterwards, can be done knowing which materials are available to re-use. Parallel project born after Plus One building experience: The “spam-map” web application aims to make it easier for architects to integrate re-used materials in their projects and to connect the architecture professionals looking to re-use building materials, and the building companies providing the materials through their demolition works. This is a project under development which connects my Multimedia studies and my company spamroom.

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3. > I STUDIED ARCHITECTURE IN BARCELONA.
THE YEARS I WAS IN UNIVERSITY, WERE THE
YEARS OF THE CONSTRUCTION BOOM IN
SPAIN. THIS SOMEHOW AFFECTED THE
WAY WE WERE TAUGHT. THERE WAS A
HUGE EMPHASIS IN TO DESIGN HOUSING
BUILDINGS.
> THE CONSTRUCTION MARKET WAS
DESPERATELY LOOKING FOR ARCHITECTS
WHO COULD DESIGN HOUSING BUILDINGS
AND FIT AS MUCH UNITS AS POSSIBLE FOR A
HIGH DEMANDING SOCIETY.

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6. > THIS KIND OF AGGRESSIVE MARKET AND
ITS CONNECTION WITH THE ARCHITECTURE
SCHOOL MADE ME DOUBT IF THIS WAS
ACTUALLY WHAT I WANTED TO DO IN MY
PROFESSIONAL LIFE. I WAS NOT AGREEING
WITH SOME THINGS AND I DEVELOPED THIS
INTERNAL CONFLICT WITH NEW BUILDINGS
IN FREE SPACES VS. TRANSFORMING THE
EXISTING BUILT SPACE.

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9. > AFTER THE STUDIES I HAD JOB POSITIONS
IN OFFICES IN BARCELONA, LONDON AND
BERLIN, WHERE I MOVED ALMOST 6 YEARS
AGO.
BERLIN HAS BEEN A VERY INSPIRING PLACE
TO ME SINCE I MOVED. IT HAS CHANGED MY
CONCEPT OF ESTHETICS.

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13. > A BIT BY COINCIDENCE, IN 2009 I
HAD THE CHANCE TO DESIGN A FIRST
PROJECT AS SOLO ARCHITECT.
A FRIEND APPROACHED AND EXPLAINED
TO ME HER IDEA ABOUT LAUNCHING
A ONE ROOM HOTEL, WHICH HAD TO
REFLECT IN ITS DESIGN THE NEIGHBOR
WHERE IT WAS LOCATED (NEUKÖLLN).
> I STARTED THIS WORK AND ALL
THE ACCUMULATED THOUGHTS,
CONTROVERSIES, EXPERIENCES AND
BELIEFS, I TRIED TO GIVE THEM AN
ANSWER, TO REFLECT THEM AND TO
EXPERIMENT THEM IN THIS PROJECT.
PLUS ONE BERLIN WAS A LABORATORY
OF THOUGHTS GAINED DURING THE
STUDIES AND MY PROFESSIONAL CAREER
AS EMPLOYED ARCHITECT.

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16. > THE AIM WAS TO CREATE A SIMPLE BUT
FUNCTIONAL SPACE (THE SIZE WAS JUST
30M2) AND WHEN IT CAME TO MATERIALITY,
I STRONGLY SUGGESTED TO USE MATERIALS
THAT WERE PREVIOUSLY USED.
WE SOURCE THOSE MATERIALS FROM
DEMOLITION SITES, THE STREET, SECOND
HAND STORES AND WAREHOUSES FROM
BRANDENBURG.

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22. > WITH THIS PROJECT, SPAMROOM WAS
BORN.
SPAMROOM IS A DESIGN PRACTICE
WHICH UNDERSTANDS DESIGN AS
A CUSTOM MADE SOLUTION. EACH
PROJECT HAS A NEED, REQUIREMENTS
AND THEREFORE HAS TO BE TREATED
AS UNIQUE FROM THE MAIN CONCEPT
UNTIL THE CHOOSE OF THE LAST
MATERIAL.
> I TRY TO INCLUDE AS MANY REUSED
MATERIALS AS POSSIBLE, I TRY TO WORK
IN EACH PROJECT WITH A CLOSE-
MINDED DESIGNER, IN ORDER TO FIND
NEW IDEAS AND SO WITH CARPENTERS,
METAL SMITHS AND OTHER CRAFTS-
MAN TO LEARN TECHNIQUES AND
EXPERIMENT WITH MATERIALS AS WELL
AS BUILD SOLUTIONS TO SPECIFIC
SPATIAL PROBLEMS RATHER THAN BUY
PREFABRICATED FURNITURE.

23. > THE PRIORITY OF USING RECYCLED MATERIALS
IN THE DESIGN (FROM ARCHITECTURE TO PRODUCT
DESIGN)
> THE CONSTANT SEARCH FOR NEW
COLLABORATIONS WITH LIKE-MINDED DESIGNERS
AND ARTISTS TO KEEP THE DESIGN PROCESS AS A
DISCOVERY OF NEW IDEAS
> THE CLOSE WORK WITH CRAFTSMEN TO
UNDERSTAND AND LEARN MORE ABOUT MATERIALS
AND EXPLORE NEW POSSIBILITIES AND METHODS FOR
WORKING WITH THE MATERIALS

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25. > FOR ME SUSTAINABILITY IN
ARCHITECTURE MEANS TO SEEK
THE MINIMIZATION OF WASTE AND
ENERGY CONSUMPTION IN THE WHOLE
CONSTRUCTION PROCESS, FROM THE
PRODUCTION OF CONSTRUCTION
MATERIALS UNTIL SITE WORKS.
SUSTAINABLE DESIGN AND
ARCHITECTURE SHOULD START IN THE
CONCEPTION OF THE PROJECT, IT
SHOULD BE A WAY OF THINKING AND
DOING OUR DESIGNS THAT SEEKS A
POSITIVE BALANCE BETWEEN WHAT WE
PRODUCE AND WHAT WE HAVE.
> ARCHITECTS HAVE HAD AND STILL
HAVE THE RESPONSIBILITY TO BUILD
AND TRANSFORM THE ENVIRONMENT.
NOWADAYS IT IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT
THAT ARCHITECTS AND DESIGNERS
(PRODUCT, INTERIOR DESIGNERS...) AND
ACTUALLY EVERYBODY, UNDERSTAND
THAT TO BUILD SPACES AND OBJECTS
HAS TO BE DONE WITH A NEW
PERSPECTIVE: THE PRODUCTION
OF STUFF, THE CONSTRUCTION OF
THE FREE ENVIRONMENT AND THE
TRANSFORMATION OF THE BUILT
ENVIRONMENT NEED TO BE THOUGHT
WITH SUSTAINABILITY PRINCIPLES (SAVE,
REUSE, RECYCLE, SHARE, SEASONAL,
LOCAL,...)

26. > WHENEVER I START A NEW PROJECT
I TRY TO CONCEIVE IT IN A WAY THAT
AS MUCH OF THESE PRINCIPLES ARE
INCLUDED: SOMETIMES IT IS POSSIBLE
TO USE SALVAGED MATERIALS OR TO
SALVAGE MATERIALS FROM THE SITE
WORKS I AM WORKING ON. IT IS VERY
IMPORTANT TO LAYOUT THE SPACE SO
THAT IT CAN BENEFIT FROM NATURAL
LIGHT LONGER, USE LESS HEATING AND
HAVE BETTER CROSS VENTILATION.
THESE THINGS MAKE THAT THE LIFE OF
THE BUILDING, ONCE IT IS BUILT, IS MORE
SUSTAINABLE TOO. THE MAIN PROBLEM
IS TO CHANGE THE ATTITUDE AND
LEARN TO THINK AND MAKE THINGS
WITH THESE PRINCIPLES.
> AFTER PLUS ONE, I HAVE BEEN
WORKING IN OTHER COMMISSIONS
WHERE THE RE-USE OF MATERIALS HAS
BEEN ALSO PRESENT.
ALSO I HAVE EXPERIMENTED WITH
PRODUCT DESIGN WITH REUSED
MATERIALS.

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28. FROM PARIS....
> OAK CHEVRON
PARQUET FLOORING

29. ...TO BERLIN!

30. WINEBARGALATEA -BERLIN

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37. > IN ORDER TO DECREASE THE
PRODUCTION OF NEW OBJECTS,
MATERIALS, I TRY TO RE-INCLUDE SOME
THAT HAVE ALREADY BEEN USED BACK
TO THE CIRCLE, AS THE ELEMENT IT WAS
OR IN A NEW FUNCTION/USE.
BUT IN ORDER TO WORK WITH RE-USED
MATERIALS, IT IS IMPORTANT TO SOURCE
THEM BEFOREHAND.
> FROM THIS PROBLEM, I AM DEVELOPING
AN APP THAT CONSISTS INTO A
INTERACTIVE MAP WHERE DEMOLITION
COMPANIES AND ARCHITECTS CAN
GET IN TOUCH TO SOURCE AS MANY
MATERIALS AS POSSIBLE TO BE RE-USED
IN NEW PROJECTS.
THIS IS A PROJECT UNDER DEVELOPMENT
WHICH CONNECTS MY COMPANY
SPAMROOM WITH MY MULTIMEDIA
STUDIES, WHICH I AM CURRENTLY DOING
RIGHT NOW THROUGH A OPEN AND
ONLINE UNIVERSITY IN CATALUNYA.

38. > TO DECREASE THE PRODUCTION OF NEW OBJECTS,
MATERIALS, I TRY TO RE-INCLUDE SOME THAT HAVE
ALREADY BEEN USED BACK TO THE CIRCLE, AS THE
ELEMENT IT WAS OR IN A NEW FUNCTION/USE
> TO WORK WITH RE-USED MATERIALS WITHOUT
DELAYS ON SITE, IT IS IMPORTANT TO SOURCE THEM
BEFOREHAND
> INTERACTIVE MAP WHERE DEMOLITION
COMPANIES AND ARCHITECTS CAN GET IN TOUCH
TO SOURCE AS MANY MATERIALS AS POSSIBLE TO BE
RE-USED IN NEW PROJECTS

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42. > LUCKILY, I HAVE HAD THE CHANCE
TO MEET AND WORK WITH OTHER LIKE
MINDED-DESIGNERS IN BERLIN.
THEY ARE DESIGN RELATED COMPANIES
AND PROFESSIONALS WITH WHO I
FEEL CONNECTED BY THE WAY THEY
CONCEIVE THEIR DESIGNS, WORK AND
BY THEIR PHILOSOPHIES.

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60. > THESE EXAMPLES AS A PART OF A
NETWORK IN THIS CITY, MAKES ME A BIT
MORE OPTIMISTIC ABOUT THE FUTURE
OF DESIGN, THE DIRECTIONS AND
POSSIBILITIES OF OUR PROFESSIONS
AND THEIR CONNECTION TO THE
PROTECTION OF THE ENVIRONMENT
AND ITS RESOURCES.

61. THANKS
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