Lecture by Cesare Peeren on Monday at FA CTU

A group of young architects from Rotterdam, led by Cesare Peeren (41), has actively promoted the use of recycled materials in their buildings for many years. They significantly differ from the approach of Michal Reynolds, an American architect who has been building somewhat quirky houses from very cheap recycled materials for years.

Since the beginning of their careers, they have struggled with the fundamental problem that construction companies refuse the reuse of materials due to the inability to provide guarantees. Therefore, they have been working on a new methodology from the very start. They coined the term "superuse" for this strategy and published a groundbreaking book under this name. Their website www.superuse.org has become a meeting place and exchange of ideas for many young designers and architects.

In 2012, the group successfully completed a large independent family house in Enschede, in a district devastated by the explosion of the Rombeek munitions factory, consisting of more than 60% recycled materials. Most of the materials used, such as steel parts from old textile buildings (for the load-bearing structure) or wooden boards from used cable spools (for the facade cladding), were obtained in the immediate vicinity of the construction site and then simply modified for use on site. This eliminated the need to purchase many building materials
and saved energy on their transportation. They discovered that recycling means working with an open method, embracing chance and creative improvisations that lead to original results.

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