Used materials platform: Reuse of exhibition and other temporary structures in culture
Photo by Klemen Ilovar
To mark the conclusion of the Materials, Elements, Prototypes installation—part of the Used Materials Platform project—a meeting was held on Friday, Nov 28, with the architecture students who designed the six featured exhibition systems.
Duration: 30 October—30 November 2025
Project Manager: Maja Vardjan Project Team: Žan Kobal, Tamara Lasič Jurković, Barbara Predan, Pekinpah; visual Identity: AA – Anja Delbello, Aljaž Vesel; application of Visual Identity to the Exhibition: Žan Kobal, Tamara Lasič Jurković; expert Associate: Jan Kozinc; project coordinator; Blažka Kirm; spatial design: Jan Kozinc, Manca Košir; photography: Klemen Ilovar; proofreading: Katja Paladin; translation: Nika Skok Petranovič; public relations: Maša Špiler, Manca Košir; technical execution: Jan Chen, Tine Drašak, Tadej Golob, David Požegar, Matjaž Rozina, Martin Tomažič, Peter Žiberna
Cultural institutions produced numerous exhibition structures, scenographies, and other temporary structures from various materials which, after the conclusion of programs, ended up as waste or filled warehouses without being reused. Despite the environmental crisis, the sector lacked clearly expressed commitments to the sustainable design of temporary structures, as well as established methodologies for the circular use of these materials and elements. The Used Materials Platform project, which Pekinpah was a part of, developed a methodology for categorizing materials and a platform for their rental and reuse. It was piloted at MAO, where it tested scenarios for the wider implementation of material and element management for temporary constructions within the cultural sector.
During the workshop, guidelines for the design of temporary structures—such as modularity, the use of standard dimensions and elements, ease of assembly, and reversible fastening methods—were tested with the goal of enabling structures to be disassembled after use and become a resource for new spatial interventions.