Textiles are found nearly everywhere — clothing, furniture, medical equipment, buildings and vehicles — and are an integral part of everyday life. The issue: »The production, transportation and recycling of textiles is incredibly harmful to the environment; we need to drastically rethink the supply chain«, explains Prof. Kraft, Director of the Umweltingenierwissenschaften (Environmental Engineering) programme and course organiser. But how can we move away from a fast-paced »throwaway culture« and successfully move towards a sustainable textile recycling economy? 

This was the question examined by 14 students as part of the 2022 summer semester inter-faculty Bauhaus.Module »Textile.Umwelten«. The course was led by Prof. Eckhard Kraft, Gregor Biastoch and Susanne Kühlewindt from the Department of Biotechnology in Resources Management, as well as Prof. Christine Hill, Katrin Steiger and Anne Marx from the Department of Kunst und sozialer Raum (Art and Social Space). Environmental engineers, artists, architects and designers worked together in interdisciplinary teams and developed a total of 11 concepts aimed at creating a sustainable approach to handling old clothes. The concepts of »Kleider Remise« by product designer Kira Käthe Becker and environmental engineer Lucie Naumann, and »Tütata« by art students Charlotte Rein and Anne Leah Thobe were particularly impressive. 

Recycling Old Clothing Rethought

Through excursions to a clothing warehouse, sorting plant and incineration plant, the students learned about the current sorting process and developed new ideas for processing procedures, sorting systems, databases and recognition systems, as well as the repair of used textiles. The aim was to increase the awareness for resource conservation and sustainable approaches founded on expertise and artistic debate.

Eleven concepts were developed for sustainable approaches to old clothing; the ideas were presented at the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar’s annual exhibition, summaery, in July 2022. The best ideas were selected together with Prof. Jutta Emes, President (interim) of the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar, and Alexander Saier, Head of Communications and Outreach at UNFCC, and the participating students were invited to the 27th Climate Change Conference. Last year in 2021, a group of Bauhaus-Universität Weimar students had already been given the opportunity to present their ideas on permaculture in urban spaces at the UN Conference in Glasgow. The cooperation with the UN was established in 2019 when Patricia Espinosa, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, held the Bauhaus-Guest Professorship position. The topic of sustainable textile recycling will be further developed in a research group at the Faculty of Civil Engineering. 

Students Present at COP27

»Kleider Remise«
Kira Käthe Becker (product designer) and Lucie Naumann (environmental engineer)
A method for sorting, storing and reusing used textiles was developed as part of the project. A case was designed to bring textiles into a form that allows the energy-consuming intermediate steps to be by-passed. The resulting semi-finished product can be used as a seat cushion, among other things.

»Tütata«
Charlotte Rein (Lehramt an Gymnasien Kunst (Secondary School Teaching Degree)) and Anne Leah Thobe (Freie Kunst)
Together in cooperation with the Sozialkontor in Weimar, specifically the clothing store, and the textile workshop initiative at the Bauhaus-Universität Weimar, the »Thüringer Textil Austausch Tage« (or »Tütata« for short) were launched. On 30 June and 1 July 2022, the students organised workshops on the subject of recycling used textiles, including old banners from the university, which were donated. The campaign aimed to increase the public’s awareness about the materials used and the production of clothing, as well as preserving the art of sewing. 

Further information can be found on Instagram:
www.instagram.com/cop27_bauhaus_students_weimar/ 

Instructors
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Eckhard Kraft, Gregor Biastoch M.Sc., Susanne Kühlewindt M.Sc. and Philipp Lorber M.Sc., Faculty of Civil Engineering, Department of Biotechnology in Resources Management

Prof. Christine Hill, Katrin Steiger M.F.A. and Anne Marx M.F.A., Faculty of Art and Design, Department of Kunst und sozialer Raum (Art and Social Space)

For questions, please contact Prof. Dr.-Ing. Eckhard Kraft, Department of Biotechnology in Resources Management, via e-mail eckhard.kraft[at]uni-weimar.de or by phone +49 (0) 36 43 / 58 46 21.