Materials & Applications (M&A)

🗣️ 2026! Summer! Courtyard! Project!

We are so excited to announce the 2026 M&A courtyard project—

𝐸𝒶𝓇𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓃 𝒞𝑜𝓂𝒻𝑜𝓇𝓉𝓈: 𝒜𝒾𝓇𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝐸𝒶𝓇𝓉𝒽 is a courtyard installation led by Liz Gálvez (Office e.g. @office.e.g and the (Im)material Matters Lab) that stages mass and fiber as shared infrastructures for collective comfort in the LA summer. Building on Liz’s ongoing investigations into heat resilience and material experimentation, 𝐸𝒶𝓇𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓃 𝒞𝑜𝓂𝒻𝑜𝓇𝓉𝓈 is a civic proposition that adapts passive cooling strategies from desert contexts into the M&A @materialsandapplications x Craft Contemporary @craftcontemporary Courtyard.

Earthen thermal mass columns anchor the site, paired with a lightweight, woven canopy that modulates shade, air movement, and light. These systems are not novel inventions but re-imagined inheritances: stone or earthen blocks and woven shade have long functioned as elemental infrastructures across cultures and climates. Recast in the courtyard, they compose an experimental ecology that makes heat’s stubborn but predictable movement legible. Visitors will encounter varied microclimates—cool, heavy earth; dappled woven shade; shifting breezes—that expand thermal design beyond mere survivability toward joy and collective participation in the face of intensifying heat. 🧱🧶💨

𝐸𝒶𝓇𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓃 𝒞𝑜𝓂𝒻𝑜𝓇𝓉𝓈 opens to the public on May 31, alongside Craft Contemporary's summer exhibitions. More information about our opening reception and summer programs will be shared very soon!

𝐸𝒶𝓇𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓃 𝒞𝑜𝓂𝒻𝑜𝓇𝓉𝓈 is commissioned and produced by Materials & Applications @materialsandapplications and made possible due to the critical support of consultants, including Paul Mayencourt (@paulmayencourt at the Berkeley Wood Lab @berkeley.woodlab), Salmaan Craig @salmaancraig, and Nous Engineering @nousla, and the generosity of funders including the Pasadena Art Alliance, UC Berkeley Arts Research Center, and UC Berkeley College of Environmental Design @ced_berkeley.

Project Team @ucberkeleyarch
Lincoln Ruiz-Truong @lincolnrt
Theint Lei @theintlei
Ian Chu @uhcna_i

🔗 More info via link in bio!