(1.21) The Cycles of Things

In The Cycles of Things, individual materials became a shared narrative about origin, use and renewal. The project began with a visit to the exhibition Geschwister at KinderKunstLabor. Building on this experience, pupils explored material “siblings”: things that are related, depend on one another, or remain connected through processing, use and return.

In a second workshop at school, these observations were deepened through open station-based activities. The children worked with material cycles of wood, plant-based plastics and petroleum-based plastics. They listened to excerpts from their own conversations, arranged materials and image cards, traced connections and made visible where cycles branch off.

Through hands-on work, the project addressed the reuse of plastics, plant growth and synergies in plant-based production, as well as wood as a natural material that can return to humus. Design served as a way to think materials, use and environment together. The project showed that cycles are rarely simple circles. They consist of many paths, decisions and new beginnings.