Students from the Master in Advanced Architecture at IAAC — Pinelopi F. Karali, Juliana Simantob and Claudia Gowgiel — presented FRICKS: Upcycled Foamed Bricks at the Venice Architecture Biennale 2025, within the Central Pavilion of the Arsenale. The project reimagines the use of demolition residues, transforming construction waste into lightweight, thermally efficient foamed geopolymers for architectural applications.
FRICKS was developed in the Digital Matter Studio of the 2023/2024 edition of the Master in Advanced Architecture at IAAC. The studio promotes a paradigm shift towards resource abundance, pushing students to explore material innovation through circular systems, experimentation and prototyping. Rather than viewing waste as excess, the studio investigates it as a starting point for new construction methods and design languages.
Created in collaboration with Areti Markopoulou, Nikol Kirova, Daniil Koshelyuk and Aleyna Gültekin, the project demonstrates how upcycled materials can deliver both performance and aesthetic value, offering an alternative to traditional high-carbon building solutions.
The Master in Advanced Architecture at IAAC encourages students to engage with urgent global challenges through hands-on experimentation. FRICKS is not an isolated case — it is one of many research-led projects that have reached international audiences, pushing the boundaries of what architectural education can do.
By combining design, material science, and sustainability, the programme equips students with the tools to imagine and implement future models of construction.
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FRICKS can be visited at the Central Pavilion of the Venice Architecture Biennale until November 23rd, 2025.
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