Material Matters – the circular economy.

For Thomas Rau, the search for a sustainable relationship between humans and Earth began years ago, born out of a strong sense of necessity. Over the course of more than a decade, he closely studied the problematic aspects of the current economic and cultural situation. He, together with Sabine Oberhuber, formulated problems, solutions and ideas, and used those—in their company, Turntoo—to develop practical concepts. Encouraged by the interest in their philosophy, Thomas and Sabine decided to also present it in a more traditional way: they wrote a book, entitled Material Matters.

Thomas Rau, RAU Architects / Turntoo

Tina Snedker Kristensen, Troldtekt

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16:45 "Doors open" + Networking

17:00  Introduction

17:05  Architect’s keynote

17:25  Discussion with Thomas Rau, RAU and Tina Snedker, Troldtekt

17:35  Break-Out Rooms – Interactive discussion sessions between all participants

18:05 Short summary of Break-Out-Sesions and conclusion

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Media partner: Architonic

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About the speakers:

Thomas Rau

Thomas Rau is an architect, innovator and entrepreneur and one of the leading thinkers of the circular economy. Though trained as an architect (RWHT Aachen) his activities and interest reach far beyond the architectural realm. 

His studio RAU architects, founded in 1992 has been recognized for being at the forefront of producing innovative CO2 neutral and energy positive buildings as a norm. Thomas Rau is seen as a pioneer in circular buildings. RAU designed the first circular building in the municipality of Brummen in 2013 and the first circular redevelopment for network provider Liander in 2015, the headquarter of Triodos Bank 2019 is the first office building designed to be fully disassembled and reconstructed. The building won several prizes: two prizes for the most sustainable building of the year as well as the “office building of the year” award.

Together with his wife and partner economist Sabine Oberhuber Thomas Rau founded Turntoo in 2010, one of the first companies worldwide to focus on supporting companies and organisation in the transition to a circular economy. Rau and Oberhuber created some of the original examples of circular economy concepts and business models. They worked with Phillips to convince them that they could deliver "light as a service", rather than simply light fixtures as a product. 

In their book Material Matters, they dissect and critique our current linear systems of production, consumption and waste and describe their vision for a future proof economic system based on circular principles. The book is a best seller in the Netherlands and has been published in German and Italian; the English edition is available as a pre-edition and is expected to be published in 2021. In 2017 Rau initiated and co-founded Madaster, the cadastre for materials, an open online platform as a registry for material passports. For its potential for systemic change Madaster won the Digital Top 50 Award for Social Impact 2018, which is jointly awarded by Google, McKinsey and Rocket Internet.

Thomas Rau is seen as one of the most influential architects and innovators. He was nominated for the Circular Economy Leadership Award of the World Economic Forum in 2016, in 2013 he was elected as Dutch Architect of the Year and awarded with the ARC13 Oeuvre Award for his widespread contribution in both promoting and realizing sustainable architecture over his career, and bringing awareness of sustainability and the circular economy in the last 20 years through internationally delivered lectures, TV documentaries, radio interviews, Ted talks, publications and countless press coverings. 

Tina Snedker Kristensen

Tina Snedker Kristensen counts more than 20 years of experience in the building industry. With an educational background in business economy and corporate communications she has been head of marketing and communications at the Danish manufacturer of acoustic panels, Troldtekt A/S, since 2004. In this role she has also been the project manager of Troldtekt’s Cradle to Cradle certification, the documentation of Troldtekt’s contribution to building certification, environmental product declaration (EPD) as well as CSR reporting. As an expert in sustainable building, sustainable certification schemes as well as technical documentation she represent the company’s interests in various national and international committees.