Building materials are raw materials—and so much more. They tell stories of division and freedom, progress and crises, craftsmanship and memory. This is the focus of the first exhibition in the newly built Forum of the LWL Museum Hellerlecht | Detmold, on view through April 4, 2027. “MATERIA. Wood, Clay, Straw, Concrete” explores the cultural, social, and ecological roles of building materials across four chapters: wood as a renewable raw material, clay as a resource-efficient building material, straw as a versatile material for architecture, design, and art, and concrete as a symbol of modernity and a challenge for climate protection.
The exhibition focuses on questions such as: What are we preserving? And how must we act if we think in terms of generations? A section of the Berlin Wall from the area between the Reichstag and the Brandenburg Gate serves as a reminder of Germany’s division. Segment No. 297 also features a work by French artist Thierry Noir, which lends the fragment a new layer of meaning.
Objects from Westphalia enter into dialogue with international loans and artistic works, including those by Doris Salcedo, Eija-Liisa Ahtila, Rachel Whiteread, and Thomas Struth. Among the highlights is Le Corbusier’s original drawing of the “Maison Dom-Ino,” a concept for the architectural reduction of a house that became the basis for industrially manufactured prefabricated homes. Photographs and films showcasing craftsmanship and everyday work life round out the exhibition. At the same time, clay, wood, and concrete are used in a sustainable manner in the construction of the new Museum Forum itself.
