(About)
Maxie Schneider
Maxie Schneider is an interdisciplinary architectural design researcher and lecturer whith focuses on material-based design and particular expertise in textile building techniques and fiber-based material systems. Her work bridges tactile and digital prototyping, aiming to push the boundaries of sustainable architecture through material innovation. Her research explores how adaptive, reconfigurable, and soft materials can contribute to architectural design, with an emphasis on integrating textile techniques into building systems to harness the "embedded material intelligence" of diverse materials such as air, concrete, natural fibers, and smart materials. Her work is interdisciplinary, often merging architecture, materials science, and textile design. Together with Prof. Christiane Sauer, Ebba Fransen Waldhör, and Mareike Stoll, she ihas published the Book Architectures of Weaving: From Fibers and Yarns to Scaffolds and Skins (Berlin, 2022).
As a Research Associate and PhD candidate at the Cluster of Excellence Matters of Activity, at TU Berlin and the Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces, she is investigating adaptive textile structures and the potential of softness and responsiveness in architecture. Her ongoing projects include Polymorph Textility, which is part of her PhD work, focusing on adaptive textile structures with dynamic morphologies. This research builds on her earlier work in the ADAPTEX project at the Weißensee School of Art and Design, where she developed adaptive facade systems using smart materials.
She is currently part of the Architectural Yarn project at the Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces, a collaboration with Matters of Activity, where she is exploring reconfigurable and continuous textile building techniques.
In 2014 she has founded the experimental architecture studio, Popticum, here she investigates the spatial and interactive potential of textiles in architecture, creating pavilions, installations, and exhibitions that explore textile spatiality as a form of "discursive spacemaking."
Her work has been recognized, with publications in books and journals like Domus, Baumeister, and Springer. She is regular lecturer at institutions such as the University of the Arts Berlin, die angewandte Vienna, Weißensee School of Art and Design, and Bezalel University among others.
As a Research Associate and PhD candidate at the Cluster of Excellence Matters of Activity, at TU Berlin and the Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces, she is investigating adaptive textile structures and the potential of softness and responsiveness in architecture. Her ongoing projects include Polymorph Textility, which is part of her PhD work, focusing on adaptive textile structures with dynamic morphologies. This research builds on her earlier work in the ADAPTEX project at the Weißensee School of Art and Design, where she developed adaptive facade systems using smart materials.
She is currently part of the Architectural Yarn project at the Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces, a collaboration with Matters of Activity, where she is exploring reconfigurable and continuous textile building techniques.
In 2014 she has founded the experimental architecture studio, Popticum, here she investigates the spatial and interactive potential of textiles in architecture, creating pavilions, installations, and exhibitions that explore textile spatiality as a form of "discursive spacemaking."
Her work has been recognized, with publications in books and journals like Domus, Baumeister, and Springer. She is regular lecturer at institutions such as the University of the Arts Berlin, die angewandte Vienna, Weißensee School of Art and Design, and Bezalel University among others.
Photo: Ebba Fransén Waldhoer
BUILT
Sommer pavillion, Popticum, 2024Sommer pavillion, Popticum, 2023
Adaptex Facade Mockups, weissensee school of art and design, 2022
Floating Roofs, Popticum, 2021
The Arch, Constructlab, 2017
TEACHING
since 2022, Lecturer, University of the Arts Berlin.Department of Architecture, Building Construction and Materials
2017 - 2023, Research Associate, weißensee school of art and design berlin, Department of Textile and Material Design
EXHIBITIONS
2024 Materialzukünfte Besuchen, Futurium, Berlin2024 Planet Utopia, Kinder Biennale Dresden, Popticum Project
2023 Berlin, Activarium, Matters of Activity, Architectural Yarns Project
2023 Munich, Bau Messe, Adaptex Project
2022 Berlin, Germany – Design Lab #13. Material Legacies. Exhibition. Cluster of Excellence »Matters of Activity«, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Museum of Decorative Arts. Kunstgewerbemuseum. Architectural Yarns Project
2022 Berlin, Germany - DAOULA | sheen. West African Wild Silk on Its Way. Cluster of Excellence »Matters of Activity«, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Tieranatomisches Theater. Architectural Yarns Project
2022 Glasstech, Priedemann Facadelab, Weißensee School of Art and Design. Adaptex Project
2020 Dutch Design Week – DXM – Design, Experiment, Material – Präsentation der aktuellen Forschungsprojekte, Adaptex
2020 Timișoara Architecture Biennial, Rumänien, Adaptex Project
2019 Architectural Residency, Les Grands Voisins, Paris, Popticum Project
2019 Biennale da Maia, Portugal, Handle with Air, Popticum
2017 Architectural Residency, Genk, Belgium, Project: The Arch, ConstructLab
2015 Trienal de Architectura Lisboa, Spain, Popticum
AWARDS
2024 ZAK Award - Adaptex, with Priedemann Facade-Lab, Germany
2021 CTBUH Award of Excellence Winner - with Adaptex Project, Priedemann Facade-Lab, Weißensee Kunsthochschule Berlin, Germany
2021 Zumtobel Group Award for Innovation - with Adaptex Project, Weißensee Kunsthochschule Berlin, Priedemann Facade-Lab, Germany
2021 Best-Poster, Aachen Dreden Denkendorf International Textile Conference - Adaptex Project, Fransén Waldhör E., Schneider M., Vongsingha P., Boxberger L., Sauer C., Denz P., Weißensee School of Art and Design, Priedemann Facade-Lab GmbH, Fraunhofer IWU
2017 Concrete Design Competition - Thesis Project: Pneu&Schale
Contact:
mail to: info@maxieschneider.com
connect via: Linkedin
follow: https://www.instagram.com/maxie_schneider
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