Construction Week at MATCOAM: Innovative Materiality
With Material Bank, we took the Innovative Materiality exhibition to the II Semana de la Construcción MATCOAM: four materials moodboards for design.
Events3 min read
Today marks the close of the II Semana de la Construcción MATCOAM, where, together with Material Bank, we created a space of inspiration for architecture professionals with the exhibition ‘Innovative Materiality’, encouraging new ideas and possibilities for future projects.
Over three days, from 25 to 27 March 2025, the headquarters of the Colegio Oficial de Arquitectos de Madrid (COAM, the Madrid Association of Architects) brought together architects, developers, contractors, manufacturers and specifiers around innovation, sustainability and refurbishment. In this article we look back at the Semana de la Construcción, how we approached the exhibition and why it served to present our alliance with Material Bank.
The II Semana de la Construcción MATCOAM
The Semana de la Construcción (Construction Week) is the event organised by the COAM through MATCOAM, its building department. This second edition was structured around three themes, one per day: refurbishment on 25 March, sustainability on the 26th and innovation on the 27th, with lectures, round tables, masterclasses and workshops, all free to register.
According to the organisers' review, the week brought together more than 3,000 visitors, 40 activities and 60 Spanish and international speakers. On the entrance floor and the garden floor of the COAM, the exhibition space hosted 50 manufacturers and several exhibitions: ‘Innovative Materiality’, by Material Bank and Matter; ‘Friendly Materials’, curated by the studio PMMT; the MATCOAM Awards exhibition; and ‘Construir’, by DFA Dietmar Feichtinger Architectes.
Innovative Materiality: four moodboards to rethink materials
The ‘Innovative Materiality’ exhibition was a meeting point to explore how materials are transforming architecture. Beyond aesthetics or technique, it was a space for reflection on sustainability, innovation and the evolution of production processes.
Through a series of moodboards, we presented solutions that open up new design opportunities, from the most natural materials to the most technological, by way of recycled materials and those focused on circularity. The route was organised into four lines, each with its own panel and samples to touch:
- Sustainable Innovation: materials that turn waste into opportunities and propose circular processes, prioritising the reuse of raw materials, such as panels made from recycled bottles, Econyl, compacted stone or recycled rubber.
- Technological Innovation: materials resulting from new technological developments, or that combine existing technologies in search of new paradigms, such as flexible panels, composite panels, recycled paper or metal mesh.
- Digital Revolution: materials in which digital fabrication is part of the process, such as flexible wood.
- Natural Renewal: the line dedicated to materials of natural origin, at the other end of the route.
Jordi Antonijoan, CEO of Matter, summed up the content of the exhibition in the press release presenting the alliance: “The exhibition highlighted sustainable alternatives such as cladding made from mineral fibres, flexible wood, cellulose panels and 3D-printed sand, as well as solutions based on lime, rammed earth and cork.”
Waste from other industries as raw material
One of the underlying ideas of the exhibition is the use of by-products from other sectors. In Jordi Antonijoan's words: “There are developments that reuse by-products from fashion, food or the stone industry, such as textile fibres, rice husks or agro-industrial waste, integrating them as raw material for new construction applications.”
For specifiers, the interest of these materials does not lie only in their origin: each sample was presented with its composition, its applications (interior, exterior, walls, ceilings, floors or furniture) and its technical characteristics, so that the conversation could move from inspiration to feasibility in a project.
Matter and Material Bank, an alliance presented at MATCOAM
The exhibition was also the presentation to the sector of the alliance between Matter and Material Bank. Material Bank is an international platform for searching for and requesting samples of architecture and design materials; Matter brings materials consultancy and its physical material libraries. Together they make it possible to explore and compare materials digitally and in the showroom, receive samples in a single free shipment within 24 hours and have the support of a consultant through to specification.
Thank you for visiting: next stop, Barcelona
Thank you to everyone who was part of this experience. We continue to explore new ways of building and designing with awareness and creativity.
We hope that, for those of you who visited us, it was an invitation to rethink materiality with an eye to the future. For those who could not attend, we look forward to seeing you at the next Materials Matter Exhibition, in Barcelona in June, and in our material libraries in Barcelona, Madrid and Sotogrande, where you can consult our team about the materials for your next project.
