Iceland

Lavaforming is the technique of harnessing volcanic eruptions to shape new architecture. A single effusive eruption provides enough building material for an entire city. In a matter of weeks, the foundations are laid without harmful mining or reliance on non-renewable energy. In this exhibition, we travel a hundred years into the future to visit the city of Eldborg. Through the eyes of its future inhabitants, we learn how the development of this technique, alongside the collapse of the climate, ushered in an era of radical change driven by architectural innovation. The technological, political, and creative stagnation of previous generations propelled humanity to realise that conventional building materials and methods were unsustainable and harmful to nature.
The ominous effects of global warming urge us to defy the status quo. Architecture can be the force that rethinks and shapes a new future based on communal ownership and a politics of abundance. The Lavaforming project illustrates how a localised threat can be transformed into a resource that addresses a global emergency.