Matthew Crabbe

Matt is an idealist and thinks that group skills are underpriced in architecture school, often in favour of a competitive attitude to design, that has its endgame in an intractable and environmentally unfriendly building sector. At NBL he values the chance to collaborate with a huge variety of like-minded and inspirational people on projects which present a more hopeful vision for our shared built environment. His big wish is to inspire and empower NBL’ers to realise these visions in their own critical and collective spatial practice. Originally from the UK, Matt has been based in Berlin since 2011 and joined Natural Building Lab as a teaching and research associate in April 2018. He is part of the team responsible for teaching-related projects at NBL while working on his PhD dissertation.

crabbe@tu-berlin.de
Short CV (PDF)

Matthew Crabbe has been based in Berlin since 2011 and joined Natural Building Lab as a teaching and research associate in April 2018. Matt studied Architecture at TU Berlin and the University of Newcastle in the UK. Between 2011-19 he worked with Berlin-based ZRS Architekten Ingenieure, where he was engaged in a wide variety of projects and competitions with a focus on the use and potential of natural building materials. Matt’s practice-based doctoral thesis investigates transformative approaches in architectural education as part of a broader disciplinary transformation.

Matt has a strong interest in communication, interpretation and graphic design also working as a freelance architectural photographer. Matt can also regularly be found engaged in cargo bike logistics and advanced tension-belt handling.

• Since 2023 / Lehrbeauftragter, Burg Giebichenstein, Hochschule für Kunst und Design Halle “Aspekte der Nachhaltigkeit beim Bauen”
• Since 2022 / Member of non-profit organisation Haus Döschnitz e.V.
• Since 2021 / Co-founder and Managing Director NBL Studio gGmbH with Eike
  Roswag-Klinge & Nina Pawlick
• Since 2019 / ongoing Doctoral Thesis “Change Now, Architecture Later – a practice-based investigation of collective learning processes in architecture”
• Since April 2018 / Natural Building Lab, constructive design & climate adaptive architecture, Prof. Eike Roswag-Klinge, TU Berlin: Teaching & Research Associate
• 2016 – 2019 / Project Architect, ZRS Architekten, Berlin
• 2014 – 2016 / M.Sc Architektur, TU Berlin
• 2011 – 2016 / Student Assistant, ZRS Architekten, Berlin

Selected Publications

(2022) Crabbe, M, N Pawlicki, S Jansen, and E Roswag-Klinge. ‘On Reflection: Learning, Meaning and Identity in the Design Studio’. IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science 1078, no. 1 (1 September 2022) LINK

(2022) Jansen, S V, N Pawlicki, M Crabbe, and E Roswag-Klinge. ‘Real-World Laboratories in the Building Sector – Strategies for Transformation and Leap Innovations’. IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science 1078, no. 1 (1 September 2022) LINK

(2021) Crabbe, Matthew. ‘Practicing Reflection as a Design Studio Collective’. CA²RE / CA²RE+ Hamburg. Conference for Artistic and Architectural Research – Book of Proceedings, 2021. LINK

(2019) Roswag-Klinge, E, N Pawlicki, M Crabbe, and S Sommer. ‘Infozentrale Auf Dem Vollgut – Circular Construction for a Post-Fossil Society’. IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science 225 (24 February 2019) LINK

(2023) Film “Everyday Architect” Matthew Crabbe & Nina Pawlicki, AAE Conference 2023 – available via youtube: https://youtu.be/U5fH9OJml1U