Skip to main content

FHNW materials collection

The FHNW materials collection was set up on the initiative of the FHNW School of Architecture, Civil Engineering and Geomatics and opened in 2022. The collection currently comprises a basic stock of around 300 exhibits. The focus is on material samples from the entire field of building construction.

Structure of the collection

  • Types of wood
  • Wood materials
  • Wood joints
  • Plant-based materials

  • Concrete & Cement
  • Ceramics
  • Plaster
  • Lime
  • Clay

  • Glass
  • Metals
  • Plastics

All samples can be taken out, touched and borrowed on a daily basis during the opening hours of the FHNW Campus Muttenz library information desk.

Comprehensive information about the samples can be accessed via the Material Archive network database - either by scanning the printed QR code or by placing it on the material station. The materialarchiv.ch website currently contains around 4,000 data records and describes them in detail: the material itself, its origin or manufacture, but also the associated material group and possible applications and built references.
The FHNW materials collection is to be successively developed along the thematic focal points of sustainability and circularity.

Picture: Julian Salinas

Materialsammlung