Design Map · Eindhoven
Redoing: A History Of Bricks
Graduation project by Zoé Monstrey at Design Academy Eindhoven, 2026. Shown during Dutch Design Week in Eindhoven on Design Map, location F5.
When a building comes down, are its construction materials no longer useful? During her material research about the overlooked backstory of demolition debris, Zoé Monstrey found a significant case study in the wrecking of the Glasgebouw, a 1940s Philips glass factory in Eindhoven. On ‘Redoing’, the history behind discarded materials is understood, rather than as mere waste, as design knowledge. Reusing these materials before they are taken to a sorting centre or discarded altogether, becomes a determined crafting methodology. Through her making journey, Zoé Monstrey borrowed building techniques from the original construction, matching them against technical drawings from the city archive to inform how the material is reassembled. The outcome becomes speculative: brick, mortar, cement and rusted rods pulled directly from the site are given a new seating function. The recomposed materials still carry their origin: load-bearing again, yet holding weight in an entirely different sense.