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Composed from natural materials such as limestone and clay, cement exists as both a geological remnant of nature and a product of human engineering. Exploring this ontological ambiguity of cement is the Swiss design practice Studio Eidola, through the design exhibition Synthetic Geologies, in the important inquiry it puts forth: At what point does a material cease to be natural and become synthetic? On view from March 8 - May 17, 2025, the solo exhibition at the MAGAZIN exhibition space in Vienna, Austria, challenges cement's conventional use as a binding material in architecture, presenting it as a 'medium in flux'. Featuring an array of installations, Synthetic Geologies highlights the extensive natural process and human intervention behind its production.
Founded in 2020 by industrial designer Denizay Apusoglu and Swiss architect Jonas Kissling, Studio Eidola is based in Zürich, Switzerland and interrogates industrial processes and their neglected constituents through material research and design. The practice studies and utilises mineral waste and industrial by-products for its projects, often collaborating with local industries to trace, understand and optimise the journey of the materials to yield meaningful design solutions. From products to spatial design interventions, the studio employs material intelligence to prioritise transformation and contingency, viewing material as a herald of change, vehemently influencing cycles of production, disposal and resource renewal.
The show begins with the sculptural Shallow Sea installation, which features limestone sourced from the Mannersdorf quarry located south of Mannersdorf town in Austria, where deposits date back to the Late Jurassic and Early Cretaceous periods. Within the stones lie shell fossils and crystallised calcite structures, indicating traces of their marine environment. Placing quarried limestones over a bed of steel, the design installation depicts the process of grinding, which crushes limestones into fine particles to make them ideal for cement production.
"Cement clinker, the granular residue of high-temperature calcination, is itself an intermediary state—neither raw nor fully realised, suspended between disintegration and recomposition," Studio Eidola explains. While cement production resembles the earth's metamorphic processes, where heat and pressure cause irreversible change in material, the former is intentional, measured and controlled. The Rotary Lava video installation showcases the interior of a kiln, where molten clinker rotates and transforms under intense heat and undergoes a chemical change, followed by the Heat Shield curtain installation.
Inspired by natural cementation—the gradual lithification process where loose sediments transform into solid rocks through mineral binding—the exhibition's focal installation, Lithic Remnants, features a series of cement transformations, bonded and settled unpredictably to mimic natural rock formations. Reflecting on the material's origins through a fusion of geology, engineering and contemporary design, the evocative sculptures become a site of intangible 'material memory'. Treading the boundaries of monumental and sculptural design, the installation toys with the illusion of scale, aesthetics and materiality to evoke a strange familiarity and curiosity among visitors.
Synthetic Geologies becomes an archaeological site, unearthing stone and revealing mysteries of the past. Inspecting the exhibits from afar triggers the memory of colossal boulders, caves and otherworldly rock formations that defy gravity and human perception. The ongoing show addresses the natural origins of a synthesised product, delving into its industrial process and exploring the possibilities of its application.
Through material research and exploration, the Swiss designers argue that the "built world functions as an artificial stratigraphy" and question what it truly means to 'manufacture' stone today. Examining the existence of cement with respect to the geological timescale, the practice attempts to explore ways in which the continuous cycle of production, erosion and reproduction redefines the modern-day geologies constructed by human intervention.
'Synthetic Geologies' by Studio Eidola is on view from March 8 - May 17, 2025, at MAGAZIN—Exhibition Space for Contemporary Architecture in Vienna, Austria.
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