Healthy Materials Lab Interview Highlights Toxic Interior Environments and Material Awareness Gap

An interview with Healthy Materials Lab reveals a critical gap in public awareness regarding the materials that compose interior environments. While society has widely internalized Ludwig Feuerbach's concept that "man is what he eats" (Der Mensch ist, was er isst), focusing on food and nutrition, the same scrutiny is not applied to the built spaces we inhabit. Materials for walls, floors, and finishes are often selected based on technical or aesthetic criteria rather than their potential health impacts. This is significant given that a large portion of the global population spends approximately 90% of their time indoors. These materials can act as continuous sources of exposure to potentially harmful substances, yet their fundamental composition is rarely discussed. The interview suggests materials should be viewed not merely as technical decisions but as active agents in the relationship between the human body and its surrounding space. The featured image is from the "At the Table with Nature" exhibit at ambiente 2026, credited to photographer Jürgen Baumhauer.