The exhibition »RES PUBLICA /RES PRIVATA« focuses on research into material aesthetics. At the invitation of the Kunstverein at Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz design students from Kassel University are creating a living environment in L40 using prototypes of work by Kassel graduates as well as their own works. In dialogue with this new habitat are images by artists depicting vernacular objects and anonymous living spaces. Ostensibly this show deals with the questions »How should we live?« and »How do we really live?«, while also discussing the widening rift between art and design.