Study Architecture 
ProPEL 
Author(s): Emilie Taylor Welty
The climate is changing with each week bringing new news of environmental calamity from fires to floods to landslides. It is clear that the standard way of designing and building structures is unsustainable and changing the way we build can be a powerful driver in reducing global emissions. Growing from a larger acknowledgement of the harm our profession causes, and in collaboration with a not-for-profit community organization working on abolishing systems of incarceration, this studio focused research on reimagining materials and processes to reduce harm to the environment and our social and ecological networks. Building on the bio-based materials work of firms such as Grimshaw, Material Cultures, and academic research projects such as the Parsons Healthy Materials Lab the focus of investigation was: How can designers draw on local resources and networks to create sustainable social and environmental ecosystems within projects – from rethinking materials, to reimagining the design process? Grounded in the work of a partnering non-profit, Solitary Gardens, the studio tested new material composites using bio-based byproducts of local industry, concluding in the design and fabrication of two small scale structures and an exhibit which shared the outcomes of the research. The research suggests ways that we as architects can repair the harm our cycles of production and create sustainable social, economic, and environmental ecosystems within projects. The pressing issues we face are complex, layered, and seem beyond an individual’s ability to change. The semester was a case study in small collective acts that have impact and interdisciplinary collaborations that raise awareness, build support, and advocate for change.
https://doi.org/10.35483/ACSA.AM.113.75
Volume Editors
Sara Jensen Carr & Rubén García Rubio
ISBN
978-1-944214-48-7
