Material Cultures is a not-for-profit design and research organisation working at the intersection of natural materials, low embodied carbon construction and construction technology. Our mission is to work towards a bio-regional construction industry which is integrated into regenerative and socially just land and building systems. We argue for the reintegration of architecture and agriculture, understanding buildings as irrevocably linked to landscapes of extraction. Bio-based materials are low in embodied carbon and offer an alternative to the globally sourced, carbon-intensive, socially destructive materials commonly used in the construction industry. We challenge the systems, technologies, processes, supply chains, regulations and materials that make up the construction industry with the aim of transforming the way we build.
Our practice works across different scales developing materials and prototypical buildings to look strategically at the adaptation of the landscapes and supply chains from which they emerge. We design buildings working to integrate bio-based materials and minimally processed minerals into efficient construction systems. Alongside this we carry out strategic research into how these ideas can be applied at scale and how they relate to a broader move towards regenerative land management practices. We run our own construction skills programme, MAKE, alongside research and teaching at the Architectural Association, Central St Martins in London and the ETH in Zurich.
Homegrown. See Project
Charleston in Lewes. See Project
Growing Place. See Project
Wolves Lane Centre. See Project
Selected Press
Behind the scenes with a trio of architects pioneering sustainable materials
Malaika Byng
2024, House and Garden
Getting to the Root: Prototypes constructed using plant building materials
Lucia Gratz
2024, Werk, Bauen + Wohnen
Cob Houses, Rammed Earth, and Hemp Mixtures: These Eco-Friendly Building Materials Start in the Soil
Charlotte Collins
2024, Architectural Digest
In Search of Sustainable Materials, Architects are Turning to an Unusual Source: Hemp
Francesca Perry
2023, BBC
London architecture exhibitions 2023: a guide to the best shows this month
Ellie Stathaki
2023, Wallpaper
The Building Materials of the Future Might Be Growing in Your Backyard
Marianna Janowicz
2023, Untapped Journal
Selected Lectures
Insulating the Bioregion
International Conference on Bioregional Architecture and Design Practice
2024, Munich
Title
Spirit of Paimio Conference
2024, Helsinki
Architecture on Stage: Material Cultures
Architecture Foundation with the Barbican
2024, London
Material Cultures: Material Transformations
École D'architecture De La Ville & Des Territoires Paris-Est
2024, Paris
Deans Talk: Material Reform
ETH Zurich
2023, Switzerland
Make Good Symposium
V&A Museum
2023, London
Constructive Land
Constructive Disobedience Conference
2022, Germany
Selected Writing
Rebuilding the Bog
Summer Islam
2024, Faktur
Planting a Seed
Summer Islam
2023, The Architectural Review
On Regeneration
Material Cultures with Jess Gough
2023, Real Review, Issue 14
Material Reform
Material Cultures with Amica Dall
2022, Mack Books
Selected Books
Manual of Biogenic House Sections
Paul Lewis, Marc Tsurumaki, David J. Lewis
2022, ORO Editions
Houses That Can Save the World
Courtenay Smith, Sean Topham
2022, Thames and Hudson
Radical Architecture of the Future,
Beatrice Galilee
2020, Phaidon
We are developing organisational policies and processes. Every policy is a work in progress; reflecting our ongoing learning. As part of our mission to test and practice the possibilities of socio-ecological justice within architecture, we recognise that an essential part of this work is internal. The same harmful practices seen in the architecture supply chain – in land management, material streams, building systems – repeat themselves inside the studio – in overwork culture, top-down management, opaque financial structures. We acknowledge our role in perpetuating these systems, and we re-commit continually to dismantling these within our organisation and beyond.
With support from peers and collaborators, we have been reviewing our internal processes to reflect the values we claim and to align better with our mission to divest from extractive practices which exploit land, air, animals, people, plants and water. We are inspired by those at the frontlines of social justice – grassroots, activist and unionist movements – whose policies we learn from, with immense gratitude, through RadHR’s open-access library. As policies become available, we will upload them here. We know there is still a long way to go, but we reject adopting “off the shelf” solutions to HR in favour of a deliberate, collective and slow approach.
Current Team
Chai Pandya
Daria Moatazed-Keivani
George Massoud
Paloma Gormley
Rory Corr
Sally Moussawi
Shreya Sarin
Summer Islam
Will Bradley
Collaborators
Amica Dall
Andi Amirshah
Becky Little
Cecence
Esme Walker
Ffion Blench
Henry Stringer
Jeffrey Hart
Jez Ralph
Mark Harrington
Sara Pereira
Rachael Milliner
Villalba Studio
Will Stanwix
Work Ltd
Past Team
Alastair Howard
Alessandra de Mitri
Amaya Hernandez
Aya Mousa
Caroline Esclapez
Caitlin McNamara
Ceri Hedderwick Turner
Christopher Kokarev
Christopher Gabe
Connie Beauchamp
Cosmin Chirpac
Eloise Coleman
Francesca Leibowitz
Francesca Tattersall
Joy Mulandi
Ker Jia Goh
Louise Underhill
Margit Kraft
Marwa El Mubark
Nana Adu-Offeh
Riyam Salim
Sam Little
Sara Sherif
Sodueari Graham-Douglas
Tom Hart
William Hayter
Xiao Fang
Clients
Argent
Arup
The Architectural Association
The Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL
Bauhaus Earth
Building Centre
Central Saint Martins, UAL
Charleston House
CIVIC SQUARE
Create London
The Design Museum
Evolving Forests
Fishtank
Grizedale Arts
Forestry England
HG Matthews
Hong Kong Design Institute
Human Nature
International Architecture Biennale Rotterdam
London Metropolitan University
The London School of Architecture
Naked House
Newham London Borough Council
re:arc Institute
Stiftung Sitterwerk
SOM Foundation
Timisoara Architecture Biennial
V&A Museum
York & North Yorkshire Local Enterprise Partnership
Woods into Management Fund
Wolves Lane Consortium
Material Cultures is a not-for-profit design and research organisation working at the intersection of natural materials, low embodied carbon construction and construction technology. Our mission is to work towards a bio-regional construction industry which is integrated into regenerative and socially just land and building systems. We argue for the reintegration of architecture and agriculture, understanding buildings as irrevocably linked to landscapes of extraction. Bio-based materials are low in embodied carbon and offer an alternative to the globally sourced, carbon-intensive, socially destructive materials commonly used in the construction industry. We challenge the systems, technologies, processes, supply chains, regulations and materials that make up the construction industry with the aim of transforming the way we build.
Our practice works across different scales developing materials and prototypical buildings to look strategically at the adaptation of the landscapes and supply chains from which they emerge. We design buildings working to integrate bio-based materials and minimally processed minerals into efficient construction systems. Alongside this we carry out strategic research into how these ideas can be applied at scale and how they relate to a broader move towards regenerative land management practices. We run our own construction skills programme, MAKE, alongside research and teaching at the Architectural Association, Central St Martins in London and the ETH in Zurich.
Homegrown. See Project
Charleston in Lewes. See Project
Growing Place. See Project
Wolves Lane Centre. See Project
Selected Press
Behind the scenes with a trio of architects pioneering sustainable materials
Malaika Byng
2024, House and Garden
Getting to the Root: Prototypes constructed using plant building materials
Lucia Gratz
2024, Werk, Bauen + Wohnen
Cob Houses, Rammed Earth, and Hemp Mixtures: These Eco-Friendly Building Materials Start in the Soil
Charlotte Collins
2024, Architectural Digest
In Search of Sustainable Materials, Architects are Turning to an Unusual Source: Hemp
Francesca Perry
2023, BBC
London architecture exhibitions 2023: a guide to the best shows this month
Ellie Stathaki
2023, Wallpaper
The Building Materials of the Future Might Be Growing in Your Backyard
Marianna Janowicz
2023, Untapped Journal
Selected Lectures
Insulating the Bioregion
International Conference on Bioregional Architecture and Design Practice
2024, Munich
Title
Spirit of Paimio Conference
2024, Helsinki
Architecture on Stage: Material Cultures
Architecture Foundation with the Barbican
2024, London
Material Cultures: Material Transformations
École D'architecture De La Ville & Des Territoires Paris-Est
2024, Paris
Deans Talk: Material Reform
ETH Zurich
2023, Switzerland
Make Good Symposium
V&A Museum
2023, London
Constructive Land
Constructive Disobedience Conference
2022, Germany
Selected Writing
Rebuilding the Bog
Summer Islam
2024, Faktur
Planting a Seed
Summer Islam
2023, The Architectural Review
On Regeneration
Material Cultures with Jess Gough
2023, Real Review, Issue 14
Material Reform
Material Cultures with Amica Dall
2022, Mack Books
Selected Books
Manual of Biogenic House Sections
Paul Lewis, Marc Tsurumaki, David J. Lewis
2022, ORO Editions
Houses That Can Save the World
Courtenay Smith, Sean Topham
2022, Thames and Hudson
Radical Architecture of the Future,
Beatrice Galilee
2020, Phaidon
We are developing organisational policies and processes. Every policy is a work in progress; reflecting our ongoing learning. As part of our mission to test and practice the possibilities of socio-ecological justice within architecture, we recognise that an essential part of this work is internal. The same harmful practices seen in the architecture supply chain – in land management, material streams, building systems – repeat themselves inside the studio – in overwork culture, top-down management, opaque financial structures. We acknowledge our role in perpetuating these systems, and we re-commit continually to dismantling these within our organisation and beyond.
With support from peers and collaborators, we have been reviewing our internal processes to reflect the values we claim and to align better with our mission to divest from extractive practices which exploit land, air, animals, people, plants and water. We are inspired by those at the frontlines of social justice – grassroots, activist and unionist movements – whose policies we learn from, with immense gratitude, through RadHR’s open-access library. As policies become available, we will upload them here. We know there is still a long way to go, but we reject adopting “off the shelf” solutions to HR in favour of a deliberate, collective and slow approach.
Current Team
Chai Pandya
Daria Moatazed-Keivani
George Massoud
Paloma Gormley
Rory Corr
Sally Moussawi
Shreya Sarin
Summer Islam
Will Bradley
Collaborators
Amica Dall
Andi Amirshah
Becky Little
Cecence
Esme Walker
Ffion Blench
Henry Stringer
Jeffrey Hart
Jez Ralph
Mark Harrington
Sara Pereira
Rachael Milliner
Villalba Studio
Will Stanwix
Work Ltd
Past Team
Alastair Howard
Alessandra de Mitri
Amaya Hernandez
Aya Mousa
Caroline Esclapez
Caitlin McNamara
Ceri Hedderwick Turner
Christopher Kokarev
Christopher Gabe
Connie Beauchamp
Cosmin Chirpac
Eloise Coleman
Francesca Leibowitz
Francesca Tattersall
Joy Mulandi
Ker Jia Goh
Louise Underhill
Margit Kraft
Marwa El Mubark
Nana Adu-Offeh
Riyam Salim
Sam Little
Sara Sherif
Sodueari Graham-Douglas
Tom Hart
William Hayter
Xiao Fang
Clients
Argent
Arup
The Architectural Association
The Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL
Bauhaus Earth
Building Centre
Central Saint Martins, UAL
Charleston House
CIVIC SQUARE
Create London
The Design Museum
Evolving Forests
Fishtank
Grizedale Arts
Forestry England
HG Matthews
Hong Kong Design Institute
Human Nature
International Architecture Biennale Rotterdam
London Metropolitan University
The London School of Architecture
Naked House
Newham London Borough Council
re:arc Institute
Stiftung Sitterwerk
SOM Foundation
Timisoara Architecture Biennial
V&A Museum
York & North Yorkshire Local Enterprise Partnership
Woods into Management Fund
Wolves Lane Consortium