▣ TYPE: Film
⧇ CLIENT: The Built Environment Trust at the Building Centre
▦ METHODOLOGY: Material Research / Film / 1:1 fragments
⧆ COLLABORATORS: Ella Frost / Mhamad Safa / Kate Handford / Amica Dall / The Building Centre team
⧇ SPONSOR: Built by Nature
Timber
Running Time: 4m 30s
Timber will sit at the heart of regenerative construction practice. When specified carefully, it is a fantastically capable material. It can span, bare load, and last for hundreds of years if properly taken care of. Growing trees actively regenerate the land they take root in, creating above and below ground habitats, contributing to soil health and terrestrial water storage. If they are treated responsibly once felled, they can continue to store carbon significantly in excess of the time it took them to fix it from the atmosphere.
Extraction
Running Time: 6m 51s
The contemporary construction industry is entirely dependent on an abundance of cheap oil fuels, not only to produce the materials we use, but also the machines that extract the raw materials, and the lorries, ships and railways that transport them. Most contemporary buildings are directly dependent on fossil fuel products, from polyurethane and polystyrene insulation, PVC membranes and composite panelling to plastic ground sheets and sticky tape. Architecture must balance the needs of the land with the needs of construction, developing infrastructures, technologies, and materials that can bring the two back into carefully managed interdependence. To achieve these, more equitable approaches to the distribution and use of land must be developed, that consider the needs of a community, the lives of people working the land, and the structure of regional economies together.
Straw
Running Time: 6m 40s
Shifting towards a built environment based on bio-based materials, including straw, will require a set of changes in practice that span from land-use to how we care for buildings. Some applications of straw can last almost indefinitely - others require cyclic replacement. Integrating straw as a key building material will require a move towards building a stronger relationship between agriculture and architecture, a restructuring of construction supply chains, and significant new skills training. However, it is an opportunity waiting to be acted upon. The construction technologies are proven, and the UK already produces more than enough straw year-on-year to meet demand.
▣ TYPE: Film
⧇ CLIENT: The Built Environment Trust at the Building Centre
▦ METHODOLOGY: Material Research / Film / 1:1 fragments
⧆ COLLABORATORS: Ella Frost / Mhamad Safa / Kate Handford / Amica Dall / The Building Centre team
⧇ SPONSOR: Built by Nature
Timber
Running Time: 4m 30s
Timber will sit at the heart of regenerative construction practice. When specified carefully, it is a fantastically capable material. It can span, bare load, and last for hundreds of years if properly taken care of. Growing trees actively regenerate the land they take root in, creating above and below ground habitats, contributing to soil health and terrestrial water storage. If they are treated responsibly once felled, they can continue to store carbon significantly in excess of the time it took them to fix it from the atmosphere.
STUDENTS: Nikola Endres, Anna Hess, Elina Leuba, Annick Bächle, Maximilian Bächli, Manuel Scherrer, Senga Grossmann, Antoine Hansen, Caspar Trueb, Luca Bolfing, Pascal Hiestand, Carla Waeber, Arianna Charbon, Moritz Hahn, Andrej Harnist, Stan Bezencon, Philippe Jenny, Dominik Koch, Anton Krebs, Aurelia Perschel, Giacomo Rossi, Ella Bacchetta, Léna Grossenbacher, Elisa Nadas, Anna Caviezel, Chiara Hergenröder, Jamila Scotoni
Unit 15, Regent Studios, 8 Andrews Road, London E8 4QN
E info@materialcultures.org
T 02030626832
Unit 15, Regent Studios, 8 Andrews Road, London E8 4QN
E info@materialcultures.org