FINITE MATERIAL

Fall 2020

It was estimated in 2008, now more than a decade ago, that at the current rate of extraction approximately 61 years of copper, 40 years of tin, and 42 years of lead remained in the earth’s crust. Materials are finite and we will soon need to find alternative solutions to the acute problems of global consumption and disposal.

This course investigates the historical and current trends of material consumption in relation to our industry’s production. Traditionally human beings have built with close-to-hand materials, but as we become a more interconnected and global society, materials are more easily accessible, mined, and depleted at the convenience of modernized civilization. Looking at building precedents through focused research on these specific materials (natural or waste), the course aims to not only better understand their function in architecture, but how we may begin to draw and develop new building assemblies of the future. Responding to research and readings, students develop a series of alternative architectural elements by focusing on designing details that reuse, replace, or manipulate their selected material.