Biogenic House Sections

Given that the most viable means to radically reduce embodied carbon in new buildings is to use plant and earth based materials, what are these materials’ qualities and characteristics? How have they been catalysts for architectural invention as tested in houses around the world? What design trajectories exist for future exploration? The exhibition examines how designing through these materials pushes architecture toward peculiar, unconventional, yet logical assemblies.

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The exhibit is composed of three parts.

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First is an exhibit of a new book, Manual of Biogenic House Sections. The book, and thus the exhibition, is organized into material-specific chapters.

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Second are large-scale prints from the start of each material chapter in the book including Wood Frame, Mass Timber, Bamboo, Straw, Hemp, Cork, Earth, Brick, Stone, and Reuse. These show a life cycle understanding of the given material and its processes of fabrication.

 

Third are five small houses designed by LTL Architects that use biogenic material assemblies as catalysts for building form, domestic organization, and spatial seduction. These projects demonstrate our optimism about architecture’s agency when embracing biogenic materials in the move towards a regenerative future.