Within the continually shifting territory of material selection and application, several important trends have emerged that indicate dramatic changes in our future built environment. These trends highlight the imminent transition from an industrialized, hydrocarbon-based global economy to a regenerative, carbohydrate-based system. Climate change, peak oil, food shortages, water conflicts, and pervasive pollutants are all global concerns that require fundamental changes in the way we select, harvest, process, and manipulate materials—yet questions remain about how to implement these
changes.
The exhibition “Emergent Green” addresses the “front lines” of this transition by investigating and presenting material developments that have the greatest promise to affect positive change. The exhibition was designed and installed by graduate architecture students in Blaine Brownell’s course Arch 8565: Material Performance in Sustainable Building, and features material research within the following topic areas: harvest, feedstocks, fuel, and waste.
(Image credit: Kamana Dhakhwa)
