MATERIAL CULTURES MATERIAL REFORM

by Material Cultures

"‘Our current modus operandi can’t support the kinds of futures we envision for ourselves and those to come. As architects, builders, and citizens, we must urgently rethink our relationship to the land and to each other to produce new forms of material practice, culture, and economy in solidarity with people and our landscapes.’ This book, the first by the design and research practice Material Cultures, assembles a series of short essays and conversations exploring the cultures, systems, and infrastructures that shape the architectural industry and the destructive ecologies it fosters. The building practices dominating contemporary architecture are rooted in the exploitation of people and the degradation of our landscapes. Here, Paloma Gormley, Summer Islam, and George Massoud explore how this has come about and how alternative systems, with holistic approaches to the built environment, might be formulated. Material Reform presents a set of instructive and challenging perspectives drawing directly on the dialogues and tensions Material Cultures encounter in their ongoing work. Texts centred around key concepts including labour, time, maintenance, language, land, and touch are interwoven with a visual essay reckoning with the processes that have transformed industrialized landscapes at different scales of experience and resolution. Through text and visuals, concepts and practice, this book explores how developing a direct relationship with materials can help us find new languages with the potential to supersede those we have inherited from a narrow lineage of authors. These discursive threads come together to form a vital sourcebook for rethinking our relationships to materials, land, and development, in all their crucial intersections."

Genres: Architecture, Politics

96 pages, Paperback

Published November 5, 2022

Reviews

[Jess · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a north star for me, and it should be for anyone within fields related to architecture/design/construction/labor/materials. Also a fairly short read, making it pretty accessible and quick to get through!

[Autumn Ayers]

MATERIAL CULTURES MATERIAL REFORM is a fantastic manifesto on regenerative and bio-based building practices. Thorough in scope yet succinct in presentation, I appreciate how practical and solutions-oriented this treatise is. The authors don't romanticized a supposedly "sustainable" past that we should return to. Instead, they combine traditional practices with new technology to meet our current needs: namely, to address the climate crisis by rapidly decarbonizing our construction systems; protect habitats and biodiversity; address class and racial inequalities; and build functional, beautiful, and regionally appropriate structures.

[Laura Linsi · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m very impressed by how concisely and accessibly written and edited this book is.

[Emile · Rating 4 out of 5]

« Building for a post carbon-future.”

Ce petit livre d’une centaine de pages est proposé par une organisation Anglaise sans but lucratif (https://materialcultures.org/) qui recherche et milite pour l’utilisation des matériaux biosourcés dans l’industrie de la construction.
A travers des cours chapitres, chacun dédié à une thématique spécifique et complémentaire (le sol, l’argile, la maintenance, l’extraction, etc.), il s’attèle à nous démontrer l’impact carbone, et donc environnemental, du secteur de la construction au Royaume-Uni.

Grâce à des mises en perspectives chiffrées de l’impact de l’industrie de la construction, les auteurs nous exposent les limites du système actuel qui d’une part repose sur des chaines valeurs mondiales, et d’autre part a perdu contact avec ses racines historiques et locales.

Livre à priori dédié aux architectes, les invitant à se reconnecter avec les matériaux et les techniques nécessaires pour la mise en réalité de leurs esquisses, il est également intéressant et accessible pour toutes personnes se posant des questions sur la soutenabilité et la standardisation de nos habitations.

Ce livre invitant à la reconnexion locale et aux matériaux biosourcés, j’aurais aimé que les auteurs proposent une ouverture sur un début de stratégie conciliant la soutenabilité environnementale et la limitation de l’augmentation des coûts de construction.

[Aline v d Grinten · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book I will always come back to!
It is written in a confrontational, direct way calling out many fields of the building sector for reformation.
It links sectors I would not have thought work so closely together.

I especially appreciate the glossary in the back, as well as a list of organizations, the books and articles that helped them with their arguments and lastly even the impact evaluation of creating this book.

All in all, i have learned a lot from this book and it sparked my interest in sustainable building even more.

Thinking of sustainable building can often times be a bit depressing because what can we really do?
Even tho this book was very real, it made be believe that change is possible !

[Jon Zellweger · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very quick read. Perhaps for those in the trade. Useful in a 30,000 foot sort of way. This pocket-sized reference tool was produced by a UK non-profit who is striving to develop a body of knowledge and resources to aid the building industry (which includes yay-hoos like myself and my fellow architects) in making meaningful choices for building with a post-carbon mindset. The big takeaway is: what a tangled web we have woven. For all the posturing of ‘green’ and ‘environmentally friendly’, its really just that, POSTURING: when one chase’s down the entire supply chain from extraction of raw materials, transportation, processing, more transportation, assembly/installation and then issues related to, say, planned obsolesce, indoor air quality or energy conservation, we have all been lying to ourselves. Not that we want to. But the issue is of such great magnitude, where does one even begin? Solutions are tied to local and global economics, labor markets and trade skills, etc. We are *just* beginning to turn around the battleship and its any wonder if we’ll get there before all the damage done will permanently impact quality of life for humans (and non-human persons as well). A Hyperobject like so many others.

[Amund · Rating 4 out of 5]

Boka her e framtida vi må leve i, oppsummert på noen få side.

Syntes denna boka oppsummerte og satt fingeren på en frustrasjon æ har hatt lenge med måten vi bygge på i dag. Veldig nyttig som håndbok hvis man ønske å slå opp nokka for et prosjekt, men føles fortsatt ut som man lese en sammenhengende bok. Syntes til tider at det blir for vagt språk, men man det e vell sånn med alle arkitektur bøker. Bortsett fra det slappin bok for spesielt interesserte.
Brått blir denna grunnlaget for masteren min.

[George · Rating 5 out of 5]

Proposes a new way of approaching architecture centred around sustainable material extraction and use, looking at the effects not just at the building site but all the way down the supply chain.

Each chapter is kept short, I'd like a bit more depth but they provide easy to read and interesting overviews. Enjoyed the glossary, useful organisations and further reading at the end.

The sort of approach to construction we need more of.

[Jake Lahah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Took a while to get through this one bc I read it periodically. It offers some interesting insights in global systems. Very surface level for beginners looking to learn more about climate change and architecture.

[Anders Blaine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent guide to what the future of sustainable architecture could be. I really appreciated the focus on bioregionalism.

[Laurent Hsia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Everyone should read this book. Important cultural and technical takes on material sustainability written masterfully concise.