Material Reform
Building for a Post-Carbon Future
-
-
5.0 • 1 Rating
-
-
- £9.99
-
- £9.99
Publisher Description
This acclaimed and bestselling book by design and research practice Material Cultures brings together a series of short, incisive essays on the cultures, systems, and infrastructures that shape the architectural industry and the destructive ecologies it fosters. Texts centred around key topics including resources, maintenance, agriculture, land use, and value are interwoven with a visual essay capturing the impact of industrialisation on landscapes at different scales. 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.
Through text and visuals, concepts and practice, Material Reform 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. This new edition has been updated for 2024.
Co-authored by Amica Dall, with an introduction by Charlotte Malterre-Barthes and photographs by Jess Gough
Customer Reviews
Enlightening, yet leaves me feeling unempowered
Reading this as an architecture student, it is enlightening to understand the current situation we are in in terms of materials and their uses in construction, their strengths and their weaknesses. It has left me with the realisation that as a singular designer, I can make a small positive impact on the world now being aware of the general material reform we should strive for. However, the overwhelming feeling is an unempowered one now with the understanding of how much work there is to do to achieve a positive, lasting and impactful reformation of, not just the construction industry, but our society that is driven by consumerism.