ARC 386M.44, ARC 327R
T 2:00PM-5:00PM, SUT 3.112
Open to ARC Grads and Upper-Division Undergrads
Instructor: Aleksandra Jaeschke
Biogenic materials are produced by or derived from living organisms—plants, animals, fungi, and microorganisms. Formed through biological processes, many are rapidly renewable and biodegradable, although their environmental impact depends on how they are cultivated, harvested, processed, transported, used, and ultimately disposed of.
For much of human history, biogenic materials were used alongside geogenic resources such as clay and stone in toolmaking, textiles, and construction. Industrialization increasingly displaced them with synthetic, fossil fuel–based, and energy-intensive alternatives, including concrete, steel, and petroleum-derived plastics.
Use of biogenic materials in construction can contribute to climate mitigation, ecosystem restoration, cleaner air and water, soil health, and habitat protection. Reintroducing these materials into architecture therefore requires more than technical proficiency. Their environmental consequences and benefits become visible only when we examine their entire life cycles and expand the boundaries of architectural inquiry beyond the building site and end user to encompass territories of cultivation, labor and production, distribution networks, regulations, and end-of-life processes.
This research-based seminar is open to graduate and advanced undergraduate* architecture students. Each week, students will independently investigate and present a specific biogenic material—such as bamboo, straw, hemp, or mycelium—following it from growth and harvesting through processing, construction, and degradation or reuse. Research will address ecological and social impacts, production methods, distribution networks, regulatory frameworks, and cultural histories and responses. Territorial maps, process diagrams, building sections, and visual and written analyses will be assembled into a collective compendium of biogenic materials.
*Enrollment of undergraduate students is subject to approval.
