Biogenic House Sections

Biogenic House Sections Exhibition

  • Princeton University School of Architecture, October 6, 2022 to January 13, 2023

  • AIA Center for Architecture, January 24, 2023 to January 28, 2024

  • University of Virginia School of Architecture, February 2, 2023 to April 14, 2023

  • Toronto Metropolitan University, May 6, 2023 to September 9, 2023

  • Ohio State University Knowlton School, September 20, 2023 to November 9, 2023

  • University of Michigan Taubman College, December 1, 2023 to January 13, 2024

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 a catalyst 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. 

The exhibit is composed of three parts:

First is an exhibit of a new book, Manual of Biogenic House Sections. A line of stands holds the book into two-page spreads, each featuring a cross-section perspective of a house. The book, and thus the exhibition, is organized into material-specific chapters (Wood Frame, Mass Timber, Bamboo, Straw, Hemp, Cork, Earth, Brick, Stone, and Reuse). Each chapter starts with a life cycle understanding of the given material and its processes of fabrication.

Second is a selection of building materials organized according to the amount of their embodied carbon (CO2e), arranged from most sequestering to most emitting. 

Third are five small houses designed by LTL Architects that use biogenic material assemblies as a catalyst 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. Five Biogenic Houses link.   

Type

Exhibition

Credits

Exhibition Design: Paul Lewis, Marc Tsurumaki, David J. Lewis, Celia Chaussabel, and Kyle Reich

Exhibition Manager: Kira McDonald

Exhibition Assistants: Tengku Sharil Bin Tengku Abdul Kadir, Danial Mahfoud, Olivia Ahmadi, Katharine Solien, Zhuofan Ma, Hongming Bruce Liang, and Elaine Qin Wang

Five Biogenic House Designs: LTL Architects: Paul Lewis, Marc Tsurumaki, David J. Lewis, Celia Chaussabel, Kyle Reich, Tengku Sharil Bin Tengku Abdul Kadir, and Danial Mahfoud.

Material Donations: 475 High Performance Building Supply, The Donghia Healthier Materials Library at Parsons School of Constructed Environments

Special thanks to Dean Monica Ponce de Leon and the School of Architecture staff.

Photography: Michael Vahrenwald