Course Syllabus

 

Adaptive Capacity: materials and assemblies for an uncertain future

 

Embodied carbon is one of the most important issues of our day, and critically - one that architects can influence through our work. It is our professional obligation to think deeply about the materials and systems we specify, to engage in responsible practices, and to push the industry toward innovation. At the moment, good options are not readily available for decarbonizing the built environment at scale, particularly in terms of embodied carbon - beyond the basic specification of low-embodied-carbon materials. 

 

It is well known that the structure - the most permanent part of a building - tends to account for the majority of the embodied carbon in a new building. Yet building with mass timber and other more carbon-conscious structural systems address only a fraction of our carbon problem. Particularly as we move toward less carbon-intensive structural systems, renovations of the interiors and skin of a building can add up to tip the scale over the course of a building’s lifetime. Moreover, 90% of NYC’s existing building stock will still be in operation in 2050; in order to meet our decarbonization goals, we must address our existing buildings. How might we break the wasteful cycle of demolition and instead design spaces for future changes of use? Can we think of a building as a kit-of-parts that can change over time?

 

This studio will explore a targeted range of radical yet pragmatic strategies to address embodied carbon, specifically looking at how to increase the adaptive capacity of the built environment. Beyond using renewable materials and renewable sources of energy, can we think of a building itself as renewable - something that can grow, adapt, and “live” alongside its inhabitants? Instead of tearing down and rebuilding, what would an architecture of change look like? What would it take to phase out “demo” from the architectural lexicon?

 

Embracing the idea of adaptive reuse rather than building new, and taking seriously the scalability of our solutions, will take as our site a typical Manhattan office tower. The Adams administration recently released plans to streamline the conversion of office to residential in midtown south. The garment district has been identified as an area of opportunity. With a rich history in the ever-changing world of fashion, the area has recently been subject to several changes in use. Even as these towers remain fixed - their architectural forms frozen in an earlier time - their program is in flux and will continue to change in the face of unknown future influences. Students will have a choice of two sites, each representing different challenges to adaptive reuse.

 

In this studio we will embrace the uncertainty, proposing a future-oriented retrofit for housing as well as other potential future programs. We will consider the current housing crisis as well as what could come next. In doing so we will question the nature of permanence and monumentality in architecture. The public-facing lobby of the building will become a kind of museum for the long now - an anti-monumental model for a new way of building.

 

In light of the urgency of the climate crisis, we will focus on immediately deployable and scalable solutions with the potential to shift the industry toward a more responsible praxis. We will test our ideas in built form through full-scale prototypes, exploring novel assemblies and prioritizing readily available materials. Students will be expected to make use of the GSAPP fabrication facilities. Students are encouraged but not required to work in pairs.

 

Guest lecturers and critics will include professional fabricators and subject matter experts.

Schedule

 

9/11 Introductions 

• Presentation of studio brief
• Presentation and group discussion of research and precedents - adaptive systems
• 4p shop tour

9/14 Presentations and group discussion - 412 Avery

• Adaptive systems
• Program
• Design Challenges

9/18 Desk crits 

9/21 First iteration of prototypes due; presentation and group discussion

9/25 Desk crits

9/28 Quarter review, 412 Avery - second iteration of prototypes due

10/2 Guest lecture - Basar Girit 1:30 - 3p at 300 Buell South, 3p-6p desk crits in the studio

10/5 Desk crits

10/9 Shop visit / field trip

10/12 Progress presentation and group discussion

10/16 Desk crits 

10/18 Midterm Reviews 200 Buell - Third iteration of prototypes and building concept design

10/19 no class

10/23 Drawing workshop

10/26 Desk crits

10/30 group presentation and discussion

11/2 Desk crits

11/9 Desk crits

11/14 Desk crits - NOTE DATE CHANGE

11/16 Three Quarter Review - Draft of full building proposal due, including building plans, sections, renderings, material samples, select detail drawings, and prototype

11/20 Desk crits

11/27 group presentation and discussion

11/30 Desk crits

12/4 Desk crits

12/7 Working session

12/11 Final Review, 200 Buell

References

 

51N4E, How Not to Demolish a Building

 

Steward Brand, How Buildings Learn: What Happens After They Are Built

 

William McDonough, Cradle to Cradle

 

William McDonough, “A New Language For Carbon”

 

GXN, “Circle House”

 

Paul Lewis, Marc Tsurumaki, David Lewis, Manual of Biogenic House Sections

 

NYC Office Reuse Task Force, “Office Adaptive Reuse Study”

 

Metals in Construction 2023 Design Challenge

 

Garment District Alliance, “Garment District Residential Study”

 

Grading

Attendance / Participation 10%

Progress Assignments 50%

Final Project 40%

 

 

AI Policy

Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools may be used as a research and text editing aid. The use of AI is NOT allowed for image generation or to generate text verbatim. When approved, any such use must be appropriately acknowledged and cited. In addition, note that the information produced by AI generative tools may be unreliable, inaccurate, biased, outdated, or copyrighted. If you find yourself uncertain about the appropriate ways and circumstances to employ it, please feel free to seek guidance from your instructor. Please be aware that each student is responsible for assessing the validity and applicability of any submitted AI output, and violations of this policy will be considered academic misconduct.