Circular Construction Lab

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Circulating Matters 2 explores the potential of a local circular construction industry in New York State. The project reuses materials from the Catherine Commons Deconstruction Project (a former 1910 residential building in Ithaca, NY), reactivating the material qualities and values for the construction of this installation. The design plays on concepts of circulation and circularity by reimagining a staircase as a multi-directional, spatial folly engaging with its present surroundings, material pasts (patina, dimensions of the pieces), and futures (reversible connections, design for disassembly). After being displayed initially at the 2022 Cornell Biennial, the installation has been deconstructed, redesigned, and reassembled for its new location at Art Omi following its design for disassembly principles.

Globally, buildings and construction account for about 50% of resource extraction, and at least 40% of carbon dioxide emissions and solid waste production. Within the US alone, 600 million tons of construction and demolition debris are generated per year—twice the amount of municipal solid waste. Circulating Matters 2 addresses how systemic concepts and methods for direct reuse of building elements at scale can be developed and implemented by combining panelized deconstruction with circular construction principles for a site-specific architectural application.