Norm cultures
AD Sustainable & Healthy Materials by ArchitectsDeclare
When model making became performative to me
HaworthTompkins (HT) has launched ArchitectsDeclare (AD), an international engegament of architects and people working in the building industry to raise awareness of climate and biodiversity emergencies. This involves, among other things, strengthening regenerative design principles and sharing knowledge also beyond the studio, i.e., HT has established internal research groups for specific topics, such as a healthy material research group and a sustainable and regenerative design group. To gain a broader understanding of the in-house model maker’s understanding of material, sustainability manager Diana Dina also plays a crucial role – not only in terms of outreach to clients, but also in terms of the norms culture of materials within the office and beyond.
Following the remote ethnographic study on Ellie, I observe Diana for several weeks in weekly review meetings of various projects and follow discussions within AD practices as well as her participation in a university course at UCL. In a session on sustainable and regenerative design that Diana facilitates, she introduces a material database that she and architect Nick Royce have started to bring attention to materials and their properties in the design process. Nick started compiling a spreadsheet while researching materials for the American Repertory Theater project during the first lockdown in March 2020. This list grew to use to include materials HT has used in the past, as well as potential materials to use in the future to create transparency of materials and promote healthier and more sustainable alternatives.
A year later, this table serves as the basis for an online meeting with AD practices in the UK, Ireland and Nordic countries that Diana and Nick organize to use the table in a broader context than just within the office. They started in February 2021 with 10 participants and are now a larger group of volunteers who have since expanded the database. Initially, they collect all the information about the materials used in the various international offices involved to share in a smaller group and then publish online to everyone who’s interested. The group is working together to find a tool that architects can use on a daily basis in the early stages of their design process and that is relevant to the initial decisions. Since there are already existing databases, such as Material Pyramid, a possible collaboration can speed up the whole process. The structure is not currently “good as a design resource” Diana says to her colleagues, as it serves more as a holding page. It needs to be revised so that people can not only add to it, but also compare it to other projects to learn from previous projects – a toolkit session by Diana to share new knowledge among architects could be an additional layer. The aim is to not only have a product specification, but to use the database as an educational tool. This tool, which is not a design guide or research, but rather resources, is mainly struggling with the differences between EU standards and other country specifications in relation to generic material. In one of the AD meetings, it is discussed whether it would be easier to create a standard version first. But what would the declarations look like? And what about the criteria for selecting materials, since they vary greatly depending on the project (costs, etc.). On the one hand, hierarchies, labeling and (sub)categories help to get an overview of materials applied. On the other hand, the benchmark makes the resource rather rational and raises the question whether norm cultures guide design decisions.
Creating these knowledge files on how to use materials and avoid toxic materials is a great opportunity for staff to be fluent in the communication with consultants and clients. Since architects have a strong connection to visualization, the main question remains: how to make the database visually attractive and accessible? Communicating and conveying materials is the focus here and sheds light on the issue that Ellie also deals in her daily practice. However, while Ellie uses ways of communicating materials visually through photographs and models to share her knowledge, Diana disseminates how material can provide a narrative for the project by educating staff members, especially architects, about material properties.