Urban Mining in Architectural Design

3 units

Urban Mining, encompassing deconstruction, salvage, and reuse, aims to recover materials and components from existing old buildings to repurpose them in new construction, which can significantly reduce embodied energy and carbon footprints while creating new forms. Design for Urban Mining (DfUM) presents a new paradigm for architectural design for sustainability. In Spring 2025, team WashU will investigate DfUM concepts, methods, and processes by experimenting with (1) design with salvaged material for future construction, (2) design with the concept of future deconstruction, (3) showcasing urban mining innovations through an experimental living unit, potentially contribute to, Chicago Architecture Biennial (CAB 2025). Students will use design/build as a vehicle to study how architectural design deals with resources from the city and how it can create attractive architectural forms. The course will include literature review of the state of the arts, and the research may be transformed into a formal journal or conference publication.