RESET | COLUMBIA GSAPP STUDIO V (F21)

SEPTEMBER 13, 2021

REFERENCES

Galina Churkin, et al. “Buildings as a Global Carbon Sink” (Nature Sustainability, April 2020).
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41893-019-0462-4?proof=t

Jim Robbins, “As Mass Timber Takes Off, How Green Is This New Building Material?” (Yale
Environment 360, April 9, 2019).
https://e360.yale.edu/features/as-mass-timber-takes-off-how-green-is-this-new-building-
material

ASSIGNMENT (DUE THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 16)

Select a material that has the potential to be a carbon sink, and prepare a 3-minute digital
presentation to be shown at a pinup during studio on Thursday, September 16.

Your presentation should include two drawings (of your own creation) that explore this
material in an open-ended way. The drawings could include a system diagram, a material story
drawing, a building section, a wall section, a massing sketch, an analytic map of resource
availability, or any other drawing of your choice.

Be inventive with your drawings and go beyond traditional default representation. How can you
draw the invisible forces of energy, carbon, and labor? How can you draw varying degrees of
certainty in your research? How can you draw change over time?

In addition to your two drawings, discuss the scalable impact of your material. What raw
materials would be required? How much carbon could be captured? What are the scenarios in
which the material could be used, and what are the limits of its use?

Also, discuss the architectural possibilities of your material. What might architecture be like
with this new material paradigm? What opportunities might there be for new aesthetics and
new ways of life?