Eine Plattform für die Wissenschaft: Bauingenieurwesen, Architektur und Urbanistik
Eine Plattform für die Wissenschaft: Bauingenieurwesen, Architektur und Urbanistik
Upcycled Regionalism: The Aesthetics of Geopolymer Concrete
Sometimes the more powerful act is not to make new, but to make anew with what we already have. Since the built environment accounts for around 50% of all raw material extracted from the earth (European Commission 2018), the transition to a circular economy for this industry will require extensive restructuring in terms of resource extraction and production patterns. This paper argues, however, that aesthetics also plays a significant role for rethinking resources. The paper examines the aesthetics of Geopolymer concrete (GPC)—a low carbon sustainable building material based on circular principles—recently developed by the Norwegian start-up company SafeRock. GPC answers the demand for circular economy in the building industry through upcycling of waste. SafeRock announced their first pilot project in 2021, a GPC made with mining residues from the mine Titania in Norway. SafeRock’s GPC is based on on-site production, eliminating both transport emissions and time. Importantly, the site-specificity of the mine becomes an aesthetic quality of GPC surfaces; different waste products from different mines produce different textures and colors. Like a “spolia” for our times, site-specific traces of a modernist paradigm of mass-extraction are aesthetically visible in the upcycled GPC surface. The paper aims to develop a conceptual framework for critical reflection on aesthetics and upcycling of materials. By combining theory from the humanities with examples from architectural practice, the paper introduces the term “upcycled regionalism” to unpack the aesthetic potential of GPC.
Upcycled Regionalism: The Aesthetics of Geopolymer Concrete
Sometimes the more powerful act is not to make new, but to make anew with what we already have. Since the built environment accounts for around 50% of all raw material extracted from the earth (European Commission 2018), the transition to a circular economy for this industry will require extensive restructuring in terms of resource extraction and production patterns. This paper argues, however, that aesthetics also plays a significant role for rethinking resources. The paper examines the aesthetics of Geopolymer concrete (GPC)—a low carbon sustainable building material based on circular principles—recently developed by the Norwegian start-up company SafeRock. GPC answers the demand for circular economy in the building industry through upcycling of waste. SafeRock announced their first pilot project in 2021, a GPC made with mining residues from the mine Titania in Norway. SafeRock’s GPC is based on on-site production, eliminating both transport emissions and time. Importantly, the site-specificity of the mine becomes an aesthetic quality of GPC surfaces; different waste products from different mines produce different textures and colors. Like a “spolia” for our times, site-specific traces of a modernist paradigm of mass-extraction are aesthetically visible in the upcycled GPC surface. The paper aims to develop a conceptual framework for critical reflection on aesthetics and upcycling of materials. By combining theory from the humanities with examples from architectural practice, the paper introduces the term “upcycled regionalism” to unpack the aesthetic potential of GPC.
Upcycled Regionalism: The Aesthetics of Geopolymer Concrete
Sustainable Development Goals Series
Thomsen, Mette Ramsgaard (Herausgeber:in) / Ratti, Carlo (Herausgeber:in) / Tamke, Martin (Herausgeber:in) / Halland, Ingrid (Autor:in) / Rossi, Stian (Autor:in)
World Congress of Architects ; 2023 ; Copenhagen, Denmark
17.11.2023
8 pages
Aufsatz/Kapitel (Buch)
Elektronische Ressource
Englisch
UPCYCLED CO2-NEGATIVE CONCRETE PRODUCT FOR USE IN CONSTRUCTION
| Europäisches Patentamt | 2018
| TIBKAT | 2000
Upcycled homes : einzigartig, innovativ & nachhaltig wohnen
| TIBKAT | 2017
Efficient integration of manufacturing of upcycled concrete product into power plants
| Europäisches Patentamt | 2022
Efficient integration of manufacturing of upcycled concrete product into power plants
| Europäisches Patentamt | 2024