The matter of architecture: building materials in the Anthropocene

Abstract

In the last century, concrete has become the preferred construction material with which to densify cities by height. Yet, concrete – the most highly produced and consumed building material in human history – is a leading player in climate change and a candidate for marking the stratigraphic onset of the Anthropocene: the term proposed for a new geological epoch in which humans have become the leading geological force capable of altering the course of earth history irreversibly. In recent years, wood has emerged as a renewable alternative to densify cities by altitude owing to its potential to generate a carbon-neutral cycle. This article reflects on the properties of these building materials in the context of the Anthropocene to argue for the need to shift from an emphasis on the life expectancy of buildings to what we term the vital cycle of the built environment, where architectural design is metabolically responsive to the deep geological history of building materials, on which the continuity of human life depends.