Materials and Performance

Materials & Performance MFA INTERIOR DESIGN

Textile (detail) by Claudy Jongstra for Normandy, a restaurant in Maastricht, Netherlands. Photograph by ©Arjan Schmitz.

CONTENTS

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08

36

Overview

Wood

Clay

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17 Stone

48

Cementitious

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22

56

Material Waste

Material Health

Metal

Textiles

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29

62

Environmental Racism

Glass

Plastics Dilemma

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Resources & References s

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“Phenomena exist in the material world. Material makes thoughts tangible.

Materials manifest the world. Being a [designer] means being an intermediary, the connecting link between ideas and materials. This role of a go-between requires more than simple enquiry, it requires solid investigation and research: an exploration of what can be coaxed out of materials, what can be added, what the materials can support, what they can hide, what they can emit, what they can keep what they can simulate, and in the final instance, what they can create and what they can destroy.”

Erwin Viray, forward to Thomas Schropfer’s “Material Design”, Birkhauser, 2011.

“

OVERVIEW JONSARA RUTH

“Materials manifest the world...”

TRAshell panels are manufactured through a closed moulding process from free-oriented short natural fibers, and a plant-based thermoset bioresin.

“Atmosphere” of a space can be described as the feeling of a place. “Atmosphere” can also describe the air quality of a place. In both definitions, the atmosphere of interiors is largely dependent upon its materiality. Materials constitute our physical environments and influence how we experience the world, how we navigate the world, and how we design the world. Material literacy is fundamental for every designer.

This course provides students not only with a comprehension of the large variety of materials most commonly used in design and the performance of each of them, but also to establish design literacy with materials – how to use them in sensitive, innovative and appropriate ways, and how to evaluate them for their impact on human and environmental health. Acquiring material literacy requires examining materials from a variety of perspectives with curiosity.

In this course students gain knowledge about materials for design by engaging with them in multiple ways for the duration of the semester.

Jonsara Ruth, Design Director of Healthy Materials Lab and Associate Professor of Interior Design, rewrote the Materials & Performance Course for MFA Interior Design in order to bring conscious and direct attention to the impact that materials in the built environment have on people’s health and on the overall health of the planet. The course re-development was supported

by Healthy Materials Lab (HML) at Parsons and co-taught with Assistant Professor, Yu Nong Khew and HML design researcher, and part-time faculty member, Sam Bennett. All MFA Interior Design students are required to take this course in their first semester. The student work published in this booklet is authored by students in the Fall of 2017, 2018, and 2019.

This booklet gives an overview of the content developed and researched by faculty and students in the Materials & Performance course, using the lenses of human health and environmental health to study materials for design.

Photo journals reveal student's evolving insights: Over the course of the semester, students are asked to create a habit of noticing materials in the built environment and recording these observations in a photographic journal. Materials are photographed in context, noticing differences in color, tone, texture and quality; how people interact with materials; how the weather has altered the material; and countless other insights. We ask that students remain curious, bringing attention to looking closely at materials and reflecting insights in their photographs. Every post is an original photograph. We use the platform of Instagram to share observations of materials with each other. #parsonsmfaidmaterials Research about materials’ particular qualities and performances: Students are expected to deeply research one of the assigned material topics and present their discoveries to the class. The goal is to discover, reveal and communicate histories, cultures, processes, human impacts, and environmental impacts related to each material. They bring physical samples from the Donghia healthier Materials Library to illustrate their research.

Students are encouraged to present their research through creative, visual storytelling.

Experimenting with materials as empirical research: Students are expected to research deeply through making with assigned material types. Students presented to the class their experiences about techniques, machines, and experiments used in the process of making. For these experiments, each raw material was required to be in 8”x 8” pieces. Students are encouraged to radically transform 8-10 pieces of that material and to document all processes of making.

Students were expected to research deeply one of the assigned material topics and present about their findings. The goal was for them to discover, reveal and communicate histories, cultures, processes, human impacts, and environmental impacts related to materials. They presented their research through slides or video and oral presentation. They also brought physical samples from the Donghia healthier Materials Library to illustrate their research. And they used other means of creative presentation or storytelling.

This research seminar looks deeply into materials used to design environments. From the structural to the decorative, all materials are viewed for their impact on the environment and on human health; for their historical and cultural meaning; for their physical performative qualities and for the way in which material choices affect human experience and the character of interior space.

Of 30 million types of materials on the planet, we concentrate on a few basic material categories: Natural, Recycled, Synthetic and Soft. Each week we concentrate on the most commonly used building materials, including wood, stone, metal, cementitious, textiles, glass, clay, plastics, textiles, as well as composite biofabricated and recycled materials.

We relentlessly ask: Where did the material come from?

How and where is it made? What are the ingredients that compose this material? How is it processed? What are its effects or impacts on interior air? Where does it go at the end of its useful life?

The fundamental goal is to nurture a habit of noticing the qualities of materials and critically ask questions about their composition and how they impact human health and the environment. With this understanding, students will develop a practice of design with an inherent commitment to sustainability.

The course is structured as part lecture, part research lab, and part fieldwork.

Students engage in material research throughout the semester - alternating between studying a material’s origins, its impact in socio-political contexts, on culture and on people with experimenting and manipulating physical material samples. Students discover historical applications, current fabrication methods and new technologies. Through making, they learn with their hands about a material’s substance and its performative qualities while exploring with critical awareness.

Through rigorous exploration, curiosities are nurtured to imagine a wide range of applications for materials.

All research, including unexpected outcomes or failed experiments, are documented and presented to the class for discussion.

Throughout the semester students develop a keen sense of observation for materials, their applications around us in the city, and how they relate to light, sound and human behavior. Keeping a photo journal is required not only to share observations with the class, but also to nurture a practice of noticing materials in the built environments which surround us.

A series of lectures focusing on specific materials are augmented by field trips to observe material showrooms, fabrication shops, and recycling centers.

Ultimately, this course offers an understanding about how to think about materials, how to evaluate them for their impacts on people and environments, how to explore them, and how to understand their useful applications, their histories and their cultural meaning.

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Why make anything new?

WITH WHAT ARE WE DESIGNING? ARE WE JUST MAKING MORE GARBAGE?

"What sort of future are we creating? How can our actions shape our planet?", Justin Hoffman, Instagram 2017 @justinhofman.

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MATERIAL WASTE 2

1

3

Beginning with the end in mind...

"Human beings extract about 15 billion tons of raw material—that's 30 trillion pounds—from the earth each year, and from that they make every kind of stuff that you can find in every kind of thing. Mined ore becomes metal becomes wire becomes part of a motor becomes a cooling fan in a computer. Harvested wood becomes lumber becomes a home. Drilled petroleum becomes chemical feedstock becomes synthetic rubber becomes automobile tires. Natural gas becomes polyethylene becomes milk jugs and oversized, multicolored yard toys.

Mined silica sand becomes silicon crystal becomes the base of microelectronic chips. Each kind of stuff is a link to enormous industrial trains whose workers process the world's raw materials into usable forms that constitute the items of our constructed landscape.

Each kind of stuff also is a palimpsest of innovations in the use of materials, some going back to prehistoric times. The wood-pulp paper from which books are made today comes from wood-pulp paper from which books are made today comes from a pedigree of cotton and linen rags, animal-skin parchment, Nile-reed papyrus, and Sumerian clay tablets. The ink, a black pigment made from the ground ash of some carbon-bearing fuel and then suspended in a rapidly evaporating solvent, has its roots in crushed ore and charcoal mixed with spit or animal grease for use on cave walls and faces. The materials in every book tell a tale that rivals the one conveyed in its words.

Edward Burtynsky, Oxford Tire Pile #4, Westley, California, USA, 1999

It is the same for every other material thing that you encounter. Train your attention on the stuff of things rather than on their function. What you see is a rich medley of materials: the liquid crystal display of your laptop computer; the gritty concrete sidewalk on which you are strolling; the nylon of your raincoat's zipper; the carbon-fiber-reinforced epoxy polymer of your tennis racket; the Kevlar polymer in your police force's bullet-proof vests; the oak of your dresser; the diamond in your engagement ring; the nickel-based superalloy in the turbine blades in the engine of an airliner you are flying in; the warm, supple skin of your newborn; the cool, transparent glass of your office window; the combination of slick, high-density polyethylene and stainless steel that make up the artificial hip which a surgeon may have implanted into you; the cotton of the shirt you are wearing; the aluminum of the can you just drank from.

In a single day the thousands of man-made materials that you encounter, engage, manipulate, and use display a diversity every bit as wondrous as that found in living organisms, which are composed of the most miraculous of all the world's materials—skin, bone, tendon, muscle, nail, hair, and scads of other biological tissues—all of them honed by evolutionary engineering into a beautiful marriage of form and function.

That books and buildings and the things in the world are supposed to be made of materials suited for their functions is so obvious that it almost goes without saying. But things that go without saying long enough are readily forgotten.

That is why the materials that make up the world are most often not on people's minds."

Ivan Amato, "Introduction", Stuff, 2-3.

Plastic Catch, 2010 www.plasticreef.com

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5

Edward Burtynsky, Oil Spill #4, Oil Skimming Boat, Near Ground Zero, Gulf of Mexico, June 24, 2010

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1 Edward Burtynsky, from Manufactured Landscapes. Canada 2006.

4 Edward Burtynsky, Oxford Tire Pile #4, Westley, California, USA, 1999.

2 Jordi Chias, Man against the sea: Costa brava sub, 2010.

5 Plastic Catch, 2010 www.plasticreef.com

3 Chris Jordan, Midway: Message from the Gyre, 2009 - Current.

6 Edward Burtynsky, Oil Spill #4, Oil Skimming Boat, Gulf of Mexico, June 24, 2010.

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AMERICANS SPEND APPROXIMATELY 90% OF THEIR TIME INDOORS. 1

What is in the air we breathe indoors?

Indoor air can be approximately 2-3 times more harmful than outdoor air. 2

Pictured: Kodak Dlexicolor fixer and replenisher. Jean-Baptiste Bernadet & Bernoit Plateus. Karma. June, 2011. Photograph by Asher Penn.

1. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 1989. Report to Congress on indoor air quality: Volume 2. EPA/400/1-89/001C. Washington, DC. 2. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 1987. The total exposure assessment methodology (TEAM) study: Summary and analysis. EPA/600/ 6-87/002a.

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MATERIAL HEALTH Homefront Where We're Exposed Everyday The interior air we breathe is polluted by common household items. In addition to exposure through inhalation, these toxic chemicals permeate our bodies through ingestion (food or hand-to-mouth) and through our skin. Potential effects to our health from daily exposure include:

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Hormone Disruption, Nervous System Disorders, Immune System Suppression,

Reproductive Challenges, Infertility Issues, Diabetes, Obestity, Cancer

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Children and developing fetuses are particularly vulnerable to both exposure and its long-term effects. Children spend more time on the floor, where toxins and contaminants (e.g., dust) commonly settle. Chemicals of concern can pass from a mother to a developing fetus through the placenta. (See page 69, "Material Health" for resources about fetal transfer, children and toxins.) A 2018 study by the Environmental Working Group found 287 chemicals in the umbilical cord blood of 10 US newborns; environmental exposure to these chemicals (which come by way of industrial chemicals, consumer product ingredients, pesticides, and burning coal) is linked to increase in childhood diseases including:

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Birth Defects Autism Preterm Birth Asthma Neuro-developmental Disorder Childhood Cancer

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6

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Reframing Good Design is Healthy Design As students prepare to design interior constructed environments, its important that they do not build with harmful materials. Awareness and knowledge about material health begins with learning to rigorously ask questions, including:

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What is it made of?

How is it made?

Where is it made?

Does it require finishes?

How will it be installed?

Who will be exposed?

What are the health vulnerabilities of occupants?

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1 Paints and coatings may contain Methylene Chloride.

5 Most pressed wood products have Formaldehyde.

2 Dry cleaning products may contain Perchloroethylene.

6 PVC furniture contains Phthalates.

3 Upholstery can be treated with Halogenated and Brominated Flame Retardants.

7 Shower curtains made of PVC contain Phthalate.

4 Products using combustion use Benzene and Carbon Monoxide.

8 Floor lacquers and laminates may contain Toluene.

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CIXOT

WASTE 1

2

Above and below: report from 1987.

IN COMM

3

8

1

United Church of Christ Commission for Racial Justice, Toxic Wastes and Race In The United States map (New York, New York: United Church of Christ Commission for Racial Justice, 1987), 1.

2

"Dark areas represent counties where the Black and/or Hispanic percentage of the population is greater than their respective national percentages and where five or more uncontrolled toxic waste sites are located." (United, 2)

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United Church of Christ Commission for Racial Justice, Toxic Wastes and Race In The United States, 7-8.

*

Environmental Racism is a term coined by Dr. Benjamin Chavis as he revealed this research on racial demographics and toxic waste in 1987.

TOXIC PRODUCTION 4

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UNITIES 6 IN YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD? “Today, zip code is still the most potent predictor of an individual’s health and well-being. Individuals who physically live on the 'wrong side of the tracks' are subjected to elevated environmental health threats and more than their fair share of preventable diseases.”

Dr. Robert Bullard, "The Father of Environmental Justice"

The Times analysis looked at sites listed in the federal Toxic Release Inventory, which covers more than 21,600 facilities across the country that handle large amounts of toxic chemicals harmful to health or the environment.

Of those sites, more than 1,400 were in locations the Federal Emergency Management Agency considers to have a high risk of flooding. An additional 1,100 sites were in areas of moderate risk. Other industrial complexes lie just outside these defined flood-risk zones, obscuring their vulnerability as flood patterns shift and expand.

Anchored in flood-prone areas in every American state are more than 2,500 sites that handle toxic chemicals, a New York Times analysis of federal floodplain and industrial data shows. About 1,400 are located in areas at highest risk of flooding.

The presence of chemical sites in areas vulnerable to flooding is a holdover from an age where the advantages to industry of proximity to rivers and oceans — for transportation and trade, or for a ready supply of cooling water — seemingly outweighed the risks.

As flood danger grows — the consequence of a warming climate — the risk is that there will be more toxic spills like the one that struck Baytown, Tex., where Hurricane Harvey swamped a chemicals plant, releasing lye. Or like the ones at a Florida fertilizer plant that leaked phosphoric acid and an Ohio refinery that released benzene.

“Waterfronts are changing as a result of sea level rise,” said Jeanne Herb, an environmental policy expert at Rutgers University who has researched hazards posed by climate-related flooding to industries in New Jersey. “More often than not, these are facilities are on the water for a reason,” she said. “So how do we make sure that there are protections in place? That’s the big question.”

Federal law does not explicitly require sites in floodplains that handle toxic chemicals to take extra precautions against flooding. Nor do most states or local governments have such requirements.

Flooding nationwide is likely to worsen because of climate change, an exhaustive scientific report by the federal government warned last year. Heavy rainfall is increasing in intensity and frequency.

At the same time, rising sea levels combined with more frequent and extensive flooding from coastal storms like hurricanes may increase the risk to chemical facilities near waterways.

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More Than 2,500 Sites That Handle Toxic Chemicals Are Located in Flood-Prone Areas Across the Country.

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Tabuchi et al., "Floods Are Getting Worse, And 2,500 Chemical Sites Lie In The Water’s Path," The New York Times, February 6, 2018, https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/02/06/climate/flood-toxic-chemicals.html.

Site in area at moderate risk of flooding

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Site in area at high risk of flooding

Tabuchi et al. "Floods Are Getting Worse."

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Pictured: Old-growth wood from tree.

WOOD

[

(approximate composition of WOOD)

[

carbon 50% , oxygen 42%, hydrogen 6%, nitrogen 1%, other elements 1% (mainly calcium, potassium, sodium, magnesium, iron, and manganese)

Trees have been used throughout human history to provide a fundamental material for making buildings, furniture, objects, and interiors. Trees are a naturally growing plant which, when cut, milled, and dried, is called ‘timber’, ‘lumber’ or ‘wood’. Its relative softness makes wood a material that can be manipulated easily and its inherent structural properties allow it to last for hundreds of years. Trees also provide our planet’s most essential storage for carbon, making them a very important component for slowing climate change. Although many parts of the world have an abundance of trees, there is an increasing rate of deforestation. If deforestation continues, more carbon will be released damaging the atmosphere as well as putting forest habitats and biodiversity at risk.

WOOD

Redwoods in Humboldt County, California / Humboldt State University Library Special Collections, c. 1915.

Wharton Esherick Studio / Wharton Esherick & Louis Kahn, built 1926-66.

research questions +

What is the environmental impact of harvesting trees for wood production? What is afforestation and deforestation and what are the outcomes of each?? How is it affecting life on the planet?

+ +

Eames Molded Plywood Chair / Ray and Charles Eames, 1946.

What is history and cultural impacts of the art of tree-felling and harvesting wood?

What is the history of bending wood for design and architecture? How did it change the future of design?

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What is the history of veneer? How was it discovered, and

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What kinds of finishes are used on wood? Historically?

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What is the history of composite wood? How and why was

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What are possible future developments of wood? What

how has it been used in design and architecture (marquetry, plywood, lighting, etc) and how has it transformed the use of wood?

Currently? In the far east? In the west? What is their impact on human health?

it invented? What are it implications in structures, on human health and the environment?

innovation and experimentation is happening currently? (cross laminated timber, 3D printing, weaving, etc)

@svmaterials Eyecatcher, reclaimed solid oak. #mockacaramel #lvwood #sustainableresources

@az_materials A lap table I made by vacuum forming bending plywood #bendingplywood

@f.idmaterial Wood is a natural building material that is lightweight and can be designed and applied into many variations. This post is showing how wood performance in different ways and helps architects and engineers achieve their goals in the GRACE FARM project designed by SANAA.

@fionacdesign Curtis Cutshaw’s works of abstraction are comprised of oil enamel on Baltic Birch - a rather unconventional medium for contemporary abstract artists.

Considered a high density plywood, Baltic birch stands out as the stronger member of the plywood family.

@akmaterials #wood chips - I wonder exactly what makes wood chips so good for planting. Does the wood release nutrients as it decompresses? Is it related to retaining water?

@nvmaterials Design Radical, Ettore Sottsass

@tpmaterials Teakwood adhered to plywood backing.

student instagram photo journal #parsonsmfaidmaterials #wood

@ashleyacloud Part of a materials study— how does wood perform after a flooding scenario?

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student

wood | research

What is the cultural impact of tree felling?

Randall Jones, MFA ID '19

Tree Felling Methods + The process and craft of downing individual trees + Methods range from more ancient techniques (burning or chopping with stone implements) to modern (by chainsaw)

Colonial Contribution: South India + The "rise" of several south Indian Kingdoms under colonial British rule led to deforestation + Forests seen as an obstacle to agriculture + Timber is used for brick making. British India used trees for railways, railway fuel, sleepers (Burmese and Thai teak); as well as ship building (resists rotting and marine worms); and tea plantations

Deforestation: A Recent History

Effects of Deforestation + Climate change + Loss of species and habitat (biodiversity) + Water cycle disruption + Soil erosion and degradation Marie Nicole, MFA ID '19

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Central America: 1950-80

Africa: 1950-80

+ 40% of Central America’s forests were destroyed between 1950 and 1980 + In Brazil and Peru, deforestation causes include: "eco-trafficking", agriculture, farming, and rare hardwoods.

+ During the same time period, Africa lost 23% of its forests + In Madagascar and Malawi, deforestation causes include: "ecotrafficking", firewood for cooking, and charcoal.

Wood Certification Systems + Forest Stewardship Council + Sustainable Forestry Initiative + American Tree Farm Systems + Canadian Standard Association, Sustainable Forest Management: Requirements and Guidance + Program for Endorsement of Forest Certification Randall Jones, MFA ID '19

student

experiments | wood A

B

C

D

E

F

A Bending Wood | Surabh Gupta, Jasmine Hong, MFA ID ‘19

D Microscopic Image: Wood In Flood Simulation | Ashley Cloud, MFA ID '21

B End Grain Interest | Emily Svenningsen, MFA ID '18

E Plant-Dyed Pinewood Blocks | Tiziana Tschudin, MFA ID '21

C Burnt Wood | Surabh Gupta and Jasmine Hong, MFA ID ‘19

F Performance Of Wood In Flood Simulation | Ashley Cloud, MFA ID '21

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FACULTY PRESENTATION From Trees to Timber

01. Debarking.

02. Debarking of wooden logs.

03. Timber.

04. Stacking lumber.

Trees, one of our most ubiquitous and important natural resources, can be defined as “a woody plant that regularly renews its growth” (https://www.britannica.com/ plant/tree) Its renewable quality makes it a sustainable choice for design and architecture and its “woody” quality allows for its sturdiness and structural integrity.

Living trees purify the air that we breathe and absorb large amounts of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, which help our battle in the climate crisis.

Yet, in the design field, these magnificent plants have a different name. Once they are harvested for use in fabrication and construction, trees are called “logs”, “wood”, “lumber” or “timber”. And once made into building products, trees might take different names such as “plywood”, “2x4”, or “plank”.

The process of harvesting trees to become useful building materials has many stages and it is incredibly important that each stage is executed in a responsible manner.

Responsibly managed forests require the careful consideration of timber harvesters. A forest is more than a large collection of trees - it is an ecosystem for living creatures and organisms. Silviculture is the art and science of controlling the growth of forests

08. Lumber ready to ship and be used.

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to maintain ecosystems while allowing thinning so that trees can be used for timber production.

Once cut, the tree, now called a log, will be transported to the saw mill where the bark is removed and the tree is cut. Depending on the ultimate use, it may be sawn into boards or rotary cut into veneer. The method of cutting requires experienced understanding so that the tree can be used to maximum capacity. There are many terms to describe the cutting including Quarter Sawn, Plain Sawn, or Live Sawn. The cut will determine the structure of the board, its ultimate strength, and the grain pattern.

05. Sawdust used as fuel for boiler.

Transforming a tree into usable material is an ancient art and science. Over the course of human history we have seen transformations of the earth and our atmosphere because of clearcutting of forests and other mismanagement of the planet’s tree growth.

History has also shown the incredible development of human habitats, towns and cities, growing because of the use of trees for construction. And in our interiors we have long enjoyed the warmth of nature that is provided by bringing trees indoors as furniture, flooring and wall covering.

07. Stacking kiln dried wood.

06. Stacking kiln dried wood.

Our dilemma in agriculture now is that the industrial methods that have so spectacularly solved some of the problems of food production have been accompanied by “side effects” so damaging as to threaten the survival of farming. Perhaps the best clue to the nature and gravity of this dilemma is that it is not limited to agriculture. My immediate concern here is with the irony of agricultural methods that destroy, first, the health of the soil and, finally, the health of human communities. But I could just as easily be talking about sanitation systems that pollute, school systems that graduate illiterate students, medical cures that cause disease, or nuclear armaments that explode in the midst of the people they are meant to protect. This is a kind of surprise that is characteristic of our time: the cure proves incurable; security results in the evacuation of a neighborhood or a town.

It is only when it is understood that our agricultural dilemma is characteristic not of our agriculture but of our time that we can begin to understand why these surprises happen, and to work out standards of judgment that may prevent them. To the problems of farming, then, as to other problems of our time, there appear to be three kinds of solutions: There is, first, the solution that causes a ramifying series of new problems, the only limiting criterion being, apparently, that the new problems should arise beyond the purview of the expertise that produced the solution – as, in agriculture, industrial solutions to the problem of production have invariably caused problems of maintenance, conservation, economics, community health, etc., etc.

If, for example, beef cattle are fed in large feed lots, within the boundaries of the feeding operation itself a certain factory-like order and efficiency can be achieved. But even within those boundaries that mechanical order immediately produces a biological disorder, for we know that health problems and dependence on drugs will be greater among cattle so confined than among cattle on pasture.

And beyond those boundaries, the problems multiply. Pen feeding of cattle in large numbers involves, first, a manure-removal problem, which becomes at some point a health problem for the animals themselves, for the local watershed, and for adjoining ecosystems and human communities.

If the manure is disposed of without returning it to the soil that produced the feed, a serious problem of soil fertility is involved. But we know too that large concentrations of animals in feed lots in one place tend to be associated with, and to promote, large cash-grain monocultures in other places. These monocultures tend to be accompanied by a whole set of specifically agricultural problems: soil erosion, soil compaction,

Solving for Pattern epidemic infestations of pests, weeds, and disease. But they are also accompanied by a set of agricultural - economic problems (dependence on purchased technology; dependence on purchased fuels, fertilizers, and poisons; dependence on credit) – and by a set of community problems, beginning with depopulation and the removal of sources, services, and market to more and more distant towns.

And these are, so to speak, only the first circle of the bad effects of a bad solution.

With a little care, their branchings can be traced on into nature, into the life of the cities, and into the cultural and economic life of the nation.

WENDELL BERRY Chapter 9, in The Gift of Good Land: Further Essays Cultural & Agricultural define an agricultural problem as if it were solely a problem of agriculture – or solely a problem of production or technology or economics – is simply to misunderstand the problem, either inadvertently or deliberately, either for profit or because of a prevalent fashion of thought. The whole problem must be solved, not just some handily identifiable and simplifiable aspect of it.

Both kinds of bad solutions leave their problems unsolved. Bigger tractors do not solve the problem of soil compaction any more than air conditioners solve the problem of air pollution. Nor does the large confinement-feeding operation solve the problem of food production; it is, rather, a way calculated to allow large-scale ambition and greed to profit from food production.

The real problem of food production occurs within a complex, mutually influential relationship of soil, plants, animals, and people. A real solution to that problem will therefore be ecologically, agriculturally, and culturally healthful.

Perhaps it is not until health is set down as the aim that Detail of CACTUS by Gufram, 1972 Drocco / Mello we come in sight of the

The second kind of solution is that which immediately worsens the problem it is intended to solve, causing a hellish symbiosis in which problem and solution reciprocally enlarge one another in a sequence that, so far as its own logic is concerned, is limitless – as when the

problem of soil compaction is “solved” by a bigger tractor, which further compacts the soil, which makes a need for a still bigger tractor, and so on and on. There is an identical symbiosis between coal-fired power plants and air conditioners. It is characteristic of such solutions that no one prospers by them but the suppliers of fuel and equipment.

These two kinds of solutions are obviously bad. They always serve one good at the expense of another or of several others, and I believe that if all their effects were ever to be accounted for they would be seen to involve, too frequently if not invariably, a net loss to nature, agriculture, and the human commonwealth.

Such solutions always involve a definition of the problem that is either false or so narrow as to be virtually false. To

third kind of solution: that which causes a ramifying series of solutions – as when meat animals are fed on the farm where the feed is raised, and where the feed is raised to be fed to the animals that are on the farm. Even so rudimentary a description implies a concern for pattern, for quality, which necessarily complicates the concern for production.

The farmer has put plants and animals into a relationship of mutual dependence, and must perforce be concerned for balance or symmetry, a reciprocating connection in the pattern of the farm that is biological, not industrial, and that involves solutions to problems of fertility, soil husbandry, economics, sanitation the whole complex of problems whose proper solutions add up to health: the health of the soil, of plants and animals, of farm and farmer, of farm family and farm community, all involved in the same internested, interlocking pattern – or pattern of patterns.

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Pictured: Arabescato Antico marble slab from ABC Stone in Brooklyn, NY.

[ [ [

STONE

(approximate composition of MARBLE)

[ [ [

calcium (from prehistoric shells and bones), carbon dioxide (from water), and mineral traces (hematite, limonite, serpentine, diopside)

(approximate composition of LIMESTONE) calcium carbonate (CaCO3) in the form of the mineral calcite (shell, coral, algal, fecal debris) and water

(approximate composition of GRANITE)

crystalline rock consisting of quartz, feldspar and mica

Stone has been quarried and used in building structures for thousands of years. The vast varieties of stone reveal how they were formed in the earth through their specific properties. Igneous, metamorphic and sedimentary rocks were formed because of pressures and stresses from the earth. The most common stones used in building Granite (igneous), Marble (metamorphic) and Limestone (sedimentary) have widely different properties because of the way that they were formed and in which part of the planet they are found.

STONE

Zaha Hadid, Citco, 2012.

Staircase of the Laurentian, Library, Florence, Michelangelo, 1524–71.

research questions +

What is the history of stone quarrying? What kinds of stone

+

What are the historical methods of crafting stone? What

+ Lecce Stone Furniture, 2018.

are mined in which locations? What are the impacts of a quarrying process on neighboring people and environments?

What are the historical impacts of quarrying stone?

kinds of stone are easier or more difficult to work with? Why? What developments of crafting stone have happened over time?

How is stone crafted now? What are the impacts of stone fabrication on the environment and on people’s health?

Compare structures made of stone to structures made of other materials? What are the positive and negative impacts of stone in construction? How does living in stone structures affect human health? Look at life in Matera, Italy.

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How has technology changed the use of stone for the built environment? Compare historical examples with current examples. What kind of new stone products are available that were not available inthe past? How are they made?

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What kind of finishes are used on stone? What is the impact

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How has the value of stone affected societies historically?

+

on human health and the environment? What kinds of mechanical finishes are possible for a variety of stone? Bring samples of various kinds of metal finishes.

How is the value of stone perceived currently? Does the color of stone change its value? Show examples from history and compare to current times.

How does geology influence the kind of building technologies in a particular region? Choose a region in the world and show how the stone / geology has influenced the culture of that region.

@destroyerbooboo Not only is stone used around the world, it has been used for thousands of years ranging from the walls of cities, to kitchen counters, to art...fascinating to think about what it took to build and quarry stone before the machines of today. #ABCWorldwideStone

@fruzsina_parsons As I was experiencing the distinctive qualities of stone this summer during my trip to the Norwegian mountains, I was intrigued by the characteristics of stone, no two pieces are identical.#navalcemetary

@materealizer Bienecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library New Haven By SOM/ Gordon Bunshaft

@svmaterials Beautiful ornamentation at Grand Central Station. This week we are testing ourselves about the type of stone. My guess for this one...marble? #marble

@tlhmaterials This coaster shows some of the smaller scale applications of stone. What do you think?

@miqiu.studio Stone MIRACLES #ABCWorldwideStone

@materealizer Priene Ancient Greek City, Turkey

student instagram photo journal #parsonsmfaidmaterials #stone

@materialsearch Watching how stone was quarried in the 40’s really puts things into perspective. a textured back like this is meant to attach to a wall - veneered on for beauty. So why didn’t they think of veneers back then to save materials?

21

Earth , Air , Fire , Water IVAN AMATO Chapter 9, in Stuff One day about 2.5 million vears ago, a protohuman living in eastern Africa's Rift Valley made a momentous discovery. No one knows the details, but it could have gone something like this: During a search for rocks suitably sharpedged for scraping meat from bones, this hominid—either an Australopithecus or Homo habilus whom we shall call George— picked up a hunk of dark brown flint by a chalky cliff face. Finding it too dull, he threw it down, an exercise he and his kind had repeated a million times before. This time, however, it was different.

The loud report of the stone hitting another stone drew George's attention. Right there at the point of impact lay just what he had been looking for—a sharp-edged flake the size of his palm. As George stared at this unbidden gift, his brows furrowed. A novel shiver of insight swept over his nearly human brain.

Seizing another piece of flint, he once again struck rock against rock, and more sharpedged flakes laid themselves out in front of his discovery-widened eyes.

In one stroke (George unwittingly launched the Paleolithic Age (the Old Stone Age) and invented materials engineering. Materials engineers are the people who figure out how to make the estimated fifty thousand materials that compose the modern industrial landscape, including the silicon crystals of computer chips, the ultrapure glass strands of optical fibers, the nickel-based superalloys of jet engines, and the synthetic rubber of car tires-none of which are found lying around in the wilderness. They are made the way George made his first artificial stone tool: by transforming the raw materials of the world into new and more useful forms.

Before George's discovery, technology had always been the art of using things pretty much as they were found. A stick from a flat-topped acacia tree was good for getting at ants underneath the savanna's hard earth.

A heavy, egg-shaped lava stone was good for hammering open wildebeest bones to get at the marrow-rich interiors. Left intact, the same bones were good for beating the daylights out of the living flesh of a rival protohuman. The Old Stone Age, which lasted until about fifteen thousand years ago, certainly also was the age of wood, bone, hide, leaf, shell, hoof, horn, tendon, tooth,

22

Above: Used in the Paleolithic era as handheld tools, this collection of burins was found in Brassempouy, France. tortoise shell, claw, vine, bark, sap, and of any other easily accessible material that proved useful in its raw form.

George, our Paleolithic Edison, realized that hominids like him did not have to be satisfied with the world as they found it. Bashing one rock against another can get you a sharp cutting edge where there wasn't one before.

And with a ready supply of sharp stone tools, George could scavenge more meat frorn recently killed prey in the little time he had before other scavengers like hyenas arrived "with their own lust for the same meat. Stone flaking meant larger and tougherskinned animals could be butchered, which made more of the world habitable. Early stone technology helped open doors out of Africa to Europe, Asia, China, and eventually to North and South America. George's discovery was worthy of a special Nobel Prize given every few hundred thousand years: a lifetime of premium flint to the winner.

The technology of stone flaking, dubbed the first technology by some paleoanthropologists, probably spread quickly throughout George's own clan, and then more slowly to other clans. Toolmakers found that certain ways of hitting stones together produced more useful shapes and sharper edges; they found that materials like flint and obsidian (volcanic glass) were better suited to making tools than crumbly pumice or overly hard granite.

The clacking of stone against stone was the sound of high technology for so long that

George's descendants had enough time to evolve into modern humans. Ice ages came and went; deserts greened into forests and dried back into deserts; entire animal and plant species emerged and disappeared; but the stone tools themselves didn't change all that much. During all of this time, there were, of course, other Paleolithic Edisons. Hominid stone workers at various times and places came up with variations on the original theme. But that theme hardly changed in 2.5 million years: start with a suitable stone blank and remove bits and pieces until you end up with a scraper, a hammer, an ax, a blade, or some other tool For some 124,000 Paleolithic generations, innovations in the use of materials were more or less footnotes to George's happy accident.

During this epoch, the effect of materials engineering on the look of the landscape remained minuscule. Wherever they went and lived, the toolmakers littered the landscape with their stone hammers, scrapers, choppers, hand axes, piles of flint debris, and the bony remains of their meals. Like materials engineering, litter is a Paleolithic invention.

But this litter was small scale. Even today's best spy satellites, the ones that can read a license plate from orbit, would have stood a slim chance of detecting signs of the bipedal creatures who were slowly expanding their dominion by devising ways of engineering the stuff of their world. [...]

FIELD TRIP

ABC Stone 234 Banker Street | Brooklyn, NY 11222 The awe invoking power of large stone slabs is best experienced in person.

Each year ABC stone generously hosts our students to visit the stoneyard and warehouse. They also give an introduction to stone, describing where on earth it comes from, examples of historical applications, and the qualities of various kinds of stone. In 2019 they introduced us to a stone product from Italy called “Lapitec” which is a solid surface made entirely of stone dust compressed into sheets. The exciting aspect of this material is that it is a solid surface which does not contain unhealthy binders or epoxies.

23

Pictured: Corroded steel.

[ [ [

METAL

(approximate composition of BRASS)

[ [ [

copper 60-80%, zinc 4-32%, lead 2-8%, tin ≤6% and trace amounts of iron tin and cadmium

(approximate composition of ALUMINUM) bauxite, silicon, iron and traces of zinc, gallium, titanium and vanadium

(approximate composition of STEEL)

iron, carbon 0.3-2%, and other hardening compounds such as chromium, tungsten, manganese, titanium, etc.

Pure metals come from the earth. They are mined, processed, and transformed into some of the most used materials for design. Most of these metals can be recycled and used again. Some metals can be combined with each other to make alloys resulting in substances that have properties that differ from pure metals. But the energy-intensive and sometimes dangerous processes of mining, combined with a general lack of recycling, has resulted in the depletion of the natural resources which give us metals. It is predicted that the earth may run out of metals for our consumption as early as 2030.

METAL

Iron ore mine in Bellary, India ravaged by rampant mining / Shailendra Pandey, 2011.

research questions Inside Out / Richard Serra, Weatherproof steel, 2013.

+ +

What is the history of metal mining? What kinds of metal are mined? What are the impacts of a particular metal mining process on people and societies? What have been historical implications?

What is the human health impact of the full life cycle of aluminum production? (During manufacture? In use? In disposal?) Who are the people that come into contact with metal during its production? Show samples of many varieties.

+

What is the history of stainless steel? When and why was

+

What is the history of metal alloys? When, how, and why

+ Kitchen Chair / Tom Dixon, 1987.

it invented? What are the benefits? How did it contribute to culture? What are the elements that compose it? What are the varieties? Show samples of many varieties

were they originally invented? What is the manufacturing process? There are 10,000 varieties, so choose a few to research.

Examples include: bell metals, stainless steel, carbon fiber, pewter, etc.. Show examples of use in design at many scales.

What is history of lead and mercury use in design and building products? What are the health hazards to humans?

How have regulations changed the way things are made?

(Proposition 65 in California)

+

When did a particular metal (aluminum, steel or copper) begin to be recycled? What is the process of recycling? What are the human and environmental impacts of recycling this kind of metal?

+

What kinds of finishes are used on metals? How do they differ from metal to metal? Plating, anodizing, powder-coating, patinizing, painting, sandblasting - how are these procses accomplished? What is the energy used? What is the impact on human health and the environment? Bring samples of various kinds of metal finishes.

@a.sstudioo "Metal oxidaƟon takes place when an ionic chemical reacƟon occurs on a metal's surface while oxygen is present." #oxidizedmetal #wood

@llmaterials Cans are made of aluminum, one of the most recyclable materials. Make sure to recycle your cans because it saves 90% of the energy than producing a new aluminum can. #metal #aluminum

@jsmaterials Ubiquitous metal mail box- aluminum or steel?

@jmkmaterials Oxidized copper gate in London. SomeƟmes material selecƟons have unintended consequences, which is why it is important to embrace materials' intrinsic qualiƟes.

@tpmaterials #aiweiwei #goodfencesmakegoodneighbors #metal site specific installaƟons #aluminum and #polishedsteel?

@a.sstudioo Steel facade by Zaha Hadid

@a.sstudioo The Vessel is a copper-coated steel structure.

student instagram photo journal #parsonsmfaidmaterials #metal

@llmaterials Cans are made of aluminum, one of the most recyclable materials. Make sure to recycle your cans because it saves 90% of the energy than producing a new aluminum can. #metal #aluminum

27

student

metal | research

What are the benefits of recycling aluminum?

Yu-Tien Hsieh, MFA ID '19 1. Recycled aluminum cans are worth more than $800 million dollars.

2. Saves more than 90%-95% of the energy costs required in primary production.

3. Recycling one ton of aluminum saves the equivalent in energy of about 9000 liters of gasoline.

4. Creates 97% less water pollution than producing new metal from ore.

5. Reduces greenhouse gases by 95 percent.

Recycling Process Sorting Methods 1. Liberator 2. Magnetic Fields 3. Eddy Current 4. Optics 5. Manual

Bailing and Shipping Metal will be compressed using a hydraulic ram. The dense bales are tied with wire to hold together. Aluminum bales are shipped to smelters in states (Indiana, Missouri and Tennessee).

Shredding At the smelter, the aluminum is shredded into small pieces.

Smelting Aluminum is put into a furnace and heats up to 1350oF, turning into liquid metal.

Ingots And Sows Liquid Aluminum is poured into molds to make bars called ingots or sows.

Rolling Most of the ingots made from NYC cans and foil will be rolled into thin sheets to make new aluminum cans.

Molding Gutters, Airplanes, Hubcaps, Bicycle, Cans and Foil.

28

student

experiments | metal A

A

B

C

student

| research

C

C

D

E

F

A Patina St Studies di | Marie Nicol, MFA ID ‘19

C Bent Copper | Marie Nicol, MFA ID ‘19

B Bent Steel Series | Samantha Press, MFA ID ‘21

D Repurposing of Aluminum Cans | Tan Ping, MFA ID ‘19

29

FACULTY PRESENTATION

Above: "A forecast of when we'll run out of each metal" Jeff Desjardins September 2014, visualcapitalist.com.

The Environmental Impacts of

Metal Harvesting

Above: "A forecast of when we'll run out of

30

each metal" Jeff Desjardins September 2014, visualcapitalist.com.

Stuff Matters MARK MIODOWNKIK From Chapter 1, in Stuff

reusable. In other words, they had discovered the perfect material for tools, and in particular cutting tools like axes, chisels, and razors.

"I have only shown a few dislocations in this sketch to make them easy to see.

Normal metals have enormous numbers of dislocations which overlap and intersect."

It is an odd fact that steel was not understood by science until the twentieth century. Before that, for thousands of years, the making of steel was handed down through the generations as a craft. Even in the nineteenth century, when we had an impressive theoretical understanding of astronomy, physics, and chemistry, the making of iron and steel on which our Industrial Revolution was based was achieved empirically- through intuitive guesswork, careful observation, and a huge slice of luck. ( Could Brian have had such a slice of luck and simply stumbled upon a revolutionary new process for sharpening razor blades? I found that I wasn't prepared to dismiss the idea.)

During the Stone Age, metal was extremely rare and highly prized, since the only sources of it on the planet were copper and gold, which occur naturally, if infrequently, in the Earth's crust (unlike most metals, which have to be extracted from ores). Some iron existed too, most of it having fallen from the sky in the form of meteorites.

This ability of metals to transform from a soft to a hard material must have seemed like magic to our ancient ancestors. It was magic to Brian too, as I soon found out. He explained that he had invented his machine by trial and error, with no real appreciation of the physics and chemistry at play, and yet it seemed that he had somehow succeeded. What he wanted from me was to measure the sharpness of the razors before and after they had been through his process. Only this evidence would allow him to begin serious business discussions with the razor companies.

I explained to Brian that it would take more than a few meas urements for them to take him seriously. The reason is that metals are made from crystals. The average razor blade contains billions of them, and in each of these crystals the atoms are arranged in a very particular way, a near-perfect three-dimensional pattern.

The bonds between the atoms hold them in place and also give the crystals their strength.

A razor gets blunt because the many collisions with hairs that it encounters force bits of these crystals to rearrange themselves into a different shape, making and breaking bonds and creating tiny dents in the smooth razor edge. Resharpening a razor through some

Radivoke Lajic, who lives in northern Bosnia, is a man who knows all about strange bits of metal falling from the sky. Between 2007 and 2008 his house was hit by no fewer than five meteorites, which is statistically so hugely unlikely that his claim that aliens were targeting him seems almost reasonable. Since Lajic went public with his suspicions in 2008, his house has been hit by another meteorite.

The scientists investigating the strikes have confirmed that the rocks hitting his house are real meteorites and are studying the magnetic fields around his house to try to explain the extremely unusual frequency of them.

In the absence of copper, gold, and meteoric iron, our ancestors' tools during Stone Age were made of flint, wood, and bone. Anyone who has ever tried to make anything with these kinds of tools knows how limiting they are: if you hit a piece of wood it either splinters, cracks, or snaps. The same is true of rock or bone. Metals are fundamentally different from these other materials because they can be hammered into shape: they flow, they are malleable. Not only that, they get stronger when you hit them; you can harden a blade just by hammering it. And you can reverse the process simply by putting metal in a fire and heating it up, which will cause it to get softer. The first people to descover these properties ten thousand years ago had found a material that was almost as hard as a rock but behaved like a plastic and was almost infinitely

Above: Radivoke Lajic and the five meteorites that have hit his house since 2007. electronic mechanism, as he proposed, would have to reverse this process. In other words, it would have to move atoms around to rebuild the structure that had been detroyed.

To be taken seriously, Brian would need not just evidence of such rebuilding at the sacle of the crystals but a plausible explanation at the atomic scale of the mechanism by which it

"A metal crystal, such as exists inside a razor.

The rows of dots represent atoms."

worked. Heat, whether electrically produced or not, usually has a different effect than the one he was claiming: it softens metal crystals, I explained. Brain was adamant that his electronic machine wasn't heating the steel razors.

It may be odd to think that metals are made of crystals, because our typical image of a crystal is of a transparent and highly faceted gemstone such as a diamond or emerald. The crystalline nature of metals is hidden from us because metal crystals are opaque, and in most cases microscopically small. Viewed through an electron microscope, the crystals in a piece of metal look like crazy paving, and inside those crystals are squiggly lines these are dislocations. They are defects in the metal crystals, and represent deviations in the otherwise perfect crystalline arrangement of the atoms - they are atomic disruptions that shouldn't be there. They sound bad, but they turn out to be very useful. Dislocations are what make metals so special as materials for tools, cutting edges, and ultimately the razor blade, because they allow the metal crystals to change shape.

You don't need to use a hammer to experience the power of dislocations. When you bend a paper clip, it is in fact the metal crystals that are bending. If they didn't bend, the paper clip would be brittle and snap like a stick. This plastic behavior is achieved by the dislocations moving within the crystal. As they move they transfer small bits of the material from one side of the crystal to the other. They do this at the speed of sound. As you bend a paper clip, you are causing approximately 100,000,000,000,000 dislocations to move at a speed of hundreds of meters per second.

Although each one only moves a tiny piece of the crystal (one atomic plane in fact), there are enough of them to allow the crystals to behave like a super-strong plastic rather than a brittle rock.

Pictured: Ceramic pot sits next to potters wheel with clay in motion.

CLAY

[ [ [

(approximate composition of TERRACOTTA) fired grog (crushed sand or fired clay) and clay

(approximate composition of PORCELAIN) kaolin clay (silica, alumina, ferric oxide, magnesia, alkalis, water) 55-96%, feldspar or talc 1-39%, and quartz 2-35%

(approximate composition of STONEWARE) plastic fire clay 0-100%, ball clays 0-15%, quartz 0-30%, feldspar 0-15%, and fillers (silica sand, kyanite, flint, sawdust, grogs)

[ [ [

Clay is made from naturally occurring substances found in the top layer of the earth's crust. There are several kinds of clay, a variety of colors and textures, each with its own intrinsic properties. When clay is heated to very high temperatures, clay is transformed into ceramic - in fact, the word “ceramic” comes from ancient Greek meaning “burnt earth”. Clay and ceramics have been used by humans for millennia and in recent decades, with the addition of technology has become a high performance material used in many technical applications.

CLAY

research questions Bobo Dioulasso Grand Mosque, Laterite, clay and sheabutter, Burkina Faso, West Africa / c. 1882

+

Porcelain. Describe aspects of the history and culture of porcelain. When, how, and why was it originally invented?

What are the ingredients used to make porcelain? What is the difference between Bone China and Porcelain? What is the manufacturingprocess? What is the impact on human health In its manufacturing process, and in the “use” phase?

Is there an impact on the environment? How is it used in interiors, products and architecture? Show examples of use in design at many scales.

Casa Battló, Ceramic tile walls, Barcelona, Spain / Antoni Gaudi, 1904.

Study for Pavilion, Recycled bricks / Theaster Gates, 2017.

+

Terracotta & Stoneware. Compare terracotta and earthware.

+

Brick. What is the history of brick? What are the ingredients of

+

Colors, Glazes, Finishes. What are the ways that ceramics

+

Future Technologies. What is advanced ceramics? What

+

Toilets, Sinks, Urinals. What is the history of the use of

+

Rammed Earth. Cob. Adobe. Clay Floors. What are

What are their differences? How have they been used historically? What are they typically used for? What are the ingredients of each? What is their impact on human health?

Is there a significant impact on the environment? How are they used in architecture and interiors? Show examples of use in design at various scales.

brick? When, how, and why was it originally invented? How were bricks originally made? How are they made now? What is the impact of manufacturing bricks on human health?

On the environment? What gives bricks distinct colors? What is a glazed brick? How are they used in interiors, products and architecture? Show examples of use in design at various scales.

can be colored? What are the types of glazes typically used for ceramics? What are the ingredients used to make glaze? How do they impact human health? How do they impact the environment? What performance qualities does each finish provide? Show intriguing examples of finishes in use at several scales.

innovations are currently happening with clay? From your research, how do you guess that clay will play a role in the future?

What technologies have been combined with clay? Example: nano ceramics. Show examples of use at various scales.

porcelain ceramics for bathroom fixtures? How does this porcelain differ from porcelain used for fine dishware? What are the ingredients of porcelain used to make bathroom fixtures?

What is the impact on human health and the environment?

What is the history of manufacturing porcelain bathroom fixtures? How are they made now? Show examples of designed pieces throughout history.

the benefits of using clay in constructing buildings? What are the ingredients? How are they made? What is their impact on human and environmental health? Show examples of use in the design of interiors and buildings.Show examples of use in design at many scales.

@fruzsina_parsons The Bethesda Arcade is the only place in the world where Minton ceramic tiles are used for a ceiling. #centralpark #nyc

@bynparsons Japanese porcelain pieces displayed at the MET. Porcelain - known for being uber-strong - also displays “through-body” color, added before the pieces are fired. #metmuseum #porcelain

@materialsearch Pigment and metals are added to change the color of brick, but most red brick has no added pigmentation.

@fionacdesign Inspired by Chinese and European dinnerware, @mudaustralia strives to make beautiful contemporary dinnerware durable enough for daily use. Using porcelain clay sourced directly from Limonges France, each piece is handmade in their Sydney factory.

@nami_material As Bingelli writes in the book Materials for Interior Environment, "Ceramics are so deeply embedded in human history that archeologists use pottery shards as cultural markers the world over."

@materialformid Parc Güell, Barcelona - Spain.

@a.sstudioo bathroom tiles #ceramics

student instagram photo journal #parsonsmfaidmaterials #clay

@bynparsons The brickwork at Paley Park reminds me of the Cream City bricks (light in color due to chemical composition of the clay), a signature of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Another possibility: the light colors of the brick reflects NYC’s Dutch origins, as Dutch brick is classically lighter in color.

35

student

clay | research

What is the future for ceramics?

Marie Nicole, MFA ID '19

What are nano ceramics?

Discovered in the early 1980’s, nano ceramic is a type of nano particle that is composed of ceramics and is inorganic, heat-resistent and made of both metallic and nonmetallic compounds.

After researching the future technology of ceramics, other questions about how this technology can be applied to interiors emerge, like:

Can self-cooling ceramic walls replace air-conditioning? What does clay have to offer?

In terms of innovation opportunities in medicine, the thermoregulatory properties of ceramics or nanofiltration technology inspire questions, like:

Can ceramics be used to treat hyperthermia, or even, a future cancer treatment?

Present Applications + + + + +

Vehicle and automotive engineering Electronics Energy and environment Mechanical engineering Medical technology

Developing Applications Nano Filtration + Creation of ceramic pores smaller than molecules to be separated + Cleaning water waste effectively using ceramic membranes + Saves water and energy

Building Materials + + + +

“Cool Brick” by Emerging Objects Utilizes 3d printing Used to build walls in desert climates Inexpensive, low-tech, energy-efficient

Air Conditioning + “Hydrogel” absorbs water and can swell up to 400 times its size + Water evaporates, decreasing temperature of inbound air by 15 degrees + Cut power consumptions by 25% + Reduce carbon emissions + Lessen Global Warming impact

Medicine + + + + + +

Artificial bone, dentistry and braces Biodegradable splints Reinforcing bones Implant material (hip replacements) Bone graft substitutes Spine cage and body inserts

Aerospace Industry + + + +

Thermal barrier coatings in the engine Insulating tiles for space shuttles Missile nose cones Engine components

Innovation Opportunities + + + +

36

Further development of fiber optics 3D printing Automotive industry Energy conservation and environmental protection (ceramic fuel cells, batteries, energy transmission)

student

experiments | clay

B

A

D

C

E

F

A Ceramic Leaf | Aniya Kudysheva and Aziz Osko, MFA ID ‘19

D Clay Engravings | Leilah Stone, MFA ID '19

B Marbled Hazelnut Clay Chips | Julia Milano, MFA ID ‘19

E Clay Tiles | Paula Camarasa and Jonny Q Ye, MFA ID ‘19

C Clay Vessels | Sofie Grimstad, MFA ID ‘21

F Glazed Tiles And Vessel | Sofie Grimstad, MFA ID ‘21 37

FACULTY PRESENTATION Ceramic Innovations

Clay—Ceramics

When clay is heated two things happen:

Clay is “a stiff, sticky fine-grained earth, typically yellow, red, or bluish-gray in color and often forming an impermeable layer in the soil.” The word ceramic comes from an ancient Greek word for “burned earth”.

1. Water evaporates, leaving a crystal structure.

2. Higher temperatures cause atoms to jump back and forth, and some never go back to their original spots, creating billions of bridges of atoms.

Essentially tightening the structure and creating a more dense mass.

Different clays have different mineral content, which dictate the strength and density of the ceramics when fired.

"Clay Transformation", in Stuff Matters.

Layers Studio, Ceramic Trays, 2016.

High craft rather than high tech. Making use of ceramics’ inherent property: electrical conductivity and semiconducting ceramics.

38

Studio Furthermore, Tektites, 2016.

Ceramics, on the other hand, are impervious to UV degradation or chemical attack. They resist scratching better than any other material, too. Oils, fats, and most stains just bounce off them. Tannins and a few other molecules do stick to them, but acid or bleach cleans them fairly easily. As a result, ceramics keep their looks for a very long time. In fact, if it wasn't for the crack in my cup, which runs from its lip to its handle and has become stained with tannins, it would look pretty much the same as it did fifty years ago. There are very few things you can say that for. Paper cups may seem sustainable because paper is recyclable, but the wax coating required to make them waterproof makes this almost impossible. For real sustainability, we must look to ceramics.

Practicalities, aside, there is a social stigma attached to serving tea in paper, plastic, metal, or pretty much any material other than ceramic. Tea drinking is about so much more than ingesting fluid: it is a social ritual and a celebration of certain ideals. Ceramic cups are essential part of this ritual - an essential part, therefore, of a civilized home.

The story of how ceramics got their high status dates from a long time ago, before paper, before plastics, before glass, and therefore metal. It all began when humans started putting the clay from river beds into fires in the realization that they could transform it. It didn't just dry out. No, something else took place that turned the soft squidgy clay into a rigid new material that had almost all the qualities of stone. It was hard and strong and could be shaped into storage and collecting vessels for grain and water. Without these vessels, agriculture and settlements would have been impossible, and civilization as we know it would never have got off the ground. Roughly ten thousand years later, these vessels came to be known as pots and this simple species of ceramic as pottery.

But these early ceramics were not really like stone. They were fragile, easily broken, dusty, and porous (because at a microscale their skin was full of holes). Terra cotta and earthenware are modern relatives of these early ceramics.

They are beautifully simple to make but are still terribly weak. There have been countless occasions when I have put one of these terra cotta dishes, usually bought on holiday, into the oven containing some casserole only for it to emerge an hour later cracked and leaking.

Of all places, the oven is where ceramics should be comfortable, because that's where they were formed, but terra cotta fails time and time again. The reason is that liquid seeps into its pores and then expands into steam when heated, turning the pore into an exploding microcrack that eventually links up with other micro-cracks like tributaries of a river, and finally erupts on the surface of the terra cotta dish, spelling an end not just to the dish but, as often as not, to the meal within it, too.

Unlike metals, plastics, or glass, ceramics cannot be melted and poured. Or rather, we don't have the materials that can withstand the temperatures required to contain such liquids. Ceramics are made from the same stuff as mountains, rocks, and stone, whose liquid form is the lava and magma of the Earth. But even if lava could be captured and poured into a mold, it would not form a strong ceramic- certainly not one that you would recognize or make a cup from. What forms is, of course, volcanic rock, which is full of holes and imperfections. It takes millions of years of heat and pressure deep inside the Earth to tun such stuff into the so called igneous rocks adn stones that make up mountains. For these reasons, attempts to make artificial substitutes for rock either use chemical reactions, which is how cement and concrete work, or, in the case of pottery, involve heating up clay in a furnace, not to melt it, but instead to take advantage of a very unusual property of crystals.

Clay is a mixture of finely powdered minerals and water. Like sand, these mineral powders are the result of the eroding action of the wind and water on rocks, and are in fact tiny crystals. Clays are formed often in river beds, How firing of ceramics transforms an assembly of small crystals into a physically coherent single material

[...] Some plastic cups joined the household when my brothers and r were born. Like most objects designed for children, they are colorful and robust, and this suits the drinks they contain, which tend to be much sweeter and fruitier than tea. The feeling of soft plastic in the mouth, meanwhile, is warm, comforting, and safe. They look jolly and sweet, the material mirroring the state of infancy. It would be appropriate if plastic juice cups grew up to be ceramic tea cups as they got older, becoming stronger, stiffer, and more distinguished. But sadly what happens to plastic cups is that they die young, structurally degraded by the UV rays of the sun. Every picnic takes years off a plastic cup's life. Eventually they go yellow and brittle, and finally fall apart.

where these eroded minerals are washed down from mountains, settle on the river bed, and form a squidgy, soft dough. Different mixtures of minerals result in different kinds of clay. In the case of terra cotta, the crystals are usually a mixture of quartz, alumina, and rust, which gives the terra cotta its red color.

When this is heated up, the first thing that happens is that the water evaporates, leaving the tiny crystals aggregated in a kind of sand castle with lots of holes where the water used to be. But at high temperatures something special happens: atoms from one crystal will jump on to another nearby crystal and then back again. The atoms in some crystals, however, do not return to their original position, and gradually bridges of atoms are built between the crystals. Eventually, billions of such bridges are built, and the collection of crystals has become something more like a single continuous mass. The reason the atoms do

Stuff Matters MARK MIODOWNKIK From Chapter 9, "Refined" this is the same reason why any two chemicals react: within each crystal, all of the atom's electrons are part of a chemical bond with neighbors - they are, as it were, "occupied" - but at the edges and surfaces of the crystal, there are "unoccupied" electrons, ones that have no other atoms to bind to, the equivalent of loose ends. For this reason, all of the atoms in a crystal seek a position within the body of the crystal rather than at its surface; or, put another way, those atoms at the surface of the crystal are unstable, available and liable to relocate if an appropriate opportunity to do so comes their way.

Usually, when the crystals are cold, these atoms don't have enough energy to move around and do something about their predicament.

But when the tempretature is high enough, the atoms can move around: they set about reorganizing themselves so that as few of them as possible are forced to inhabit a position at the surface of the crystal - so that, in fact, there is less surface overall. In doing so, they reshape the crystals to fit together as fully and economically as possible, eliminating the holes between them. Slowly but surely the collection of tiny crystals become a single material. It's not magic, but it's magical!

That's the theory, of course, but chemistry of some clays makes this easier to do than that of others. The advantage of terra cotta clays is that they are easy to find, and this reshaping process will happen at relatively low temperatures - the temperature of a fire or simple wood furnance will do. This means that making terra cotta requires only a small degree of technical know-how. As a result, whole towns and cities are built from the stuff: the common house brick is essentially a form of terra cotta. The big problem with terra cotta creramics, though, is that they never get rid of all the holes, and so never become fully dense. This is fine for house bricks, which only need to be fairly strong, and once cemented in place will not be bashed around or heated and cooled repeatedly. But it is a disaster for a cup or a bowl, which will have a thin body but be expected to withstand the rigors of the kitchen. They just don't last: one small knock and the cracks start to grow from the pores and never stop.

It was the potters of the East who solved the problem of fragility and porosity. Their first step was to realize that if earthware was covered with a particular kind of ash, this ash would transform during firing into a glass coating that would stick to the outside of the earthware. And by varying the composition and distribution of the glaze, the pots could be colored and decorated. This not only stopped water getting in but it suddenly opened up a whole new aesthetic realm for ceramics.

These days you quite often see this glazed earthware. There is certainly a lot of it in my kitchen - in the form of the tiles that cover the walls around the sink and cooking surfaces, making them easy to clean and pretty to look at - and it is all over bathrooms and toilets.

The use of patterned tiles to cover floors, walls, and even whole buildings is associated particularly with Middle Eastern and Arabic architecture. [...]

39

Pictured: Recycled glass as landscaping at SIMS Munincipal Recycling in Brooklyn, NY. Photograph by Liu Lizhi, MFA ID '19.

GLASS

[

(typical composition of GLASS)

silica (sand, often quartz), soda ash (sodium carbonate and potassium carbonate), limestone

[

Transparency in materials is rare and highly valued. Glass is one of the oldest materials that offers both light transmission and protection from the elements.

It is inert in terms of its impact upon human health although the process of making glass is energy-intensive. Glass has become an essential material for buildings and designed objects - so much so that there is a growing concern that the sand used to make glass may become a less abundant resource.

GLASS

Window Glass Blowing, Blowers with partly finished cylinder.

Maison de Verre, Paris / Pierre Chareau, 1932.

research questions +

What are the ingredients of typical window plate glass?

Of Lead Crystal? Of Borosilicate? Where are the ingredients of glass mined? What are the impacts on people, societies and the environment? What are the health hazards to humans? What are the ingredients in other types of glass?

What are the environmental impacts of glass production? How has it affected air quality, water systems, and global warming? What are the impacts on people and societies? What have been some historical implications?

+

How does glass get color? What is the variety of processes

+

What is the history of stained glass? When was it first used

+

What is the history of fiberglass? When, how, and why was

+

When, where and why was mirror invented? What are the

Roly-Poly Chair / Water / Faye Toogoode, 2016.

+

to make colored glass? What is “dichroic”, “flash glass”, “pigmented structural glass”? What are their histories?

How and why was it used? How did it influence interiors and architecture? Are there any health or environmental impacts of colored or finished glass? Show examples of use in design at many scales.

and why? What was its impact on culture? How and where has it been used - historically and contemporarily?

it originally invented? What is the manufacturing process? What is the impact on human health? How is it used in interiors, products and architecture? Show examples of use in design at many scales.

materials used to make mirrored glass? Have the materials changed over time? What are they now? What is the effect of glass mirror on culture? Where has it been used?

What is the history and future of fiber optics as a transmitter of light, digital, and audio waves? What are the ingredients used to make fiber optic glass?

+

What innovations are currently happening with glass?

How will glass play a role in the future? What are the types of glass? What technologies have been combined with glass?

Example: Photovoltaic glass, Gorilla Glass

@jmkmaterials Barcelona boasts some truly incredible stained glass, courtesy of the legendary Antoni Gaudí #glass

@jmmaterials We saw how these neon signs are made at urban glass. The glass is worked while hot and lit up with electrodotes #glass #neonlights

@tpmaterials glass mosaics with black and white infused lines creating an optical effect @materialconnexion #materialconnexion

@fionacdesign 31.3 Polygon Glassware by Omer Arbel, OAO works. Crafted by Czech glass makers, these exquisite 31 individual glass elements are designed to be arranged in different compositions #glassware #glass

@jmmaterials Sheet colored glass with wire #glass

@rjmaterials building with reflective glass walls #glass #nyc

@cscmaterials The future is now #recycledglass

student instagram photo journal #parsonsmfaidmaterials #glass

@miqiu.studio Round Shapes Of Glass Following The Curves Of The Exterior #glass #guggenheim

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student

glass | research

What are the pros and cons of fiber glass?

Randall Jones, MFA ID '19

What are the health risks of working with fiber glass? + + + + +

A rash can appear on skin.

Eyes may become red and irritated.

Temporary stomach irritation.

Soreness in the nose and throat.

Smaller fibers have the ability to reach the lower part of the lungs increasing the chance of adverse health effects.

History and Making of Fiber Glass Development Kale Kleist accidentally shot compressed air at a stream of molten glass, producing fine fibers in 1932.

It was a lucky accident!

Technique Air or steam, applied at a critical angle, can stretch glass into very fine fibers.

Source

Cotton Candy Texture

What are the benefits the material provides? + Long lasting, water proof, corrosion resistant and non-conductive. + Will not rust. + Resistant to corrosive chemicals. + When made with special fire-retardant resins, in the event of fire, products only char and do burn + Cost effective. + Radio frequency transparent. + Absorbs sound waves. + Fiberglass has the least expansion and contraction with heat, cold and/ or stress, when compared to metal, plastic, and wood.

Sprayed With Pink Polymer Glue

Source

Glass Wool Made from at least 35% recycled glass, from bottles and windows.

Source

Future: 3d Printing Source

The Making of Fiber Glass Step-by-Step + Batching (batch is comprised of sand, soda ash, limestone and other minerals) + Melting (into a previous mix) + Fiberization (fiberizer, into “cotton candy” like mass) + Coating + Drying/packaging

44

student

experiments | glass A

B

C

D

E

F

G A Recycled Window Glass Frame | Victoria Kruse, MFA ID '21

E Glass Enameling | Yu-Tien Hsieh, MFA ID '19

B Repurposed Wine Bottle Glasses | Annabelle Schneider, MFA ID '21 F Blown Neon Sign | Annabelle Schneider, MFA ID '21 C Blown Glass Vessels | Jenny Harem, MFA ID '21 D Glass Slumping | Victoria Kruse, MFA ID ‘19

G Glass Frit: Before And After Kiln | Yu-Tien Hsieh, MFA ID '19 45

GUEST PRESENTATION John Klein, Mediated MatterGroup, MIT

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3D PRINTING GLASS

WV.02

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46

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This show unveils a first of its kind optically transparent glass printing process called G3DP. G3DP is an additive manufacturing platform designed to print optically transparent glass. The tunability enabled by geometrical and optical variation driven by form, transparency and color variation can drive; limit or control light transmission, reflection and refraction, and therefore carries significant implications for all things glass. The platform is based on a dual heated chamber concept. The upper chamber acts as a Kiln Cartridge while the lower chamber serves to anneal the structures. The Kiln Cartridge operates at approximately 1900°F and can contain sufficient material to build a single architectural component. The molten

HY.01

DP.01

material gets funneled through an aluminazircon-silica nozzle. The project synthesizes modern technologies, with age-old established glass tools and technologies producing novel glass structures with numerous potential applications. The G3DP project was created in collaboration between the Mediated Matter group at the MIT Media Lab, the Mechanical Engineering Department, the MIT Glass Lab and Wyss Institute. Researchers include : John Klein, Michael Stern, Markus Kayser, Chikara Inamura, Giorgia Franchin, Shreya Dave, James Weaver, Peter Houk, and Prof. Neri Oxman.

“Project Overview ' Glass I.” MIT Media Lab. Mediated Matter Group, 2015. https://www.media.mit.edu/ projects/g3p/overview/.

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SIMS MUNICIPAL RECYCLING CENTER 472 2nd Ave. | Brooklyn, NY 11232

“Curbside Recycling NYC: Chicago Curbside Recycling.” Sims Municipal Recycling. Accessed September 29, 2020. https://www.simsmunicipal. com/about/.

Sims Municipal Recycling (SMR) is the processor of 100% of the metal, glass and plastic and 50% of the paper collected by the NYC Department of Sanitation throughout the five boroughs.

NYC operates the largest curbside recycling program in the United States.Recycling rates nationwide have more than doubled in the last 15 years to 34.5%, due to the efforts of companies like Sims, increased global demand for commodities, and ever growing public awareness of environmental issues. In Europe, where Sims Metal Management operates numerous recycling facilities, recycling programs are even more ambitious than in the United States, and the recovery rate is closer to 60%.

SMR Recycled Glass Aggregate (RGA) is produced from residential recycled glass. RGA is used as structural and non-structural fill, drainage and filtration medium, embankment material, and pipe bedding. SMR RGA has received a Beneficial Use Determination from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, and has been approved in New Jersey and Pennsylvania for a wide variety of applications. RGA is cost effective – typically a fraction of the cost of competing fill materials.

It is a 100% recycled product, and may provide builders and developers with Green Building LEED points, as a recycled and locally-sourced product.

“Recycled Glass Aggregate (RGA) Case Studies - Sims Municipal.” Sims Municipal Recycling. \ https://www. simsmunicipal.com/buy-recycled-materials/glass-aggregate/.

FIELD

TRIP URBAN GLASS 647 Fulton St. | Brooklyn, NY 11217 UrbanGlass, the NYC-based nonprofit established in 1977, fosters experimentation and advances the use and critical understanding of glass as a creative medium. Today UrbanGlass’ studio program serves approximately 350 working artists each year through equipment rentals and a variety of residency opportunities.The expanded education program now serves over 1,000 students, 60% of whom are working artists. In keeping with UrbanGlass’ longstanding commitment to examining new directions in glass, the exhibition programming in the Agnes Varis Art Center presents varied viewpoints through ten exhibitions a year, each organized by independent curators.

“Mission and History.” UrbanGlass, September 28, 2020. https://urbanglass.org/visit/ mission.

47

Pictured: wall in Jaipur, Photograph

by Jonsara Ruth.

Pictured:Lime Silkplaster carpet during theRajasthan binding India. process at Aronson's Floor Covering

in New York, NY.

CEMENTITIOUS

[ [

(approximate composition of PLASTER)

lime or gypsum, sand and water

(approximate composition of CEMENT)

limestone and shells (silica sand and iron ore)

[

[ [

[

(approximate composition of CONCRETE)

aggregates 60-75%, water 14-21%, cement 7-15%, and supplementary cementing materials (fly ash, slag cement, silica fume or glass pozzolon), air up to 8%

Cementitious materials, especially cement and concrete, are some of the most commonly used materials in the building industry and have been used since ancient times. Early cement was made from volcanic ash and mixed with aggregate and limestone to become concrete. However, cement and concrete use immense amounts of energy in their production and now account for xx% of carbon emissions worldwide. Their significant contribution to climate change makes us take pause before using these materials for design.

CEMENTITIOUS research questions +

Cement. What is the history of cement? When, how, and why

+

Concrete. What are the ingredients of typical concrete? Where

+

Reinforced Concrete & Concrete Products. What are the

+

Concrete Finishes. What is used to seal, color or finish

The Pantheon Dome, Cast concrete, Rome, Italy / Trajan, 113–125 AD.

Cabin, Cast concrete, Governors Island, NY / Rachel Whiteread, 2017.

Luis Barragán House and Studio, Plaster rendered concrete walls, Mexico City, Mexico / Luis Barragán, 1937.

50

was it originally invented? What are the ingredients used to make cement? What is the manufacturing process? What is the impact on human health throughout the manufacturing process? What is the impact on human health in the “in use” phase? What is its impact on the environment? What is the embodied energy of cement? How is it used in interiors, products and architecture?

Show examples of use in design at many scales.

are the ingredients of concrete mined? What are the impacts on people, societies and the environment? What are the health hazards to humans in the phases of development and in use?

What are the ingredient in other types of concrete? What are the environmental impacts of concrete production? How has concrete affected air quality, water systems, and global warming? What are the impacts on people and societies? What are some historical implications? Show a variety of ways that concrete is formed, cast, used typically and atypically.

ingredients of reinforced concrete? What are the various types?

Why is reinforced concrete used so frequently in structures?

Explain the difference between GFRG, GFRC? What about concrete products like AAC (autoclaved aerated concrete), CMU, Precast Concrete Slabs? How are they used in interiors, products and architecture? Show some interesting examples of use in design at many scales.

concrete or cement surfaces? What are the ingredients in these substances? How do they impact human health? How do they impact the environment? What performance qualities do finishes provide? Show intriguing examples of finishes in use at several scales.

+

Plaster. What is the history of plastering? What are the

+

Mortar. What is the history of mortar? When, how, and why was

+

Gypsum Wallboard. What is the difference between naturally

+

Future Technology. What innovations are currently happening

ingredients of plaster? When, how, and why was it originally invented? How is plaster made? What is the impact on human health? How is it used in interiors, products and architecture?

Describe how a typical plaster wall is constructed - historically and currently. Show examples of use in design at many scales.

it originally invented? What are the different types? What is it made of? What is its impact on human health? How is it used in interiors, products and architecture? Show interesting examples of use in design at many scales.

mined gypsum and recycled gypsum or Flue-Gas Desulfurization (FDG) gypsum? When, how, and why was it originally invented?

What is the manufacturing process? What is the impact on human health? How is it used in interiors, products and architecture? Show examples of use in design at many scales.

with concrete and cement? From your research, how do you guess that concrete will play a role in the future? What are new types of concrete? What technologies have been combined with concrete? Example: Biomineralized concrete

@a.sstudioo Yesterday we went to the International Masonry Institute to a series of workshops. This is me in the restoration part of the workshop, adding mortar (mix of water, lime and sand) to the brick wall to restore it.

@cscmaterials Glass fiber reinforced concrete #concrete

@moirskye Molded Plaster Fountain, Made by my Grandfather #plasterandbrick

@bepdesigns Cast-in-place concrete techniques are increasingly less common, due to the high cost, labor, and environmental fluctuations associated with pouring on site. [photo by me. building by #tadaoando | Tokyo, Japan. june 2015] #concrete #cementitious

@jmmaterials Dumpster full of bricks with mortar still attached #cementitious

@nvmaterials “Eco-x” concrete with recycled glass

@tpmaterials Making #plaster marble ice cream

student instagram photo journal #parsonsmfaidmaterials #cementitious

@az_materials Guggenheim museum is constructed with concrete.

51

student

cementitious | research What is the future for concrete?

Kelley Perumbeti, MFA ID '19

How can materials from nature be used as longer-lasting alternatives to cement?

Portland cement requires a huge amount of energy to manufacture. Identifying materials in nature that can be used as sustainable and longer-lasting alternatives to Portland cement is an important goal for material science. These biological materials are exceptionally strong and durable, thanks in part to their precise assembly of structures, from the molecular to the macro level.

How would a biological building function?

Bacteria that "heals" concrete can extend the life of the material and minimize concrete usage.

How can we reduce the amount of concrete poured and produced?

Organic Concrete (MIT) + Bottom up approach for designing cement paste + Analysis of cement paste (concrete’s binding ingredient) compared with the structure and properties of natural materials such as bones, shells, and deep-sea sponges + These biological materials are exceptionally strong and durable, thanks in part to their precise assembly of structures, from the molecular to the macro level + Goal: Identify materials in nature that can be used as sustainable and longer-lasting alternatives to Portland cement, which requires a huge amount of energy to manufacture

Bio Concrete (Self-Healing) + Bacteria used to allow concrete to self-heal + Concrete is extremely alkaline; “healing” bacteria waits dormant for years before being activated by water + Bacteria survives by being fed with calcium lactate-filled capsules made from biodegradable plastic + When water enters the concrete, the biodegradable plastic dissolves + Benefit: biological buildings!

Regular concrete must be poured in thick layers to prevent cracking under pressure; bendable concrete can be applied in the form of relatively thin, light paving slabs.

Fire-Resistant Concrete (SelfCompacting and Vibrated) + Concrete typically cracks/flakes under fire this provides a new solution + Polypropylene (PP) fiber added to concrete + When exposed to high temperatures, these fibers melt away and leave a network of canals for the water vapor to escape, preventing pressure from building inside + Benefits: safer, more efficient, and cheaper for construction + Concerns: use of polymers!

Bendable Concrete (ConFlexPave) + Contains polymer microfibers that are thinner than the width of a human hair & distribute loads evenly across the entire slab instead of one location + Supposed to be tough as metal and at least twice as strong as conventional concrete under bending + Been tested in the lab, using tablet-sized pieces. Plans to install full-size slabs in locations around the university campus to see how they stand up to pedestrian and vehicular traffic + Goal: help to reduce the amount of concrete poured and produced

52

student

experiments | cementitious

A

B

C

D

F

E

A Pigment-colored Concrete | Maurice Canard, MFA ID ‘19

D Cement Strength | Sarah Shalam, MFA ID '21

B Terrazzo Tiles | Jeesoo Park, MFA ID '21

E Light Transmits Concrete | Aniya Kudysheva, Aziz Osko,

C Gypsum Plaster | Tan Ping, MFA ID '19

F Terrazzo Tiles from Plywood Molds | Jeesoo Park, MFA ID '21 53

FACULTY PRESENTATION Material Health Impacts PORTLAND CEMENT The production of portland cement is energy intensive and emits carbon dioxide, one of the greenhouse gases that can cause global warming by trapping the Sun’s radiant energy in our atmosphere.

Cement production can emit other hazardous substances such as mercury, arsenic and chromiumwhich can cause damage to human kidneys and nervous systems - especially children.*

Energy Intensive

* https://www.buildinggreen.com/feature/reducing-environmental impacts-cement-and-concrete#:~:text=It%20is%20used%20in%20 our,well%20as%20numerous%20other%20pollutants.

Portland Cement FLY ASH Fly ash is a biproduct of coal fired power plants and is made up of elements which can be harmful to human health. These include silicon dioxide, aluminum oxide, calcium oxide (plus trace amounts of arsenic, beryllium, boron, cadmium, chromium, hexavalent chromium, cobalt, lead, manganese, mercury, molybdenum, selenium, strontium, thallium, and vanadium).

Harmful to Human Health

It has been called a recycled material and used as a replacement for the energy intensive portland cement, but the health risks are concerning.

The health effects can be: eye, skin, respiratory irritation; chemical burns; silicosis; cancers; lung disease; autoimmune diseases; kidney

disease.

Fly Ash

GLASS POZZOLON When recycled glass is ground into a fine powder it can be used as a pozzolan alternative to portland cement or fly ash. It is much healthier for people and for the environment. This is an encouraging use of a recycled product!

New Yorkers recycle more than 180.000 tons of glass, metal and plastic per year and only 20% is currently used nglass).

(80% is orphanglass).

Recycled glass is an alternative!

Glass Pozzolon 54

“How long will the concrete take to dry, do you think?” a man with a dog asked me, while we were both peering through the viewing window of the hoardings. “I dunno,” I lied.

My lie was intended to cut the conversation short, which it did. It was a habitual lie, born of living in London and finding ways of politely avoiding talking to strangers. Especially as I didn’t know how he, or his dog, would take to my beginning our acquaintance by correcting him: concrete doesn’t dry out. Quite the opposite, water is an ingredient of concrete. When concrete sets, it is reacting with the water, initiating a chain of chemical reactions to form a complex microstructure deep within the material, so that this material, despite having a lot of water locked up inside it, is not just dry but waterproof.

The setting of concrete is, at its heart, an ingenious piece of chemistry, which has powdered rock as its active ingredient. Not every type of rock will work. If you want to make your own concrete you need some calcium carbonate, which is the main constituent of limestone, a rock formed from the compressed layers of living organisms over millions of years and then fused together by the heat and pressure of the movement of the Earth’s crust. You also need some rock containing silicate—silicate being a compound containing silicon and oxygen, and constituting roughly 90 percent of the Earth’s crust—for which some form of clay will do.

Grinding these ingredients up and mixing them together with water won’t get you anywhere, unless you want to create a sludgy mud. In order to create within them the essential ingredient that will react with the water, you need to free them from their current chemical bonds.

This is not easy. These bonds are extremely stable, which is why rocks do not easily dissolve or react with many things—on the contrary, they last for millions of years. The trick is to heat them to a temperature of about 1450°C. This is a temperature far exceeding that of an average wood or coal fire, which is between 600 and 800°C if it is glowing red or yellow hot. At 1450°C a fire will glow white hot, with no tinge of red or even yellow in the flames but instead a hint of blue. It is so bright it is unnerving and almost painful to look at.

At these temperatures, rock starts to fall apart and re-form to create a family of compounds called calcium silicates. It’s a family because there are lots of minor impurities that can change the outcome of what you get. To make concrete, aluminum- and iron-rich rocks are the magic ingredients, but only in the correct proportions. Once it has all cooled down, the result is a powder the gray-white color of the moon. If you put your hands through it you find that it has the silky texture of ash—there is something atavistic about it—but your hands soon feel dried out as if under a subtle type of attack. This is a very special material with a very dull name: cement.

If you now add water to this powder it sucks it up with ease and darkens. But instead of forming a slushy mud, which is what happens if you add water to most powdered rock, a series of chemical reactions takes place to form a gel. Gels are semisolid and wobbly types of matter—the jelly served at children’s parties is a gel, and so too is a lot of toothpaste. It doesn’t slosh around like a liquid because it has an internal skeleton that prevents the liquid moving. In the case of jelly this is created by the gelatin. In the case of cement, the skeleton is made up of calcium silicate hydrate fibrils, which are crystal-like entities that grow from the calcium and silicate molecules, now dissolved in the water, in a way that appears almost organic (see the picture below).

Barbican center, Chamberlin, Powell and Bon, London 1982.

So the gel that forms inside cement is constantly changing as the solid internal skeleton grows and further chemical reactions take place.

As the fibrils grow and meet, they mesh together, forming bonds and locking in more and more of the water, until the whole mass transforms from a gel to a solid rock. These fibrils will bond not only to each other but also to other rocks and stones, and this is how cement turns into concrete. Cement is used to bond together bricks to make houses and stones to make monuments, but in both these cases it is wedged between the cracks as the minority component, an urban glue. When it is made into concrete by mixing it with small stones, which play the role of tiny brocks, it fulfils its potential to become a structural material.

Stuff Matters MARK MIODOWNKIK From Chapter 3, "Fundamental"

As with any chemical reaction, if you get the ratio of the ingredients wrong, then you get a mess. In the case of concrete, if you add too much water there won't be enough calcium silicate from the cement powder to react with, and so water will be left over within the structure, which makes it weak. Similarly, if you add too little water there will be unreacted cement left over, which again weakens the structure. It is usually human error of this sort that proves the undoing of concrete. Such poor concrete can go undiscovered but then lead to catastrophe many years after the builders have departed. The extent of the devastation due to the 2010 earthquake in Haiti was blamed on shoddy construction and poor-quality concrete: an estimated 250,000 buildings collapsed, killing more than 300,000 people, and making a million more homeless. What is worse is that Haiti is by no means unusual.

Such concrete time bombs are scattered throughout the world.

55

Pictured: Silk carpet during the binding process at Aronson's Floor Covering in New York, NY.

TEXTILES

[ [ [ [

(approximate composition of WOOL fiber)

[ [ [ [

Protein fiber most commonly from sheep, but also can come from goats, alpacas, and rabbits (keratin 33%, grease 28%, suint 12%, different impurities 26%, and mineral water 1%)

(approximate composition of SILK fiber)

Protein fiber collected from the silk worm (naturally contains fibroin 75%, ash of silk fibroin 0.5%, sericin 22.5%, fat and wax 1.5% and mineral salt 0.5%)

(approximate composition of POLYESTER fiber)

purified terephthalic acid (PTA) or its dimethyl ether, dimethyl terephthalate (DMT) and monoethylene glycol (MEG) or polyethylene terephthalate (PET)

(approximate composition of VOXEL fiber)

purified terephthalic acid (PTA) or its dimethyl ether, dimethyl terephthalate (DMT), and monoethylene glycol (MEG) or polyethylene terephthalate (PET)

The first architectural walls were woven, states art historian Indra Kagis McEwen. With two upright sticks and fiber spanning between, early builders made walls on a vertical loom. Whether heavy tapestry, or light, transparent textile, flexible materials are incredibly versatile and invaluable to design. Textiles are made of fiber, both natural and synthetic. Likewise, color dying can use either natural or synthetic sources. Textile manufacturing is one of the most water intensive industries. Much research is currently underway to change textile manufacturing processes to be more sustainable.

TEXTILES

Rain Dog, Wendell Castle, in Woven Forms Exhibition at R&Company, 12 October - 16 November 2017.

research questions +

Felt installation in-progress, Claudy Jongstra, 2016.

+

What is the history of a natural plant fiber?

Research cotton, linen, hemp, or bamboo. What is the history of its farming, growing, and harvesting? How is it processed? How has it affected people/laborers historically? What is its impact on the environment? Does it consume a lot of water to grow? In what climate is it typically grown?Where in the world is it mostly grown now? How does organic growing differ from conventional growing of this fiber? How has it been used in interiors historically and currently? Can the fiber be recycled into useable fibers? How have textiles from this fiber been used by people across disciplines?

Look globally and historically. Bring examples of the fiber used effectively in interiors.

What is the history of the farming, harvesting, and processing of cotton, linen, hemp, bamboo, wool, or silk (pick one)?, How have they affected people/laborers historically? How has this industry shaped culture and societies? Compare the environmental and human healt impacts of this industry. What are the ways this fiber has been used in the interior environment? What are the pros and cons of this fiber?

+ Silk cocoons.

+

Trace the history of synthetic fibers. When and why were synthetic fibers invented? How have polymers changed the textile industry? What are the environmental and human health

What are the historical and cultural impacts of textile dye processes? How has this impacted societies and culture?

How has textile dying shaped environmental conditions (water) of the planet? What innovations have been developed to improve negative environmental impact?

+

58

Textile Waste. How is the textile industry affecting the waste stream? What is the longevity of and recycling capabilities of a variety of fibers and blends? What are current solutions to reduce textile waste? What are some examplesof closed loop textile systems? How is this creating a new economy?

@fionacdesign SlowDown Studio (aptly named) is a modern lifestyle brand that celebrates local artisans and small batch goods that are both functional and beautiful. 100% cotton, made in USA.#softfibers @slowdownstudio

@nvmaterials woven forms project // ‘RETOLD: Mahal Blue Field’ 2017 by Dana Barnes / original hand knitted wool carpet infused with multicolored merino wool and silk fibers - detail #textiles #wovenforms #wool #silk #palimsest

@csmmaterials Non-spun silk worm cocoons, which have been stitched by hand or machine with cotton thread into larger pieces. #textiles #silk #proteinfiber #naturals

@svmaterials Anni Albers, Variations on a Theme, 1958. Materials: cotton, linen and plastic. #textiles #parsonsmfaidmaterials #annialbers #davidzwirnergallery

@az_materials Different structures of the natural fiber perform differently to water. The wet felted one holds water up to 10 minutes. Very interesting discovery

@tpmaterials #electromagnetic shielding fabric

@tpmaterials #velvet, gold thread embroidery 18th c. French

student instagram photo journal #parsonsmfaidmaterials #textiles

@svmaterials Sustainability, yarns of plantain leaves fibers from a fashion workshop with rural women. #textiles #plantainfiber #ruralwomen #sustainableresources #matriarch

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GUEST EST PRESENTA PRESENTATIO PRESENTATION SENTAT TTAT TA ATI ATIO AT A TION IO ON N l i t x e s&T

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diverse textile supply ecosystem cultivated by NY Textiles Lab.

What we are discussing today has to do with changing consumer behaviour. We all have that. Look, we’re designers but we also consume. Right? We buy things [to make our things]. So its really about making better choices... and getting [other] people to do that. A good way to talk to people about that is to use craft—to use making and materials —Laura Sansone, November 20, 2017 because people get really interested in that.

Day of Wool, 2017. Students explore samples from the

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students spin wool

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both coarseness and crimp.

Day of Wool, 2017. Students practice identifying types of wool by feeling for

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Parsons Faculty and Founder of NY Textiles tile Lab, Laura Sansone, came to talk about natural fibers, the systems by which they the are grown, harvested, spun and used and the full spectrm of the textile supply upp chain. She focused on fibers that do not use synthetic chemicals in the creation on of o textiles, especially local fibers that consider the whole animal in the production. tion She also talked about natural ways to have color in textiles, about natural dying ing techniques t which 1 avoid potentially harmful dyes.

erformance, 201 7.

La ur a

LAURA SANSONE A

student

experiments | textiles A

D

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B

E

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A Weaving | Natalia Vlachopoulou, MFA ID '19

D Wool: Needle and Wet Felted | Annie Zhou, MFA ID '21

B Wool: Needle Felted | Annie Zhou, MFA ID '21

E Scrumbled Jute Fiber | Carey Gallagher, MFA ID ‘21

C Textile Stretch | Sourabh Gupta, MFA ID ‘19

F Textile Collage | Leilah Stone, MFA ID '19 61

PLASTICS

[ [ [ [

[[ [[ [[ [[

[ [ [ [

(ACRYLIC, PMMA) natural gas, propane, propylene, isopropyl alcohol, acetone hydrogen cyanide, acetone cyanohydrin, sulfuric acid, methacrylamide, methanol, methyl methacrylate

(NYLON 6.6) crude oil, naphtha, benzene,cyclohexane, adipic acid, hexamethylenediamine furic acid, methacrylamide, methanol, methyl methacrylate

(CROSSLINKED POLYEHTYLENE, PEX)

(POLYESTER, PET)

phosgene natural gas, ethane, ethylene

natural gas, methane, methanol, terepthalic acid, dimethyl terephthalate - 1, 4-butanediol

(CHLORINATED POLYURETHANE)

(NEOPRENE)

natural gas, propane, propylene, propylene oxide, polypropylene oxide polyol, MDI, TDI, polymeric isocyanate, polyurethane, chlorine

natural gas, chlorine, butadiene

(CHLORINATED POLYVINYL CHLORIDE, CPVC) natural gas, propane, ethylene, chlorine, ethylene dichloride, vinyl chloride, chlorine

(POLYVINYL CHLORIDE, PVC)

natural gas, propane, ethylene, chlorine, ethylene dichloride, vinyl chloride

The majority of raw materials which go into making plastic are primarily petrochemicals. Petrochemicals are maily comprised of crude oil and natural gas. The production of them into usable plastics is detrimental to human health and to the health of the earth. People who live near these factories have a increased rate of cancer, asthma, and abnormal pregnancies; the soil near these plants can remain polluted for decades. In use, the chemicals in plastics can leach out of the material and enter human and animal bodies causing problems in normal functioning.

dilemma

[ [ [ [

[[ [[ [[ [

[ [ [

(ETHYLENE VINYL ACETATE, ETA)

(POLYPROPYLENE, PP)

natural gas, propane, ethylene, vinyl acetate, ethylene

natural gas, propane, propylene

(POLYCARBONATE, PC)

(POLYACTIC ACID, PLA)

crude oil, naphtha, benzene, chlorine, chlorobenzene, phenol, acetone, bisphenol A, phosgene

starch, lactic acid, lactide

(NYLON 6)

(POLYETHYLENE, PE)

crude oil, naphtha, benzene, cyclohexane, cyclohexanone, hydroxyl amine, cyclohexanone oxime, sulfuric acid, caprolactam

natural gas, ethane, ethylene

(SILICONE) natural gas, water, methane, methanol, hydrochloric acid, methyl chlorinde, silicon metal, methyl chlorosilanes,crude oil, naphtha, benzene, chlorosilanephenyl

When they are disposed of, plastics do not biodegrade. Instead, with exposure to UV light, they break down into small pieces and make their way into water systems. Currently, over 8 million tons of plastic end up in the ocean each year. Nonetheless, the petrochemical industry remains the fastest growing sector of manufacturing since the 1960s, and over 300 million tons of plastic continue to be created annually. We recommend avoiding the use of plastic for any design application, if possible.

*PLASTICS dilemma research questions

Plastiglomerate, Kamilo Beach, Hawaii 2014.

+

What is the history of plastic and polymers? When and

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What type of plastics are commonly used in interior environments? What types of plastics are commonly

how were they discovered? How did the invention of plastics impact culture and society? How does plastic production impact people and the environment?

used in interior environments? What kinds of plastics were produced for the home historically? How did plastic in the home affect people and culture? What kinds of plastic are produced currently? Where are they most frequently used? What are their impacts on human health?

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Great Pacific Garbage Patch, modeled mass concentration, The Ocean Cleanup.

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What is the history of interior house paint? What is the history of interior house paint? When, why, and how was it invented? Where was it first manufactured? How was the invention of house paint significant for society? How does the production of acrylic paint affect people and the environment? How does this paint affect people who live with it in their homes, schools, and workplaces?

What innovations are currently happening with plastic to make it more sustainable? What innovation and experimentation is happening currently? How will plastic play a role in the future?

What are the types of plastics? What technologies have been explored to reduce its environmental and health impacts?

Examples: Bacteria breaking down plastic, compostable plastics.

'

+

What are the environmental and sociopolitical impacts of the production of polyvinyl chloride (PVC)? Where is it produced?

Who are the communities that live near PVC factories, and how have they been affected in the United States? What policies have made it possible for PVC to be continued to be produced and what is the history of those policies? What role do politics and lobbyists play?

+ Bail of plastic bags at SIMS Municipal Recycling in Brooklyn, New York.

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Recycling plastics. When did particular plastics (PET, HPDE, PS) begin to be recycled? What types of plastics are challenging to recycle and why? What percentage of plastics end up in the waste stream? What is the process of recycling? What are the human and environmental impacts of recycling these kinds of plastics? How has recycling affected cultures?

What innovations are currently happening with plastic to make it more sustainable? What innovation and experimentation is happening currently? How will plastic play a role in the future?

What are the types of plastics? What technologies have been explored to reduce its environmental and health impacts?

Examples: Bacteria breaking down plastic, compostable plastics.

If we imagine plastic at the end of its useable life, it is very hard to advocate for its use in any new designed object or space.

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@jmkmaterials Aside from the chemicals we knowingly ingest, plastic packaging contains bisphenols and phthalates that can contaminate what we consume

@svmaterials Bold and vibrant, yet hazardous for the environment. The disposal of balloons has become one of the hardest chores for our communities; this isolated yellow dog could be mistaken by animals as food, putting their lives at risk.

@fionacdesign #preciousplastic is a great example of a community that is taking steps to transform how we dispose and recycle plastic. By shredding plastic waste and repurposing them into new objects, these waste products are given a second life #synthetic

@bynparsons When reading about how “polymers are forever” in The World Without Us by Alan Weisman, I was reminded of this famous scene in the 1967 film, The Graduate. The 1960s marked the slippery slope of polymer production; our oceans began to reflect the proliferation of this “forever” material...

@sustainability_and_materials Use of plastic bags has been a fundamental method, ever since collection and storage of trash came into practice. Everyday hundred thousand tons of material in different forms of plastic is produced and ends up in landfills and ocean, which is a non-biodegradable material.

@spcmaterials coffee cup lid #peopleandplastic

@llmaterials We keep giving ourselves reasons to want plastics

student instagram photo journal #parsonsmfaidmaterials #plastic

@a.sstudioo Adidas is collaborating with Parley for the Oceans to create shoes from recycled plastics. Parley created a strategy called AIR (Avoid, Intercept, Redesign) as a way to approach design using plastic. #cooperhewittl #adidas #air

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MATERIAL IDENTITY A Haptic Exercise

Pictured: MFA ID Students on the first day of Material & Performance Class, 2018.

On the first day of class, we asked students to reach into a paper bag and, without looking, hold the object within. After a couple mins of touching they were asked to guess the material type that was in their hand and write it down. Then pass the bag to the student on their left, and guess the next material hidden within the bag. And again until each student had written guesses for 20 objects. Next the bags were opened and material types, as well as everyone’s guesses, were revealed. Some laughs, some inquisitive looks, and so began the semester of exploring, experimenting, and researching materials for design.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Fall 2021

Faculty, MFA Interior Design Materials & Performance Jonsara Ruth, Associate Professor of Interior Design Yu Nong Khew, Assistant Professor of Interior Design Samantha Bennett, HML Research Assistant (2017) and Part-time Faculty (2018) Students Parsons MFA Interior Design Students 2017 - 2019 Research Fellows & Publication Designers Natalia Vlachopoulou, MFA Interior Design ‘19 Robyn Bohn, MFA Interior + Lighting Design ‘22 Hana Wilson, MFA Interior Design '22

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Parsons Healthy Materials Lab supported the re-development of the Materials & Performance course and this publication. The course is taught in the MFA Interior Design program at Parsons School of Constructed Environments at The New School.

Parsons Healthy Materials Lab 2 west 13th street, room 310 New York City 10011 Healthymaterialslab.org

Healthy Materials Lab at Parsons School of Design is dedicated to placing human health and ecologies at the center of all design decisions; is committed to raising awareness about toxics in building products; and creates resources for the next generation of designers and architects to make healthier places for all people to live.

Director, Alison Mears AIA LEED AP Design Director, Jonsara Ruth ASID

All rights reserved, published in the United States by Parsons’ Healthy Materials Lab.

RESOURCES & REFERENCES Overview Erwin Viray, forward to Thomas Schropfer’s “Material Design”, Birkhauser, 2011.

Material Waste Amato, Iavan. “Stuff, Stuff, Everywhere Stuff.”

In Stuff: The Materials The World Is Made Of, 1-10 New York, NY: Harper Perennial, 1998.

Amato, Iavan. “Earth, Air, Fire and Water” In Stuff: The Materials The World Is Made Of, 17-34 New York, NY: Harper Perennial, 1998.

Braungart, Michael. “Putting Eco-Effectiveness into Practice” In Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things, 157-86 New York, NY: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2002.

The Story of Stuff Project. "The Story of Stuff".

May 24, 2017. Accessed September 05, 2018. https://storyofstuff.org/movies/story-of-stuff/.

The Story of Stuff. "The Story of Solutions".

February 23, 2017. Accessed September 05, 2018. https://storyofstuff.org/movies/the-story-ofsolutions/.

Material Health Toxic Hot Seat, directed by James Redford and Kirby Walker, KIrby. HBO, November 25, 2013. https://www.hbo.com/documentaries.toxic-hot-seat The Human Experiment, directed by Don Hardy Jr and Dana Nachman, Los Altos, CA: KTF Films, 2013.

Urbina, Ian. "As OSHA Emphasizes Safety, Long-Term Health Risks Fester." (New York), March 31, 2013. March 30, 2013. Accessed September 05, 2018. https://www.nytimes. com/2013/03/31/us/osha-emphasizes-safety-healthrisks-fester.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0.

Environmental Racism

Binggeli, Corky. “Metals.” In Materials for Interior Environments. Somerset: John Wiley & Sons, Incorporated.

Sixclasses.org. September 17, 2017. Accessed May 28, 2018.

Glass Bellard, Bell. “Glass.” In Materials for Design, 12-7. Princeton, NJ: Princeton Architectural Press, 2006.

Binggeli, Corky. “Glass and Ceramics.a” In Materials for Interior Environments, 83-96.

Somerset: John Wiley & Sons, Incorporated.

Corning Incorporated. "A Day Made of Glass 2: Unpacked. The Story Behind Corning's Vision".

YouTube. February 03, 2012. Accessed August 27, 2018. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XGXO_urMow&list=PL00407EB774FA759B. Haanstra, Bert. "Glass". YouTube. August 26, 2010. Accessed August 27, 2018. https://www. youtube.com/watch?v=aLS7--ZLCoI. Miodownik, Mark. “Invisible.” In Stuff Matters: Exploring the Marvelous Materials That Shape Our Man-Made World, (Chapter 7 pages). New York, NY: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2014.

PilkingtonTV. "Pilkington Float Glass - Float Process". YouTube. October 19, 2011. Accessed August 27, 2018. https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=OVokYKqWRZE. Clay

Miodownik, Mark. “Fundamental.” In Stuff Matters: Exploring the Marvelous Materials That Shape Our Man-Made World. New York, NY: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2014.

Textiles Binggeli, Corky. “Finish Comparisons.” In Materials for Interior Environments, 209-36.

Somerset: John Wiley & Sons, Incorporated.

Fletcher, Kate. Sustainable Fashion and Textiles: Design Journeys. London: Routledge, 2014.

Rich, Nathaniel. “The Lawyer Who Became DuPont’s Worst Nightmare.” The New York Times, January 10, 2016, 36.

SixClasses.org. Flame Retardants in Six Classes 2017. YouTube. September 17, 2017. Accessed August 27, 2018. https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=jmZUJJ8keBE. SixClasses.org. Highly Fluorinated in Six Classes 2017. YouTube. September 17, 2017. Accessed August 27, 2018. https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=jmZUJJ8keBE. Plastic Dilemma Tyree, Chris, and Dan Morisson. “INVISIBLES: The Plastic inside Us.” Orb Media. Accessed May 28, 2018. https://orbmedia.org/stories/Invisibles_ plastics.

Rogers, Heather. “A Brief History of Plastic.”

The Brooklyn Rail. May 1, 2005. Accessed May 28, 2018. https://brooklynrail.org/2005/05/ express/a-brief-history-of-plastic.

Miodownik, Mark. “Refined.” In Stuff Matters: Exploring the Marvelous Materials That Shape Our Man-Made World, 179 - 93. New York, NY: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2014.

Weisman, Alan. “Polymers Are Forever.” Orion Magazine. May 7, 2007. Accessed May 28, 2018. https://orionmagazine.org/article/polymers-areforever/.

Binggeli, Corky. “Ceramics.” In Materials for Interior Environments, 97-106. Somerset: John Wiley & Sons, Incorporated.

World Economic Forum. "The New Plastics Booming" in Rethinking the future of Plastics.

January 2016

United Church of Christ Commission for Racial Justice, Toxic Wastes and Race In The United States map (New York, New York: United Church of Christ Commission for Racial Justice, 1987), 1.

GypsumAssociation. "Gypsum - The Miracle Mineral". YouTube. May 29, 2012. Accessed August 27, 2018. https://www.youtube.com/ watch?time_continue=46&v=3fYlKUUyj4M.

Guest Speakers

Tabuchi, Hiroko, and Nadja Popovich, Blacki Migliozzi, Andrew W. Lehren, "Floods Are Getting Worse, And 2,500 Chemical Sites Lie In The Water’s Path," The New York Times, February 6, 2018, https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/02/06/climate/flood-toxic-chemicals. html.

"How it's made" YouTube. October 05, 2009.

Accessed August 27, 2018. https://www.youtube. com/watch?v=SbKvhHzn4hQ.

Field Trips

See Mount Sinai’s “Children’s Environmental Health Centerfor a wealth of resources covering children and toxics.

Wood Binggeli, Corky. “Wood and Wood Products.”

In Materials for Interior Environments, 107-32.

Somerset: John Wiley & Sons, Incorporated.

Bellard, Bell. “Wood.” In Materials for Design, 107-14. Princeton, NJ: Princeton Architectural Press, 2006.

Stone Bowers, Helen. "Stone, Ceramics and Tiles" in Interior Materials & Surfaces: The Complete Guide, 192-199. Richmond Hill, Ont.: Firefly, 2005.

Metal Amato, Iavan. “Steel.” In Stuff: The Materials The World Is Made Of, New York, NY: Harper Perennial, 1998.

"Inspiring Japanese Plastering Documentary."

The Year of Mud. October 11, 2017. Accessed August 27, 2018. http://www.theyearofmud. com/2017/10/11/japanese-plastering-video/.

"Keratec - Extruded Porcelain Tiles" YouTube. October 27, 2016. Accessed August 27, 2018. https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=qX9uozGVMPE. "The Real Dirt About Clay." PBS LearningMedia. Accessed August 27, 2018. https:// ny.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/8e596e47-7bff420f-b527-4a30cb42839a/the-real-dirt-aboutclay/#.W4Qy0uhKjZu.

John Klein Laura Sansone

ABC Stone 234 Banker St, Brooklyn, NY 11222 Aronson's Floor Covering 135W 17th St, New York, NY 10011 Design & Decorating Building - Textile Showrooms 979 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10022 International Masonry Institute 24W 12-07 44th Ave, Long Island City, NY 11101 LV WOOD 24W 20th St, New York, NY 10011 SIMS Recycling Solutions 472 2nd Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11232

Cementitious Bellard, Bell. “Concrete.” In Materials for Design, 53-9. Princeton, NJ: Princeton Architectural Press, 2006.

Binggeli, Corky. “Plaster & Gypsum Board.”

In Materials for Interior Environments, 133-49.

Somerset: John Wiley & Sons, Incorporated.

"Cement, how is it made". YouTube. November 15, 2007. Accessed August 27, 2018. https://www. youtube.com/watch?v=n-Pr1KTVSXo.

Urban Glass 647 Fulton St, Brooklyn, NY 11217 Student Research *Student authors are cited on page. Original source citations available upon request.

MODERN MEADOW grows leather in a lab

ZOA bioleather shapes (above) by Modern Meadow. Zoa™ is the world’s first biofabricated leather brand. Made by Modern Meadow, Zoa™ is the company’s first generation of materials created with nature’s essential protein, collagen, but grown completely without animal derivatives. Supple, durable, and flexible in form, Zoa biofabricated leather materials open up new possibilities in design and manufacturing not possible with traditional leather. Modern Meadow is currently partnering with world-class brands across luxury and consumer goods categories to grow products of Zoa. Modern Meadow is pioneering biologically advanced materials. The company harnesses the power of design, biology, and engineering to produce the world’s first biofabricated leather materials.

Modern Meadow materials enable new design and performance possibilities, and, by partnering with some of the world’s most cherished and innovative consumer brands, aims to bring new life to the materials world. Learn more at www.zoa.is