O

ver the course of this year, federal priorities in the United States have shaken up both new sustainability-focused initiatives launched under the last administration as well as longer-term cornerstones established under administrations before that. Meanwhile, most state-level policies have stayed in place or moved forward. The result is a mixed bag for building industry professionals when it comes to driving efficiency, minimizing risk, and advancing sustainability and well-being in their projects. Here are a few examples that show the current state of flux in this country:

PV Sunset

Homeowners who install solar energy have been able to claim tax credits since 2005, when President George W. Bush revived an older program that had been allowed to lapse. But that 20-year subsidy ends at the end of this year. Meanwhile, the EPA has canceled its $7 billion Solar for All program, pulling back $156 million from low-income communities in Michigan and $130 million from Indiana, among other states. Solar power is a cornerstone of the Net Zero movement, which will now have to rely on local incentives or other means to finance our energy transition.

New York Concrete 

Under the state’s Buy Clean Concrete Guidelines, New York’s Low Embodied Carbon Concrete program went live early this year. The codes now mandate a maximum global warming potential (GWP), i.e. a maximum amount of embodied carbon emissions for concrete used in building and transportation projects in New York. With some exceptions for high-strength or quick-curing concrete, concrete mixes used in state projects must have an EPD that shows compliance with the GWP limits.

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Inside and Outside Cultural Realities

Outside the walls of the Cultural Center in the city’s Loop, and prior to opening weekend, CAB 6 was overshadowed by news of Trump threatening to send the National Guard to Chicago to curb crime, ICE detainments unfolding across the nation, and protests demanding a ceasefire in Gaza. Inside the gilded interiors of the Cultural Center, a different narrative unfolded. While the exhibition wall text acknowledged global political tensions and ecological inequality, few projects directly addressed them. The atmosphere leaned toward the familiar—a space for the architectural elite and returning participants, albeit with some new representation,such as emergent practices like Natura Futura, Alsar-Atelier, Oscar Zamora + Michael Koliner, gru.a, and The Laboratory of Intersectional Ecologies.

One colleague, a local practitioner and educator, remarked on how surreal it felt to see the biennial featuring so many Latin American architects while there was little discussion of national ICE raids or deportations. Just days before, news had broken that a promising local architecture student had been arrested by ICE along with his parents in the Chicago suburb of Cicero. Another colleague from Latin America declined to attend altogether, fearing detainment. These personal accounts made visible the distance between the biennial’s global ambitions and the immediate struggles shaping Chicago’s immigrant communities.Prior to the opening, twenty-one participants signed a letter expressing concern over CAB’s acceptance of funds for educational programming from Crown Family Philanthropies, following public records linking the foundation to partial ownership in a military contractor supplying arms to Israel. In response, some participants withdrew their work entirely in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza

Prior to the opening, twenty-one participants signed a letter expressing concern over CAB’s acceptance of funds for educational programming from Crown Family Philanthropies, following public records linking the foundation to partial ownership in a military contractor supplying arms to Israel. In response, some participants withdrew their work entirely in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.

While a majority of the content within the Cultural Center offered thoughtful takes on material reuse, only a few installations proposed new ways of engaging with the public, new methods of ecological practice, or new ways of drawing inspiration from Chicago.

In Fragments of Disability Fictions, Ignacio G. Galán, David Gissen, and Architensions (Alessandro Orsini, Nick Roseboro) curate an installation that reimagines New York City through the past, present, and future experiences of disabled individuals. Building on previous research and exhibitions, the team envisions inclusive, climate-adaptive spaces that move beyond standard code-based “add-on” solutions, instead proposing imaginative environments for those with visual and mobility impairments. The project also reflects on histories of ableist policy: Chicago was the last city in the U.S. to repeal the “ugly law,” which criminalized visible disabilities. The team sets forth a call for forward-thinking design practices that place disabled individuals at the center of their work. 

Nicolas Dorval-Bory’s installation A House in the Sun uses a heliodon—a scientific device that simulates the sun’s path across an architectural model—to explore how architecture can reconnect with planetary forces. Referencing local projects such as the Farnsworth House and Yerkes Observatory, Nicolas’ provocation offers Chicagoans a refreshing new reading of our urban Mies playground, reminding us that these icons are part of a larger planetary ecosystem. His body of work critiques Modernist architecture and redefines the practitioner’s role as a mediator between cosmic rhythms and centuries of construction knowledge. As climate change intensifies, his scientific yet poetic approach—aligning buildings and landscapes with solar, thermal, and cosmic systems—offers a promising path forward for ecological design practice.

Inhabit/Outhabit by Florencia Rodriguez, Igo Kommers Wender, with Alexander Eisenschmidt, Magdalena Taglibaue and Camilo Restrepo archives twenty-nine recent collective housing projects from around the world, reimagining how we might live together in unconventional ways. By challenging ideas of layout, ownership structures, family, and materials, this index points the profession toward new solutions for optimistic coexistence.

Satellite Exhibitions‘ Points of View

Some of the satellite sites around Chicago proved even more radical in their ecological thinking and public engagement. New to this year’s program is Woodlawn’s Narrow Bridge Arts Club, a former church now transformed into a carbon-positive community arts center. Thoughtfully renovated in 2023 by Adaptive Operations, the building hosts additional CAB programming and embodies the biennial’s themes in both form and function.

Also newly launched is Theaster Gates’ The Land School, located in a decommissioned Catholic school along Dorchester Avenue. Rescued from demolition, Theaster’s latest project continues his commitment to material reuse and neighborhood-rooted activism. The Land School explores new models of land stewardship, extending Rebuild’s ethos of ecological reinvention. The Stony Island Arts Bank, another site from Theaster’s portfolio, also features CAB participants such as WAI Architecture ThinkTank and their installation A LOUDREADING Tribune (A Post-Colonial Still Life of a Traveling Loudreading Workshop).

As critics recapped the opening weekend, Michael Meredith noted in the closing panel discussion, “Of all the projects, Sam Chermayeff’s [and Hard Sun’s] project does the most good in the public realm.” Parked outside The Graham Foundation in the Gold Coast neighborhood, Hard Sun Interstate was a glossy black Mercedes E300 (reportedly bought off Facebook Marketplace) outfitted with a La Marzocco, an umbrella, and a Sam Chermayeff-designed platform. This was equal parts sculpture and sidewalk intervention… and probably would have made Jane Jacobs smile. Unlike Canal Café, exhibited at this year’s Venice Architecture Biennale by Diller Scofidio + Renfro, this Marzocco thankfully wasn’t pumping water from Lake Michigan (or pretending to, as DS+R never confirmed whether it was actual canal water due to permitting issues). In addition to handing out coffee, matcha, and sunscreen to curious strangers and biennial goers, people stopped, connected, smiled, and shared a moment – a small, lived instance of architecture as a public gesture.

If Boyarsky’s Chicago à la carte saw the city as an energy system, today’s biennial suggests that energy has been dispersed – still dynamic, but in need of redistribution. This shift from centralized energy to dispersed networks mirrors the broader condition of contemporary practice. In the face of climate collapse, displacement, and militarization, SHIFT asks how architecture can serve as a tool for justice and care. Florencia’s curation echoes this call, presenting the city as an evolving organism where architecture becomes a means for coexistence, resistance, and radical care. Yet the context of this year’s CAB also makes clear that good intentions are not enough: the protests and withdrawals reveal how architecture remains entangled in systems of ecological and political violence, demanding that the discipline move beyond abstract discourse to confront its complicity.

Perhaps the biennial has outgrown the spatial and conceptual limits of the Cultural Center, and the logic of traditional exhibition formats can no longer hold the kinds of ideas it seeks to express.

If architecture is to be a tool for justice, care, and ecological transformation, how can it confront the systems of power it remains complicit in – and truly shift, rather than simply reflect, the world around it?

The Chicago Architecture Biennial remains open through February, with a second wave of installations launching in November – featuring an entirely new satellite space dedicated to innovative ecological practices such as Chicago’s own Bittertang Farm.

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As innovation in AI tools advances rapidly, we see its influence across the built environment in both predictable and unexpected ways. It has the potential to create fundamental changes in the way buildings are made, operated, and how they connect to and impact wider systems. 

Designers bring the soul and the human touch, while AI brings the speed. Explore how these tools can collaborate with architects, designers, and product manufacturers, reshaping the means by which they approach everything from code compliance to conceptual visualization, accelerating decision-making, and aligning teams to create a more efficient built environment. 

Pathways

Material manufacturers face mounting pressure to provide environmental performance data. Still, the information that exists is scattered across PDFs from different vendors, utility bills with varying units of measure, and disparate procurement systems. 

Pathways tackles this data challenge head-on, using AI to process large volumes of unstructured information and convert it into comprehensive life-cycle assessments. The platform transforms vendor documentation, ERP systems (Enterprise Resource Planning), and utility data into third-party certified EPDs (Environmental Product Declarations) while delivering crucial insights into production efficiency and environmental performance benchmarks. “EPD is the bare minimum,” explains Jack Cove, head of go-to-market at Pathways. The company’s vision extends beyond compliance to help manufacturers identify improvement opportunities and build sustainable products.

pathwaysai.co

Finch

Finch transforms the early stages of architectural design by generating optimized yet customizable floor plans from building masses while considering real-world constraints like structural systems, MEP requirements, and local codes. The platform seamlessly integrates with Revit, Rhino, and Grasshopper, positioning itself as “Figma for architects.” By blending AI with human creativity, Finch enables exploration of design options, makes data-driven decisions, and streamlines architects’ workflows. 

The tool’s approach democratizes parametric design, making advanced computational tools accessible to firms without specialized programming expertise while maintaining the designer’s creative control throughout the iterative process.

finch3d.com

Upcodes 

Rather than manually parsing through thousands of code sections, the AI-powered platform UpCodes delivers tailored responses to specific compliance queries, catching requirements that might otherwise be missed. 

It revolutionizes building code research by transforming dense regulatory text into instantly searchable, contextually relevant guidance. With over 800,000 AEC professionals using the platform, architects have reported saving many hours monthly through its iterative feedback capabilities. The platform’s Copilot feature helps professionals unpack and interpret building codes by sourcing from a curated library of adopted regulations rather than generic LLM-based tools or web content. While AI provides analysis and interpretation support, it enhances rather than replaces professional judgment—trained professionals still add their essential layer of understanding to ensure proper code compliance.

up.codes

BIMbeats 

Bimbeats functions as a fitness tracker for architecture firms, silently monitoring software usage, model health, and team productivity to reveal hidden patterns in design workflows. The platform captures detailed activity data across all AEC software, feeding it into analytics engines that visualize and identify bottlenecks, predict system crashes, and guide resource allocation decisions. 

While Bimbeats doesn’t automate design tasks directly, it analyzes data to provide intelligence that enables firms to identify automation opportunities and optimize their existing processes. This shift from reactive troubleshooting to predictive workflow management fundamentally changes how design teams understand and improve operational efficiency, enabling cross-team insights that will enhance collaboration between BIM managers, project leaders, IT teams, and developers.

bimbeats.com

Veras

Veras bridges the gap between conceptual sketches and photorealistic renderings, generating quick and compelling visualizations directly within established design software like Revit, Rhino, and SketchUp. Built specifically for AEC workflows, this platform understands architectural constraints and material properties that traditional AI tools miss. Designed for early-stage design ideation and exploration, Veras serves architects, interior designers, urban planners, and real estate developers seeking to rapidly visualize concepts and communicate design intent.

The integration with Enscape allows Veras to work with actual 3D models and camera views, producing context-aware visuals grounded in real project data rather than abstract prompts. This capability transforms design communication, enabling architects to generate multiple visualization options quickly for client presentations and design development, all while maintaining technical accuracy and design intent.

evolvelab.io/veras

Polycam

Polycam is streamlining AEC workflows by combining LiDAR and photogrammetry into a simple video recording process and transforming spatial documentation. The platform can generate 3D models and 2D floor plans from a single capture session—aligned and ready for project integration with software like AutoCAD, Revit, Rhino, and SketchUp.

The tool enables architects and interior designers to quickly document existing conditions, measure spaces, and create as-built models without the need for specialized equipment, excelling in early-stage site analysis. 

poly.cam

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Yes And: A Curatorial Framework

For the 2024–2025 cycle, a curatorial consortium of practicing architects, preservationists, and cultural critics chose the theme Yes, And—a notion borrowed from improvisational theater—as a more open-ended through line. They chose sites throughout town to mount 13 newly commissioned installations, each responding to specific public, semi-public, and private outdoor spaces as added layers of instigation and proposal. Also at play were considerations of site, history, community, and where these fundamental conditions intersect. 

While recipients of the J. Irwin and Xenia Miller prize were selected by the curators based on a shortlist, participants in the University Design Research Fellows program were chosen based on an open call. With funds raised from individual donors, corporate sponsors, and government agencies, LCF covers the cost of development and construction. 

All were unveiled during an opening weekend celebration (August 15 to 16) and will remain on view for three and a half months. Various performative activations—a DJ set atop a car park and even a “drone drop”—also took place, drawing in an audience of more than 300 visitors.  

“Many of the projects disrupt the environment that you locals frequent every day,” Exhibit Columbus curatorial partner, writer, and educator Rasul Mowatt said during a panel discussion. “They look back to the histories that are already known but overlooked, and also those that have never been uncovered before.” 

Memory, Ritual, and Engagement

Erected on the site of the historic Irwin Block, which burned down in 2022, AD–WO’s Ellipsis installation is a proposed gathering space constructed, in part, using its remnants. For the Brooklyn-based firm—principals Jen Wood and Emanuel Admassu—the agora of sorts is much more than an abstract reconstitution or monument to the original building. As tragic as it was, the fire opened up the opportunity for a more comprehensive reassessment of the locale’s past. 

“We were thinking about the histories that have been omitted from the conversation around Columbus,” Admassu said. “Most of it has been focused on modern architecture, while Indigenous space-making and Black inhabitation barely register in the normative discussions around the history of the place.” 

This investigation led them to indigenous practices of burning as a dualistic form of renewal and resilience. While new plantings embedding the structure within its surroundings imply the former, the fire-treating of its structural elements implies the latter. 

“In our curatorial meetings, we thought a lot about the role Columbus played in shooting off the careers of the many architects that would gain recognition outside of the field,” said curatorial lead, Mila Lipinski, a Columbus-born, Jackson, Mississippi–based architect “This program provides a similar opportunity, a chance for the participants to build on the existing infrastructure and suggest new solutions—their Yes, And.” 

A Public Pool Monolith

A succinct example of this is University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign professor Akima Brackeen’s Pool/Side installation. Inserted within the plaza leading up to the I.M. Pei–designed Cleo Rogers Memorial Library, the shallow water basin emerges as a striking yet inviting blue monolith. Juxtaposing the modernist trope of reflecting pools—largely nonfunctional and purely aesthetic architectural elements found in some of Columbus’s most iconic sites—with the issue of water access in urban centers, the fully functional “aquatic conversation pit” inspires a new degree of engagement and gathering. 

“In helping to develop the various commissions, we looked at sites that both address the idiosyncrasies of Columbus but that are also emblematic of site conditions found across the country,” said curatorial partner Joseph Altshuler, co-principal of Chicago practice Could Be Design. “The car park is a common, frankly underutilized, piece of American infrastructure that needs to be re-examined seriously.”

Joy Riding Design

Answering that call is Miami-based practice Studio Barnes’s Joy Riding project. “Once we knew that we had the parking garage as the location of our intervention, we started thinking about the car, car culture, and specifically idling,” says principal Germane Barnes. “If a car is just sitting there parked, what do you do—sing, do homework, or just hang out?”

Consisting of a customized speaker system mounted to a mobile trailer, “the transformer” is enabled with Bluetooth connectivity. Anyone can go up to the top level of Columbus’s Jackson Street Garage and play music, or host an impromptu dance party. According to LCF, the interactive installation “evokes the deep bass lines central to Black car culture and underscores how sound, ritual, and assembly have long served as catalysts for celebration.” After its stint in Columbus, Joy Ride could potentially travel, amplifying various types of public events—concerts, outdoor movies, etc.

All three cited installations reveal the importance of shared public space but also the need for layered interventions to accommodate different levels of engagement: facilitating the reassessment of history, expanding the prescribed function of a site, and maybe even helping its users find consensus

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Presented annually as part of the Net Zero Conference — founded and organized by Verdical Group’s Drew Shula — the Trailblazer Awards celebrate interdisciplinary leaders making a positive impact on people and the environment. 

Meet this year’s exceptional class of 2025 Net Zero Conference Trailblazer Award nominees and join leaders in decarbonization at the Los Angeles Convention Center on October 1 where the winners will be unveiled! Register here.

In recent years, metals haven’t received the same level of fanfare in architecture and design as materials like wood and biopolymers. This inattention may be partly due to concerns over metals’ high embodied energy. Nevertheless, the material’s practical and cultural significance is profound—as the strong reaction to the recent U.S.-imposed tariffs on steel and automobiles revealed. Furthermore, metal products and processes have shown compelling advances in recent years, offering measurable improvements in the environmental, functional, and aesthetic performance of designs. The following recent developments bolster metal’s innovative contributions to design and construction.

ELYSIS is Revolutionizing Aluminum

A novel manufacturing process known as ELYSIS may not be a household name, but it deserves to be. Developed by Alcoa in collaboration with Rio Tinto, the invention—which the company describes as “the greatest breakthrough in the aluminum industry since the late 1800s”—radically reduces aluminum’s carbon footprint. ELYSIS replaces the carbon anodes used in traditional smelting with proprietary inert materials, eliminating greenhouse gas emissions and releasing only pure oxygen. The BMW Group entered into an agreement with Rio Tinto to incorporate the ELYSIS aluminum process, powered by hydroelectric plants, into its automobile manufacturing operations. According to the company, the process reduces carbon emissions associated with conventional aluminum production by 70 percent.

A New Liquid Metal Technology

Another carbon-reduction innovation assumes the form of liquid metal. A research team led by Sydney’s University of New South Wales (UNSW) engineers devised a method using liquid gallium—which transforms from its solid state above 86°F (30°C)—to convert carbon dioxide into oxygen and solid carbon via a triboelectrochemical process. Requiring only modest electricity and operating at 92 percent efficiency, the method can process a metric ton of CO2 for around $100. A spinoff company, LM Plus, is developing a truck-trailer-sized module to capture and convert emissions directly from industrial processes at manufacturing sites. Paul Butler, the former LM Plus director, explains in a UNSW press release, “This is a very green process which also produces a high-value carbonaceous sheet, which can then be sold and used to make electrodes in batteries or for carbon fiber materials that are used in high-performance products like aircraft, racing cars, and luxury vehicles.”

Developments in Composite Metal Foam

Foamed metals offer promising carbon-reducing capabilities as well as other performance enhancements. Similar to plastic foams, these materials are filled with bubbles, making them unexpectedly lightweight. Composite metal foam (CMF) is made of hollow metal spheres in a matrix of alloys like steel, aluminum, and titanium. The Dr. Afsaneh Rabiei Research Group at North Carolina State University has developed CMF with ultralight, ultrastrong capabilities suitable for a variety of industries demanding extreme mechanical strength. For example, CMF’s effectiveness at stopping armor-piercing bullets is similar to that of conventional steel armor used in military vehicles. However, CMF is half the weight of steel and offers twice the level of protection against fire and heat. These advantages suggest potential design applications with both significant material savings and enhanced protection. 

Metal foams’ inherent resistance to heat also presents an advantage for thermal regulation. One of the most rapidly growing needs for this is in computing. The International Energy Agency reports that data centers, cryptocurrencies, and AI are consuming electricity at accelerated rates, and energy demand for computing may reach a breathtaking 21 percent by 2030. Zurich-based Apheros has developed a metal foam that is highly effective in dissipating heat. It’s produced by foaming a suspension of metal particles, which it dries, sinters, and shapes via additive manufacturing processes. The metal foam’s remarkable cooling capability comes from its massive surface area, which is 1,000 times greater than that of comparable foams, and the material is sufficiently porous to float on water. Given that 40 percent of data centers’ electricity use is for active cooling, the substitution of a passive, material-based solution offers clear advantages.

Biophilia-Inspired 3D-Printed Metal Lattice

Other porous, additively manufactured metals exhibit extraordinary structural properties. Researchers at RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia, devised a 3D-printing method to fabricate a metal lattice with a superior strength-to-weight ratio. The team studied natural models to achieve unnatural results. Taking inspiration from the lightweight lattices in the Victoria water lily and other hollow-stemmed plants, the researchers developed a lattice structure in titanium alloy optimized for even stress distribution. The resulting “metamaterial,” so named for characteristics not observed in the natural world, boasts a strength enhancement of 50 percent over the next-strongest aerospace alloy of a similar density. RMIT’s research indicates that as the industrial capacity to maximize the strength-to-weight ratio of metals scales to achieve larger volumes, the design of products and building components—and eventually, entire building structures—could be radically transformed.

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The design industry’s commitment to sustainability has never been more tested—or more vital. As political landscapes shift, how do we maintain momentum toward a more sustainable future? 

This question anchored the METROPOLIS Leadership Summit, moderated by editor in chief Avi Rajagopal and editor at large Verda Alexander, held the morning of June 9 during NeoCon. Leaders from across the A&D industry—including educators, advocates, and firm principals—gathered to address the pressing challenges of sustainable design. 

In partnership with Mannington Commercial, Material Bank, Formica, Boss Design, Universal Fibers, and Keilhauer, the METROPOLIS Leadership Summit brought together representatives from major industry associations, academic institutions, and leading firms for a wide-ranging discussion on resilience, reuse, and the power of collaboration. 

Doubling Down on Sustainability

Despite policy changes and shifting priorities, the summit revealed an industry that is holding firm on its sustainability commitments. Several speakers noted a growing resolve among firms to follow through on their goals.

“There’s been a 9 percent uptick in firms that have joined science-based targets,” recalled Brett Gardner, director of sustainability at IA Interior Architects, citing a report by PWC. “From our firm’s perspective, companies that have made commitments are going to double down.” 

Summit attendees also discussed how many educators are now restricted from using words like “sustainability” and “climate change” in their curricula—a challenge that has prompted innovative pedagogical approaches and revealed the industry’s adaptability. 

“The words aren’t as important as outcome,” said Sandi Rudy, director of interior design at Cushing Terrell. “As long as the projects incorporate the solutions that the students or practitioners want, you can get around dialogue.”

ASID‘s CEO Khoi Vo echoed the same sentiment, emphasizing that “everyone is still very committed to the cause, and I think that says a lot about the value of the practice that we’re doing. We’re willing to change the vernacular if we have to. We might be going through our syllabus and having to change wordings, but the principles are all still there.” 

Reframing and Scaling Reuse

One of the summit’s most powerful conversations centered on scalable strategies for reuse. Jack Rusk, cofounder of C.Scale, shared a compelling example of how reframing reuse can shift client perspectives. He recalled a story from Jenn Chen of LMN Architects in Seattle who was working on a major office renovation. The client wanted to pull out everything—they wanted something new and fresh and exciting. In response her team put together a look-and-feel board with all the finishes the client was excited about.

“The client loved it,” Rusk said. “They said, ‘This is really exciting—it’s going to be a great refresh. Chen then clarified that the carpet spot on the look and feel board was the carpet that was currently in the office.” It wasn’t meant to be a gotcha moment, he explained, but it helped the clients see that the existing finishes could work in a new design.

Building on that idea, Bill Bouchey, design director at Gensler, shared their “70/30 approach”—a guiding principle that has “build what matters and respect what was there” at its core. It’s a way to reduce environmental impact but also bring budgets down, helping clients see that sustainable approaches can be economically advantageous. 

Chelsea Duckworth, materials manager at Living Future championed a grassroots approach to scaling reuse and other sustainable practices. “Go to your city council meetings, talk to your city planners, and talk to waste and renewables departments in your county,” she said, urging everyone to connect with the people in their own communities. 

Local-first approaches are gaining traction through organizations like the Lifecycle Building Center and regional build reuse networks. Shane Totten, vice president of sustainability at Mannington highlighted how “adopting deconstruction” ordinances are emerging in both red and blue states, creating opportunities for designers to access regional reuse inventories. 

Collaboration: Breaking Down Silos

Leaders also grappled with moving beyond ad hoc sustainability implementations to systemic change, when Rajagopal asked the group: “What is going to get us to step beyond this one-by-one kind of scenario? Can we start dreaming of how we get out of this, doing it one project at a time approach?” 

This question led to a resounding call for deeper collaboration. “We are a fractured industry,” said Stacey Crumbaker, associate principal at Mahlum. “We should invite the contractors and the developers to be a part of this conversation. We’ve got to bring the other people into the conversation or else it’s just us talking to us, preaching to the choir.”  

Collaboration, the group agreed, should expand to students, tradespeople, property managers, contractors, large property owners, architects—all stakeholders who can influence the adoption of sustainable practices. 

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Participants of the METROPOLIS Leadership Summit included leaders from:  

ACT, ASID, BIFMA, Boss Design, CannonDesign, Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute, Corgan, C.Scale, EHDD, Cushing Terrell, DLR Group, Florida State University, Formica, Gensler, HDR, Hickok Cole, HKS, HMC Architects, HOK, IA, IDC, IIDA, IWBI, Keilhauer, Living Future, Mahlum, Mannington, Material Bank, Perkins&Will, Perkins Eastman, Shimoda Design Group, SmithGroup, & Universal Fibers.

Copenhagen’s constantly improving infrastructure is the model of sustainable future-proofing, but so is its ever-compelling contribution to the architecture and furniture design. Though closely tied to their rich modernist heritage—one already centered on the rational and responsible use of readily available natural materials—long-established and newcomer brands, rooted here or nearby, aren’t resting on their laurels. They’re constantly putting forth new solutions.  

A culture of historically informed reinvention is reflected in 3daysofdesign, an annual event that blankets the compact city with temporary activations, making good use of different settings. New and refreshed products are debuted in re-contextualized storefronts, museums, palaces, cafes, private residences, and even parks. It’s a far cry from the disorganized mayhem and over-saturation that has begun to infiltrate its counterpoint, Milan’s Salone del Mobile.  

Evident in the following product releases, common threads at this year’s edition—June 18-20—included a reassessment of modularity—components that are easily removed to be replaced or upcycled; systems adaptable to different conditions. Several brands and material suppliers demonstrated how they’re re-evaluating the viability of wood as a regenerative material. Others revealed the unexpected potential of mycelium and textiles. Some even explored how furniture could be configured to better facilitate wellness.  

Modular Magic

Norwegian outdoor furniture brand Vestre is at the forefront of sustainability, both in the significant reduction of the embodied carbon involved in manufacturing and the circularity of its products. Building on that rigorous commitment, the company chose—with stunning effect—to debut the new UNITY outdoor bench collection within the recently completed Opera Park—impressively designed by local architecture firm Cobe Architects. Deftly conceived by German landscape architect Nikolai Soyka, the new offering consists of modular platforms—produced using both metal and treated wood to account for different weather conditions—that can facilitate everything from sitting to lounging and playing. The “kit of elements” design can serve as a playscape when introduced into a schoolyard. The universal, architectonic forms—defined by gentle angular pitches—can take on a myriad of functions while remaining sturdy. The benches can be configured in innumerable arrangements depending on the constraints of any given location.  

Another strong example of interchangeability is the new RASTERS office cabinet and paravent system developed by Belgian design duo Muller Van Severen and Brussels-based architecture firm OFFICE KGDVS for Spanish producer BD Barcelona. Rendered in sustainable materials—naturally varnished solid beech and durable powder-coated steel—the collection builds on the tried-and-true industrial grid as a fundamental type of armature. RASTERS debuted at a new offsite event Other Circle—which focused on showcasing the more avant-garde and interdisciplinary through-lines currently permeating contemporary design. 

Well-balanced Wood

Historically harnessing the abundant forests of nearby Sweden, many heritage Danish brands have mastered the “art” of the pared-back, mono-material chair. Though production has all but shifted to Poland, sourcing from its equally bountiful supply of timber, many of these furniture companies are ceaseless in their pursuit of perfecting the typology. Case in point: London-based Cypriot designer Michael Anastassiades’ new After series developed for Fritz Hansen. The monolithic furnishings—a chair and adjoining table—take on a simplified and honest form, distilling the ergonomics and structural innovations introduced by noted mid-20th-century heavyweights Kaare Klint and Poul Kjærholm. Solid ash—rendered in what appears to be succinctly stacked geometric forms—seems to have been left untreated.  

Various institutions, companies, and individual practitioners came together for the comprehensive Material Matters group showcase, emphasizing the value of circularity from a broader and more diverse standpoint. One of the exhibitors, American Hardwood Export Council (AHEC), took this opportunity to challenge one of the furniture industry’s outdated conventions. Imagined by multivalent designer Kia Utzon-Frank, the organization’s “No.1 Common” immersive installation——revealed the myriad uses for underused timber grades, parts of a felled tree that are deemed too imperfect to be used in refined designs and that are ultimately thrown away. Various structural elements, but also speculative furniture pieces, were presented as evidence to the contrary.  

More Mushrooms

Also exhibiting as part of Material Matters was newcomer Dutch brand Aifunghi. Mycelium—the root-like structure of a fungus—has come in and out of favor over the past decade. Unfortunately, most early attempts of capturing this bio-based alternative to more finite natural material have resulted in novelty; feeble experiments not really amounting to anything else. Regardless, research has persisted and entities like this furniture company are implementing the latest developments and to impressive effect. Aifunghi’s proprietary mycelium-based composite (MBC) incorporates the fortifying properties of hemp within the controlled growing process. As revealed during the showcase, the new process can be used to form the structure of armchairs, tables, and pendant lamps.  

At the forefront of mycelium, MycoWorks also made a strong showing at this year’s 3daysofdesign. The biotech company chose to demonstrate the agile application of its hyper-refined Reishi material by commissioning five Danish architecture and design practices to reinterpret established object typologies using the material. The resulting products—speculative for the time being but with market potential—stemmed from a re-evaluation of Nordic design principles: simplicity, functionality, tactile beauty, and the canalization of natural light, an all-too precious resource in this part of the world. While duo Frederik Gustav implemented the material as a semi-translucent shade for its wing-like Arbor pendant lamp, designer Maria Bruun used it in the increasingly popular category of slightly decorative paravent screens. 

Robust Rugs

Textile is another fundamental material with deep roots in nearby Sweden, specifically the region just southeast of Gothenburg. Here, heritage brand Kasthall still produces high-quality rugs often depicting vibrant compositions such as the recently re-editioned Anemon collection, Gunilla Lagerhem Ullberg’ seminal floral design from 1991. Debuted at 3daysofdesign was Pritzker Prize-winning British architect David Chipperfield’s Fasad series. Translating the nuanced visual variation of patterned brickwork into woven textile, the rugs are produced using recycled wool. Many Scandinavian brands are implementing programs in which older products are ‘bought-back’ by their original manufacturers and disassembled. The various components are reimplemented through the same or new processes. 

Armadillo took an unexpected approach during this year’s event. The Australian rug brand tapped Sydney-based designer Tom Fereday to develop the Agra Forma capsule collection. The imaginative exploration takes this textile application off of the floor and utilizes it as upholstery for furniture. The mono-material wooden chair, benches, and tables—a clear nod to Danish design—are gently laden with carefully placed tufted patches of the natural fibers, available in various earth tones. The Nordic design principles espoused in MycoWork’s latest Reishi collection mentioned above—simplicity, functionality, tactile beauty—ring through these refined designs as well.  

Wellness Re-Written 

Today, sustainability isn’t just about circularity or reducing carbon emissions. This ever-evolving framework has to account for an individual’s or a collective‘s well-being. Developed with established yet ever-fresh Danish manufacturer Muuto, the Dream View Beach was designed by Copenhagen-based talent Lise Vester to do just that: help people daydream. The wavy contour of the metal chair encourages the user to lay back and look up for a while. This exploration stems from her own experience going through cognitive behavioral therapy, gaining an intrinsic understanding of how important it is for one’s mental health to take breaks throughout the day. Though seemingly simple or even stylistically superfluous in shape, this carefully proportioned design engenders a different type of function. The form, in fact, serves an intended function. 

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