BIOMATERIAL BUILDING EXPOSITION
An exposition at the University of Virginia demonstrating new approaches to biomaterial construction.
The construction industry has been slow to adapt as local climates shift, overextended supply chains threaten the viability of traditional building materials, landfills pile up, and material life cycles come into question. This is a major concern for communities worldwide over both the short and long terms as they are thrust into the turmoil of increasingly frequent and dramatic climate events that stress aging infrastructure.
The Biomaterial Building Exposition is a platform focused on architectural-scale biomaterial research. The Exposition places multiple novel approaches in dialogue, fostering a larger discussion on how rapidly-renewable, carbon-sequestering biomaterials can be utilized in contemporary construction. The Exposition seeks to establish a multi-institutional scholarly discourse and raise the public visibility of novel approaches to biomaterial construction. Architect-scholar teams from University of Arkansas, Cornell University, Kansas State University, Penn State University, and Rice University will converge in Charlottesville, Virginia to install full-scale installations that have been developed at the scholars’ home institutions and with students at the University of Virginia.
The Exposition will be open to the public on Grounds at the University of Virginia. Since its inception, UVA’s Academical Village has been an architectural testing ground. The Exposition expands this tradition, forging a path toward a radical material future that foregrounds environmental and human health, set against the backdrop of a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The Exposition is hosted by the UVA School of Architecture and funded by The Jefferson Trust and the Center for Global Inquiry & Innovation. A gallery exhibition in Campbell Hall’s Elmaleh Gallery will bring together process work from the development of the installations, as well as material samples and images of ongoing biomaterial work being advanced across disciplines at the University of Virginia. The Exposition will open to the public with an opening symposium on Monday, March 14th, 2022.
INSTALLATION EXHIBITORS
Benay Gürsoy Toykoç, PhD
Assistant Professor, Penn State University College of Arts & Architecture
Director, ForMat Lab
David Alf
Jessica Colangelo
Assistant Professor, University of Arkansas Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design
Cofounder, Somewhere Studio
Charles Sharpless, AIA
Assistant Professor, University of Arkansas Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design
Cofounder, Somewhere Studio
David Alf
Leslie Lok
Assistant Professor, Cornell University College of Architecture, Art, and Planning
Director, Rural-Urban Building Innovation (RUBI) Lab
Co-Principal, HANNAH Office
Sasa Zivkovic
Assistant Professor, Cornell University College of Architecture, Art, and Planning
Director, Robotic Construction Laboratory (RCL)
Co-Principal, HANNAH Office
HANNAH Office
Jonathan Dessi-Olive
Assistant Professor, Kansas State University College of Architecture, Planning and Design
Director, Myco Matters Lab
Director, JDO Vaults
David Alf
Tom Daly
CURATORS
Katie MacDonald, AIA
Assistant Professor, University of Virginia School of Architecture
Cofounder, After Architecture
Kyle Schumann
Assistant Professor, University of Virginia School of Architecture
Cofounder, After Architecture
VISIT
The Biomaterial Building Exposition opened on March 14, 2022. The Exposition is free and open to the public.
Five installations are on view across the University of Virginia Grounds from March 14 - April 30, 2022.
An accompanying gallery exhibition is located in the School of Architecture’s Elmaleh Gallery in Campbell Hall from March 14 - 22.
SYMPOSIUM
March 14, 2022
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM, University of Virginia
Free, open to the public, & livestreamed.
9:00 am - 12:00 pm, Morning Session, Rotunda Dome
Morning Livestream: https://youtu.be/BurLyjxEbPA
9 - 9:30 am
Welcome & Introduction
Katie MacDonald, AIA
Kyle Schumann
9:35 - 10:05 am
La Parete Fungina
Jonathan Dessi-Olive
10:10 - 10:40 am
Mix and Match
Charles Sharpless, AIA
10:45 - 11:15 am
From Wood to Tree
Liz Gálvez, RA
11:15 am - 12:00 pm
Panel Discussion
12:00 - 1:00 pm, Tour the Exposition
1:00 pm - 4:30 pm, Afternoon Session, Campbell Hall 153
Afternoon Livestream: https://youtu.be/GmU2qCGEg9M
1:00 - 1:15 pm
Introduction
Katie MacDonald, AIA
Kyle Schumann
1:20 - 1:50 pm
Unlog
Leslie Lok
Sasa Zivkovic
1:55 - 2:25 pm
Mae-ling Lokko, PhD
2:30 - 3:00 pm
MycoCreate 2.0
Benay Gürsoy Toykoç, PhD
3:05 - 3:45 pm
Panel Discussion
3:45 - 4:00 pm
Closing Remarks
4:00 pm - 5:00 pm - Reception, Elmaleh Gallery, Campbell Hall
GALLERY
Elmaleh Gallery, Campbell Hall
March 14 - 22, 2022
External Exhibitors
Audrey Barnes, Associate Professor of Industrial Design and Industrial Design Area Coordinator, James Madison University
Jessica Colangelo, Assistant Professor, University of Arkansas Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design / Cofounder, Somewhere Studio
Jonathan Dessi-Olive, Assistant Professor, Kansas State University College of Architecture, Planning and Design / Director, Myco Matters Lab / Director, JDO Vaults
Liz Gálvez, RA, Visiting Critic, Rice University School of Architecture / Director, Office e.g.
Benay Gürsoy Toykoç, Assistant Professor, Penn State University College of Arts & Architecture / Director, ForMat Lab
Leslie Lok, Assistant Professor, Cornell University College of Architecture, Art, and Planning / Director, Rural-Urban Building Innovation (RUBI) Lab / Co-Principal, HANNAH Office
Charles Sharpless, AIA, Assistant Professor, University of Arkansas Fay Jones School of Architecture and Design / Cofounder, Somewhere Studio
Sasa Zivkovic, Assistant Professor, Cornell University College of Architecture, Art, and Planning / Director, Robotic Construction Laboratory (RCL) / Co-Principal, HANNAH Office
UVA Exhibitors
Ehsan Baharlou, Dr.-Ing., Assistant Professor of Architecture
James Barnes, PhD Student in the Constructed Environment, School of Architecture
George Joseph Christ, PhD, Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Orthopaedic Surgery / Mary Muilenburg Stamp Professor of Orthopaedic Research /Director of Basic and Translational Research in Orthopaedic Surgery
Donald Richieri Griffin, PhD, Assistant Professor, Biomedical Engineering
Shayn Peirce-Cottler, PhD, Professor, Biomedical Engineering / Harrison Distinguished Teaching Professor / Graduate Program Director
Jeana Ripple, AIA, Associate Professor of Architecture / Associate Dean of Strategic Initiatives, School of Architecture
CONTACT
THANK YOU
The Jefferson Trust, a donor-led initiative of the University of Virginia Alumni Association
UVA Center for Global Inquiry & Innovation
UVA School of Architecture
Malo André Hutson, Dean and Edward E. Elson Professor
Felipe Correa, Chair of Architecture and Vincent and Eleanor Shea Professor
Melissa Goldman, Fabrication Lab Manager
Trevor Kemp, Fabrication Facilities Assistant Manager
Sneha Patel, Creative Director of Communications
UVA Office of the Architect
Alice J. Raucher, Architect for the University
Mary Hughes, University Landscape Architect
Brian Hogg, Senior Historic Preservation Planner
UVA Office of the University Building Official
Benjamin Hays, University Building Official
