16-05-2023
Materials

Dutch Design Daily

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Popma ter Steege Architects www.ptsa.nl

Reuse to Reduce

By 16-05-2023

Architecture as a celebration of the existing

How does architecture change when planetary boundaries become the starting point of our designs? Can re-use of materials actually be exploited to achieve a new aesthetic? And will something like a carbon budget for construction lead to a different way of practicing our craft? These are the questions that Popma ter Steege Architects (PTSA) has been asking itself in recent years and have led to the book Reuse to Reduce. A book about architects as collectors, building as collage art and architecture as a celebration of what already exists.

In April, PTSA and Jap Sam Books presented Reuse to Reduce Architecture with a Carbon Budget, The Case of BioPartner 5 at the Nieuwe Instituut in Rotterdam. In line with the book, PTSA made a plea to embrace the circular transition as an opportunity for a more meaningful architecture. A hybrid architecture in which reuse of materials is the starting point.

In addition to the architects’ reflections, architecture critic Aaron Betsky reflects on PTSA’s methods in relation to broader architectural practice. The book can also be read as a plea for the application of a CO2 budget for buildings in order to make them fit the agreements of the Paris Climate Accord. To this end, Mantijn van Leeuwen, director of the Nederlands Instituut voor Bouwecologie (Nibe), provides explanation and insight into this way of working.

Editor: Jan Willem ter Steege
Authors: Aaron Betsky, Mantijn van Leeuwen, Josse Popma, Jan Willem ter Steege
Design: Tariq Heijboer
Publisher: Jap Sam Books
Photography: The Book Photographer

www.japsambooks.nl
www.ptsa.nl