Towards healthy circular economies - the agency of plasterboard and futures of partition walls
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School of Arts, Design and Architecture |
Master's thesis
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en
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206 + 11
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Abstract
Conventional buildings, partition walls and construction materials are part of networks of long-established practices and unsustainable models of material flow. In this design research project, I investigate methods, mindsets and partnerships for a more sustainable building industry with the support of the company Saint-Gobain, the think tank Sitra and Aalto University. My focus is on the notion of healthy circular economies, the type of economies which support humans and non-humans in the long-term. First, I question how material agency approaches can bring focus to the composition of partition walls and contribute to sustainability transformations. Second, I examine the common and often overlooked construction material plasterboard, a combination of gypsum, paper, additives, infrastructures, politics, natural ecosystems and ethics, and rethink its production, consumption and disposal. Third, I formulate practical recommendations for construction material producers and unfold an alternative future narrative for partition walls. The study is framed using concepts related to sustainability, circular economy and material agency. I draw from Actor-Network Theory and New Materialism to understand plasterboard as part of hybrid systems of humans and non-humans. Research methods include 37 interviews with key stakeholders involved with the material in Finland and eight observations of prominent locations in the material’s lifecycle (including the production factory, building sites, demolition sites, recycling facilities and a landfill). I document the tidy story of plasterboard from production to end-of-life. I also expose the messy day-to-day building activities and becoming of the material. Building on sustainability challenges related to the extraction, distribution and recycling of the material, I formulate four complementary strategies for construction material manufacturers to facilitate healthy circular economies. Finally, I employ foresight approaches to examine underlying assumptions, worldviews and values systems of plasterboard and unlock narrative shifts towards a more respectful coexistence between humans and ecological non-humans. Results demonstrate that there is potential for construction materials and their stakeholders to engage with healthy circular economies, beyond mere recycling. Knowledge about healthy circular economy principles, greater collaboration between stakeholders across construction, demolition and waste management sectors, and multi-level design and leadership strategies are key to healthy circular economies. My findings show that reconnecting building practices to construction materials and their past natural ecosystems can open new imaginaries to support sustainability transformations in the building industry. This research offers a rich and holistic insight into the development of practices and narratives associated with healthy circular material flows.Description
Supervisor
Jalas, MikkoThesis advisor
Hodson, EliseKaiser, Anne