Salvaged Futures: Buildings as Material Catalogs

Please join us at Walter P Moore’s Financial District office for a panel exploring how existing buildings can serve as material libraries for the future. We’ll examine how circularity can transform the built environment, shifting from a “take-make-dispose” model to one where buildings are fluid and recoverable assets. The discussion will be preceded by virtual remarks from Felix Heisel with Cornell’s Circular Construction Lab. The panel will feature an in-person discussion with Erin Heidelberger from KPF, Gizem Karagoz from the NYC EDC, Lara Kaufman from Studio Gang, and Sydney Mainster from The Durst Organization. The panelists will share strategies such as designing for disassembly, using materials passports, and applying circular principles to enable reuse at various scales. Together, we’ll discuss how these approaches, supported by policy and supply-chain collaboration, can unlock the full value of buildings at the end of their lives.