A Language of Circularity

How can architecture communicate its circularity? This thesis explored this question through the design of a Circular Learning Pavilion for Cornell's campus that is both made of reused materials and designed for future disassembly. It explores both the limits and the opportunities of a new design process where all decisions are driven by a specific inventory of locally available materials. Construction waste is a massive problem, and simply trying to recycle materials at the end of a building's useful life is not going to fix it, because waste is still designed into the building. Therefore we must rethink the design process in a more circular way, where buildings are conceived as temporary storage for materials, and all elements can be disassembled and reused again.