
October 29, 2024
How to Specify for a Happier World

I felt privileged to get this peek behind the curtains at HOK, but I also know that scores of architecture, design, and construction firms across the country have their own initiatives under way. Not all of them are as comprehensive, perhaps, but each initiative is tailored to the firm’s needs and context.
Some architecture firms are signatories to the 2030 Commitment, and are working hard on drawing down the carbon emissions of their work (only six years to deadline!). Others have signed on to the AIA’s Materials Pledge to adopt a multidimensional approach. But many practices are starting small, and that is equally laudable.
At an event METROPOLIS organized with Crypton this past May, Luke Lasky, studio director at hospitality design firm Parts and Labor Design, shared that his team now pushes clients to prioritize “real, honest materials”: wood and stone, not their synthetic imitations. The room burst into “aah”s and head nods at this—every single sustainability expert immediately appreciated how this simple criterion could translate into a powerful impact.
We are in the thick of a materials renaissance in the built environment. It is a long-overdue and painstakingly complex undertaking—and it has an enormous importance to the future of all life on this planet.

The 2024 Products Issue is METROPOLIS’s latest contribution to that renaissance.
Every product you will see in the articles below is thoughtfully conceived and responsibly manufactured. We’ve included deep dives into how some product collections were conceived—see how Yinka Ilori has used sustainable materials as a platform for joy, optimism, and cultural innovation. Materials expert Kenn Busch provides an easy guide to forestry management, reclaimed wood, and carbon sequestration, while associate editor Jaxson Stone provides some product picks at the intersection of color trends and neuroaesthetics.
If you’re already on the journey to more sustainable specification, thank you and Godspeed! If you’re starting to change the way you select products, use the articles below to pick one better option, at least, and don’t hesitate to ask METROPOLIS for help—we’re always just a message away on Instagram and LinkedIn.
Let’s build for a happier, regenerative world, together!
Read every story from our 2024 Products Issue:
Building Products
Products
Eight Building Products to Help You Push the Envelope
These solutions for walls, openings, and cladding are each best-in-class in some way—offering environmental benefits, aesthetic choices, and design possibilities like never before.
Products
4 Exciting New Possibilities for Concrete
The next generation of carbon-neutral and recycled concrete products is bringing foundational change to the world’s most common building material.
Products
8 Products and Sustainability Takeaways from KBIS 2024
Responsible manufacturing and healthy materials took centerstage at KBIS 2024, with new releases and programming.
Wood
Profiles
Waechter Architecture Has An Expanded Vision for Mass Timber
Through its applied research on all-mass-timber construction, Waechter Architecture designs with simplicity in mind.
Products
3 Top Questions Answered about Specifying Sustainable Wood in the U.S.
From forest management to carbon sequestration, here is why responsibly sourced and reclaimed wood is a powerful design material.
Viewpoints
Put These Timber Architecture Books on Your Shelf
Four recent titles highlight the past and future of timber architecture, from forest to building products.
Circularity
Profiles
Shannon Goodman is Helping Make Material Reuse the Norm
The former Perkins&Will architect and executive director of the Lifecycle Building Center is part of a community that is breaking systemic barriers and keeping reusable materials out of landfills.
Products
These Biobased Products Point to a Regenerative Future
Discover seven products that represent a new wave of bio-derived offerings for interior design and architecture.
Products
8 Products Shifting the Recyclability Paradigm
These solutions are either made entirely from recycled materials or are fully recyclable.
Workplace
Projects
Inside Google’s New York HQ in Historic St. John’s Terminal
A collaboration with CookFox and Gensler, the innovative adaptive reuse project transformed the 1930s rail station into a high-performance workplace that is designed to evolve.
Profiles
Chris Adamick Designs for Life
The Los Angeles–based product designer launches the paradigm-shifting Admix table system with Allsteel.
Products
How the Furniture Industry is Stepping Up on Circularity
Responding to new studies on the environmental impact of furniture, manufacturers, dealers, and start-ups are accelerating their carbon and circularity initiatives.
Products
The Anthros Chair Goes Beyond Ergonomics
A brand-new task chair comes out of decades-long evidence-based research into wheelchair design and the human body.
Products
Framery’s Smart Pods Prioritize Sustainability and Employee Wellness
Discover the Finnish brand’s latest innovation, the Smart Office Pod Collection.
Projects
Elkus Manfredi Transforms a Cold War Bunker into a Children’s Health Institute
Elkus Manfredi Architects transforms Washington, D.C.’s defunct Walter Reed Army Medical Center into the Children’s National Research & Innovation Campus.
Color
Products
4 Color Trends That Are Good for the Brain
New research into neuroscience suggests that color affects our psyche, emotions, and bodies. Here are four color-ways to shape moods and memories.
Profiles
Designer Yinka Ilori Wants to Bring Joy to Work
Through colorful designs like his new collection produced with textiles and wallcoverings brand Momentum, the London-based designer hopes to unleash our creative potential in the office.
Projects
In Mexico, a Coworking Space Captures a Community’s Creative Spirit
Santa Tere Espacio, a colorful adaptive reuse project in San Miguel de Allende, is a collaboration between Oficina de Diseño Colaborativo, Maye Colab, and Atelier TBD.
More Products
Products
5 Technologies for Material Lovers
Discover the advancements that are helping us appreciate the beauty, capabilities, and sustainability of all elements of the built environment.
Viewpoints
Chairs in Space: When Design History Inspires Science Fiction
Films like Poor Things and Blade Runner rely on design icons and architectural references to imagine different realities.
Programs
The Winners of the MetropolisLikes 2024 Awards
This year’s product releases at NeoCon and Design Days signal a transformation in interior design.
Programs
Inside METROPOLIS’s Sustainability Lab at NeoCon
This year’s hub invites you to relearn, reset, recharge, and leave inspired to redefine design for tomorrow.
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Latest
Profiles
Carlo Ratti Calls for a Circular Architecture Biennale
The Los Angeles–based product designer launches the paradigm-shifting Admix table system with Allsteel.
Products
8 Architectural Lights That Continue to Astonish
From monumental lighting walls to subtle recessed fixtures, these solutions can shape space and transform experiences.