7 Proposals for a Circular Built Environment

In July and August METROPOLIS brought together visionaries from across the building industry for its Circular Future Hackathon, aimed at reimagining how we design and construct in a way that aligns with circular design principles. Building off the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s framework for design and the circular economy, the event encouraged participants to push the boundaries of sustainable thinking by considering waste and pollution, material life cycles, and regenerative design.

Representatives and sustainability experts across global firms, manufacturers, and industry organizations joined forces to tackle the building sector’s greatest circularity obstacles. Participants included 3form, Andreu World, Arcadis, Buro Happold, CannonDesign, CO Adaptive, Dattner Architects, Doors Unhinged, DPR Construction, the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, FXCollaborative, the Good Future Design Alliance, Goody Clancy, HDR, HMC Architects, Houser Walker Architecture, HKS, HLW, IA Interior Architects, Interface, Legrand, Lifecycle Building Center, LMN Architects, Miller Hull, Momentum, MSR Design, OPN Architects, Perkins&Will, Re:Vision, RIOS, Ross Barney Architects, Snøhetta, Studio Blitz, Valerio Dewalt Train, WRNS Studio, and ZGF. 

During two rounds of virtual workshops, these participants joined one of seven groups, each focused on a particular challenge to a circular built environment: Eliminating Waste, Fighting the Culture of New, Questioning Ownership, Rethinking Lifecycles, Recovering Resources, Rallying Support, and Engendering Collaboration Across Industries. Teams brainstormed, refined, and fleshed out transformative ideas for new product ecosystems, commercial building leasing strategies, professional skills to support a circular design economy, and more. 

In the months that followed, METROPOLIS shaped these concepts into comprehensive scenarios. You can view these seven forward-thinking solutions for a more sustainable and circular future in the built environment here:

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