Expanding the Definition of Environmental Sustainability

David Benjamin is the Founding Principal at The Living and Assistant Professor at Columbia Graduate School of Architecture, Planning, and Preservation (GSAPP). He also directs the GSAPP Incubator at the New Museum’s NEW INC. His work combines research and practice, and it involves exploring new ideas through prototyping. Working in the Autodesk Office of the CTO, David also heads up some of our research efforts. Focusing on the intersection of biology, computation, and design, he has articulated three frameworks for harnessing living organisms for architecture: bio-processing, bio-sensing, and bio-manufacturing.

David recently gave the closing keynote address at the Future of Architecture and Building Biennale 2018 held in Mumbai, India. David discussed expanding the definition of environmental sustainability through the frameworks of biology, computation, and a circular economy.

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The Future of Architecture and Building Biennale bills itself as a crucible for disruptors in design. The organizers believe that the future for the world and its built environment is bleak. "A volatile socio-political environment, a shattered economic fabric, myopic patronage, rampant neglect towards conscious design… the list of what will cause an outage is endless." Even the staunchest skeptic cannot deny the existence of possibilities to avoid such a future, as in, new thinking and new materials as anchors to foster design and making flight. ^{[fabbiennale.com]}

Autodesk has always been an automation company, and today more than ever that means helping people make more things, better things, with less; more and better in terms of increasing efficiency, performance, quality, and innovation; less in terms of time, resources, and negative impacts (e.g., social, environmental). Events like The Future of Architecture and Building Biennale showcase the need for designing and making more and better with less. We are proud that David could share the Autodesk perspective with like-minded individuals and teams aiming for a better world.

The future of architecture and building is alive in the lab.