Recycled architecture is more than just novelty structures and offbeat buildings made from bottles, cans and tires – though those can be pretty cool in their own right. It’s a way to put recycled materials to use on a large scale, reduce the tremendous amount of waste typically produced during construction and stimulate creativity. In fact, the challenge of seeing salvaged and recycled materials in a new way can help break up monotonous architectural norms, even when applied to major modern projects like community centers and museums.

The act of repurposing reclaimed materials often becomes part of the aesthetic, a conscious choice to highlight the building’s sustainability factor or just raise awareness about the potential of items like shipping containers. But sometimes, you can’t tell by a glance. Materials like reclaimed tiles, recycled concrete, salvaged wood and innovative new synthetics made of waste products enable a little more subtlety and elegance.

Modern architecture made of recycled materials can help raise the profile of greener approaches to building, move the industry as a whole closer to closed-loop ideals and even preserve physical connections between past, present and future.

Carrying Pieces of the Past Into the Future

Set at the foot of China’s Taihang Mountains, rural Luotuowan village suffered from a period of decline as the country focused on expanding its urban centers, and the bulk of its structures became dilapidated. When the local government finally invested in a mass re-roofing project, many residents opted for an affordable contemporary concrete option. But making the whole village safer didn’t have to mean discarding the beautiful wooden beams from their old houses. LUO Studios, which specializes in sustainable architecture, took those old beams and transformed them into a low-cost, low-waste sculptural canopy inspired by the work of Buckminster Fuller, with the villagers assisting in the building process.The result creates a shaded gathering place for the community, and offers a reminder of Luotuowan’s past.

The stratified facade of the new SOS Children’s Villages Lavezzorio Community Center in Chicago calls to mind layers of rock and sediment beneath the surface of the earth, suggesting growth and the passage of time – but it’s also a physical reflection of the way in which the material was sourced. Studio Gang Architects used concrete aggregate waste from construction sites around the Chicago area as a major component of the building, pouring it from each source in turn to create a sort of anonymized visual record of change throughout the city. Artistic and symbolic, this choice adds to the beauty of the building, gives it a sense of enhanced identity and reduces waste all at once without shouting its recycled nature from across the street.

Though best known for his stunning timber structures, Japanese architect Kengo Kuma is deft at making smart use of other materials as well, as seen here in the China Academy of Arts’ Folk Museum. The complex in Hangzhou recycles the old roof tiles of local houses into its own sculptural terraced roof as well as a shade screen along some of the open walls. “Their sizes are all different, and that helps the architecture merge into the ground naturally,” says Kuma.

In Mexico City, Alonso de Garay Architects continue a local trend of transforming the remains of dilapidated old buildings into modern architecture with ‘Recycled Building,’ an apartment complex with 26 units. Noting that these structures were too damaged to use thanks to “decades of carelessness and decay,” the architects see the act of recycling them into a contemporary building as a sensitive process of renewal, albeit one the that has helped transform these areas into some of “the most expensive and desired” in the city, contributing to the displacement of lower income residents (which is not exactly sustainable.)

Finding Surprising Uses for Mundane Waste Materials

Visible soda cans, beer bottles and tires incorporated into buildings are most often associated with the quirky nature of “earthships,” a type of passive solar earth shelter made of natural and up cycled materials. Whimsical and sculptural, these thermally heated and cooled buildings are about as sustainable as contemporary architecture gets, but they aren’t for everyone (or every climate). That doesn’t mean architects can’t use some of the same recycling tricks for modern buildings, with results that have less of a handmade appearance.

Designer Hyunje Joo came up with an innovative facade for a building in South Korea made of repurposed plastic baskets, giving the old building a facelift that diffuses sunlight, adds privacy and can be dismantled and recycled when the structure is demolished. 1,500 of the semi-transparent baskets create a screened envelope around the building.

“The surface minimizes the separation between the inside and outside, as light and silhouettes beyond the space show through. Over the course of the day, changes show on the surface of the wall due to the diffusion and reflection of the material. The passage of time is more actively sensed from both inside and outside, as these light effects stimulate our senses.”

Can you guess what Shau Bandung architects used to create the pixelated facade on this Microlibrary in Kampung, Indonesia? Believe it or not, they’re ice cream containers.

“As the building is located in a tropical climate, we aimed to create a pleasant indoor climate without the use of air conditioning. Therefore, we looked  for available façade materials in the neighborhood that were cost efficient, could shade the interior, let daylight pass and enable enough cross ventilation. Initially, we found several small vendors selling used, white and translucent jerry cans. However, prior to construction the jerry cans were no longer available in the quantities we required. Instead, we found used plastic ice cream buckets that were being sold in bulk. This turned out for the better as they have a more positive image and are more stable when cutting the bottom open for cross ventilation.”

From afar, you might not even guess that there’s anything unusual about this office building in Shanghai. The unusual facade material chosen for ‘Can Cube’ doesn’t reveal itself until you get much closer. Archi-Union Architects used a system of used aluminum soda cans enclosed in an aluminum frame, explaining that up cycling the cans for a new purpose in their current form actually saves more energy and materials than sending them through the standard recycling process to reclaim the metal.

“Enclosing them in an aluminium frame keeps the structure light and easily adjustable by its occupants. Window-sash type sections within the façade provide the user with full control of sunlight/daylight in all seasons. The façade works alongside underground heating and cooling devices, rainwater filtration and solar energy systems, which all provide more efficiency and minimize the wastage of energy.”

Wood may be most closely associated with cabins, stick-frame housing and other conventional forms of architecture, but a new wave of architects is adapting its usage for this century and beyond, using it as a primary material for large commercial structures, pavilions, energy-saving facades and even skyscrapers. Lightweight, flexible and renewable, wood is having a moment in modern architecture, transcending its rustic origins as one of the world’s most ancient building materials.

Curving Timber Shell for Swatch Headquarters by Shigeru Ban

A sinuous timber shell structure stretches between buildings owned by sister companies under the Swiss watch giant Swatch umbrella in this concept by Shigeru Ban. Connecting older buildings with new ones and forming semi-enclosed public spaces, the new addition will act as the company’s headquarters. Large pale crosses dot the lattice in a nod to the company’s brand identity.

Metropol Parasol by J. MAYER H. Architects

“Realized as one of the largest and most innovative ended timber-constructions with a polyurethane coating, the parasols grow out of the archaeological excavation site into a contemporary landmark, defining a unique relationship between the historical and the contemporary city,” says J. Mayer H. Architects of their creation Metropol Parasol. The waffle-like structure in Seville, Spain incorporates the archaeological site as well as a farmer’s market, bars and restaurants over 18,000 square meters. The parasols form plazas and also offer an elevated rooftop walkway from which to view the city.

Contemporary Hillside Home by Jose Ulloa Davet + Delphine Ding

This mountain home in Tunquen, Chile is anything but a rustic cabin despite its raw timber construction, with a path snaking its way from ground level all the way up onto the roof. Conceived as both a private space and a platform for outdoor activities, the “Metamorfosis” house is raw and modern at once, providing breathtaking views of the scenery.

Space Lab by Kohki Hiranuma Architect & Associates

Stacked cedar planks alternate with glass to create an irregular pattern of light inside the ‘Space Lab,’ a temporary structure at the University of Tokyo made of discarded wood. The experimental space makes a statement on the use of diminishing resources and will also investigate the strength of this construction method over four years. “This ‘Azumaya” architecture of today does not separate inside and outside, and is expected to be variably used for a promotion of domestic materials to just a resting space. And finally this architecture, which utilizes domestic thinned materials, shows one way of regeneration the balance of nature we have destroyed.”

Woven Lattice Dessert Shop by Kengo Kuma + Associates

Thin, criss-crossing timber beams create the effect of a dense forest in this latticed wooden facade on a dessert shop in Tokyo by Kengo Kuma + Associates. The basket-like arrangement ploys an ancient Japanese construction technique called ‘jiigokugumi,’ which joins the individual pieces of wood together without using glue or fasteners.

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Wooden Architecture In The Modern World

Future buildings could be made of artificial human bone, hemp, bacterial byproducts or concrete that absorbs greenhouse gas emissions and lasts thousands of years. Innovations in building materials have led to synthetic creations that are stronger, lighter and more sustainable than those we already use, potentially leading to architecture unlike anything we’ve ever seen before.

Animal Blood Bricks

Abundant and yet almost always wasted, animal blood is an unlikely – and grisly – possible base material for building bricks. Architectural graduate Jack Munro sterilized the blood, added sand and baked them together to yield a strong, traditional-looking brick that’s also waterproof.

Translucent Concrete

Litracon is a combination of optical fibers and fine concrete, produced as prefabricated building blocks for a translucent glass-like look with surprising strength. It’s handmade, so each block has its own individual pattern of light.

Bacteria Building Blocks

Will bacteria build the walls of our houses in the future? Scientists have directed the creation of bioplastics, cellulose and other materials by feeding certain materials to specific varieties of bacteria. The resulting metabolic process produces solid, surprisingly durable byproducts that could be used for all kinds of processes. Bacteria might even create bricks that could be used for building on Mars.

Concrete That Lasts 16,000 Years

Not only would the new concrete being developed at MIT drastically reduce the carbon emissions currently associated with the manufacturing of this material, it would also result in an astonishing reduction in the amount needed in the first place. That’s because it’s strong enough to last for an incredible 16,000 years. This concrete will not only be stronger, but also lighter and thinner, so large-scale, lightweight structures require far less material.

Hempcrete: Hemp Biocomposite

A new bio-composite, thermal wall material made of hemp, lime and water is not only eco-friendly but actually carbon-negative thanks to the amount of CO2 stored during the process of growing and harvesting hemp. It’s 100% recyclable, waterproof and fireproof and could be used for everything from walls and insulation to flooring. Once demolished, the material can be used as fertilizer.

SensiTile

Sensitiles are made up of a light-conducting matrix embedded in a substrate, so that they redirect and scatter incoming light in a similar way as fiber optics. Shadow-producing movements around these tiles produce an interesting rippling effect, and the tiles absorb and ‘bleed’ colors.

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House Of Hemp And Blood 16 Futuristic Building Materials

In 2011, Christchurch, New Zealand was hit with a massive 6.3 magnitude earthquake. Among the city’s most heartbreaking losses was the destruction of the iconic 1864 Anglican cathedral. The city plans to have a new cathedral built, but designing and erecting a large building doesn’t just happen overnight. Shigeru Ban Architects, masters of cardboard constructions, came to the rescue with a temporary solution.

The Cardboard Cathedral is built to last up to 50 years, which should be more than enough time to get a permanent structure in place. The temporary building is made from 98 cardboard tubes and eight shipping containers, with the tubes forming the dramatic ultra-high peaked ceiling. Rather than constructing a simple emergency building to house the congregation, the architect did something extraordinary and created a temporary cathedral that actually looks like a place of worship.

Shigeru Ban wants to make it clear that, although paper is traditionally a rather weak material, this structure is one of the most earthquake-proof in Christchurch. A concrete building is easily crumbled by an earthquake, but the paper building is far less rigid. This means that it can absorb the shock of a quake without falling apart.

The cardboard tubes are coated with waterproof polyurethane and a flame retardant, so they won’t succumb to the elements. Outside of the cardboard tube ceiling, a semi-transparent polycarbonate roof adds further protection for the building and its occupants. The cathedral can hold up to 700 people, and not just for religious services; it can also be used as an event venue or concert hall.

One of the most touching parts of this project is the etched stained glass window at the entrance. The colorful glass triangles show pictures from the destroyed church’s facade, ensuring that part of that beloved landmark lives on.

(images via: Shigeru Ban and Jocelyn Kinghorn)