School of architecture

Nairobi House

The United Nations Environment Programme, along with the Yale Center for Ecosystems in Architecture and associated partners, launched an ecological pavilion at the fourth UN Environment Assembly in Nairobi, Kenya, showing how innovative biomaterial and environmental systems for housing could meet future demands of urbanization in Africa while minimizing the impact on the environment. Unveiled by a team led by Professor Anna Dyson ’96MArch, the 3D-printed modular structure, made from biodegradable bamboo, aims to spark ideas and debate on how future biomaterial processes can help meet sustainable development goals, the Habitat III New Urban Agenda, and the Paris Agreement.

The pavilion shows how post-agricultural waste–including bamboo, coconut, rice, soy, and corn—can be turned into construction materials, and demonstrates solar energy and water systems that make homes self-sufficient and zero-carbon. It also highlights how micro-farming can be achieved with plant walls. All of these features and more are integrated, monitored, and managed by sensors and digital controls.

Symposium on resilience in Japan

A three-day symposium on campus in April focused on Japan’s architectural responses to disasters and included papers, presentations, and performances from a wide range of architects, artists, film theorists, and historians, including Sou Fujimoto, Hitoshi Abe, Atelier Bow-Wow, teamLab, and more. Panels delved into the aftermath of catastrophes such as the “Lost Decade” and the 2011 earthquake and tsunami and their cultural and aesthetic resonances.

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