NatureStructure

The built environment has historically sought to exert control over nature. Yet as the impact of floods and droughts increase and pollinator populations and natural habitats decrease, efforts to conquer nature have proven to be futile and increasingly harmful.

A different relationship between built and natural environments is needed for a healthy and sustainable future. The Norwegians have a phrase for it: “Spille på lag med naturen.”—“To play on the same team as nature.”

On May 17, 2018, BSA Space will premier NatureStructure, an exhibition showcasing global projects that support nature and engage natural processes to heal and sustain the built environment.  

Curated by Scott Burnham, the creator of Reprogramming the City, with exhibition design and curatorial assistance by Samantha Altieri, NatureStructure will introduce a new generation of nature-centric infrastructure and projects designed to support nature and employ natural processes, showing how man-made structures and systems can support and work with nature and natural processes to enable a resilient and sustainable future.

The works on display include the Delfland Sand Motor, a feat of engineering that uses coastal tides to distribute sand along the coast of the Netherlands to reverse erosion and protect against sea level rise; Pop-Up, a revolutionary parking garage by Denmark’s Third Nature that rises in the city scape as its base absorbs rainwater overflow; and 3D printed reefs and seawalls by Australia’s Reef Design Lab to repopulate Sydney Harbor sea life and counter the depletion of reefs in the world’s oceans.

Image: MARS—Modular Artificial Reef Structure by Reef Design Lab, Melbourne, Australia.

When
17 May to 23 September 2018
Where
BSA Space
290 Congress Street, Suite 200
02210 Boston, MA
Organizer
Boston Society of Architects
Link
BSA Space

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