Between Building and Unbuilding: An Interdisciplinary Design Approach to Cohabitation, Material Cycles, and Traditional Ecological Knowledge

In recent history, built environment practices have accepted a paradigm which underlines the land’s static quality, prioritizes immediate utility, and consequently adopts design processes that inevitably accelerate assimilation. With the capitalist propensity to obtain control and enhance efficiency, those processes nevertheless privilege certain cultures while rejecting other forms of knowledge or living specific to the land. The design discourse, confronted with the rising pressure of global climate challenges and environmental inequity, suggests a shift of design pattern from static to responsive as a means to an end that is part of nature’s transformation. Located amid the semi-arid playa of Nevada in the USA, Fly Ranch sits on land remote yet crisscrossed by industrial activity, with extreme climatic conditions yet teeming with life and traditions. Working with these contradictions, “Lodgers,” the project to be constructed in Fly Ranch, is grounded in three key approaches to challenging contemporary architectural practice. Firstly, prioritize the well-being of all plants and animals species, including humans, by creating cohabitation spaces. Secondly, utilize local or nearby building resources to minimize waste, maintain ecological balance, and rebuild the material cycle. Finally, integrate Traditional Ecological Knowledge with modern building practices and employ low-tech construction techniques to encourage community participation. As a pilot project goes into construction, the authors offer critical reflection on contemporary architecture practice, the design process, and the meaning of “unbuilding” as a response to climate challenge.