Homegrown: Building a Post-carbon Future

Homegrown: Building a Post-carbon Future  argues that a new approach to building is needed to answer the social and environmental crises we are facing – one that respects geography, ecology, people and place.  Created in collaboration with Material Cultures, this exhibition asks how we can critically reassess our relationship with the built environment by engaging with our landscape and its materials holistically.

Three specially commissioned films made by Material Cultures reimagine how we use land at a local, regional and national scale, offering the chance for economic and social renewal, and refiguring how we live. In a nod to the Building Centre’s origins as a materials bureau 90 years ago, we present a library of innovative materials alongside the exhibition, suggesting possibilities for the built future – away from the carbon-heavy industry standards and towards a bio-regional economy.

A rich public programme of in-person and digital talks, workshops, and family activities will take place at the Building Centre throughout the exhibition run.

Material Cultures is a not-for-profit organisation led by Summer Islam, Paloma Gormley and George Massoud, which investigates and advocates for the use of bio-based materials in the built environment. Their work challenges building material systems, technologies, processes, supply chains, and regulations currently surrounding building materials with the aim of transforming the way we build. Working across different scales, from materials - to buildings - to the landscapes from which they emerge. The aim is to show the potential for design as part of a coordinated regenerative practice that includes land workers, contractors, clients, and building users.

This exhibition is made possible through the generous support of the Built Environment Trust.