Building circular economy - Strategies for decoupling in architectural practice

This article examines the tectonic relation between architecture and decoupling - a central concept in circular economy. For the exhibition Circular Economy in 2017 at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts School of Architecture, Design and Conservation, CINARK built three wall fragments based on tectonic strategies for circular economy. The wall fragments were respectively based on straw, wood and clay. All three walls demonstrate relative decoupling as they are facade constructions with high resource efficiency (low virgin material input) and low environmental impacts. Throughout this paper it is discussed how CE can be translated into design strategies and the resulting relative decoupling of the wall fragments. Furthermore, the wall fragments exemplify how circular economy constitutes a specific tectonic approach when explored through architecture (Frascari 1981).