Project by Eugenia Lopez Valdes
This project explores how natural fibers native to New York State can inform sustainable design. Beginning with research on the materials – their properties, locations, applications, and collection during a class field trip – as well as the understanding of the local climate, the project focused on straw, a byproduct of grain cultivation, and typha, a wetland species, to develop a flooring system of compressed straw tiles for insulation combined with woven typha mats for tactility and humidity control. After experimentation and prototyping, the design was reassessed to address its endogeneity to the chosen site, a Connected Farmhouse in Upstate New York, where the tile system could be integrated in the farmhouse’s floors, walls and ceilings. By rethinking methods of compression, binding, and weaving through locally available knowledge, craftsmanship, and labor, the design evolved into a collaborative system in which sustainability was defined not only through material choice but also through local relationships, the recognition of collaborative effort, and continual reassessment for pursuing viable solutions. Ultimately, the Connected Farmhouse acted as a hub for knowledge enrichment and collaboration, a typology with the potential to become a replicable node.
