Research
The City is a Material Bank is an exploration of the role that speculative futures can play in augmenting urban resilience. A research-based vision of urban life in 50 years, it investigates what a city might become if it embraced aspects of the circular economy, an economic system aimed at eliminating waste and the continual re-use of resources. While many researchers and leading foundations advocate for its economic and social opportunities, the circular economy has yet to take wider hold.
The City is a Material Bank presents a narrative experience where the shift has already taken place, asking viewers to reflect on what it took to make such changes and what the impacts on urban space and daily life could be as a result. The piece invites people to envision what could be made from the reality of what is.