A distinction between animate and inanimate matter pervades so-called Western thought since at least Aristostle’s De Anima. In this course, we questioned this persistent dividing line and uncover new linkages between the quick and the dead, using metabolic processes as both metaphor and mechanism for the transformation of matter. Our methods borrowed from and work through scientific discourses, industry-specific expertise, animal studies, indigenous knowledge, queer theory and critical race thory. Having a history of working with organic materials I decided to explore a more industrialized and large-scale material. Due to its increase in popularity, it has caused mass timber to become synonymous with carbon neutrality, due to the stored carbon offsetting the emissions expended by them. While this is at an industrial scale, I started looking at my personal connections to mass timber and the waste produced by me as an architect. I keep a scrap box filled with a variety of wood pieces, ranging from large to small and odd-shaped. These are leftovers that might otherwise be discarded. This setup enables me to consistently utilize these materials instead of purchasing new wood sheets for smaller projects. This concept of a Scrap Box allowed me to look at different scales of scrap, comparing my box to the making shops’ scraps and then to the scraps left behind after cutting the smaller scraps.
