The Sunflower Collective
I am a designer who aligns with the posthumanist perspective, pursuing the ideal of architecture that equally serves human and non-human systems. I strive to create projects that respond to researched site-specific needs ethically, ecologically, and socially. Creating projects under the SKN agenda of entangled, regenerative design, I’ve become incredibly fascinated with natural materials – not just aesthetically, but more for their behaviours, unique construction processes, and environmental impact.
My final studio project - The Sunflower Collective - focused on using nature as a tool for healing stress-related illnesses. In order to encourage nature onto the site of a decommissioned gasworks, sunflower planting was proposed as a means of phytoremediation. From this, I developed Sun-crete – a sunflower-based, load-bearing insulation material. Partnering with physics students to test its thermal conductivity (0.95W/mk), we discovered its interchangeability with hempcrete and its viability as a carbon-sequestering construction method.
This material-led process is an example of how I like to design. Rather than later choosing materials into pre-decided forms, I now let material behaviours and ecological context shape my interventions, creating experimental designs that are bespoke to the material. This approach reflects the urgency of the climate crisis: we can no longer design with frivolous aesthetics as a priority. Instead, we should create smaller, efficient, yet beautiful spaces that use fewer resources. What can architecture give back to the site it occupies, the systems it interacts with, and the life it supports?
