Abstract
Contemporary understandings of materiality in the construction industry are strongly linked to a mode of thinking that gained prominence in the Scientific and Industrial Revolutions, both of which occurred predominantly in the Global North, whereas bamboo and bamboo-centric cultures proliferate across the Global South. This paper investigates the question, what if there had been spatial overlaps connecting the Industrial Revolution with bamboo-centric societies? Or more specifically, what might have been the impacts on pollution and the global economy had bamboo become one of the materials that shape our world today alongside steel and concrete? Two and a half decades into the new millennium, the world is challenged by climate change, soil loss, expanding population growth and materials shortage, amongst others. Population forecasts predict housing shortages to an extent never before experienced. Could alternative understandings of materiality open the door to new and sustainable building materials? That steel and concrete hold a hegemonic position in construction is not questioned. What can be questioned is why these two materials hold this position with such dominance and second, what if this hegemonic position were to be challenged with a new epistemological praxis. How can the hegemonic narrative be reframed to allow for open consideration of bamboo? We recommend Actor Network Theory (ANT) and forward-focused counterfactual thinking as epistemological strategies to facilitate a new narrative of materiality and potentially enable implementation of bamboo in the construction industry as a sustainable method for addressing contemporary housing and environmental challenges.
Presenters
Byrad YyellandAssociate Professor, Social Sciences, Liberal Arts & Sciences, Virginia Commonwealth University Qatar, Ad Dawhah, Qatar
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
KEYWORDS
Sustainable Resources, Bamboo, Actor-Network Theory, Industrial Revolution, Counterfactual Thinking
