41 Q1 2021 BUILD vision of that more sustainable future, collaborating as closely with them as they do with their specialists in manufacturing, engineering, and more. Together, the client, architect, contractor, and team are united in their journey of discovery, learning how they can use unwanted materials and nature’s own resources to promote sustainability, enrich individual lives, and support businesses. Communication is therefore key to translating the objectives and desires of a client for their project and establishing how they can use their unique resources to achieve these goals beautifully and affordably. This approach is being employed in that Asei Architects project that is currently in the works, which will be an environmental residence of approximately 330m2 in Hamamatsu city.The client wishes to integrate their building into the nature that surrounds it in its lakeside location in a forest park by employing circular utilisation of the forest’s resources. As such, the team is developing and manufacturing a unique type of building blocks from recycled biochar, which will not only be the key structural component of the residence but will also provide natural thermal insulation, thermal storage, humidity conditioning and air purification properties. The spring water that is feeding the lake will also be used to power the house, as well as a solar power system and a geothermal energy utilisation system that uses groundwater to achieve ZEH. As a result of Asei Architects’ innovation and earth-conscious mentality, this house will be a beautifully intelligent extension of the natural world it is situated in. The progressive yet earth-bound philosophy of Creative Resource and Asei Architects’ work on circulating resources for environmental architecture has been recognised across Japan, and was awarded Tokyo Society of Architects & Building Engineers’ Future Architects Award 2018. As Asei and his team continue to lead the revolution for greener architecture, we look forward to seeing where their innovative ambition takes them next. Company: ASEI ARCHITECTS Contact: Asei Suzuki Website: www.aseiarchitects.com Dec20555 Circular Architecture Asei Architects is a leading Japanese architecture firm that sources wasted materials and reinvents them using local technologies to create environmentally conscious architectural structures. Head Architect Asei Suzuki is driven by an awareness of the problematic, wasteful culture that is prevalent in the construction sector and it is his vision to change this that exists at the heart of the Asei Architects philosophy. We find out more about circularity in environmental architecture and how it could lead to a greener, more sustainable future for us all. ased in Tokyo and Shizuoka, Japan, Asei Architects is a revolutionary architecture firm that finds the value of unused and wasted materials so as to give them new life in environmental architecture. Scouring their local areas, the team at Asei Architects locates materials and objects that have been deemed useless and therefore abandoned in urban areas, then evaluates their merits and considers their capacity for creative revitalisation. Driven by an ethos of circular recycling, Asei Architects then uses local techniques and technologies to transform these resources into more sustainable materials, which can then be used in the creation of breath-taking and environmentally conscious architecture. This series of projects is called SHIRASU and began in 2020 when founder Asei Suzuki recognised the wasteful nature of the construction and architecture industries. Although using almost 40% of domestic resources, many projects across Japan see copious amounts of scrap wood and materials left unused and therefore thrown away. To combat this, Asei had a vision to promote the symbiosis of architectural resources and the environment, by devising a circulation system that could be adopted by architects across Japan and the world. Asei set about researching resources and material development, a process which was titled ‘Creative Resource’. The system allows architects to go directly to the pool of resources to source materials for their projects, working in collaboration with manufacturers, engineers, researchers, structural engineers, and facility designers to ensure that materials were used as effectively as possible and reused if necessary. By promoting sustainability, Asei Architects has also been able to reinvigorate localities by connecting them and enabling the creation of local businesses to support the circular system of recycling. As climate change and the neoliberal economy comes under closer scrutiny in a post Covid-19 landscape, ecology and sustainability will only become more important to industries around the world. By adopting programmes and mentalities such as those implemented by Asei Architects, the way we live in harmony with the natural world could establish a much longer, greener future than the one we are currently moving towards. Asei Architects works closely with its clients towards a shared B
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