Permanent Change: Plastics in Architecture and Engineering

Almost every industry in the world has benefited from the invention of plastics, but it is only in the recent past that they have begun to be appreciated as architectural materials in their own right. Plastics are quickly becoming one of the most ubiquitous materials in construction and have the potential to reshape the roles of architects and engineers, as well as the construction industry at large. As a building material, plastic allows for easily molded and formed shapes, leading to increasingly malleable design processes. Despite being the most deeply engineered building materials today, plastics are still in the nascent stages of understanding in terms of their potential applications and uses. In Permanent Change an interdisciplinary group of architects, historians, theorists, and engineers collectively explore the past, present, and future possibilities of this innovative building material.

Michael Bell is a Professor at Columbia University. Bell chairs the Columbia Conference on Architecture, Engineering and Materials and is also Director of the Master of Architecture Core Studios. Craig Buckley teaches at the Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation, where he is also Director of Print Publications.