#reclaimed-materials

#reclaimed-materials

Architecture Office founder Alexander Mackison and glass artist Juli Bolaños-Durman had something of a creative meet-cute. The two became acquainted while running a lecture series at Custom Lane, a collaborative center for designers and makers in Edinburgh, where they both have studios. They remained friendly, so Alexander eventually learned of Juli's plans to renovate an apartment nearby. "Just through casual conversations, I became integrated into the project," he remembers.

Because fragments vary in size, shape, and color, the final design is nearly impossible to replicate. The second is quality. Many fragments, especially those sourced from demolition sites, come with flaws. Rather than see these issues as limitations, van Dievoet embraces them, allowing constraints to shape the work. "Creating from materials that have already been used forces me to take into account their shape, thickness, and any breaks," she explains.

In a junkyard just off 19th Street in Park Slope, 8- to 14-year-olds have been sawing, drilling and painting, surrounded by brightly colored piles of wood, rope-and-tire swings and lots of wheels. They're getting ready for Saturday's 18th annual South Slope Derby, when hundreds of spectators will cheer on dozens of kids racing their own custom-built cars down 17th Street. Every summer, KoKo NYC - the program that runs the race - organizes workshops where kids design and build their vehicles.

"In many cases, designers assert themselves by glorifying individualism and consumerism. To me, it is nature itself that takes the lead, while architecture seeks to extend it, taking its inspiration from the contemplation of the eternal."

"Originally our goal was to make terrazzo of diamonds and rubies and meteorites and things like that, but now we feel a responsibility to the more irregular materials..."