VAMO—Vegetal, Animal, Mineral, Other

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The VAMO canopy brings together material and construction research from ETH Zurich and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) to propose a circular vision for architecture. Conceived as an ultra-lightweight and transportable structure that expands the architectural potential of reclaimed resources, the installation encapsulates multiple life spans within a diverse material palette of waste materials from vegetal, animal, and mineral forms.

Constructed with lumber salvaged from a Swiss demolition site and built by the Chair of Circular Engineering for Architecture Lab (ETH Zurich), the upcycled wooden hoops and bench extend the conversation on material reuse beyond the scale of temporary installations toward broader architectural applications. The canopy’s structural support, developed by MIT’s Digital Structures research group, explores new possibilities for these materials through computational form-finding. Inspired by natural forms and efficient structures of history, the design interlaces an anticlastic tensile network of spliced hemp-rope cable net with a tilted compression hoop, spanning 6.5 meters in pure tension and compression.

Most vegetal, animal, mineral, and other cladding elements are circular material innovations supported by MITdesignX, a program dedicated to design innovation and entrepreneurship at the MIT Morningside Academy for Design (MAD). Emerging biodegradable materials and upcycled resources find new life as architectural finishes: individual shingles are made from used coffee grounds, pineapple peels, waste wool combined with beeswax, coconut husks, leather scraps, and biopolymers. The table surrounding the column is made from waste glass from Murano, Italy.

VAMO also features work by other initiatives focused on sustainable materials. It partnered with DumoLab at the University of Pennsylvania’s Stuart Weitzman School of Design to include shingles combining wood biomass composites with novel additive manufacturing techniques. It also collaborated with Manteco, which produced shingles made from high-end circular recycled wool.

Assembled in Zurich, Switzerland, from parts created locally in Switzerland as well as in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, VAMO was brought to Venice for the Biennale and is to be relocated to Switzerland where the natural biodegradation will be researched. The visible effects of time serve as an open invitation to rethink permanence in architecture. By embracing disassembly, reuse, and material transformation, VAMO challenges traditional construction practices by envisioning architecture as adaptable, regenerative, biodegradable, and circular.