by August Rust | Founder, Future Materialist, and GFDA contributor
We often think designing systematically with reclaimed materials is only possible in a Lendager project in Denmark or another progressive European city. But we don’t think about how it took years for them to get there.
When I visited the House of Materialisation in Berlin, which opened in 2024, I found a thriving zero-waste material reuse market, material brokerage, and circular design education hub. Their initial barriers were the same as NYC’s: lack of infrastructure investment and the mentality that buying new materials is more “convenient.” As designers fighting for sustainability, we know all too well we’ve inconvenienced ourselves with the idea of convenience.
From spolia in the Roman Empire to post-WWII adaptive reuse, we’ve been working with reclaimed materials longer than we haven’t.
The Stage Has Been Set
A 2024 report by the Circular Construction Lab and Just Places Lab crunched the numbers: Of the 15,000-20,000 residential demolitions New York State oversees annually, 90% of materials could be reused or recycled. Reusing 75% would create 12,600 new green jobs and generate a $3.05 billion economic impact, and Senate Bill S8168 proposes a template ordinance for municipalities to implement just that.
Here in the city, construction and demolition waste represents 60% of our solid waste. With NYC’s Circular Design and Construction Guidelines and their recently opened Gotham Foundry material incubation hub, we’re finally accelerating infrastructure for a circular material economy. But where will salvaged materials actually plug in?
NYC has incredible precedents for material management organizations like Big Reuse, Fabscrap, Material for the Arts, and Groundcycle, but none address the most common barrier NYC contractors report: storage for construction-scale deconstructed materials.
Until now.
Building Community Around Material Reuse
Stephanie Phillips of San Antonio’s successful Material Reuse Center says, “You can’t build community around a landfill, but you can build community around material reuse.” That’s exactly how I found the community creating NYC’s Deconstruction Material Center. I was researching why the wealthiest city in the world didn’t have one while San Antonio, Palo Alto, and Boulder already have thriving ones.
We’re now a research network of NYC sustainability practitioners brought together by Dave Bennink, known around the industry as “Deconstruction Dave,” Dave Bennink is a national reuse pioneer with 30+ years of experience and is guiding our team on the ground in NYC in establishing a worker-owned cooperative that functions as materials brokerage and workforce training hub. It’s where contractors connect with salvaged materials, circular businesses grow together, and reuse becomes business as usual for NYC’s construction community.
Our philosophy
All buildings are material banks and reclaimed materials aren’t limitations—they’re design opportunities. Construction methods should inform design, not the other way around.
There are warehouses and RFEIs in the works, and a network across architecture, landscaping, and circularity working to pilot this in 2026. But we need more energetic mobilization.
This Is an Invitation
Here’s how to join:
- Attend Circular Design for Climate Mobilization’s exhibition before 10/25 to share your voice on the Deconstruction NYC question board or follow along virtually.
- Lend your skills, voice, or connections to possible partners. All disciplines welcome. Reach out to join our meetings or send suggestions.
About the author: August Rust runs Future Materialist, a material research studio based in Brooklyn, NY. Reach out at [email protected] for more information or to talk all things sustainable materials.
