Reclamation and Event in the Future Studio

Abstract

Modern ceramic studios operate on models of endless consumption and concealment: water is sent down drains, kilns exhaust heat into the atmosphere, and discarded work is sent to landfills. In Nova Scotia, where ceramic artists are scattered across the province without sufficient communal infrastructures, this waste becomes particularly acute. Isolated makers cannot pool resources or develop collective systems for material reclamation. This thesis proposes ceramic systems for material reuse which develop mutually beneficial relationships between the architecture and its inhabitants, allowing for continuous adaptation of spaces. By reinterpreting pedagogical ceramic methods, like sectioning, as tools for architectural communication, the project develops a language of visual sustainability and heightened environmental awareness. The adaptive reuse of a warehouse in the Port of Halifax arts district allows for the dissection of an innovative ceramic studio into a series of public events, prompting deeper understandings of building care practices, ceramic processes, and material flows.