Common Walls: Shattering Barriers, Sharing Cities

As urbanization intensifies and global biodiversity declines at alarming rates, the project Common Walls responds to this ecological crisis by reimagining the building envelope as habitat infrastructure. Urban environments, often designed exclusively for human use, fragment ecosystems and create unwelcoming conditions for non-human species. Glass curtain walls, now widespread in city centers, are particularly harmful: they form invisible barriers that cause over a billion bird deaths annually in the US and contribute to light pollution and broader ecological disruption. Drawing on historical precedents in which architecture accommodated non-human life, this project proposes hempcrete as a regenerative alternative to conventional glazing systems. Hempcrete is a lightweight, carbon-negative material with excellent thermal performance. In Common Walls, a 1.5-foot-thick [457 mm] hempcrete cladding serves simultaneously as insulation and as multispecies habitat, supporting a range of pollinators. This approach argues for an expanded, more-than-human right to the city. Grounded in Donna Haraway’s concept of sympoiesis, the project embraces interconnectedness and advocates for architectural practices that cultivate the co-creation of livable urban environments for all forms of life.

Iñaki Abalos

Professor in Residence, Department of Architecture, GSD, Harvard University, Cambridge MA, USA

Orazio Carpenzano

Dean, Facoltà di Architettura, Sapienza Università di Roma, Rome

Yung Ho Chang

Professor of Architecture, College of Architecture and Urban Planning, Tongji University, Shanghai, China

Winka Dubbeldam

Miller Professor and Chair of Architecture at Stuart Weitzman School of Design

Brian Ford

Professor Emeritus, Department of Architecture & Built Environment, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK

Hsinming Fung

Professor, SCI-Arc, Los Angeles CA, USA

Carlo Gasparrini

Professor of Urbanism, Dipartimento di Architettura, Universita' degli Studi di Napoli Federico II, Naples, Italy

Marco Imperadori

Professor of Design and Technological Innovation and Chancellor’s Delegate for the Far East, Politecnico di M

Rahul Mehrotra

Professor of Urban Design and Planning, GSD, Harvard University, Cambridge MA, USA

Antoine Picon

Professor of the History of Architecture and Technology, GSD, Harvard University, Cambridge MA, USA

Mónica Ponce de León

Dean, School of Architecture, Princeton University, Princeton NJ, USA

Jane Rendell

Professor, The Bartlett School of Architecture, University College London, London, UK

Peter Rich

Professor of Architecture, Witwatersrand University, Johannesburg, South Africa

Michael Speaks

Dean, School of Architecture, Syracuse University, Syracuse NY, USA

Martha Thorne

Hon FRIBA, Hon COAM, Director of Strategic and Institutional Relations, the Gallery Institute, Portugal

C David Tseng

Dean, College of Humanities and Social Sciences, National Chiao-Tung University, Taipei, Taiwan

Li Xiangning

Deputy Dean, College of Architecture and Urban Planning, Tongji University, Shanghai, China

Common Walls: Shattering Barriers, Sharing Cities

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