Integrating Material Culture

Abstract This article describes 1:1 material explorations within the architecture program at the Harvard University Graduate School of Design via a newly established material research library and database, the Materials Collection, and a first year architecture course titled Materials and Construction: An Introduction to Techniques, Composition, and Strategies that integrates the Materials Collection as a teaching tool. On a broader scale, Integrating Material Culture also refers to the school's initiative to integrate a “material culture” in its pedagogy, defined by the notion of material research as a process of innovation in design.