Informing Home: Natural Materials' Potential to Reinvigorate Residential Architecture

In the United States, residential housing is largely understood as a commodity that is dependent on industrial processes. This leads to houses that lack character, have high environmental impact, and often include synthetic materials and toxins that are detrimental for the occupants. Natural and bio-based materials offer alternative construction techniques that have the potential to improve occupant health and wellbeing, reduce environmental impacts, and reintroduce craft and local connection to construction. This thesis explores the impact of natural material-based systems on spatial organization, formal expression, and construction. These ideas are tested through the design of a modest, single family home in rural New England to be constructed by self-builders.