Opening August 2nd, 2024 at the Imagine Butte Resource Center
(IBRC) in historic Uptown Butte, Construction Ecologies presents architectural
research exploring construction supply chains in Montana, tracing the flow of raw
materials from their original sites of extraction through production to their final use in the built environment. Sponsored by the nonprofit Building Bureau and the School of Architecture at Montana State University (MSU), the show features research by eleven graduate architecture students conducted this spring in Building Bureau’s Visiting Scholar Advanced Architectural Studio at MSU. The work on display includes diagrams, text, mineral samples, material experiments and physical models, and represents both industrially produced construction materials ranging from gypsum to copper – for which Butte is famed – and renewable resources such as timber, wool, and straw.
Based on MSU graduate student Mo Chaney’s experiments with natural, non-toxic
paint recipes, the organizers prepared an organic paint for the installation. “I was
originally doing research on the byproducts of mining materials and how they affect human health,” says Chaney. “Lead is widely known for its negative health effects on humans. The most common form of lead in a building is in older paint, and an estimated four out of ten homes to this day still contain lead-based paint.” Commercial paint today is not necessarily safe either, however, because it can contain volatile organic compounds linked to cancer in humans and animals. In contrast, the custom paint for Construction Ecologies – a mustard hue nicknamed “Carrot Crush” that covers approximately 325 square feet of the gallery’s walls – has as its primary ingredients 30 lbs of carrots and 250 egg yolks.
