In the spirit of sustainable practices in architecture and in life in general, the choice of materials to use in your design process and for the preparation of presentations and models should be carefully considered with respect to the environmental pollutants they emit, their recycled content and their ability to be recycled. 

To begin with, please consider reusing and recycling materials from earlier projects.  There is a Materials Cart across from the 3rd floor kitchen for students to place materials they no longer need for reuse by others; this cart is not another trash can. Please donate viable material only. Students should organize excursions to suppliers to reduce the number of trips.  

With a pedagogy that promotes a diverse engagement with media, we nevertheless aim to maintain an appropriate ethic of use that eliminates toxic substances. To this end, the School has issued the following mandates:

Acceptable Materials

• Chipboard and cardboard

• Basswood

• Plexiglas or acrylic sheet materials

• Plastic clay                      

• Brush-on, water-based paints, inks & stains    

• Beeswax, molding paste or acrylic gel medium for surface textures

• PVA (white) glue products (eg. Sobo, Elmers) and other non-aerosol, non-solvent adhesives

• Wintergreen oil or acrylic medium for xerox transfer

• Paper, sketchbooks and other materials with a high percentage of post-consumer recycled content 

• Recycled or sustainably harvested wood and manufactured wood products with low-toxicity binders

• Scrap metals 

Unacceptable Materials

• Any solvent-based product

• Aerosol spray paint

• Oil-based paint

• Styrofoam and foam-core 

• Balsa 

• OSB use in the wood shop       

• Plaster and cement-based materials that include hydrated lime. These can only be used  (i.e., mixed, poured and sanded) in the Casting Shop on the 1st floor while employing appropriate safety precautions as required by the Materials Lab policies.

• Resin

• Clay products can be used in the Casting Shop 

• Spray fixative and spray adhesive may not be used anywhere in or near Shattuck Hall. 

It is hoped that self-policing at the peer level will ensure that these mandates are followed. When asked to desist from using an ‘unacceptable’ material it is expected that any student will do so or put themselves in breach of studio use policies.