Events

Columbia Global Centers | Mumbai, in collaboration with The Natural Materials Lab, Columbia Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation, cordially invites you to a panel discussion on sustainable architectural and sculptural materials, earth art, and rituals of making. 

Led by Lola Ben-Alon, Assistant Professor at Columbia GSAPP, Penmai Chongtoua, faculty researcher at the Natural Materials Lab, and Sasha Fishman, Sculpture MFA candidate at Columbia University, the panel will be moderated by Jay Shah, (GSAPP, ‘09) Director, Access Architects. The discussion will revolve around the interdisciplinary approach of the team’s sculptural ceramic and soil fountain installation. This installation responds to the open call “Common Ground”, a metaphorical and literal exploration of the ground upon which we meet, curated by the Indian Ceramics Triennale 2024: Common Ground opening January 19th in New Delhi, India.

This discussion will explore the intersections of creating with soil, bacteria, earth, and water as a means for sustainable making and collaboration. How can we be sustainable when it involves extraction? How can we be sustainable in large-scale projects? The team will discuss how the common interest in sustainable materials led them to this work through presentations on digitally fabricated ceramic and soil-based figurines, the philosophical and practical challenges of moving water, and reframing perceptions of energy and matter.

ABOUT THE SPEAKERS

Lola Ben-Alon is a material design researcher at the Columbia Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation, where she directs the Natural Materials Lab. She specializes in earth- and bio-based building materials, their fabrication techniques, and life cycle analysis. A Ph.D. from the School of Architecture at Carnegie Mellon University, she also holds a B.S. in Structural Engineering and M.S. in Construction Management from the Technion, Israel Institute of Technology. 

Penmai Chongtoua is an environmental politics practitioner and researcher at the Natural Materials Lab. Specializing in post-human critical environmental studies and applied textile design, she received her M.A. in Climate, Earth and Society from the Columbia University Climate School and her B.A. in Environmental Politics at Brown University. Penmai has received grants from the Columbia Graduate School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation and the Tamer Center for Social Enterprise.

Sasha Fishman is a sculptor, researcher based in New York.  Sasha has exhibited her work nationally and online in solo and group exhibitions in New York, Los Angeles, Austin and Baltimore. She has been in residencies at the High Desert Observatory and the Baltimore Jewelry Center.  Sasha is currently a Sculpture MFA candidate at Columbia University, collaborating with labs on projects involving cuttlefish and carbon capture materials.