Based on LTL Architects’ recently published book Manual of Biogenic House Sections this lecture presents a visually compelling argument for rethinking the material basis of architecture in a time of environmental crisis. Asserting that the most viable means to radically reduce embodied carbon in new buildings is to use plant and earth-based materials, the lecture demonstrates how this approach can catalyze new types of houses that reduce or sequester carbon, engage regenerative life cycles, and create healthier spaces for living. Interlaced into the talk are reuse and biogenic projects designed by LTL Architects. In particular, the lecture will explicate five small houses and a series of experiments that use biogenic material assemblies as a catalyst for building form, domestic organization, and spatial seduction. These projects demonstrate LTL’s optimism about architecture’s agency when embracing biogenic materials in the move towards a regenerative future.

This lecture will inaugurate the 2023-2024 Forum Lecture Series, and also launch Ottawa Architecture Week.