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THE NOT-SO-EASY GUIDE TO CIRCULAR INTERIOR DESIGN

December 2023

If reality were solely based on Linkedin announcements, design biennials, and conferences, you’d think design and architecture are nearing perfection in terms of complete sustainable design. In contrast, the actual practice of circular building is messy, complicated, stacked with dilemmas, and still far from achieving its goals. This guide helps readers and designers untangle the intricate web of interlocking issues that keep us from realizing most of our ambitions. It takes an inside-out approach to architecture, starting from the interior. This is particularly important as interiors are characterized by high turnover rates, driven by trends, and consist of highly customized components made from a variety of materials, making implementing circular principles even more challenging.

Organized into three levels of expertise – beginner, intermediate, and expert – this guide will help you navigate circular design based on your own practice and experience. This structure is linked to three in-depth circular interior design case studies featuring interviews with different actors involved in the projects. From clients to contractors, designers, architects, makers, sustainability accountants, and demolition crews, they all pinch in and share their learnings.

Additional contributions delve into key findings from the interviews and look in depth at circular calculation tools, developments in bio-based materials, as well as the role of cleaning and maintenance culture, financial models, and the importance of adapting our understanding of aesthetics

Guest edited by Marieke van den Heuvel.

Interviews with Fiction Factory, Circu-leren, Hollandse Nieuwe, NICE, Fokkema & Partners, Superuse Studios, LBP|SIGHT, and Opera amongst others.

Contributions by David van Nunen, Jaapjan Berg, Material Cultures, Ruth Baumeister, Simon J. Barker, Remy Heijer, Jingshi Liu, Aylin Cakanlar, Gergaa Nenkov, Pascal Leboucq, ROTOR, and Stephan Petermann.

VOLUME is a project by Archis and the Nieuwe Instituut.

Contents

STEPHAN PETERMANN
EDITORIAL
MARIEKE VAN DEN HEUVEL
WHT LOOK AT INTERIOR DESIGN
GETTING STARTED
THE VERY BASICS 1-5: CIRCULAR FUNDAMENTALS
SImon J. Barker
ROME RECYCLED
MIT DEPARTMENT OF ARCHITECTURE (2009), ADJUSTMENTS BY VOLUME AND ZACHERY LAMB (2023)
TIMELINE: KEY MOVEMENTS IN ENVIRONMENTALLY-FOCUSED ARCHITECTURE AND DESIGN
Jaapjan Berg
THE STATE OF PLAY OF DUTCH CIRCULAR DESIGN: FINGERS CROSSED
CASE MUSEUM KAAP SKIL
INTERVIEWS WITH GILLES VAN MIL, CORINA HORDIJK, BOAZ BAR-ADON, MARIJE REMIGIUS, YERKO HANKMANN AND THOMAS KEMPEN
CASE ALFA-COLLEGE
INTERVIEWS WITH MARLEEN SCHULTE, ALEX VAN OOST, JAN-WILLEM VAN KASTEEL, CHRISTEL VAN DER HULST, ALCO OTTEN, AND KOEN ROOSEBOOM
INTERMEDIATE: MATERIALS, METHODS AND MARKETING
THE VERY BASICS 6-7: THE CIRCULAR DESIGN PROCESS & MATERIAL PASSPORTS IN INTERIOR DESIGN
IN CONVERSATION WITH REMY HEIJER
A CRASH COURSE LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT (LCA)–I: THE WHY
DAVID VAN NUNEN
A CRASH COURSE LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT (LCA)–II: THE WHAT AND THE HOW
MARIEKE VAN DEN HEUVEL
THE HEART OF THE CONSUMER-I: SCULPTING DOUBT
JINGSHI (JOYCE) LIU, AYLIN CAKANLAR AND GERGANA NENKOV
THE HEART OF THE CONSUMER-II: REPAIR AS COMMITMENT
CASE NATIONALE-NEDERLANDEN
INTERVIEWS WITH PIETER LEMS, PETER JANSEN, JEANNETTE LEVELS-VERMEER, BRAM JONGEJAN, ASTRID VAN DUN, ROB BEIJER, EDWARD DE WIT, FLORIS SCHIFERLI, TWAN STEEGHS, DIRK ZWAAN, TIM BEUKER, LOTTE DE JONG, GERWIN BEUKHOF, AND JAN MULDER
ADVANCED: FOOD FOR THOUGHT
MATERIAL CULTURES, WITH COAUTHOR AMICA DALL
EXCERPTS FROM MATERIAL REFORM
IN CONVERSATION WITH PASCAL LEBOUCQ
MATERIALS OF THE FUTURE
VISUAL ESSAY
CLEAN INTERIORS
RUTH BAUMEISTER
LOVE FOR DIRT & CLEANING 
ROTOR
SALVAGING MATERIALS
STEPHAN PETERMANN
DEPRECIATING DEPRECIATION: WHY BUILDINGS AND INTERIORS HAVE A DUE DATE
MARIEKE VAN DEN HEUVEL
EMBRACING A NEW VISUAL LANGUAGE
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