PART 01


PART 02


PART 03


PART 04



Under Construction * 

BCL  * Scalable Tactics for Affordable, Low-Carbon, High-Performance Residential Building Construction and Retrofits *°

DCS °Polycarb House

DATE2025

TYPEExhibition

LOCATIONOnline

PRIMARY INVESTIGATOR
 David Costanza

CONSTRUCTION COLLABORATORS Artisan Builders LLC (Carpenters)
Dedicated Excavations (Sitework and Heavy Machinery)
Midstate Basements (Foundation Strapping)

MUSIC David Costanza

OVERVIEW Under Construction is a video exhibition that explores the realities of architectural and spatial production through the lens of labor. Rather than showcasing a completed building and its final photographs, each film captures an active construction site, highlighting a process where architects, workers, and builders engage directly with materials, tools, and construction.
    The video documents the execution of a design concept constantly redefined by the context's constraints and the experimentation needed to tinker with a conventional building assembly. This back-and-forth between design and construction, between architect and builder, shapes each decision. It takes viewers from an initial state just before a deep renovation to the current phase of the construction process, beginning in 2022 and still ongoing.
    Under Construction invites viewers to explore the workings of a construction site. It presents a building not as a completed project but as an ongoing process rooted in the dynamic interplay between thinking and making. The film illustrates how knowledge is generated on-site through trial and error, adjustments, and hands-on negotiation.
    The film focuses on a deep energy retrofit of a house in Ithaca, New York. From the outset, the design had to negotiate the conditions found on site while also meeting Ithaca's Green New Deal goal to reach a community-wide carbon neutrality by 2030. The film painstakingly traces the in-depth renovation and work required to improve a typical ranch house's performance to reduce carbon emissions. This house serves as a case study for the steps and materials needed to comply with the Ithaca Energy Code Supplement, while also addressing the issue of building carbon, which is not regulated under the Ithaca Green New Deal.
    Navigating this transition on the ground is still highly uncertain. The retrofit showcased in the videos promotes a scalable, low-carbon, high-performance residential construction system that stays well within the domain of standard building practices and off-the-shelf building materials by focusing on building assemblies. The film medium was chosen to effectively communicate with local builders, town inspectors, and city officials about the work involved in this transition. The videos aim to simplify the often complex and unclear language associated with green initiatives and regulations by addressing local specifics and labor conditions. This is especially important for those concerned about housing affordability in new construction and retrofits.
    As illustrated in each scene, the work of decarbonization is not romanticized to promote the work of a skilled "green-collar" workforce, as the Ithaca Green New Deal intends. Instead, it focuses on the informed and nuanced decisions based on the knowledge and expertise generated on site.


 

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