Yale North Gallery Exhibition
Home Sweet Home
The Collective Nature of Material Reclamation, Redistribution, and Reuse of a Deconstructed House
February 17, 2025 – March 29, 2025
When a home ceases to be a home, what story does it continue to tell? A post-war prefab house in Greenwich, CT offered an alternative to the conventional paths of demolition or renovation—deconstruction, where homeowners, salvage and reuse experts, and material redistributors brought a second life to building waste. This exhibition reveals the social network and niche expertise that made it possible to deconstruct a home and reconstruct it into many.
The landfill is not where a home ends up. Amid escalating global conflicts and persistent housing crises, the fair distribution of resources is more urgent than ever. In response to the growing disparity in housing affordability and access, this exhibition demonstrates that architecture’s true value lies not just in its static form but in its ability to endure, adapt, and be reborn.
This exhibition is divided into four chapters, culminating in a roundtable discussion between experts who each operated at multiple points along the circular construction–deconstruction and material salvage experts, buyers, non-profit owners, planners, and architects. Together, they discussed the promise and the challenges of smoothing and speeding up the flow of materials in a circular economy, transforming a story of building deconstruction and reuse into a call to action for the entire building industry.
Curatorial Team:
Anjiang Xu, Tian Xu, Tony Wang, Matthew Kling, Echo Li, Estella Dieci, Aniruddh Sharan
Contributors:
Michael Brittenham, Charlotte Campbell, Amy Cohen, Jenny Coyne, Natalie Fox, Kathryn Grove, Sonya Hals, M. Holmes, Livy Li, Eben Ross, Logan Rubasch, Hannah Sheridan, Sida Tang, Whitney O'Reardon, Qananii Tolera, William Chils
Special Thanks to:
Joe Derisi, UrbanMiners
New England Reuse
International Refugee & Immigrant Services
Center for EcoTechnology
Habitat for
Humanity ReStore
MakeHaven
Yale School of Architecture Event Page
I.
Deconstruction: A Home Unfolding
Deconstruction is a process of transformation, not simply destruction.
Urbanminers and New England Reuse, skilled deconstruction contractors, together with their trained crews just out of incarceration hired through EMERGE Connecticut Inc., carefully dismantled the house over three months.
Deconstruction, as it turns out, is a story unfolding in reverse. Following the pull of gravity and exposing layers to the elements, the deconstruction of this post-war house revealed its construction history and the life traces that shaped it into a home.
II.
From Deconstruction to Reuse:
A System of Effort
III.
Reuse, Rebuild, Reunite:
From One Home to Multiple Homes
The carefully salvaged inventory has been redirected into meaningful secondlives: high-end architectural reuse, material wholesale and retail, sheltersfor refugees, affordable housing initiatives, and municipal recycling efforts.
Each piece carries forward the story of a past home while shaping the futureof many more, proving that the true value of a building lies not only in itsstructure but in its ability to be redistributed and reimagined.
IV.
Home, Sweet Home
This collaborative centerpiece of the exhibition invited architecture students and local creatives to turn salvaged materials into deeply personal items of furniture for their homes. Each piece carries its past life, interwoven with the creator’s inspirations and expertise.
This collective project was made possible through the generous support fo Joe Derisi and New England Reuse, who donated the reclaimed materials that served as the foundation for this work.
Event: Exhibition Opening Reception
Over 60 guests from diverse backgrounds attended the reception, including students and professors from the architecture school, designers and architects from local firms, professionals in reuse industries, representatives from relevant nonprofits, and local artists and makers. Talks by Matt Kling, Joe Derisi, and Alan Organschi—along with insights from our furniture contributors—highlighted the exhibition’s central theme: the collective effort behind reclaiming, redistributing, and reusing building materials.Landfill—Not Where a Home Ends Up
Wednesday, March 26, 2025 1PM
The roundtable discussion, Landfill—Not Where a Home Ends Up, extends the narrative of the Home, Sweet Home exhibition, a silent documentary of a deconstructed post-war house and its afterlife.
This roundtable brings together five panelists spanning the entire building material stream, from systemic supply chain study to architectural education, practice, and end-of-life strategies involving a home project retrofitted with salvaged materials. Together, the panelists and experts will delve into collective solutions for circular construction, transforming the narrative of building deconstruction and reuse into a call to action.
In the heart of the exhibition—a common room furnished with collectively crafted pieces made from reclaimed materials, the roundtable becomes a performative dialogue. It bridges theory and practice, embodying the lively principles of architectural reuse and regeneration.
Panelists:
Phil Bernstein, Deputy Dean, Professor at the Yale School of Architecture
Nikole Bouchard, Associate Professor of Architecture at the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee
Shamita Chaudhary, Founder of Malba Project, Climate Analyst in Circular Built Environment
Joe DeRisi, Founder of UrbanMiners, Deconstruction Contractor
Robert Narracci, Associate Principal of Pelli Clarke & Partners, Reuse Enthusiast
Yale School of Architecture Event Page