Recycled Brick Coral Reef by HCCH Studio. The wall is cast from recycled red brick fragments (originally intended to include oyster shells as aggregate, which was not implemented), with a rough chiseled surface, and Corten steel plates for openings and doorways. Image © Qingyan Zhu

Published on October 27, 2026

Architecture is, above all, a material reality. The materials that surround us are the result of a chain of constructive, economic, aesthetic and, in more contemporary examples, environmental considerations. Decisions are shaped by available technology, manageable technique, time-related expectations and regulatory frameworks. To face the pressures on our built environment, those multidimensional conditions must change through what we call innovation : the tangible creation of new products and strategies with problem-solving capabilities. Matter is the general term for physical substance that has mass and takes up space.…