Earth-friendly building materials

AAP alumni Katie MacDonald ’13 and Kyle Schumann ’13 founded After Architecture, a Charlottesville, Virginia-based practice that is looking to expand the use of natural building materials, grown or harvested. The duo is experimenting with biodegradable materials made from forestry waste and invasive species such as bamboo. "We’re critical of the value that has been placed on infinite longevity of materials because as tastes or needs change, we are left with artifacts in our environment that can’t degrade,” MacDonald says.