Adaptive Futures: Reclaiming Labor and Material Flows
Image
Join us for a conversation with landscape architect Jane Mah Hutton (Associate Professor, University of Waterloo) and architect Ruth Mandl (Principal, CO Adaptive) as they explore the processes of making and maintaining design constructions. Drawing from their expertise, Hutton—author of Reciprocal Landscapes: Stories of Material Movements—will discuss the social and ecological dimensions of material flows, tracing the journey of materials from their sources to architectural constructs. Mandl will highlight her innovative work in adaptive reuse and sustainable design, focusing on balancing operational and embodied energy to create resilient, energy-efficient buildings. Together, they will share insights on building responsibly for the future, emphasizing sustainable practices and equitable labor.
Jane Mah Hutton teaches landscape architecture at the University of Waterloo School of Architecture. Her research focuses on the expanded social and ecological relationships of the act of building by examining the movement of materials as they pass from production landscapes through designed constructions, from maintenance through demolition and disposal or re-use. Recent books include Reciprocal Landscapes: Stories of Material Movements, Landscript 5: Material Culture-Assembling and Disassembling Landscapes, and Wood Urbanism: From the Molecular to the Territorial, co-edited with Daniel Ibanez and Kiel Moe.
Ruth Mandl, AIA, is a Principal of CO Adaptive and a licensed architect, registered in New York and Massachusetts. She grew up in Vienna, Austria and received her BA in Interior Architecture from Kingston University in London in 2005, which started her enthusiasm for adaptive reuse, and her thinking that in it lies the key to the sustainable growth of our cities. Ruth completed her M.Arch at the Graduate School of Architecture Planning and Preservation at Columbia University in 2010, and co-founded CO Adaptive Architecture in 2011, which has since won numerous awards for their work, been recognized as a Design Vanguard by Architectural Record, and was showcased in the inaugural exhibition Architecture Now: New York, New Publics at The Museum of Modern Art in 2023. To have a greater impact on the process of taking old buildings apart—focusing on deconstruction, and shaping attitudes about “waste”—she co-founded CO Adaptive Building in 2021. Ruth was an Adjunct Assistant Professor at GSAPP, and has been invited for talks about CO Adaptive’s work at numerous universities, including Montana State, Virginia Tech, University of Miami and University of Waterloo.
2025 MOJ + THALER COMMITTEE:
Samya Ahmed (BSArch, 2026)
Missy Barro (MArch, 2025)
Shiza Chaudhary (MArch, 2025)
Alex Daley (MArch + MLA, 2025)
Joyce Fong (MLA, 2025)
Olivia Haas (BSArch, 2026)
The Michael Owen Jones and Myles H. Thaler Lecture is a student-led initiative which hosts a trailblazing individual in architecture and landscape architecture (or a related field) at the School of Architecture. The initiative is made possible by two endowments honoring former students, Michael Owen Jones (BSArch '85) and Myles H. Thaler (LArch, '73), a member of the first graduating class of the department of landscape architecture.
