Australian architecture studio Besley & Spresser presented a provocative installation at the 2025 Lisbon Architecture Triennale called 09.ED.15 Redux, which reimagines asbestos, once celebrated for fire resistance but now notorious for health hazards, as a source for safe, carbon-negative construction materials. The project challenges entrenched ideas about building materials by transforming treated asbestos waste into architectural products such as bricks, mineral glazes, and “MACMA” concrete that could help reduce the industry’s carbon footprint, tells this article from designboom.
The installation responds to the Triennale’s theme, “How Heavy Is a City,” by confronting the environmental and social legacy of asbestos in urban and suburban environments. Asbestos was widely used in the 20th century, leaving behind millions of tons of contaminated waste and contributing to widespread health problems when fibers are disturbed. Instead of consigning this waste to landfill, Besley & Spresser’s work suggests that the mineral can be recrystallized into new, benign forms.
Working with materials scientists from Asbeter in Rotterdam and ceramicist Benedetta Pompilli in Amsterdam, the team developed processes to convert asbestos fibers into stable minerals that have architectural potential. One notable benefit is that these renewed minerals can replace a portion of cement in construction, a material responsible for a significant share of global CO₂ emissions, offering a meaningful pathway to lower carbon output in the built environment.
Beyond material innovation, 09.ED.15 Redux advocates a broader shift in how cities approach their own waste streams. By treating urban environments as material reservoirs rather than resource sinks, the project envisions a more circular, regenerative approach to design and construction. Safely recycling asbestos from old buildings and landfills could open up land for rewilding or redevelopment while reducing hazardous waste.
The installation is both a technical demonstration and a conceptual statement: even materials with a troubled history can be reclaimed and repurposed through innovation, contributing to more sustainable and resilient urban futures.