Contribution short abstract:

Implementing a circular economy in European construction proposes to reuse rather than waste materials. When reintegrating secondhand materials, practitioners reimagine a construction sector that handles existing materials more carefully, revalues manual labour and fosters collaborations.

Contribution long abstract:

Implementing a circular economy and thus reusing building materials as a form of upcycling is an omnipresent topic in the European construction sector. However, since the post-war construction boom in Western Europe, many actors in the construction sector have unlearned to deconstruct and build with reused components. Resources seemed to be endlessly available, but this has changed since the turn of the century and rising awareness of climate change and resource scarcity. Knowledge about the stocks and flows of building materials in the urban construction industry has become essential to implement circular economy as an important pillar of an ecological transformation. While the construction business mainly talks about the circulating materials, this paper engages with the considerable inputs of labour, skills, and knowledge necessary at different stages of the reuse cycle. My paper outlines that working with existing building materials – instead of ordering materials from stock – is a highly creative practice. Based on the everyday lives of reuse practitioners that I followed during 7 months of fieldwork in Vienna, I highlight that their expertise on parquet slats, perforated plate coverings, or ceiling panels unfolds in the everyday encounter between humans and these materials. When deconstructing, moving, designing with, and reintegrating secondhand materials, reuse practitioners also reimagine a construction sector that handles existing materials more carefully. This entails to revalue manual labour, to prevent waste, and to foster collaborations between different actors in the construction sector.