Date TK
Some objects go unnoticed. Take the brick. Humble, rough, stacked endlessly—it seems like it has nothing to say. Yet in the right hands, a brick can become a statement. A quiet act of resistance. A promise.
Amid a global climate crisis and shrinking resources, museums are making choices that go beyond aesthetics or function. They are speaking through their walls. They are building with intention. And, brick by brick, they are shaping the future.
Museums have long been temples of knowledge, guardians of the past, and platforms for imagining the future. But in times of crisis, it’s not enough to display ideas—you have to embody them. Some institutions are taking that leap. They’re not just showing sustainable collections; they’re incorporating sustainability into their own very structures.
Every recycled brick, reused tile, and reclaimed fiber is a small act that turns architecture into ethics in action. Here three museums and three approaches that are not just telling stories but telling stories you can touch, walk through and live in.
In a city reshaped by relentless urbanization, the Ningbo Museum in China offers a moment of reflection. Completed in 2008, it incorporates rubble and fragments from the city’s past using wapan, an ancient technique for repurposing demolition waste.
Pritzker Prize-winning architect Wang Shu didn’t just design a building—he created a visible archaeology of the city itself. Stone, bamboo, broken bricks, and uneven tiles form a museum that doesn’t hide the chaos around it but embraces it, turning it into beauty.
The California Academy of Sciences, also unveiled a new home in 2008 where sustainability and recycled construction materials were at the core of the project. Here, sustainability wasn’t a decoration—it was the foundation.
Aligning with its mission to “explore, explain and sustain life”, the facility used 90 percent of the demolition materials from the 12 buildings that previously stood on the site. That included over 50 tons of sand, steel, concrete and even green waste materials that were recycled for dune restoration projects in the Bay Area, and for other local projects.
Architect Renzo Piano chose insulation made from recycled denim and concrete blended with fly ash, a byproduct of coal combustion. Even the smallest, most overlooked materials found purpose here.
This museum doesn’t just display life—it sustains it.
Currently, the Design Museum Gent in Belgium is undergoing a transformation with a full renovation and a new wing to connects its three existing buildings. This new wing, named DING (Design in Ghent”), isn’t designed to look new—it’s designed to be deliberate. The façade will be built entirely from reused bricks salvaged from local demolitions.
The museum also collaborated with TRANS Architectuur, Carmody Groarke, RE-ST, and BC Materials to create “Gent Waste Brick for DING,” proprietary low carbon bricks made from municipal waste. A brick born of the community, symbolizing a pact with the city itself.
As director Katrien Laporte says: "As a design museum, we need to raise awareness about major social challenges, such as climate change. We are proud to be pioneers, along with BC Materials and architects, in this research project. The brick made from the waste of the Design Museum in Ghent has the potential to make this world a better place. We are even more excited to create a space where research has resulted in a real and innovative brick.”
The refurbished Design Museum gent is set to open in the fall of 2026 and the brick won the 2025 Henry van de Velde Gold Award for Environment. But the brick’s real value isn’t the award—it’s what it represents: a new way of building cities.
These museums show that transformation doesn’t always come through grand statements. Sometimes it comes in small, deliberate, material choices. One brick won’t change the world—but millions, carefully placed, just might.
Architecture can dazzle. It can be functional. But it can also be a manifesto, as shown by these museums.
And perhaps the most lasting legacy they can leave future generations isn’t hanging on the walls—it’s embedded in the walls themselves.
NEXT IN Summit is an event promoted by ACCIONA Cultura that brings together international leaders in the cultural sector to share experiences, discuss ideas, and analyze the challenges that will shape the future of the cultural industry.