In Baltimore, the fire-damaged, 30,000-square-foot...

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Your daily source of inspiration for creative reuse and mindful consumption.

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[Background on, & press coverage of, Unconsumption can be found here and here.]

Consumption is a word used to describe acts of acquisition – generally, the acquisition of things, in exchange for money.

Unconsumption is a word used to describe everything that happens after an act of acquisition.

Unconsumption is an invisible badge.

Unconsumption means the accomplishment of properly recycling your old cellphone, rather than the guilt of letting it sit in a drawer.

Unconsumption means the thrill of finding a new use for something that you were about to throw away.

Unconsumption means the pleasure of using a service like Freecycle (or Craigslist, Goodwill, or Salvation Army) to find a new home for the functioning DVD player you just replaced, rather than throwing it in the garbage.

Unconsumption means enjoying the things you own to the fullest – not just at the moment of acquisition.

Unconsumption means the pleasure of using a pair of sneakers until they are truly worn out – as opposed to the nagging feeling of defeat when they simply go out of style.

Unconsumption means feeling good about the simple act of turning off the lights when you leave the room.

Unconsumption is not about the rejection of things, or the demonization of things. It’s not a bunch of rules.

Unconsumption is an idea, a set of behaviors, a way of thinking about consumption itself from a new perspective.

Unconsumption is free.

CONTRIBUTORS:

Founder & Editor: Rob Walker, journalist, Savannah, GA

Editorial & Community Manager: Molly Block, marketing and business development geek, Houston, TX

Brian W. Jones, designer & writer, Göteborg, Sweden

Kashvi Kumar, Environmental Studies and Economics major at New York University

Deirdre Nelson, ever threading artist, Glasgow, Scotland

Shanna Trenholm, writer. catalyst. force of nature. San Diego, CA

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Alumnus & Unconsumption logo creator: Clifton Burt, graphic designer, Portland, OR

Further information about Unconsumption can be found here.

3:17 pm - Fri, Jan 20, 2012: 63 notes

High-Res

In Baltimore, the fire-damaged, 30,000-square-foot historic American Brewery building sat empty for 30 years until a $24+ million renovation turned it into offices for Humanim, a non-profit social service agency.

At the core of the building rises a multistory, 10,000-bushel grain silo constructed of stacked 2-by-6-foot yellow pine boards. This unique structure was maintained, given flooring, and opened up to make impromptu seating areas. Snaking through the building are what appear to be vestigial air ducts; periodic Plexiglas panels placed on them allow glimpses of an automated system of belts and scoops once used to convey grain to the upper floors. And on the first floor, a massive steel tank likely used to heat a mix of malted barley and water called “wort” has been carved up to serve as a curvilinear work area [pictured above]. Where large beer tanks were removed in the renovation, their diameters and positions are memorialized with gray circles of carpeting.

The building, built in 1887, is on the National Register of Historic Places; following its reopening in 2009, additional redevelopment has taken place in the surrounding neighborhood.

Restoration architects: Cho Benn Holback + Associates. Photos, by Paul Burk, and building information via Urbanite Baltimore.