Cork is a remarkable material—lightweight, durable, regenerative, and recyclable. Harvested from the bark of the Quercus suber oak tree without harming the tree itself, cork is naturally fire-resistant, water-resistant, and has anti-fungal qualities. A cork tree can live 250 years, offering its bark for harvest every decade, and cork forests act as “carbon sinks,” sequestering millions of tons of carbon. 

Cork has been used as a building material in architecture and design for centuries, finding applications in flooring, wall coverings, furniture, and thermal and acoustic insulation. As the design and construction industries work to reduce environmental harm and eliminate toxic materials, cork offers a renewable and non-toxic alternative. 

How is cork shaping the future of sustainable materials? Organized in partnership with Healthy Materials Lab at Parsons School of Design, this event convenes experts from across the cork supply chain—a forester, recycler, and an architect—to discuss how cork is cultivated, processed, and repurposed to create healthier buildings and products.

Panelists

Sandra Alcobia will represent Companhia das Lezírias, a state-run agriculture and forestry company based in the Lezíria do Tejo subregion of Portugal. Located on an ecological sanctuary and farming area near Lisbon, the company produces cork in addition to rice, wine, and livestock.

Daniel Marino is a senior associate at Rockwell Group and director of LAB, a studio within the firm focused on experiential design. Marino also leads Rockwell’s work with the Cork Collective, a collaboration between the firm, Amorim Cork, BlueWell, and Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits. Working with partners in the hospitality industry, the Cork Collective collects, recycles, and repurposes natural cork stoppers to create new forms such as surfacing for playgrounds and parks. As part of the Cork Collective, Rockwell Group and the LAB are currently developing Casa Cork by David Rockwell for Milan Design Week, a traveling installation that will showcase the many interior uses of the material, from tiles to furniture. Visitors will discover cork’s versatility as one of the world’s most sustainable natural materials, through demonstrations, product showcases, a student design competition, and conversations with leading thinkers.

Daniel Michalik is a designer and design educator based in Brooklyn, New York. He is an associate professor of product and industrial design and associate dean of the School of Constructed Environments at Parsons School of Design and principal of Daniel Michalik Product / Design. Across his studio, research, and academic work, Michalik explores new applications for cork and the material’s implications for healthier design, agriculture, and processing practices, built upon years of collaboration with Portuguese cork growers and manufacturers. Michalik has collaborated with clients such as Google, L’Oreal, Nike, and Reddymade Architecture, and his work with cork has been exhibited internationally. 

Oliver Wilton is an architect, environmental design consultant, and associate professor of environmental design and director of design technology at Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL. His collaborative research and teaching on architecture and environmental design include work on inhabitation, material technology, environmental and energy performance, and developing new forms of construction in materials from cork to stone. In collaboration with Matthew Barnett Howland and Dido Milne, Wilton designed Cork House in 2019, a first of its kind dwelling made almost entirely from solid load-bearing cork.

The discussion will be moderated by Jonsara Ruth and Paul Lewis.

Jonsara Ruth is co-founder and design director of Healthy Materials Lab (HML) at Parsons School of Design, working with a dedicated research team to understand how human and planetary health is affected by materials that surround us and advocate for a healthier future. She is an associate professor and founding director of the MFA Interior Design program at Parsons. Ruth founded Salty Labs, a design collective, to experiment and implement designs that embody circularity with healthy, regenerative materials and strategies.

Paul Lewis is a principal at LTL Architects based in New York City and professor at Princeton University School of Architecture. Currently focused on the architectural potentials of plant and earth-based materials, LTL Architects published the Manual of Biogenic House Sections in 2022. Lewis is also a member of the League’s Board of Directors. 

Support

This program is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature.

The event is co-organized with the Healthy Materials Lab at Parsons School of Design.