This newsletter is called Buildingshed (like watershed, foodshed, or fibershed) because I’m curious about where materials come from, how interrelated systems of energy, labor, and transport turn agricultural products and mined resources into built things, and how places depend on each other. A city skyline or a house like mine looks particular and sits in one spot, but represents a history of extraction and exchange with other landscapes, whether quarries, landfills, or timberlands.
Earlier today I learned the terms “walkshed”—the walkable distance surrounding a transit stop or other point—and “bikeshed” (same thing, but for biking).
I’ve already been learning about watersheds as part of my permaculture design course, and I love this way of looking at the landscape. Everything has a shed!