The New ADU: Beyond Petroleum Exhibition Opening Reception

THE NEW ADU BEYOND PETROLEUM: BUILDING THE NEW ADU

Exhibit Open August 26 – September 30, 2026

Opening Reception (ClimateWeek NYC) – September 24, 2026; 6-8pm

72 Fifth Avenue (Ground Floor Gallery)

RSVP for the Opening Exhibition on September 24th is from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm:

https://event.newschool.edu/thenewadu-beyondpetroleumexhib 

In 2025, New York City legalized Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) citywide to help address its housing crisis. But in an era of climate change, this raises an urgent question: what should we actually build these small houses out of? This exhibition offers an alternative to building practices steeped in petroleum- and plastic-based products. Organized around three material types — fiber, mineral, and timber — student teams from Parsons’ Master of Architecture Design Workshop reimagined the future of New York City’s ADUs as healthier for people, place, and planet. The result is three prototypical designs that push the architectural possibilities of biogenic and geogenic materials to their limit.

FIBER TEAM: Gianni Grieco, Harshal Rajdeo, Amyri Williams

 
MINERAL TEAM: Nash Boursiquot, Ben Holstine, Bella James, Michael Wilson

 
TIMBER TEAM: Amy Bass, Max Czysz, Nia Murray, Anmol Patel

 
PROFESSORS: David Lewis & Dr. Sharon E. Sutton

Funding for this work graciously provided by the Durst Family

Visit Designing With: Parsons School of Design’s Partnered Design-Build Projects for more information.