Fabricating Change: Exploring waste textiles as a sustainable solution for architectural construction Part 1 Dissertation 2025 Molly Etchells Loughborough University | UK The project investigates the environmental impact of fast fashion and its parallels with architecture, exploring their cycles of waste and obsolescence. It looks at how the construction industry, one of the largest global contributors to carbon emissions, could respond by embracing interdisciplinary material flows and repurposing waste from other sectors.The project asks: Can we coalesce waste from the fast fashion industry to generate new environmental and social value in architecture, and in doing so, create an evolved relationship between the two sectors that moves beyond design and aesthetics towards a mutual material responsibility?The research culminates in the creation of a prototype brick made from textile waste and speculates on its future potential within the construction sector. More broadly, the work aims to critically respond to the growing global waste crisis, and questions the inequalities embedded within current systems of consumption and disposal. By proposing adaptable material solutions that prioritise environmental and social sustainability, the dissertation highlights the need for alternative architectural practices that are not only resource-conscious but ethically grounded. Tutor(s) Robert Schmidt III