Volcanic lava could be set to become a sustainable building material, if an innovation by an Icelandic architect proves successful. The idea, dubbed “Lavaforming”, will be showcased at Iceland’s national pavilion by Arnhildur Pálmadóttir of s.ap architects at the 19th International Architecture Exhibition in Venice 2025.
From brutal threat to “resource for a global emergency”
Turning a “local threat” into a positive, the project looks at “how the brutal force of lava can be turned into a valuable resource, capable of lowering atmospheric emissions through its future use as a sustainable building material,” Pálmadóttir says.
Having observed the way recent volcanic lava eruptions were contained and diverted away from vital infrastructure facilities in the Fagradalsfjall region just 32 km from Reykjavík, the Icelandic architect became inspired by the way protective trenches were used to channel the flow.
She devised a plan that would see gravity-powered trenches or pump systems dug in response to predictive seismic activity data from scientists. Channelling the lava purposefully and allowing it to harden would form igneous rock that could be used in the construction industry for foundations, residential and municipal buildings, or even entire streets and cities.
The architect has described the potential product as “a resource that addresses a global emergency” noting that “a lava flow can contain enough building material for the foundations of an entire city to rise in a matter of weeks without harmful mining and non-renewable energy generation.”
Current methods “obsolete or harmful” in long term
Her vision has earned a nomination for the 2024 Nordic Council’s Environmental Award, recognising her interdisciplinarity and focus on recyclable materials.
“The main goal of Lavaforming is to show that architecture can be the force that rethinks and shapes a new future with sustainability, innovation and creative thinking,” Pálmadóttir said. “The theme is both a proposal and a metaphor – architecture is in a paradigm shift, and many of our current methods have been deemed obsolete or harmful in the long term. In our current predicament we need to be bold, think in new ways, look at challenges, and find the right resources.”
The Earth is a builder
There will be regulatory and legislative issues to resolve to take Lavaforming forward, including essential question marks over ownership, exploitation rights, and privatisation of a substance that has never been mined before.
But in the meantime, the younger generation seems to approve the idea. Arnar Skarphéðinsson, who is Pálmadóttir’s son, and grad student at Southern California’s Institute of Architecture, is going to work on the next phase of the ground-breaking project and notes it could make history: “Nobody has ever built from lava except for the Earth itself.”
