Papers
Working Papers, Told in Charts
Studio Viridian · Viridian Builds develops, designs, and builds homes in Seattle. These are newspaper-length graphic editions of our working papers on housing, circularity and impact.
Net-Zero Design
A position memo from Studio Viridian asks which parts of energy, water, waste and food belong in the home, the building or the city. The answers turn on what each system displaces, and on who keeps it running.
From the working paper The Right ScaleNov. 5, 2026
Beauty
Studio Viridian ranked 29 investments across its six themes by the good they do per dollar, then set them against what the Pritzker jury has honored since 2010. The two line up in three places, and some of the best work is the kind no jury will ever see.
From the working paper Impact by DesignNov. 5, 2026
Nature
Studio Viridian ranked 21 ways its landscape and growing work could do good, then set them against what landscape architecture’s Oberlander Prize has honored. Trees, soil and water came out on top. Growing food did a great deal for the people who grow it, and little for food security or the climate.
From the working paper Common GroundNov. 5, 2026
Circularity
That is less than 1 percent of what gets built in its place. Studio Viridian traced where the money goes, what a saved ton is really worth and how five moves could make deconstruction the easy choice.
From the working paper Closing the Teardown GapNov. 5, 2026
Circularity
Studio Viridian rated 23 ways a Seattle firm that develops, designs, builds and holds homes could act on the circular economy. The ones that do the most good cost little, and most of them happen before anything is torn down.
From the working paper Where to Close the LoopNov. 4, 2026
Studio Viridian · Viridian Builds · Seattle · Updated Nov. 5, 2026