BRB relocating to Mars
“The world's population continues to grow, resulting in a steady migration from rural to urban areas. Increased numbers of people and cities go hand in hand with a greater exploitation of the world's limited resources. Every year, more cities are feeling the devastating impacts of this situation. What are we to do? What means do we have as designers to address this challenging reality?”- Mostafavi
Why does architecture school base numerous classes around sustainable practices and yet most practicing firms do not implement those practices? When did becoming LEED certified become a joke in the realm of architecture? We slap a solar panel on our buildings and we call it quits. Very few of us want to go into the research and give our time to coming up with sustainable strategies that actually work. Then to add to this dilemma, we only consider our own building and not its context. This idea is very apparent in planned suburbs where whole fields of trees are torn down to make way for houses that do not repurpose a single piece of wood.
So what means do we have as designers to address this challenging reality? Are we doomed to continue to fail, relocate to mars, and then repeat the cycle again?
To me Michaela, the root of this problem may stem from a fear us architecture students have of the research side of the world. In school, our favorite classes are the ones related to design where we can let the creative juices flow, while the ones we hate tend to be rooted to having to find hard evidence to back up our claims. Somehow, someway, we need to find a bridge between the two that can exhilarate us in new ways and really enjoy the process of discovering the hard facts behind our reasoning.
ReplyDeleteMichaela,
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, it all comes down to time and money. A lot of the commonly used "sustainable" practices are simply Band-Aids or green-washing stunts. People are afraid of what they do not know and want the simplest solution, which is usually what has been practiced for hundreds of years. I think to change this, we would have to move away from additive methods of sustainability and determine sustainable practices that can be implemented in every project, regardless of cost or time.
I feel like most of the comments to this post will start with "unfortnately" and so will mine.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately people suck. Main character syndrome is a real thing and there probably aren't enough people in powerful positions to really change much. Other than the much needed discovery of fusion energy production, we don't have many options that can make a dent in recovering lost resources. As time goes on and climate change comes to a boil, the cost and necessary materials to live comfortable will be exponentially worse than it is today. Maybe then it'll give us a reason to give a damn, but between denialism and a me first mentality, we're probably just screwed regardless.