No More Architecture | záznamy přednášek
ELKE KRASNY: CRITICAL CARE. ARCHITECTURE AND URBANISM FOR A BROKEN PLANET
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NO MORE ARCHITECTURE
Our current society faces perhaps the most significant challenges in its history so far – the climate crisis and the biodiversity loss, as well as growing social inequalities, scarcity of resources, refuge, displacement and so on. Architecture also has a share in this situation – the construction industry accounts for 40% of global carbon dioxide emissions. At the same time, real estate represents the most advantageous way of investment, which leads to speculation, financialization of housing, privatization of services and public space which all contribute to further growth of social inequalities. Therefore we need to rethink the currently valid premises of architecture based on growth (creation of new). We need to go much further than just e.g. designing low-energy houses or implementing green roofs – examples of measures that often come up as “sustainable architecture” in the Czech context. Although they could be seen as progressive (and yet not commonly implemented), it is not enough. We need to think of a more radical redefinition of architecture. It is necessary to discuss what role architecture should play in our society and how it can contribute to the improvement of the living conditions for everyone, without negative impacts on the environment. Let’s think of the architecture of care, of maintenance, of refurbishment or just of reprogramming. Architecture, which serves the community instead of the capital and does not harm, but rather foster social relations and environmental processes.
Tomášková Romana