CONTENTS
Cover Art & Introduction.................................................2 The Rebirth of Earth, Daniil Solomou.........................3-6 Architecture as a Social Activism, Maxwell Raymond Berner...............................................7-10 Destroying Your Past is Destroying Their Future, ..11-14 Adam Cunningham The Future of Past Technologies,..................................15-18 Wilfred Saumarez Smith
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The Cover Art The graphic on the cover is a drawing made of the Hong Kong Umbrella Protests. The umbrella, both a shield and a roof, protects the protesters from tear gas shot by riot police. Opposite this collective and colorful roof is the wall of riot shields. Locked in place, grey and unyielding. This impromptu architecture in the streets of Hong Kong is somewhat of a metaphor for our new century. We are both the grey shieldwall, and the colorful roof of parasols. This image calls for architects to embrace the color and diversity, and shed the black-and-white. Architecture is activism, there is no question of it. Architecture is Activism Previously in the beginning of the anthropocene, an architect’s role was mainly aesthetic, distant and abstract. In our current time of crisis, architects cannot afford to sit on the sidelines any longer. We cannot afford to consort with fascists, billionaires and corporations. We cannot collaborate with greenwashing. Now is the time of the Activist-Architect. Take a stand, or be complicit in the destruction of Earth. This booklet offers insight into the different ways an architect can be an activist for different issues. It provides inspiration for what architecture can look like, not only in the future, but now. Thank you for reading. 2
THE REBIRTH OF EARTH DANIIL SOLOMOU
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Trying to find the lowest option, for building material, when it comes to embodied energy, you don’t have to look far but just what’s below you, Earth! Mudbricks have been used widely across the globe for centuries as the main building material. For some of the greatest ancient civilizations, Mesopotamia, it was not only used as a housing material but also for megastructures that are still standing centuries after construction. Such as the Taq Kasra which is the largest single span vault of unreinforced brickwork (made from mudbricks) in the world till this day. Truly showing the durability of soil. That got me questioning how can this material that withstands the test of time can be adapted to the modern world and practices. First, what is a mudbrick? It's a rectangular mold-made brick made from earth, chopped straw, and water, a common building practice in a lot of vernacular architecture around the world.
Taq Kara
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Construction of mudbrick vault
The more modern reiteration of working with soil in architecture in rammed earth. Rammed earth is created by compacting subsoil material, unbaked earthen construction unlike mudbricks, in temporary formwork. Compacting multiple layers of soil can create a high aesthetic appeal, more important than that is its extremely low embodied energy, great hygroscopic humidity regulation and natural insulation. All this can be built on-site with soil found on-site or from other constructions excavation waste. Some alterations of rammed earth are factory prefabricated walls and stabilized rammed earth, which is a mixture of rammed earth with concrete.
Nk’Mip Dessert Cultural Center
Hassan Fathy, New Baris, 1967 Concrete, which is the main material nowadays in the construction industry, contributes about 8% of the world’s carbon dioxide emissions. If the entirety of the cement industry was combined into a country, it would be the third largest emitter, behind China and the US. The industry contributes more CO2 than aviation fuel and its not far from the global agriculture industry (12%). But this is not slowing down, the cement industry quadrupled since the 1990s and likely to increase even more in the future if we won’t find a new way of building. 5
So, is it worth it to start building with earth? I would strongly argue that yes, it is worth it! Rammed earth or mudbricks don’t only drastically cutdown the embodied energy of a building, but also upcycle other industries waste. Using soil from other industries and construction sites that would otherwise consider it as waste. A great example is a project by Joly & Loiret in Paris by the name “Manufacture Sur Seine – Réinventer la terre”, reinventing the earth. The idea is to create a large multi-purpose urban estate that will be made from rammed earth. The soil used will be the one extracted from the Paris metropolis during the new digging of the metropolitan rail network. This filed of earth building is slowly picking up again, now that the climate crisis is accelerating. Now that this practice is reawaking it will soon flourish again in urban areas. As in the words of sociologist and philosopher Edgar Morin “the great movements of transformation always start in a marginal, deviant, modest or even invisible way”.
Joly & Loiret, Manufacture Sur Seine – Réinventer la terre 6
ARCHITECTURE AS A SOCIAL ACTIVISM MAXWELL RAYMOND BERNER
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We live within buildings. Communities and societies that revolve around the built environment. But why do some buildings feel more familiar than others? Why do some feel warm, while others cold, even hostile? Architecture, in the western sense, has become estranged from the people who live within them. It doesn’t serve to connect commun ties; it separates them. But this can change. Architects need to work more in-depth with communities, connecting and growing them. They can be a force of social change; social activism. Let’s take a look at two examples, masterfully designed in their own right. The Ramkrishna House (A) and the Dorze Hut (B).
(A)
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(B)
Both buildings are designed for one family, the one caveat of both is that the Dorze hut would also house farm animals, while the Ramkrishna house houses servants. The Ramkrishna house is a massive, beautiful complex. Its passive design allows for natural air flow and ventilation throughout the building, maximizing comfort. The windows face the sun and there are many balconies that look out onto its several courtyards. The Ramkrishna house was demolished in 1996, 33 years after it was built. Its failure was a social one. Incorporated in its design was social isolation, greed, and no consideration of the surrounding community of Ahmedabad. This is shown in the large segregating walls of the complex. It needed to be demolished to make room for denser housing that would better suit the growing population. The Dorze hut is tall and woven, masterfully crafted. It takes the entire community to come together to build one hut, which lasts about 70 years. In its construction, the youth of the community take part and learn the ancient construction technique to pass on when they are older. It can be moved and reused for another purpose, and it is entirely biodegradable. The Dorze hut is an incredible example of architecture as a collective effort. 9
So what does this tell us? Architecture is a strong tool for social activism and bringing communities together. Using architecture as a form of social activism brings greater value to the building, and helps ensure not only a longer lifespan of a building, but also a greater impact that may outlive the building. It is important to keep this in mind when we construct buildings for the future. Architects can and must be a force of social activism.
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DESTROYING YOUR PAST IS DESTROYING THEIR FUTURE
ADAM CUNNINGHAM
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The Building industry accounts for around 42% of the UK’s carbon footprint. Destroying a building to make way for new structures does more than just create some waste. It puts ti waste the vast amount of carbon used to build in the beginning. Destroying buildings creates a large amount of wasted embodied energy and carbon within the building itself. A study from The Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) estimates that 35% of the lifecycle carbon from a typical office development is emitted before the building is even opened. It says the figure for residential premises is 51%. These figures show that it will be decades before any new buildings pay back their carbon debt by saving more emissions than they created. Unfortunately the task of reversing this has fallen into the hands of the current generation. It is our job to learn from the mistakes of the past and to develop new ways to limit the amount of demolition used in the modern construction industry and look at other ways to modernise this out dated structures. Brining them into the 21st century and extending their life span. Hopefully giving the building a chance to out last its carbon lifecycle.
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A solution to combat the demolition of buildings is to bring them into the 21st century. The most popular method being retrofit. Retrofit doesn’t necessarily mean fit sustainable panels to the building in order to improve the dated appearance or to add insulation. With 80% of the buildings required in 30 years’ time having already been built and almost half of the UK’s carbon footprint coming from the built environment, retrofitting existing buildings through new technologies, improving energy efficiency and more effective building management systems should be a major priority.
Tai Kwun Center for Heritage and Arts
Retrofitting doesn’t have to mean adding sustainable technology and materials to a structure. The issue with demolition is that the energy is wasted when people think the building is done. However the space can be reimagined and be given a new function. Disused offices and council buildings can be transformed into social spaces giving them a new meaning. A good example of this is the Tai Kwun – Centre for Heritage and Arts. The centre was is Hong Kong’s largest ever historic building revitalisation project, transforming the city’s former Central Police Station compound, with its 170 years of history, into a new art and cultural centre. 13
Retrofit Green Roof To give an example I would like to look at a Frank Lloyd Wright building. H & K Jacobs first house was Wrights idea of redefining American living through his design and the concept of usonia. This idea was about trying to move people away from the big cities and back to the country. Using minimalist materials and an open layout along with large sections of glass to reconnect the occupants with nature. Now though the building would appear dated and not very energy efficient. With retrofitting this building could be reimagined in the 21st century, with a green roof, better glazing in order to give better heat control and a new form of energy management. The other alternative of retrofitting would be to reinvent the space by giving it a new function from a home it could become a museum, a social space for hikers to meet before exploring the surroundings.
H&K First House 14
THE FUTURE OF PAST TECHNOLOGIES WILFRED SAUMAREZ SMITH
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We are at a point in history where urgent action must be taken to resolve the current climate crisis we are facing. Sustainable and low impact buildings should no longer be considered a niche commodity reserved for the wealthy, but as an essential step in tackling climate change - The building industry is responsible for 39% of global Carbon Dioxide emissions; 11% of which resulted from the manufacturing of building materials, such as steel, glass, and concrete. Could looking at methods from a past, less impactful time, be a key step in solving the extinction we face today?
TELCA, WASP
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The use of earth as a building material dates to around 9000 BC, when humans discovered mud could be combined with a type of fiber (eg. straw) and air dried to make a brick. This ancient method of construction is prevalent throughout history, in the adobe pueblos of Central and South America, the Wattle and Daub houses of Europe and the Rondavel huts of Africa. This technology that lead to the creation of the first brick is now being adapted to create houses of the future, and a solution to the global climate crisis.
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The Architect Mario Cucinella, in collaboration with the Italian 3D-Printing firm WASP, worked to create the world’s first 3D-Printed house. The house is comprised of two domes and is constructed from a mixture of sand and clay, using a specialized printer that needs less than 6kW of energy – about 3 cycles of a washing machine. The house has an area of around 60 square meters, comprising of a “living zone” with a kitchen, and a “night zone”. The furnishings are also partly printed from local earth and are integrated into the structure. Each dome is capped with a glass skylight to allow natural light into the space – but in different climates, the design could be tweaked to enable more efficient heating or cooling.
TELCA, WASP 18
