A manifesto in one sentence.

Any architect, taking seriously the effect of the built environment on climate change and the role of building construction materials in our rapidly heating world, must conclude that the moral responsibility for architects is to no longer consider making buildings as the primary project of the architectural profession, both now and in the future.

It is insufficient to speak of sustainable design when the resources we use to construct buildings are used and trashed, in much the same way as items of clothing from Shien. For those of you unware of the impact of the industry on cliamte change, Glabaly the building industry, contributs to an estimated 37% of per cent of energy and process-related CO2 emissions. Representing a massive material crisis. Hold that thought for a second while I digress.

For those of you who follow the world of architecture, you will have noted that last year, the academic and novelist Lesley Lokko curated the Venice Biennale under the theme, ‘The Laboratory of the Future.’ to mixed reviews. Much praised in academic circles and derided in the media, principally due to a lack of ‘buildings’ represented, particularly by architects from the African continent, apart from David Adjaye’s practice. An emphasis, wordy and long-winded explanation loved by academics comments that architectural work should not require long-winded explanations in general! The Biennale seems thin! These last are all experts from a Guardian article[1],  while another explores the toxic landscape of colonialism[2]. The Biennale poses a challenging question that architectural professionals globally have yet to address. What will the role of architecture be in a post-extractive future? What is the changing role of architecture in increasing A. I influenced the world. In a rapidly changing world, these are questions that the African continent has yet to make its voice heard. Nevertheless, I believe practitioners from the African continent are best positioned to contribute to the growing global conversation.

Africa is perhaps the oldest and ongoing site of colonial and capitalist extractive practices, from which its people and resources continue to be exploitatively mined. The region is fast becoming one of the most affected by climate change resulting from these extractions and exploitations. Meanwhile, the West holds out mere tokens in restitution. It is no wonder that few young practitioners wish to continue the legacy of extractivist construction. The creative responses to the complex issues facing practitioners today also afford a fermentative ground for addressing the binaries and contradictions concerning the field today.

We see many younger practitioners preferring to develop ‘narratives’ around a world of living beings. While some, such as myself, draw on new material philosophy. Others, such as the South African Pavillion curators for the 2023 Venice Biennale. Consider indigenous cultural beliefs against digital futures and decolonial approaches and narratives that emerge among the exhibitions and explorations, such as consideration around deep history and alternative land knowledge narratives. If architecture is to be reframed in the coming years, as I suggest, it should. The West could learn a lot from these practitioners, who are accustomed to working with fewer resources and more significant financial constraints. Who is compelled to work more creatively through necessity?

In addressing our current global spatial and material challenges, there is room for multiple approaches that fall outside the construction of buildings on a continent previously seen as tabula rasa for Western ideology. Particularly today, we see those urban projects and buildings crumble in the face of the spatial challenges faced by urban Africans as the climate changes.

In Hope,

Brigs

Notes :

Should you wish to find out more about the South African Pavilion, 2023 Project

, https://www.labiennale.org/en/architecture/2023/south-africa-republic

---

[1] Moore, Rowan. ‘Venice Biennale 2023 Review – an Important Challenge to Western Architectural Tradition’. The Observer, 21 May 2023, sec. Art and design. https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2023/may/21/venice-architecture-biennale-2023-review-18th-lesley-lokko-laboratory-of-the-future-an-important-challenge-to-western-architectural-tradition-david-adjaye.

[2] Wainwright, Oliver. ‘The Toxic Landscape of Colonialism: Venice’s Architecture Biennale Spotlights Africa’. The Guardian, 19 May 2023, sec. Culture. https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2023/may/19/the-toxic-landscape-of-colonialism-venices-architecture-biennale-spotlights-africa.