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May 9, 2008
Austin Williams, author of new book The Enemies of Progress, is convinced it is, but Pooran Desai of BioRegional Quintain has plenty of examples to back his counter-argument.
"Yes, sustainable design is killing creativity."
Austin Williams, Author, The Enemies of Progress
The commonplace assumption underlying even the most anodyne sustainability discussion is that human activity causes harm and should be reined in to suit whatever Nature’s limits allow. If our starting point is that increased human activity is inherently detrimental, then architects are simply in the business of damage limitation.
"No, sustainable design is not killing creativity."
Pooran Desai, Sustainability director, BioRegional Quintain
On the contrary, necessity is indeed the mother of invention and the greatest spur to creativity. There are endless examples of creative, sustainable buildings — ZedFactory’s BedZed, Rogers’ Welsh Assembly building, and Ted Cullinan’s Weald & Downland museum to name but three.
Sustainability has led to an explosion of creativity in every field: in engineering (concentrated solar power, energy from waste, anaerobic digestors, thin-film photovoltaics); materials (cement replacements, recycled plastics); governance (carbon trading, the Merton rule in planning, sustainability managers); supply chain management (One Planet Products, M&S Plan A, B&Q One Planet Home); environmental economics; household gadgets (wind-up radio, the Interflush water-saving device); and transport (car clubs, electric city cars, hybrids, the Oyster card, my zero-waste, zero-carbon waste cooking oil-powered sports car).
"Yes, sustainable design is killing creativity."
The commonplace assumption underlying even the most anodyne sustainability discussion is that human activity causes harm and should be reined in to suit whatever Nature’s limits allow. If our starting point is that increased human activity is inherently detrimental, then architects are simply in the business of damage limitation.
How can architecture maintain the illusion of genuine creativity without challenging this widespread malaise? Crystal ball-gazing, eco-miserablist architect Sue Roaf argues that “everyone needs to futureproof themselves against what lies ahead”, as if whatever it is, it’s bound to be bad.
If we define “creativity”in terms of minimal impact survivalism, then shanty dwellers are wonderfully creative with tarpaulin and string. But coping strategies are nothing to celebrate or emulate. Transforming Nature and social barriers, and not accepting so-called environmental parameters, is what meaningful architectural creativity should be about.
The mantra “less is more” has gone from being a defining moment in modernist thought to the unquestioned orthodoxy of our environmental age. Unfortunately, its progressive content has been stripped away.
Efficiency used to encourage us to design creatively in order to, as Buckminster Fuller implied, do more and more. Now, environmental efficiency states that using less is an end in itself. Sustainability is a moral injunction for restraint. Architecture has become a carbon spreadsheet. In that sense, the essence of imagination is lost.
"No, sustainable design is not killing creativity."
On the contrary, necessity is indeed the mother of invention and the greatest spur to creativity. There are endless examples of creative, sustainable buildings — ZedFactory’s BedZed, Rogers’ Welsh Assembly building, and Ted Cullinan’s Weald & Downland museum to name but three.
Sustainability has led to an explosion of creativity in every field: in engineering (concentrated solar power, energy from waste, anaerobic digestors, thin-film photovoltaics); materials (cement replacements, recycled plastics); governance (carbon trading, the Merton rule in planning, sustainability managers); supply chain management (One Planet Products, M&S Plan A, B&Q One Planet Home); environmental economics; household gadgets (wind-up radio, the Interflush water-saving device); and transport (car clubs, electric city cars, hybrids, the Oyster card, my zero-waste, zero-carbon waste cooking oil-powered sports car).
The world has changed in only a couple of years. The days of plentiful, cheap oil have gone for good. For the first time in 40 years, food security is back on the agenda — not only as an international political issue but as a domestic one as well. We now know we must find solutions which enable us to lead high-quality lives within the limits of the planet’s finite resources. Creativity is not about ignoring constraints. That is madness, literally a state of dissociation from reality. Creativity is about solutions which overcome constraints.
May 9, 2008
Austin Williams, author of new book The Enemies of Progress, is convinced it is, but Pooran Desai of BioRegional Quintain has plenty of examples to back his counter-argument.
"Yes, sustainable design is killing creativity."
Austin Williams, Author, The Enemies of Progress
The commonplace assumption underlying even the most anodyne sustainability discussion is that human activity causes harm and should be reined in to suit whatever Nature’s limits allow. If our starting point is that increased human activity is inherently detrimental, then architects are simply in the business of damage limitation.
"No, sustainable design is not killing creativity."
Pooran Desai, Sustainability director, BioRegional Quintain
On the contrary, necessity is indeed the mother of invention and the greatest spur to creativity. There are endless examples of creative, sustainable buildings — ZedFactory’s BedZed, Rogers’ Welsh Assembly building, and Ted Cullinan’s Weald & Downland museum to name but three.
Sustainability has led to an explosion of creativity in every field: in engineering (concentrated solar power, energy from waste, anaerobic digestors, thin-film photovoltaics); materials (cement replacements, recycled plastics); governance (carbon trading, the Merton rule in planning, sustainability managers); supply chain management (One Planet Products, M&S Plan A, B&Q One Planet Home); environmental economics; household gadgets (wind-up radio, the Interflush water-saving device); and transport (car clubs, electric city cars, hybrids, the Oyster card, my zero-waste, zero-carbon waste cooking oil-powered sports car).
"Yes, sustainable design is killing creativity."
The commonplace assumption underlying even the most anodyne sustainability discussion is that human activity causes harm and should be reined in to suit whatever Nature’s limits allow. If our starting point is that increased human activity is inherently detrimental, then architects are simply in the business of damage limitation.
How can architecture maintain the illusion of genuine creativity without challenging this widespread malaise? Crystal ball-gazing, eco-miserablist architect Sue Roaf argues that “everyone needs to futureproof themselves against what lies ahead”, as if whatever it is, it’s bound to be bad.
If we define “creativity”in terms of minimal impact survivalism, then shanty dwellers are wonderfully creative with tarpaulin and string. But coping strategies are nothing to celebrate or emulate. Transforming Nature and social barriers, and not accepting so-called environmental parameters, is what meaningful architectural creativity should be about.
The mantra “less is more” has gone from being a defining moment in modernist thought to the unquestioned orthodoxy of our environmental age. Unfortunately, its progressive content has been stripped away.
Efficiency used to encourage us to design creatively in order to, as Buckminster Fuller implied, do more and more. Now, environmental efficiency states that using less is an end in itself. Sustainability is a moral injunction for restraint. Architecture has become a carbon spreadsheet. In that sense, the essence of imagination is lost.
"No, sustainable design is not killing creativity."
On the contrary, necessity is indeed the mother of invention and the greatest spur to creativity. There are endless examples of creative, sustainable buildings — ZedFactory’s BedZed, Rogers’ Welsh Assembly building, and Ted Cullinan’s Weald & Downland museum to name but three.
Sustainability has led to an explosion of creativity in every field: in engineering (concentrated solar power, energy from waste, anaerobic digestors, thin-film photovoltaics); materials (cement replacements, recycled plastics); governance (carbon trading, the Merton rule in planning, sustainability managers); supply chain management (One Planet Products, M&S Plan A, B&Q One Planet Home); environmental economics; household gadgets (wind-up radio, the Interflush water-saving device); and transport (car clubs, electric city cars, hybrids, the Oyster card, my zero-waste, zero-carbon waste cooking oil-powered sports car).
The world has changed in only a couple of years. The days of plentiful, cheap oil have gone for good. For the first time in 40 years, food security is back on the agenda — not only as an international political issue but as a domestic one as well. We now know we must find solutions which enable us to lead high-quality lives within the limits of the planet’s finite resources. Creativity is not about ignoring constraints. That is madness, literally a state of dissociation from reality. Creativity is about solutions which overcome constraints.
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