Transition Culture

18 Jul 2012

Architects reflect on scarcity

This is a bit of a heads-up for something which is unfortunately not available online, but can be ordered here.  It is the latest edition of AD (Architectural Design) journal, a very high quality publication, which focuses on the issue of scarcity (“architecture in an age of depleting resources”).  The issue of resource scarcity and designing for a future with very different underlying assumptions to the present is rarely discussed in architectural circles it seems. When I went to TEDGlobal in 2009, several architects presented their visions of ‘green’ futures, building new cities in deserts and other outlandish schemes, which seemed to be based on a belief that architecture can reinvent the world anew, as and when it chooses.  This edition of AD tells a different story, one that explores, in a series of fascinating articles (I wrote one), how architecture might adapt to scarcity.  It costs about £24, so not a casual purchase, but highly recommended.