Sustaining Architecture During a Revolution

AUTHOR Dr. Susannah Hagan

ABSTRACT

‘Limits’ and ‘revolution’ aren’t obvious bedfellows. Surely revolution is expansive, breaking the chains of an oppressive status quo? True, but it is nature that’s in revolt, not us, throwing off our chains, and as development continues at breakneck speed across the globe, throwing into question the whole of contemporary material culture: what we make, the way we make it and the way we dispose of it – or fail to. We are being swept up by the forces of nature rather than of history, though it’s difficult to distinguish between the two, given our contribution to nature’s current state. Historical inevitability is this time found in unavoidable ecological limits: the exploitation of the biosphere with little or no understanding of the environmental damage done by its pursuit has become unsustainable. Social and economic turmoil follow climatic turmoil as the biosphere struggles with its gathering disequilibrium, and we are tossed around.