Perspectives: New Approaches towards Sustainable Design

This symposium aims to provide incentives for new and creative ways of thinking about sustainability in architectural design.

In the 1960s, Reyner Banham’s book The Architecture of the Well-Tempered Environment was one of the first to address the environmental impact of building and the need to address this issue in architectural design. Shortly afterwards, the first oil crisis in 1973 led to increased public awareness of the necessity to improve the energy efficiency of buildings. More than four decades later, we are confronted with a multitude of human-caused environmental problems. In addition to an incipient scarcity of raw materials, one of the main issues is the contribution of CO2 emissions to increased global temperatures with the building sector as one of the main sources of emissions.

Sustainability, therefore, has become a necessity in architectural design. Despite the urgency, the main strategies and techniques of sustainable design have not progressively evolved since the 1970s. Because of this, it is time to rethink and consider new and unconventional approaches towards sustainable building.

This symposium aims to provide incentives for new and creative ways of thinking about sustainability in architectural design. To stimulate such new ways of thinking, the invited speakers will present concepts that go beyond conventional approaches and emphasise the potential of experimentation and innovation. 

13.00–13.15 Introduction
13.15–14.00 Emanuele Naboni · KADK IBT · Copenhagen
14.00–14.45 Tobias Nolte · Certain Measures · Berlin
14.45–15.15 Coffee Break
15.15–16.00 Elizabeth Gray & Alan Organschi · Gray Organschi Architecture · New Haven
16.00–16.45 Claudia Pasquero · ecoLogicStudio · London
16.45–17.30 Panel Discussion