Climate Change: The Latest Architecture and News

The 29th Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP29) takes place between the 11th and 22nd of November in Baku, Azerbaijan. The event proposes a global gathering of business leaders, governments, and civil society with the aim of taking effective measures to limit global warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. As the construction industry is responsible for approximately 37% of global emissions, the conference is of particular interest to architects, urban planners, and researchers in this field.

Foster + Partners, in collaboration with the Maldives Fund Management Corporation (MFMC), has unveiled the masterplan for Gaafaru, an inhabited island in the Kaafu Atoll of the Maldives. This project is designed to ensure a sustainable and resilient future for the island by addressing the critical challenges posed by climate change, rising sea levels, and social inequalities. At the heart of this plan are six guiding principles that aim to balance environmental protection with community prosperity, creating a model of future-proof island development.

This article was originally published on Common Edge.

About a decade ago, the term "resilience planning" became ubiquitous in climate circles. That shift, in the wake of increasingly unpredictable events, was shaped in part by the Rockefeller Foundation's 100 Resilient Cities program, a six-year, $160 million effort to establish chief resilience officers in cities all over the world. Out of that program, which ended in 2019, emerged its successor, Resilient Cities Catalyst (RCC), a New York–based nonprofit engaged in what it calls "capacity building" projects. For Climate Week, I talked to Sam Carter, one of RCC's founding principals, about his definition of resilience, the organization's planning and philanthropic method, and the challenge of scaling up climate efforts.

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Modernist landscape architecture marked a radical shift from traditional garden designs, emphasizing simplicity, functionality, and a stronger connection between people and their environments. From the 1930s through the 1960s, this movement saw the emergence of visionary landscape architects who integrated form and function in ways that redefined outdoor spaces. Their designs responded to the rapidly evolving urban landscapes of the time, prioritizing usability and creating environments that could accommodate modern life. The enduring influence of these principles continues to shape contemporary practices, while also presenting unique challenges in preservation as these landscapes age.

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ACAN Sweden, in collaboration with Differ Agency, has launched "Embodied Carbon Declared," an online platform that actively reveals CO2 emissions data from new construction projects across Sweden. The platform categorizes and presents emissions data in four key areas: Projects, Municipalities, Developers, and Building Types. It provides detailed measurements both in total and per square meter, offering an advanced level of transparency in the construction industry.

Anyone who walks during the summer in a city like Boston knows that a significant amount of time is spent charting routes with shade. But I can’t use that as my only excuse for being off-task. Honestly, I’m distracted. The swirling headlines of the U.S. presidential election, an unprecedented UN climate conference looming, and the phrase “decade of decisive action” weighs heavy on my shoulders. While it’s easy to get caught up in current events, those of us with solutions must stay focused.

A perhaps helpful Japanese phrase to call upon is “kotsu kotsu,” essentially meaning to slow down and focus on the task at hand, and do it well. Temperatures are soaring, people are suffering. As a recent UN COP letter stated, “time lost is lives, livelihoods, and the planet lost.” Cooling our cities and communities is more important than ever.

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In November of 2022, the coastal city of Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, hosted the 27th convention of the United Nations Conference of the Parties, known as COP27. Since signing the Paris Agreement in 2015, the nearly annual conference has gained momentum as a global leader in sharing knowledge and developing frameworks to mitigate climate change worldwide. While the more recent COP28, held in Dubai in 2023, focused on conversations of energy production, this previous conference focused on urban contexts, as they deal with the urgent need for incorporating loss, damage, and climate reparations into climate action plans. As two years have now passed since COP27, it is important to revisit these discussions and hold governing bodies accountable for the promises made and the benchmarks set for climate change mitigation. One of the most ambitious plans from COP27 highlights an urgent debate in our urban environments: how will we define loss, damage, and climate reparations in the twenty-first century?

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This article was originally published on Common Edge.

The format for Blair Kamin’ latest book, Who Is the City For? is slightly different from typical compilations. Kamin groups his columns thematically (all 55 appeared in the Chicago Tribune, when he served as architecture critic), and then, more often than not, adds a postscript updating or reframing the story for our fraught new normal. One of the recurring themes, both in the stories and in the postscripts, is the issue of design equity. As income inequality, systemic racism, and climate change became central to the cultural and political debates, equity became the critical lens for much design criticism. In our recent conversation, Kamin advocated for a broader definition of the term.

Eastern and Southern Europe is enduring a severe heatwave, with temperatures reaching over 40 degrees Celsius in many countries including Greece, Croatia, Macedonia, and Romania. Driven by hot air from North Africa, this prolonged heatwave has raised significant threats for residents and has strained the cities’ mechanisms for protection and climate mitigation. As the heatwaves expose the vulnerabilities of urban infrastructures, cities across Europe are striving to implement measures to address these challenges.

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Eucalyptus forests in Australia are known to burn periodically. It is the trees' way of ensuring propagation, as its fruits – known as gumnuts – have an insulating layer breaks down with the heat of the fire. Once they open, the burnt soil is covered with seeds, initiating a process of forest renewal. Glenn Murcutt, an Australian architect, has created a body of work rooted in the country's landscape. His innovative houses embrace the possibility of frequent fires, including elements that allow for fire control with the least possible loss. In short, the houses are built with very non-flammable materials, always have huge water reservoirs, and a “flood system” that allows the building and its immediate surroundings to be spared in the case of a forest fire.

This article was originally published on Common Edge.

To its great credit, the American Institute of Architects recently denounced the Trump administration’s decision to formally withdraw from the Paris Climate Agreement. This may put the professional organization on the right side of history, but it’s unlikely to sway any hardened hearts and minds in Washington. Obviously, the executive branch is worse than useless on this issue: not just an impediment to change, but a malevolent force for willful inaction. It’s hard to see it as anything less than an enemy of the climate.

​YAC - Young Architects Competitions and Cantiere delle Marche launch “Kiribati Floating Houses”, a competition of ideas aiming to design floating structures to tackle the challenges of the rise in ocean levels and climate change. A cash prize of € 15,000 will be awarded to winners. In addition, some projects will be selected to be part of an exhibition at Santa Maria della Vita in Bologna and some other projects will be selected to be part of an exhibition about the ocean exploration held by National Geographic at Palazzo Blu in Pisa. selected by a well-renowned jury made of, among the others,​ Kengo Kuma, Moon Hoon, Rocco Yim, Cristiana Favretto (Studiomobile), Simon Frommenwiler (HHF Architects), Fabio Roversi Monaco (Genus Bononiae), Giuseppe Zampieri (David Chipperfield Architects).

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Architecture is inherently linked to policy, politics, and power. With responsibility for the design and perception of the built environment, architects have a distinct role in shaping the human urban experience. As the world confronts issues of climate change, forced migration, and affordable housing, architects are increasingly putting themselves on the front line of the debate, using a variety of tools and avenues to clamor for change, and indeed design for it. However, while many official avenues exist for architects to advocate for social and environmental reform, there is an under-theorized method of resistance, a ‘road less traveled’ for social progress beyond officialdom.