Architects Take Climate Action!

Archinect talks climate emergency activism with built environment groups taking a stand

Illustration by Evgenia Barinova for Archinect

If it feels uncomfortable, you’re probably leading.” Tom Jacobs, Architects Advocate Chicago

Architects protest at the Extinction Rebellion march in London, 2019 © ACAN, Joe Giddings

Our discipline could and should sustainably serve all members of society in ways it is simply not equipped to right now” The Architecture Lobby Green New Deal Working Group, New York

Architects Advocate take a stand on the climate emergency during the March for Science in Chicago © Architects Advocate

A revolution does not need the majority on board, but just a substantial and active minority” Ranald Boydell, Architects Declare Australia

Architects Climate Action Network gather in London, UK, during 2019 © ACAN, Keith van Loen

It was so exciting to see how the network was developing and that architects were contributing to the issue in a meaningful way.” Tom Jacobs, Architects Advocate Chicago

Tom Jacobs gives a lecture on the climate crisis at IIT in Chicago, 4 days before the 2019 Global Climate Strike © Architects Advocate

Decentralized organizations are very amorphous and fluid. Because power and knowledge are distributed, individual units quickly respond to a multitude of internal and external forces — they are constantly spreading, growing, shrinking, mutating, dying off, and reemerging.” Ori Brafman, from the Spider and the Starfish (2006)

Architects Declare workshop on reducing embodied carbon in building design, March 2020 © AD, Richard Battye

AD is a space where a practice’s commitment to climate action has been recognized, and they are putting themselves up for industry scrutiny by having their name on the list” Jacqueline Wheeler, Architects Declare

Architects Declare’s first global meeting held online during the COVID-19 lockdown © AD
Architects Climate Action Network call for action on their homepage, September 2020 © ACAN

Being part of a global grassroots network which grew so quickly was hugely motivational, and encouraged me to push harder in my own practice to do better with sustainable design across all of my projects” Ranald Boydell, Architects Declare Australia

Poster from ACAN’s 2019 campaign to oppose new UK legislation to restrict the use of structural timber in tall buildings © ACAN

Be bold and don’t be afraid of calling for change within your practice” Joe Giddings, ACAN

Event program from T-A-L’s Earth Week held online during April 2020 © T-A-L GND working group

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Architect and researcher based in Tanzania, East Africa. Follow for discussions on how global developments are shaping the built environment👇

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Hannah Wood

Architect and researcher based in Tanzania, East Africa. Follow for discussions on how global developments are shaping the built environment👇