Two of the world’s most prominent architecture practices have withdrawn from a climate change action movement they helped establish.
Foster and Partners and Zaha Hadid Architects are both founding signatories of Architects Declare, which began in the UK in May 2019 and kicked off a global movement of architecture practices signing a declaration acknowledging that “the twin crises of climate breakdown and biodiversity loss are the most serious issues of our time.”
However, the two founding signatories have fallen out with the rest of the steering group over a prolonged and public spat about their involvement with aviation projects.
In withdrawing from the declaration, Foster and Partners founder Norman Foster issued a statement saying, “Agriculture and aviation are not going to go away and they will both need the most sustainable buildings to serve them together with the architects who can most responsibly design them.”
Foster and Partners came under fire for various airport projects including a luxury resort in Saudi Arabia that will have climate-controlled aircraft hangars for private jets. The practice formally withdrew from the declaration on 2 December.
“We are disappointed that Foster and Partners has chosen to withdraw from the declarations and we would welcome a conversation with them on the points raised,” said Architects Declare UK in a statement.
“We recognize that addressing the climate and biodiversity emergencies challenges current practice and business models for us all, not least around the expansion of aviation. We believe that what is needed is system change and that can only come about through collective action.”
Zaha Hadid Architects, too, have faced criticism over its airport projects including Western Sydney Airport, designed in collaboration with Cox Architecture.
Tensions reached breaking point when Patrik Schumacher delivered a speech at the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat conference on 17 November during which he said, “We need to allow prosperity and progress to continue, and that will also bring the resources to overcome [the climate crisis] through investment, science and new technology,” reported The Architects’ Journal.
“That must be built on continued growth and cannot be built on a panicked shrinking of the economy, [which would] lead to massive regressions and political upheavals.”
Architects Declare UK hit back and issued an ultimatum: “We believe these statements are fundamentally in conflict with the Architects Declare commitment to ‘advocate for faster change in our industry towards regenerative practices’. We also believe these statements are scientifically flawed and decades out of date in terms of informed intellectual thought.
“To date we have avoided calling out individual practices recognizing that we all struggle sometimes to do what is necessary. However, when statements are made that contradict the fundamentals of the declaration, we have no option but to speak up. Sadly, there remain signatory practices who appear determined to continue with business as usual. This is seriously undermining the effectiveness and credibility of AD, so we call on those practices to either join the wave of positive change or have the integrity to withdraw.”
One day after the withdrawal of Foster and Partners, Zaha Hadid Architects followed suit.
“Regrettably, we are withdrawing from Architects Declare. As a founding signatory, we agreed to continue and accelerate our work towards progressive change in our built environment. However today we need to recognise that we have a significant difference of opinion with the Architects Declare steering group on how positive change can be delivered,” the practice said in a statement.
“For us, how change is delivered requires discussion, co-operation and collaboration, and this must be debated without condemnation.
“Architects Declare’s steering group has unilaterally decided on its own precise and absolute interpretation of the coalition’s commitments. By doing so, we believe they are setting the profession up for failure. Redefining these commitments without engagement undermines the coalition and trust.
“We saw Architects Declare as a broad church to raise consciousness on the issues; enabling architectural practices of all sizes to build a coalition for change and help each other find solutions. We need to be progressive, but we see no advantage in positioning the profession to fail. In fact, it would be a historic mistake.”
Architects Declare Australia spokesperson Caroline Pidcock issued a statement calling for Australian signatories to stick together.
“Along with our UK colleagues, we are disappointed that Foster and Partners and Zaha Hadid Architects have chosen to withdraw from the commitments of Architects Declare UK,” she said.
“As the steering group of Australian Architects Declare, we don’t believe it’s our role to take a stand on issues on behalf of our signatories. That’s not what this movement is about. We’re not spokespeople for a passive group of professionals, we’re enablers – facilitating, building bridges, fostering a community of action – for tens of thousands of architects. From the largest practices in our country, to tiny practices in regional areas, every one of us signed because we want to take action and we want to do it together.”
Source: Architecture - architectureau
