The many faces of sustainability

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Sustainability is referred to as related to…

• energy efficient high-tech, low-tech, or vernacular strategies
• health, well-being, and quality of life issues
• an analogy to natural forms or from processes in natural systems
• performance over appearance
• appearance over performance
• intelligent and responsive materials, renewable, recyclable, biodegradable
• sensory perception
• resilience and circular economy
• not building at all and instead promote virtualization
• ecological footprinting and consumerist lifestyles
• best practice guidelines, assessment methods

All above-mentioned concepts are context-specific and inevitably contested. Enacting and translating sustainability in arch design practices can occur in different stages of the design/build process:

• during the design brief phase that defines the sustainability targets: translating the concept of sustainability into design practices, recognizing the controversial issues to tackle/ those is in charge of giving directions should ask those bidding to work on giving meaning to these goals
• when analyzing the ways in which design strategies are constructed between the distinct vocational design actors
• when establishing supposed equivalences between projected and actual design

References

Schröder, T. (2018). Giving meaning to the concept of sustainability in architectural design practices: Setting out the analytical framework of translation. Sustainability, 10(6), 1-15. [1710]. DOI: 10.3390/su10061710