Lotus International. 176. Sustainable Development

The concept of sustainable development is criticized by movements connected with the theory of degrowth, who see the idea as a contradiction in terms, an oxymoron, since growth by its verynature can be neither sustainable nor lasting. And yet this concept has led to a change in sensibilityout of which have come many reassessments of the theoretical status of the architectural projectand its limitations, as well as a reconsideration of the notion of duration prompted by dramaticimages of climate change, large-scale migration, and so on. Influenced by this change of sensibility,architects are paying particular attention to residual traces and environmentally friendly situations,including small ecosystems like biotopes with their unique characteristics of temperature,humidity, light and so on. And a few optimists, scanning the scenes of emigrations in the east,may notice the appearance of textile structures coming from an ancient nomad culture.