Opinion
Opinion
"We must do better than 1,000 Trees"
Although adding trees to buildings can have real value, at Thomas Heatherwick's recently opened 1,000 Trees, the carbon costs outweigh the environmental benefit, says Philip Oldfield. More
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Opinion
Opinion
"Thompson Center renovation aiming for lowest common denominator of apparently good taste"
The proposed renovation to Helmut Jahn's recently saved James R Thompson Center will strip so much of the uniqueness from the postmodern building they may as well demolish it, says Owen Hopkins. More
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Opinion
Opinion
"With Richard Rogers gone there is a melancholic sense of slow extinguishing"
The passing of British architect Richard Rogers at the age of 88 marks the loss of one of the architects who shaped the past four decades, says Catherine Slessor. More
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Opinion
Opinion
"No-one retains a building that is not loved"
As 2021 draws to a close, RIBA president Simon Allford sets out how architects should be prioritising reuse to help fight climate change. More
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Opinion
Opinion
"It's time to reconsider the whole colour of the year carnival"
With its choice of a shade of purple, which it claims is blue, as colour of the year, Pantone has once again failed to use the opportunity to talk meaningfully about how colour reflects moments, says Michelle Ogundehin.
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Opinion
Opinion
"We're not going to profiteer our way out of climate change"
Corporations are focusing on climate change because it's a "great investment", but we're not going to profiteer our way out of the environmental crisis, argues architect Maria Smith in the aftermath of Cop26. More
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Opinion
Opinion
"The Charlie Munger windowless dorm is the building of our moment"
The controversial Munger Hall at University of California Santa Barbara represents the university's capitulation to "the whims of old white men" and will lead to another Greta Thunberg moment, argues UCLA architecture professor and City Lab director Dana Cuff. More
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Opinion
Opinion
"Cop26 only delivered incremental progress when we clearly need big breakthroughs"
This month's Cop26 climate conference in Glasgow made disappointing progress on the built environment and excluded the voices of ordinary citizens, writes attendee Hélène Chartier, head of zero-carbon development at international network C40 Cities. More
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Opinion
Opinion
"Act up, disrupt and get noisy"
Environmental protest group Insulate Britain has caused controversy by blocking roads to highlight the need for better insulation in homes. But its aims are correct and direct action is "pretty much the only effective democratic way" to achieve change, argues architect Duncan Baker-Brown. More
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Opinion
Opinion
"The annual quest for a national Best in Show seems increasingly problematic"
It was the right choice to give Grafton Architects' Kingston University London this year's Stirling Prize, says Catherine Slessor, but the award is still struggling to find its purpose. More
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Architecture
Architecture
"If we act together now, we change the world"
Architects can prevent the worst effects of climate change by deciding to design and build to net-zero carbon standards, argues Edward Mazria, architect and founder of non-profit organisation Architecture 2030. More
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Architecture
Architecture
"There is a lot somebody working in the built environment can do to make a difference"
Following the release of the latest IPCC climate report, Joe Giddings of Architects Climate Action Network explains how architects and designers can help prevent catastrophic climate change. More
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Opinion
Opinion
"Carbon washing is the new greenwashing"
The global push to reduce atmospheric carbon is being compromised by confusing terminology and misleading claims, argues Dezeen founder and editor-in-chief Marcus Fairs. More
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Carbon revolution
Carbon revolution
"Great design isn't enough. We need homes that will get us to net-zero"
To reduce carbon emissions, architects and designers need to change the way they design homes, writes Geraldine de Boisse, vice president of innovation at renewable-energy supplier Bulb. More
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Opinion
Opinion
"Remove the word 'design' and the first thing you notice is that the alternative words help clarify things"
Many "graphic designers" are graphic artists, while "design thinkers" behave like neoliberal business consultants, writes Michèle Champagne. More
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Carbon revolution
Carbon revolution
"It is not acceptable for designers to be unaware of the carbon impact of their creations"
Designers should design with carbon in mind according to environmental consultant Sophie Thomas, who sets out ten steps they can take to help eliminate emissions in the products they create. More
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Carbon revolution
Carbon revolution
"Planet-wide regeneration could result in a safer climate after a few hundred years"
Instead of being forced to retreat from the impacts of climate change, humanity could undergo a managed retreat to Planet City, a single, purpose-built metropolis, while carbon removal takes place on a planetary scale, suggests Holly Jean Buck. More
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Carbon revolution
Carbon revolution
"The Race to Zero is neither highly ambitious nor providing the leadership needed at this critical time"
Last week, UN climate champion Nigel Topping claimed that architects have been slow to sign up to its net-zero carbon emissions programme. This "unfairly presented architects and top firms in a negative light," writes 2021 AIA Gold Medal winner Edward Mazria. More
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Carbon revolution
Carbon revolution
"Taking credit for trees planted elsewhere is a whole lot of embodied irony"
Architecture firm Perkins&Will has gone too far with claims that a luxury timber home on a Canadian mountain removes more atmospheric carbon than it emits, argues Fred A Bernstein. More
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Opinion
Opinion
"Tadao Ando's equivalent of what a dog does to a lamppost"
The redesign of Paris' Bourse de Commerce in Paris by architect Tadao Ando is a "complete disaster" of sterile concrete that turns the building into a monument to French colonial violence, says Aaron Betsky. More
