Architecture NZ

Listening to the building

and gnawing away at our coastlines, storms are more frequent and intense, and waterfalls are falling from the skies. Climate change is upon us and one thing that has become more apparent in architecture is that we need to change our practices, not just to cope but to try to reduce emissions and assuage the worstcase scenarios. One of these is more adaptive re-use of existing buildings – even if you do have to strip an ugly bugger, such as some 1960s’ office building, back to its skeleton. Concrete is a major offender in terms of carbon footprint and it doesn’t make sense to demolish a concrete building and throw it into landfill in order to pour more of the stuff. This is happening internationally and, when Lacaton and Vassal won the Pritzker, it was almost official; we can

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