Counter Ecologies

Architecture and Sufficiency:
A Case Study in Applied History

The history of architecture and sufficiency suggests a porosity in the rigid distinctions that have characterized the field’s erstwhile attentions, which so often focus upon heroic figures engaged in the development of progressive design techniques. It turns instead to a chronologically heterogeneous array of climate and solar design strategies—regionally specific and culturally conditioned—that have emerged over a much longer period, and with less attention to formalist pedigrees, to consider design methods for life after fossil fuels.

Type:
Features
Source:
Fall 2023
Credit:
Text / Daniel A. Barber

Letters to My Friends: Indigenous Land as Monument

Being an academic, I am often more interested in ideas than in the visceral. The idea of what creates a visceral reaction, the how, the why, the what, and then what transpires, preoccupies my busy mind. My therapist prescribed returning to my body, in any way that I can. So, a monument really has to be something to grab my attention.

Type:
Features
Source:
Fall 2023
Credit:
Text / omeasoo wahpasiw

The Last Frontier Left to Conquer:
Brief Reflections on Silent Running (1972)

Lowell, in his arguments with fellow crew members, explains that, on Earth, “there are no more frontiers left to conquer,” disclosing the colonialist mindsets of governance on Earth and their extension into space. With human action no longer confined to a finite Earth, expansionist ambitions find an outlet through the technical ingenuity of the Valley Forge’s sealed domes, stewarded by Lowell and his spiritual ethic.

Type:
Reviews
Source:
Fall 2023
Credit:
Text / Rami Kanafani