Enough? Architecture and the Sufficiency Imperative

Enough? Architecture and the Sufficiency Imperative asks the question ‘how much is Enough?’ Not only how much tragedy is enough to spark collective action against climate change, but also how much is enough building? Do we really need to be designing and building as much as we are? Architecture, and the economy that sustains it, are dependent on continual growth and development. Economists tremble at the idea of stagnancy, let alone a decline in growth. Energy efficient, or sustainable buildings offer the same social functions, just at a reduced energy cost. They do very little to challenge the carbon-dependent social fabric, instead they play into the demands of infinite growth. It has become more important to believe that we have enough to work with now, rather than manufacturing solutions to the problems that manufacturing has created. It then falls to design to make this new, reduced-desire life, well, desirable. At least in the Global North, the field of architecture must shift to a focus on repairing and decarbonizing from within, not by building new. For every place where luxury has been reduced to a comfort, there is a place where seemingly basic comforts are a luxury.

Barber, Daniel A. “Enough? Architecture and the Sufficiency Imperative.” Failed Architecture (blog), February 13, 2024. https://failedarchitecture.com/enough-architecture-and-the-sufficiency-imperative/.