Volume 11: Regeneration From The Ground Up
Author(s): Alexandra Khomenko, Jarel Cheah and Abbey O’Regan
Our cities and built environment exist within a narrative of growth. But they also exist within a narrative that is constantly rewriting itself in a context of economic changes, resource shortages and ongoing consequences of the climate crisis. The construction industry consumes half of all raw materials extracted annually by humans. Moreover, the sector accounts for nearly 40% of the global CO2 footprint. Statistics like these are well-cited and widely circulated, and whilst there is strong incentive to explore alternative futures, such proposals are quickly dismissed for being too utopian, too naïve, or simply unrealistic.
The concept of sustainable development has emerged as the universal consensus on how to improve quality of life whilst reducing our environment impact, yet it has also been criticised for continuing to address these concerns within the parameters of economic growth. Simultaneously, there is growing scepticism for the shallow or cynical deployment of faux-ecological imagery and practice, finding its definition in rhetoric through the term greenwashing. Our discourse is beginning to get comfortable with calling in to question the dominant perspectives of growth and the existing frameworks which hinder sustainable authenticity. Inflection positions Volume 11 as a collection of pragmatic discussions as to what that questioning could look like, focusing on architectural regeneration thoroughly and carefully, beyond mere speculation, from the ground up.
In biological terms, regeneration denotes the ability to renew, restore, or grow tissues in organisms and ecosystems in harmony with natural fluctuations. Applied to architecture, it necessitates similar reciprocities that address the renewal of space, function, and resources. Understandably, as a concept that straddles the ecological world and the built environment, there is no singular approach to regenerative architecture. Rather, it emerges as a whole-scale practice, a framework, an overarching model. One that does not operate in isolation. The diverse paradigms that arise from this field — including but not limited to — biocentric design, regenerative building strategies, and (re)construction processes, must also delve into deeper regenerative concepts of place that consider the cultural, social and historical aspects of a given context and the tectonic implications of this approach. All while being mindful of the more sinister tendency to conflate ‘regeneration’ with projects of large-scale development that undermine a wider discourse that appeals for us to produce (and do) less.
Inflection Volume 11 proposes to direct conversations to an embrace of architectural regeneration.
https://inflectionjournal.com/current-issue
Inflection is a student-run design journal based at the Melbourne School of Design, University of Melbourne. Born from a desire to stimulate debate and generate ideas, it advocates the discursive voice of students, academics and practitioners. Founded in 2013, Inflection is a home for provocative writing-a place to share ideas and engage with contemporary discourse. Inflection is published annually by the Melbourne School of Design at the University of Melbourne and Melbourne Books.
ISBN: 9781922779342
Publisher: Melbourne Books
Imprint: Melbourne Books
Publication date: 01 Dec 2024
Product Type: Books
Author: Melbourne School of Design University of Melbourne
Bind: Paperback
Pages: 144