"Bones as Traces. Towards a Nonviolent Architecture"

Abstract:

Well, perhaps Zygmunt Bauman is right when he says that we are living at the dawn of a world that is “moving towards Buddhism”. In fact, it can be said that the Buddhist point of view is the most correct for interpreting current events, which have two common denominators: ecology and inclusiveness – that is, respectively, interconnection with things-in-the-world and acceptance of the Other-from-itself, two precepts that characterize Buddhism.

As aspiring Buddhists, we are trying to impact the environment as little as possible, that is, to leave no physical traces. Even the world of architecture is veering towards a progressive and conscious “erasure of traces”: environmental sustainability is nothing more than a gradual removal of our “ecological footprint”. We are aiming for a built world that can naturally return to humus and we are understanding that the condition of the transitory and the ephemeral is the only truly real one. Earthen constructions or coverings derived from plants are just the vanguard of a future that will see architecture increasingly naturelle. And they are examples in which the bones, muscles and skin of the buildings accept their ephemerality, their sudden return to the earthly mixture.

The day when even the bones of our buildings are rapidly biodegradable, what will our traces be made of? Will we still aspire to leave some or, as enlightened ones, without any claim to future eternity, will we perhaps be able to live in a more respectful, ecological and inclusive present?

Link al sito dell'editore (Anteferma):