Despatches from the Future

Architecture today operates within the horizon of systemic change - a change that is driven by the increasing instability of the systems upon which all life depends. Climate, ecology, culture, economy, and social demography are more than just the background conditions against which architecture unfolds - they are the materials and fields of operation for a new architectural paradigm. The earth is undergoing a phase change, a deep systemic reorganisation to which architecture is not simply a witness to this transformation but is active agent within it. Envisioning architecture for a world 3-4°C warmer than pre-industrial levels demands the design of systems, structures, and environments capable of adapting to radical instabilities of climate, ecological discontinuities, and significantly shifting patterns of human settlement. The 10 “Despatches” are urgent communications that set out the design imperatives for architectural visions for that transformed world, and include Adaptation to Nonlinear Climate and Transitions through Tipping Points, Migration and Transient Urbanism, Regenerative Material Ecologies, Design of Ecotones and Post-Carbon Cultural Narratives.

Michael Weinstock is an architect, Head of Research at the AA and Founding Director of the Emergent Technologies and Design taught postgraduate programme. He studied architecture at the AA and has taught at the school since 1989 in a range of positions. Over decades his published work has arisen from research into the dynamics, forms and energy transactions of natural systems, and the application of the mathematics and processes of emergence to architecture. He has published and lectured widely and has been an academic leader in bringing awareness and understanding of the natural and human dynamics that are currently driving changes in all the systems of nature and civilisation.

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