Kate Raworth (front row centre holding a loop) pictured at the House of Commons after the launch of Building Blocks, a manifesto to transform the built environment spearheaded by UK Architects Declare. Julia Barfield and Kevin McCloud (pictured in the front row) also gave speeches in support of the manifesto. The Green Party’s Caroline Lucas MP chaired the event. Photograph by Fiona Smallshaw.
What prompted you to speak on behalf of the Building Blocks manifesto at its launch at the House of Commons today?
Surely the goal of this century is to meet the needs of all people on this planet. This meeting to me is really the art of legislation in this country, recognising that we need to move from a linear to a regenerative construction industry.
What does that mean for the world of buildings and architecture?
Firstly, the best building is the one that already exists. We need to a move to a world where we retrofit first, and to celebrate the joy of reinvention and the creativity that it unleashes. We need to understand that waste from one process is food for the next. There’s no such thing as waste, it’s just a resource. Right now it’s in the wrong place.
Where should it be?
You can’t demolish. Don’t come in with your wrecking ball. Reconstruct, because materials are precious. They must be re-used and reusable. Use them again and again. Have a materials passport so we know where to find them. Create buildings where everything is bolted and clipped and screwed so that it can be unbolted and unclipped and unscrewed. A different kind of design totally changes the life of these buildings. Can we build with nature’s materials, that capture carbon rather than using it? Can we insulate with straw, can we grow mycelium, can we turn oyster shells into tiles? There is so much scope for creativity. Architects and designers and graduates and students are bursting to do this work, if only the economy could be regulated and incentivised for them to do this.
We need to create new businesses and good jobs. It’s not just about the buildings but also all these enterprises that support a culture of reuse. Who will store the materials? Who will provide the digital materials bank? These are jobs that will support local creative resilience. This is the heart of the future economy and high-quality jobs that people are proud to be part of. Do we choose to be at the front end of that, leading? Or lag behind. With the skills and energy in this room, and the creativity and passion in our architecture schools, surely we can put the legislation in place now. That’s why I’m so proud to be standing with the Building Blocks manifesto, because it makes so much sense.
View the Building Blocks manifesto.
