"30/40 years ago we were still debating about what the future would be; Communist, Fascist, Capitalist, whatever...Today nobody even debates these issues, we all silently accept global capitalism is here to stay. On the other hand we are obsessed with cosmic catastrophes; the whole of life on earth disintegrating because of some virus, because of an asteroid hitting the earth and so on...
So the paradox is that it is much easier to imagine the end of all life on earth than a much more modest radical change in capitalism"
- Slavoj Zizek - University of Buenos Aires, Argentina
The Impending Trial
As we approach what may be the end of the current chapter of late capitalism, dramatic environmental change has begun to take centre stage: A realization that the contemporary western model of production and consumption is unsustainable has led to a plethora of official reports from various national, multinational and international bodies outlining the current crisis;
There is compelling evidence that the rising levels of greenhouse gases will have a warming effect on the climate through increasing the amount of infrared radiation (heat energy) trapped by the atmosphere: "the greenhouse effect”. In total, the warming effect due to all (Kyoto) greenhouse gases emitted by human activities is now equivalent to around 430 ppm of carbon dioxide (hereafter, CO2 equivalent or CO2e) and rising at around 2.3 ppm per year. Current levels of greenhouse gases are higher now than at any time in at least the past 650,000 years. 1
The ramifications of these reports and their suggestions are far reaching, and seem to present a unique opportunity for those working in and around architecture to embrace a new ethos.
Projects have already been initiated in which architects are ‘employing sustainable design and resource conservation to achieve a reduction from the current level of fossil fuels used to construct and operate new and renovated buildings'2 These low emission housing developments, utilizing alternative methods of power generation and waste management are the most immediate reaction to a global problem, seeking to halt climate change at its source, yet it is merely one facet of the architectural response. Looking to the future many architects are working to ‘help design living and working spaces for a warming world…to produce work that not only helps us mitigate climate change, but helps us adapt to the climate changes we’re already locked into.'3
For architecture this task must be considered quotidian; a discipline which has excelled in rebuilding post-war Europe and must address the material destruction of civil war and international terrorism is certainly malleable to this new challenge. Yet in truth, it is debateable whether the behemoth that is global capitalism can perform an elegant u-turn in such a short period of time; while the Stern Review focused comprehensively on the economic viability of any challenge to climate change it is questionable if the international community will be willing to relinquish the 1% of global GDP4needed to achieve it.
Nevertheless the ability to meet these targets may be of little consequence, as with each report the diagnoses appears graver still. A report to be published in April 2007 by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) will suggest the ‘most optimistic scenario would see a likely increase in temperature of 2.4C over pre-industrial levels by 2100.’ 5 The EU has defined any rise over 2C as "dangerous" and it is debateable how long it will be before a report officially recognizes any efforts as too late.
Seemingly the network of global capital, that under economists such as John Maynard Keynes was able to resuscitate the post-war world, will ultimately be our undoing, leaving us instead with Keynes’ most quoted line; ‘In the long run, we are all dead’.6
A Radical Proposal
In consequence it would follow that any uncompromising practice must take an aberrant tack, that the architects’ perspective must shift fundamentally to understand the true issues.This is Post-Modernism at its most literal, the modern world is fast reaching its inevitable conclusion and in its wake nothing new can be created. The enquiry must not be how can we build but how can we disassemble to hasten the recovery of a planet, post-human civilization.
‘For many thousands of years there would still be some signs of the civilisations that we created… It might be severely crumbling in many places, but it'll take a long time to become invisible.'7
Not only will these empty monuments stand valueless they will fundamentally hinder future evolution, consequently their destruction is by no means defeatist rather it is essential in securing a true legacy that will outlast our infinitesimal existence.
While the dismantling of the structures of the modern world is no small feat, architectural practice has always been intrinsically linked with the overcoming of nature and the elements: By merely inverting this knowledge we can begin to shape a solution to the problem.
The hardiness of modern structures to weathering will certainly prolong their existence, but the local ecosystem could be mobilized in a much simpler and literal fashion. The evidence is already available that florae quickly reclaims what man has discarded, in abandoned cities such as Pripyat near Chernobyl ‘the most pervasive thing you see are plants whose root systems get into the concrete and behind the bricks and into doorframes and so forth, and are rapidly breaking up the structure.'8 The challenge therefore is to create an environment in which this process is not only commenced but actively encouraged to ensure the process is as swift as possible.
A Comprehensive Strategy
The Proposal then is to mould an architectural landscape in which florae is positioned strategically, upon the dissolution of human civilization, to subsume the man made edifice left behind. Plants would, in the course of their natural growth, promptly destroy the structural integrity of the buildings, collapsing them far more rapidly than if left unchecked.
Plans to this effect could be executed with relative ease, plants such as ivy are already used as a decorative adornment but if not treated with vigilance, ‘can dig into mortar and pull off rendering’9 Climbing plants such as these can be utilized as their tendrils and feathered rootlets probe the niches of a structure, scaling but inadvertently rending the architectural fabric. The roots of trees perform much the same function in a subterranean manner, but are less suited to the task as young saplings are far less robust in an urban environment. The employment of trees and shrubs would perhaps form part of a later, long term phase, helping to brake up foundations and rubble of the demolished buildings. This though would be a spontaneous consequence of natural seed distribution and so would need no preliminary human planning.
Given the relatively small amount of ground space needed in ratio to destructive potential, climbing plants would be ideal for these ends, yet the choice of an ideal candidate is dependant on a variety of criteria. Most notably the climatic considerations coupled with the growth rate and the robustness of the plant would be the essential concerns, other more structure-specific concerns would no doubt arise, but would be best dealt with within the planning of individual projects. This proposal will deal with climate of a Temperate Latitude, as this covers the majority of the western world, and so selections will be made on this assumption.
Two species of climbing plants of the Genus Fallopia present themselves as ideal, both for their existing utilization, and their potential for symbiotic cooperation. Fallopia baldschuanica and Fallopia japonica are extremely hardy climbers with the potential for a growth rate exceeding 20ft a year.
Fallopia baldschuanica or Russian Vine is the faster growing of the two, quickly enveloping host structures, it can develop 3ft fronds in one to two weeks and the strength of these growths is enough to break through even the most resilient building materials. Despite this, the Russian Vine is not especially enduring in the face of potential damage from the process of deconstruction. Should the vine be damaged or buried by debris from the target structure it may prove fatal as its resources are stored in its woody shoots, which can be easily damaged or disconnected from the roots of the plant.
Fallopia japonica or Japanese Knotweed on the other hand does not grow with the strength or vigour of its cousin but is less susceptible to damage as it stores its resources in stout underground rhizomes. This enables the plant to recover quickly, re-growing from the smallest possible fragment, if a substantial part of the body is destroyed. These rhizomes also allow the young shoots to push upwards with a remarkable strength, easily breaking through asphalt and similar urban building materials. Thus potentially disrupting the foundations of the architecture and clearing space for trees and shrubs to take root.
The final advantage of a combination of the Russian Vine and Japanese Knotweed is the potential for cross pollination, producing the hybrid Fallopia x conollyana. This is advantageous firstly as a third species reduces the risk of all the florae being destroyed by pest or disease, but also as it grows with the strength, if not the speed, of F. baldschuanica yet from the rhizomes of F. japonica
For optimum height both species will profit from initial planting within large irrigated containers located around the base of buildings. Ideally the plants would benefit from being planted in both these irrigated containers and in surrounding earth, so as to take advantage of naturally drained, nutrient rich soil, and also to begin the break up of foundations and surface coverings. Yet if this is not possible, the irrigated containers should be made from a material that the roots of the plant can fracture upon reaching a certain volume, therefore spreading the soil upon the surface covering (most likely concrete or asphalt) which the strong, mature roots can proceed to breach and shatter from the top down.
In external structural areas that shelter or enclose space and hence render large scale planting unfeasible plants should be introduced into the fabric of the building itself. Where possible niches or areas of damage should be exploited as possible placement locations, not only to provide cover for the young plant but because these areas of minor damage can often present opportunities to undermine the entire structural integrity of the building.
This secondary placement is especially pertinent within concrete or other solid cast structures, as it is not possible for the plants to exploit the relatively brittle mortar, as is the case with brick buildings.
After planting, within a period of roughly 2 years an entire building should be enclosed within the plants, it is likely that the plants will have begun to exploit weaknesses in the structure and disrepair arising from neglect; some moderate structural damage may occur. After this period of time the plants will have most likely have shattered their containers and the more mature plants will have begun to break apart any surface covering.
The majority of the significant demolition would take place over the next 5 to 10 years as the plants begin to constrict and burst the structure and undermine the foundations. It is likely that the demolition will be hastened through the collapse of substantial sections of the building causing collateral damage to the remaining structures. It is extremely unlikely that the entire demolition process would take longer than 20 years. Once the demolition is complete the substantial mass of rubble would not be broken down much further by the plants, instead it will begin to be enclosed in deposits of earth, Initially formed by the break down of plant matter from those destroyed by the collapse. It is likely that hardy grasses and shrubs would take root within this soil in a very short period after the demolition and not inconceivable that the site would develop into scrubland within the next 10 to 20 years.
A Time to Act
While it has taken 30/40 years to reach the apex of the current paradigm, it may not take so long to rudely reawaken in the next, and so it is imperative that the actions advocated within this proposal are put into effect with the utmost haste. If set in motion it will be a revolution in the purest sense; a repudiation and thorough replacement of the established political system, yet its cause will ensure the longevity of its effect, for it shall exist without an audience and so will have no need for review.
The proposal should not be seen as negation, but rather negation of negation, that its advocates shall never reap what they sow is far from iniquitous it is instead the point.
The grain as such ceases to exist, it is negated, and in its place appears the plant which has arisen from it, the negation of the grain. But what is the normal life-process of this plant? It grows, flowers, is fertilised and finally once more produces grains of barley, and as soon as these have ripened the stalk dies, is in its turn negated. As a result of this negation of the negation we have once again the original grain of barley, but not as a single unit, but ten-, twenty- or thirty-fold"10
1Stern Review, HM Treasury, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2007
2Architects and Climate Change, AIA, http://www.aia.org/SiteObjects/files/architectsandclimatechange.pdf
3International Dialogues: Architecture and Climate Change, Townsend, Solitaire, http://www.riba.org/go/RIBA/News/Press_5917.html
4Stern Review - Executive Summary, http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/media/999/76/CLOSED_SHORT_executive_summar...
5David, Adam, Worse Than We Thought, The Guardian (London), 3/2/2007
6Keynes, John Maynard, A Tract on Monetary Reform, Macmillan & Co., Ltd, London 1923
7Holmes, Bob, Imagine Earth Without People, New Scientist (London), Issue 2573, 12/8/2006
8Holmes, Bob, Imagine Earth Without People, New Scientist (London), Issue 2573, 12/8/2006
9Cannell, Felicity, Invasion of the Climbing Plants, The Independent (London), 12/5/1998
10Engels, Friedrich, Herrn Eugen Dührings Umwälzung der Wissenschaft. MEW, Vol. 20. Berlin. Dietz 1878
