Description
Book SynopsisThis innovative book investigates the concept of collapse in terms of our built environment, exploring the future transition of modern cities towards scenarios very different from the current promises of progress and development. This is not a book about the end of the world and hopeless apocalyptic scenarios. It is about understanding change in how and where we live. Collapse is inevitable, but in the built environment collapse could imply a manageable situation, an opportunity for change or a devastating reality.
Collapsing gracefully means that there might be better ways to coexist with collapse if we learn more about it and commit to rebuild our civilisations in ways that avoid its worst effects. This book uses a wide range of practical examples to study critical changes in the built environment, to contextualise and visualise what collapse looks like, to see if it is possible to buffer its effects in places already collapsing and to propose ways to develop greater resilience.
The book challenges all agents and institutions in modern cities, their designers and planners as well as their residents and users to think differently about built environment so as to ease our coexistence with collapse and not contribute to its causes.
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Trade Review“The authors take their readers on a journey … a well-rounded exploration of the issues, both past and present … . Collapsing Gracefully encourages architects, designers and those in the construction industry to reflect on what we consider to be best for the built environment … . I thoroughly enjoyed Collapsing Gracefully. Regardless of your background, the book offers a great opportunity in which to stop and reflect on your work and consider its wider impacts.” (James McLean, Architecture New Zealand, March - April, 2022)
Table of ContentsWhat Do We Mean by Collapsing Gracefully?.- Current Ideas for Future Built Environments.- What Can We Learn From the Collapse of Societies in the Past?.- The Modern Built Environment and its Relationship to Collapse.- Technology and Collapse.- A Case Study of Technology and Climate Change.- Inequality, Collapse and the Built Environment.- Inequality in the Urban Landscape of New Zealand: From the Country to the Plot.- Growth and Collapse.- Growth and Resources.- Epidemics, Pandemics, and Collapse.- The Architecture of Wealth.- What Should We Do?
