Calling for Collective Action

Atelier Ten’s Director, Nico Kienzl, is featured in The Architectural League NY’s article, “Rethinking Form and Function for a Warming Planet. He discusses the scale of change architects and designers are facing in their approach to the climate emergency and calls for collective action.

“Ultimately, we all need to finally switch to crisis mode. Climate change is already happening, and we are running rapidly out of time to avoid the worst effects. It falls to us as professionals to be honest with ourselves and our clients about the changes we need to make in how we build and operate our buildings and cities.”

The interview covers five main barriers industry professionals are facing when addressing climate change including access to and information about sustainable products, supply chain transparency, insufficient understanding of how buildings function post design, a lack of meaningful data, and politics. Nico discusses the challenges industry professionals face when approaching challenging topics like building electrification, and the need for a larger-scale approach to the issue. The scale of change we need will require both market and political transformation that none of us can achieve alone.

Looking to the future, Nico states:

“… I am hopeful that what will emerge from this change will be a built environment not of scarcity or austerity, but one of newfound qualities that is richer because it is more in harmony with the natural world.”

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