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Alexandra Lebert - Photo: Raphaël Dautigny

In a century, we have multiplied consumption of resources (from living creatures or not, renewable or not) on the planet by ten, on average.

Yet, for over half a century now, we have been talking about Limits to Growth (the Meadows report). In 1972, four young researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology published this landmark report, and yet the situation has not changed, even if there are many initiatives revolving around reuse, the performance economy, and frugal architecture.

To get past the tipping point between experiments and widespread adoption, there are significant technical, legal and economic hurdles, but the main obstacle is collective imagination. This ‘future’, ‘economy’, needs to make sense, to be desired. Our value system must be reshaped so that recycling, reuse and minimal use of resources become the priority and a reflex for all.

We must understand that we can no longer design buildings that are permanent, whose structures only tumble with dynamite.

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