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On the occasion of the joint CNAPPC-ACE-EFAP Forum EU-Cities Reloaded, which took place on 7-8 November 2014 in Milano, ACE President Luciano Lazzari presented a new ACE brochure on the Role of the Architectural Profession in Delivering Responsible Design.
The publication was conceived as a brief collection of thoughts, grounded in both research and practice, about current urban challenges and how the architectural profession can contribute to turning them into opportunities.
A narrow view of urban development, driven only by economic considerations, has failed cities, both socially and environmentally. Tackling urban challenges requires a renewed focus on the environmental and socio-cultural dimensions of design - and all of these dimensions should be addressed in an holistic manner, at different spatial scales.
The document highlights the key role of the profession in addressing these challenges. Producing better buildings and streets can set the scene for interventions at the neighbourhood and district scales, helping in the formation of community ties that could lead to more active citizen involvement. In turn, this could lead to larger city-scale interventions geared towards the longer-term objective of creating well-designed cities that increase the well-being of citizens.
Going beyond the usual notion of ‘sustainable design’, the publication develops the notion of 'responsible design', defined as a quality-oriented design, geared to the production of an integrated, energy-conscious, inclusive and adaptable built environment. ACE encourages the profession to produce and deliver such responsible design, seen as a key determinant to achieving urban environments that can face up to the manifold challenges of our time.
The author Dr. Antoine Zammit, architect and urban designer, lecturer at the Department of Spatial Planning and Infrastructure at the University of Malta, worked with the support of the ACE Urban Issues Work Group.
The brochure can be downloaded in English and French.
