This probing Architectural League lecture by Michelle Addington, dean of The University of Texas at Austin School of Architecture – and a former engineer for NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center and for E.I. DuPont de Nemours – asks, “Are architects proceeding from the wrong premise and solving the wrong problems in their approach to climate change?” As we accelerate ever faster to climate change’s warming limit of 2°C, after having already passed the 400 ppm CO₂ threshold a few years ago, we have not witnessed a meaningful reduction in the energy use of the building sector. Unquestionably, there have been enormous strides in analysis and simulation, in the development of new technologies and materials, and in the integration of multiple disciplines to bring unprecedented resources and knowledge to the design of the built environment. As much as these strides have advanced our field, they have not only been unable to match the continuing rise in emissions, but they have not aggressively addressed the impacts of the rapid urban growth taking place globally.

This lecture is part of “Towards a New Architecture: Climate change and design,” a series of discussions held by New York’s Architectural League in which leading practitioners and educators describe the urgent need for change and sketch the outlines of new ways of thinking and acting as architects and landscape architects. On each evening, respondents will draw out the implications of the ideas presented and offer suggestions for implementing them at a speed and scale commensurate with the climate emergency.