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Argument › No. 15/2023

The architectural material as palimpsest. Monitoring climatic changes within the built environment

https://doi.org/10.54508/Argument.15.13

  • / “Ion Mincu” University of Architecture and Urbanism, Bucharest, RO

Abstract

The Earth is a dynamic system, yet our understanding of this system relies on fixed, human-imposed lines, measurements and boundaries, which obscure those dynamics. The tension between the fixed nature of our modes of representation and the dynamic nature of the Earth’s system becomes increasingly apparent in the context of accelerating global environmental changes. Rising temperatures on the Earth’s surface are changing climatic zones around the planet and creating complex shifts in ecosystems. Landscapes are changing as sea levels rise, deserts increase and the tropics expand, urging people to improve their ways of representing, monitoring and caring for their surroundings. As such, memory, empathy and experience are central elements of this paper as it discusses environmental changes through the lens of the architectural material.

The challenge of translating between abstract global images and the human experience inhibits individual, empathetic awareness of the planetary scale of climate change. As such, this paper aims to identify ways in which the architectural material can help bridge the gap between individual and planetary scales of change while mediating cultural and environmental loss. Through an interdisciplinary approach that draws from academic fields such as geography, earth sciences, architecture and environmental studies, this paper examines the historical development of fixed representations of the Earth’s systems to propose enhanced ways of viewing, understanding and representing the planet within change. Exploring the architectural material as a palimpsest, the following paper investigates the potential of materials to become sensors as they employ their ability to record aspects of environmental change, storing them as memories. As such, the scientific and emotional data accumulated through the architectural material could enable both emotional and physical resilience, and, through its representation, facilitate an empathetic awareness of the environmental crisis humanity currently faces.

Keywords

palimpsest, archive, architectural heritage, memory, virtual reality, empathy

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