US Architects Declare: ADAPTIVE FUTURES

US Architects Declare is launching the first season of Adaptive Futures, a series of online discussions presenting selected adaptive reuse projects. The event is the result of a Town Hall in January this year where more than two dozen members of signatory firms came together to discuss how we can use Adaptive Futures to address our mission of addressing our global climate emergency.

The event is rooted under the premise that retaining existing buildings and reusing materials are powerful levers in the race to decarbonize. Rather than perpetuating an extravagant cycle of demolition and new construction, which benefits a select few, retrofitting buildings and cities conserves resources and sustains communities in place. While demolition and new construction emphasize improvements in building performance, such strategies often disrupt the thriving and interdependent ecologies that inhabit existing fabrics. By seeking opportunities for change through buildings in place, adaptive reuse, retrofit, and other approaches to building conservation and reuse presents more holistic approaches for climate activism rooted in attention, care, and resourcefulness while maintaining culturally rich existing built fabrics.

For the first season in the Fall of 2023, US AD will be hosting architects and designers presenting selected projects across scales and uses, including cultural projects like the St. Ann’s Warehouse Theater by Marvel, the recently inaugurated Powerhouse Arts by PDWD and Herzog & DeMeuron, the Timber Adaptive Reuse Theater by CO Adaptive, and the Cruden Martin in St. Louis by El Dorado and Good Development Group. The series also includes the presentation of residential and community projects by Davidson Rafailidis and Architensions. Each presentation will be moderated by a member of the US AD steering committee.

US Architects Declare is a network of architects organizing for radical change in the building sector around climate, social justice, and biodiversity. Architects Declare started in the UK in 2019 by inviting architectural firms to sign on as signatories to a joint declaration and has grown into a global network with declarations from 23 countries. Architects Declare places the responsibility and imperative on the architectural community, on architecture firms, and on architecture schools to state and enact change. Through this collective work, which is locally defined but globally connected, we can amplify both our knowledge and our impact toward change.

An intersectional approach to climate, justice, and biodiversity has defined efforts in the US. We believe that these issues must be understood in relation to each other, and that the urgency of the crisis requires an immediate transformation in the ways we teach, practice, and build. Further, we believe that this means working collectively, across offices and institutions, to think beyond the boundaries of our roles on individual projects. Incremental approaches will not bring about rapid systemic change. Furthermore, we understand that black, indigenous, and other people of color have been disproportionately impacted by historical and present-day actions that perpetuate societal inequities and preserve white privilege.

US Architects Declare is not looking for a one-size-fits-all solution, recognizing that different firms, institutions, and individuals have different capacities to change. 

1. "Cruden Martin"

David Dowell (El Dorado) / Greg Gleicher (Good Development Group) St. Louis (MO)

Friday, September 15th (12:30 ET) 

Moderator: Francisco Brown (US AD / Micropolitan Studio)

2. "Big Space Little Space” and “Continual Construction"

Stephanie Davidson and Georg Rafailidis (Davidson Rafailidis) Buffalo (NY)

Friday, September  22nd (12:30 PM ET)

Moderator: Sarah Gunawan (US AD / Terrestrial Pursuits)

3. "Timber Adaptive Reuse Theatre"

Ruth Mandl and Bobby Johnston (CO Adaptive) New York (NY) 

Friday, October 13th (12:30 ET) 

Moderator: David Benjamin (US AD / Columbia GSAPP/ The Living)

4. "St. Ann's Warehouse"

Jonathan Marvel (Marvel) New York, (NY) 

Friday,  October 20th (12:30) 

Moderator: Gwen Fuertes (US AD / LMSa)

5. "House on House" 

Alessandro Orsini and Nick Roseboro (Architensions) New York (NY) 

Friday, October 27th (12:30  ET) 

Moderator: Debbie Chen (US AD / RISD)

6. "Powerhouse Art” Gowanus, NY

Tory Cuddy, (PBDW Architects) New York, NY

Friday,  November 3rd (12:30  ET)

Moderator: Arathi Gowda (US AD / ZGF)