Architecture as Resistance

Western civilization is built upon the idea of progress, usually understood as continuous technological advancement. Architecture often follows this trajectory. Today, mainstream architecture operates largely within the logic of profit, consuming an enormous share of the world’s resources.

If this trajectory continues, liberal capitalism may gradually transform our relationship to property itself. In many large cities the middle class already spends nearly half of its income on rent, living and working in spaces they do not own.

But progress can be understood differently. Mahatma Gandhi defined progress as the reduction of our needs. If architecture wishes to act as a form of resistance, it must move in the opposite direction of mainstream production.

Architecture as resistance begins with reducing our needs, and this implies several levels of resilience.

First, it means the reduction of material and energy consumption. Architecture should seek simplicity: low-tech rather than high-tech, local rather than global, modest rather than excessive.

Second, the design process itself should be understood as a process of reduction. Architecture should pursue perfection through the minimal necessary means. If a room can be built with two materials, do not use three. If a table can stand on three legs, do not give it six. If a function works in ten square meters, there is no need for twenty. If a wall can exist with one layer, ten layers are unnecessary.

Finally, sustainability has a deeper dimension. The most sustainable buildings are the ones that people love. Love allows buildings to endure. Functions may change and technologies may evolve, but a building that is loved can survive for generations.

By contrast, buildings created only for financial gain are often demolished quickly

The task of architects, therefore, is simple: to design buildings that people can love. Love will keep them alive.