Cultures of Maintenance

Architecture has recently begun to be re-defined by its urgent responsibility to care of and for humans, non-humans, and environments. The traditional paradigm of architecture as concerned with building-up begins to transition to practices of maintenance, and the role of the architect needs to expand to form new imaginaries and to collaborate with other disciplines.
Air pollution, fast production, and ideas of progress brought about by 19th-century industrialization, completely changed the aging of our buildings, the appearance and structure of our cities, and our ways of thinking. Since then, the lack of acknowledgement of how buildings age has been coupled by a preoccupation for technical perfection and a fixation with the endless new more commonly visible within consumerist societies of the 20th century. While the 21st century continues to endorse most of these habits, a major call to change in light of climate emergency is needed. Research on practices of maintenance in the form of upkeep, repair and cleaning seen from interdisciplinary and cultural perspectives is extremely relevant and currently insufficient.

still to be made

Architecture has recently begun to be re-defined by its urgent responsibility to care of and for humans, non-humans, and environments. The traditional paradigm of architecture as concerned with building-up begins to transition to practices of maintenance, and the role of the architect needs to expand to form new imaginaries and to collaborate with other disciplines. - Research on practices of maintenance in the form of upkeep, repair and cleaning seen from interdisciplinary and cultural perspectives is extremely relevant and currently insufficient.