Architects vs Engineers Debate Brief
Architects in New Zealand have joined with UK and Australian architects to declare we are in a climate emergency.
Does that matter? “Rational people already know that there’s a climate emergency so what’s the point in architects in the UK, Australia and, now, New Zealand declaring it?” was the moot for the Great Debate 2019 – one of the popular events of the Festival of Architecture – which was held at AUT on Tuesday 24 September.
Head of the new School of Future Environments, Professor Charles Walker and team-mates Professor Dorita Hannah and Simon Court faced off against award winning NZ Herald journalist Simon Wilson, Kamelia Haydon and Anna Crowther.
“It was a fun night,” says Professor Walker. “We had a great crowd, really engaged in some of the challenges facing both future environments and the practice of architecture and engineering. It was an excellent opportunity to share opinions about one of the gnarly issues our students will be tackling in our architecture programme, launching in 2020.”
The sell-out event was great fun for debaters and attendees, focusing attention on how better attention to the future of our built environments is crucial as the impact of the climate emergency affects built environments around the world.
Photos courtesy of Festival of Architecture, Photographer David St George.