THE �ENDS � OF SUSTAINABILITY, UNCOVERING LOST AMBIVALENCE

Abstract

Since the beginning of the 20th century, our societies can be characterised by two major phenomena that profoundly influence our contemporary development; globalisation and environmentalism, both which can be seen as being critical to the economics of our time, unavoidably affecting our ways of life. At the heart of the globalisation discourse, one inevitably comes across multiple references to consumer culture which shapes our living environment and ultimately the kind of architecture built, which inevitably impacts the surrounding environment. This dissertation will explore and identify the drawbacks of the various means at which we advocate architectural environmentalism in the drive for sustainable development amidst global consumption.

The onslaught by the wave of consumption caused by our incessant pursuit for the “good life”, commonly seen as the progress in the field of sciences, technology, democracy, human rights, and the likes(Architecture for the scope of this paper), has created a culture of affluence, marked by accumulation and profusion of material objects. In such a circumstance, all objects of consumption are reduced to signs and become a spectacle produced for the purpose of consumption. As people would only purchase an object they believe is good for them, the very act of accumulation is thus seen as a unilateral positive correlation with the object, rejecting any idea of negativity by the same satisfaction that arises from consuming. This negation of loss is the very basis of what inherently drives the perpetual consumption of signs, destroying any form of symbolic exchange. As most people already associate architecture as an object of consumption by its creation of identities, subjectivities and impact on lifestyle choices, this paper will attempt study efforts in architecture which seem to pursuit sustainability as a complete standalone object, as an end product. By juxtaposing such an end within consumption behaviour, we will explore how viable such efforts really are when they are driven based on the ideals of consumer culture.

Another phenomenon that grew with globalisation and lack of object ambivalence through consumption is the resurgence of the repressed psyche with an unconscious destruction fantasy. This can often be seen manifested in the popularity of the ‘blockbuster’ catastrophe movies, including the modern documentaries laden with special effects, watching forms of destruction with fascination. Such spectacle imposed on us traps us in a state of surrealism, between the Real and everyday reality, creating a rift of disparate ‘realities’ which we are no longer able to reconcile. This creates the basis of people being unable to effectively address environmental issues even when we acknowledge them because an innate part of them are fascinated to see the End.

By exploring alternative ways to re-establishing ambivalence in architecture, this paper will aim to restore some form of symbolic exchange back into architecture to counter the effects of rampant consumption with an active approach towards sustainability so that efforts do not end up becoming substitutable commodities within consumer culture.