Bioregioning LA

An essay on shaking architectural habits and conventional material supply chains. Read the full essay at Zocalo Public Square.

"Against the backdrop of ongoing ecological emergency, Los Angeles is rebuilding after January’s fires. But the city is doing so the same way it has for the past century: building with toxic manufactured materials and moving those materials long distances via carbon-spewing supply chains, advancing individual property ownership over alternative models, and hardening or controlling natural landscapes instead of working with them.

How can we repair the spaces we inherit, if we continue the very architectural habits that led us to disaster? The answer may lie in bioregional systems for materials, a more localized approach to the way we build our homes and habitats. Until recently, people interested in ecologically regenerative construction in Los Angeles have focused primarily on reducing energy consumption in building use and operations, or transitioning from one energy source to another (for instance, trading their current electricity sources for solar power). Yet before a building is even occupied, its construction has already contributed significantly to global carbon emissions and environmental risk and harm."