The latest edition of the Dutch architecture magazine Archis is on the theme “doing almost nothing”. The new Archis (which is now published jointly with AMO, the research arm of Rem Koolhaas’s design office) includes a diatribe against people who “travel to conferences around the world to talk about global warming, design and sustainability”. I do not deny my own membership of this club – indeed, it cannot have many other members – so I take seriously a challenge by Archis to “ponder on the critical question: whether you are an environmentalist, an ecologist, or a hypocrite”. It’s a fair question: every time I fly, I contribute my share to the 600 million tons of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere each year by air travel. I started mentally to prepare an answer for my debate next week with Rem Koolhaas, Archis’ main backer. But Koolhaas has just cancelled: he has to fly to China to attend to a Big Project. Don’t cancel your trip to London: the debate goes ahead. We’ll just have to discuss hypocrisy in design among ourselves. 14 October (14h-16h) Victoria and Albert Museum, London. (bookings.office@vam.ac.uk)
