Plastic Pavilion opens for UIA 2023 in Copenhagen!

The UIA World Congress of Architects 2023 to be held in Copenhagen is subtitled “Sustainable Futures: Leave No One Behind.  Yet we have designed a Plastic Pavilion as one of the Copenhagen Pavilions that will feature during the Congress.  Plastic?  Sustainability?

Notwithstanding that there are no conditions under which new buildings can be sustainable – as recently asserted by the Danish Government Consumer Advocate (Forbrugerombudsmanden) – we are at least trying to decarbonise as much as is possible.  But this remains a dodgy dark art of misinformation where CLT uses only 30% of the tree (the rest is chipped and burnt) and Carbon Lifecycle Assessments can be gamed via the methodology used and they also bring up paradoxical results to get the kg/sq.m. down.

Despite these grey areas of misinformation and misrepresentation, people are keen to write off plastic because, well, its plastic.  But until we find something better, we all need plastic (especially when we are in hospital or have chronic health issues).  So, in the meantime, we need to find ways of recycling and upcycling and re-using plastic, as best we can, noting that these processes too have their own impacts.

The Plastic Pavilion proudly represents the Danish Plastic Association (Plastindustrien) and the efforts of their members to innovate in the way their products are made.  All materials used in the construction of the pavilion (and the 75 exhibits) are examples of plastic recycling and reuse.  It’s still plastic, but it’s important to include as part of the discussion, as we are not going to make any meaningful inroads in regard to our “sustainability” goals if we don’t interrogate all options on the table.  The biggest issue remains the minimisation of new building products altogether, as we must work toward a world where every project is an exercise in recycling and reuse of what we have, and when it must be new, in making educated choices.