8. From Anthropocosmism to Ecological Reconstruction –Architecture as a Mediator of Impossible and Possible Realms

Antti Majava

In his work, Antti Majava has brought together experts and viewpoints stemming from science, arts, and other fields. In his doctoral thesis, which employs socio-ecological methods, he studies the effects of nature, society and science on the development of artistic phenomena, and correspondingly, the role of art in socio-ecological and scientific breakthroughs. Majava is a member of BIOS Research Unit.

Photographs of the small blue planet Earth in the middle of great black space taken during the first space flights became a symbol of the environmental movement of the 1960s and 1970s. The symbolic Space Ship Earth, whose vital systems humankind must take care of, was established in public debate.

But what kind of system should Earth be seen as, and can it be steered at all? There is still no shared understanding of this.

Russian techno-utopians fantasized already in the 19th century about converting the Earth into a vessel capable of conquering space. Konstantin Tsiolkovski, an early developer of rocket science, believed in anthropocosmism, humankinds’ ability to control the universe (1).

Some decades later Kazimir Malevich, a pioneer of modernist art and design, introduced in his vast literary works thoughts inspired by thermodynamics of how art, spirituality, energy and technological development could merge optimally through the principle of economic efficiency (2). This efficiency would enable the separation from the body and of the material sphere of our planet:  

“I declare Economy to be the new fifth dimension which evaluates and defines the Modernity of the Arts and Creative Works. All the creative systems of engineering, machinery, and construction come under its control as do those of arts of painting, music and poetry…

Today the world’s intuition is altering the systems of vegetable world of flesh and bone; a new economic order is being  brought about to smoothe the ruts in our creative brain, in order to carry further its plan for moving forward into the infinite.” (3)

In Gnosticism, which Malevich’ visions touch upon, the material realm is an unsatisfactory product of a feeble-minded lesser deity, a demiurge (4). Malevich thought that people should strive to transcend material existence, to enter eternal, holy emptiness. Development and spiritual pursuits required a large-scale replacement of organic nature with modern techno-economic design according to Malevich and many other modernists.

The Futurist artist Osip Brik relayed what Malevich explained to him:

“The earth’s surface is not organised. It is covered with seas, mountains. Some nature exists. I want to create instead of that nature, a Suprematist nature, build pursuant to laws of Suprematism.” (5)

Simultaneously, partly within the same circles, organic thinking grew: man was seen as one species among others, and societies as part of a wider ecological system. The human mind and body were understood as deeply entwined, and both were perceived to be completely reliant on nature surrounding the body. Human knowledge was seen as insufficient, and thus it was important to apply a precautionary principle to the technical development and planning of societies. Artist Mikhail Matyushin describes organic thinking as follows:

“The term ORGANIC CULTURE comes from the understanding of a series of evolutionary achievements and concepts of nature and the world as a single integrated organism. An organic understanding of life means to consider oneself as part of the world and its overall organism.” (6)

Hannah Arendt’s 1958 monumental work Vita Activa begins with a description of the first flight of the satellite Sputnik (7).  Arendt contemplates why this contraption orbiting the Earth is so special to humankind. Arendt interprets it as a product of a long cultural narrative, in which humans have for one reason or another started to experience their bodies and eventually the planet they inhabit as a prison rather than an enabler of life. 

In 1968 a group of leading designers at the time convened in Suomenlinna sea fortress in Helsinki to discuss the ecological and material dimensions of industrial design. Buckminster Fuller, a participant, also referred to the Earth as a spaceship and noted that modern hubris would quickly destroy the systems of this ship. Reading the catalog of the event now, one can but wonder how well global environmental issues were already understood at that time (8).

A milestone of Nordic cultural environmentalism was also the Ararat exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in Stockholm in 1976. The exhibition, which remains one of the most popular the museum has ever held, gathered developers of ecological art, architecture, design, and technology in an attempt to build an alternative for industrial modernity (9). The creators were especially inspired by the Whole Earth Catalog published in the United States in 1968-1972, whose cover image was a recent photo of planet Earth (10).

The picture of our planet, taken from space, met with humankind whose view on the foundations of life was fundamentally divided. The space flight itself depicted this conflict, where the planets’ uniqueness and the fragility of its systems were understood better and better, but simultaneously the belief in the omnipotence of humanity and our capability to supersede the material sphere was stronger than ever. 

A landmark of sustainability thinking, the Limits of Growth report (11) emphasized the precautionary principle in relation to changing natural systems. The report was written off in societal and economic discussions using techno-utopic arguments, or the belief that the boundaries of growth can be exceeded with innovative new technologies. Subsequent development has unfortunately closely followed the reports’ threatening predictions (12).

The current wave of environmental concerns speaks of a deepening suspicion towards techno-utopian narratives. The knowledge produced by natural sciences as well as the experiences of the masses prove that our planet is on a catastrophic trajectory caused by the technological and economical fantasies we have created, which are not based on an understanding of the planet’s and humans’ actual resources and capabilities. 

In Finland and in numerous other countries there have previously been concerns about the state of the environment. Almost all parties represented in the parliament of Finland published election programs and principles in the 1980s’ and 1990’s, which centered on tackling the ecological crisis (13).

The Centre Party’s platform draft from 1987 goes so far as to state:

“The environmental perspective must be given superior importance in the political and economic decision-making of industrialized societies such as Finland. The core reason for environmental problems is the untenable economic growth which is based on the extravagant use of natural resources and the ignorance of scars left in the environment as a product of that growth.” (14)

From these awakenings we have quickly fallen back into our slumber of growing consumption. The richest and most revered individuals of our time – tech, social media, and electric vehicle billionaires – as well as many states still invest significantly more resources into space programs than climate change mitigation. Even the legendary cosmologist, the late Stephen Hawking, saw space programs as the only savior of humanity as our planet’s living conditions would in his view inevitably be destroyed by our absurd activities. (15)

Getting even one person to the planet nearest to us – which is unlikely to be capable of sustaining life in any form known on Earth – is still but a speculative possibility?(16) The likelihood of humans being able to terraform Mars or that it would be possible to house billions of people in artificial biospheres on space stations even over a time span of several millennia is astronomically small. Environmental and climate disasters caused by humans, on the other hand, are likely to cause the collapse of our civilization (and thus any possibility of developing space travel) in the next few decades. (17)

The economy, whose role in societies has grown ever stronger, is also based on fantasy - that of perpetual growth, which is impossible in the material realm. Academic knowledge and observations of the development of the ecological crisis and the failures of preventative measures thus far have succumbed to the massive corporate lobbying, marketing, and advertising machinery, which perpetuates the myth that consumption can continue to grow while environmental threats are being dealt with (18)?

Self-reflection in design

After the revolution, suprematism became a dominant artistic movement in the young Soviet Union. Malevich gravitated more and more towards architecture, as he felt it enabled him to realize artistic experiments in the real material world. 

“And this is possible when we free all art of philistine ideas and subject matter and teach our consciousness to see everything in nature not as real objects and forms, but as material, as masses from which forms must be made that have nothing in common with nature.” (19)

Malevich’s view of spiritual growth for the purpose of transcending the material realm maximized by economic efficiency is an apt portrayal of the inherent emptiness of efficiency-thinking. Increasing performance has not led to increased efficiency for a long time anywhere else except in self-perpetuating abstract matrices of the economy?(20) Another befitting depiction of the logical failings of modern economics is that we cannot find the funds necessary to resolve the ecological crisis which threatens the very existence of our societies and economic systems.

The cycle where technology and the economy compound each other's senselessness must be broken and technology must instead be tied into close interaction with knowledge of ecological systems, sciences, and cultures. This way technology could become an expression of the interaction between humans and natural systems without an intrinsic, obscure goal of separating humanity from these systems.

The organic thought of fundamental cosmic unity does not mean the dilution of differences into a gray mass. This type of development is in fact more common for techno-economies that on the surface appear to promote individuality, but where corporations produce ever greater numbers of increasingly similar products. The father of innovation theory, Joseph Schumpeter, believed that an innovative capitalist economy will sooner or later approach communism through corporatism. (21) The organic framework on the other hand is built on a foundation of immense diversity and the plurality of livelihoods and strategies. 

Economy and technology should serve the pursuit of a good life, though a good life eludes easy definition. Architects’ visualizations come to mind. Do they not attempt to justify buildings or structures by stirring up ideals of a good life? Hypercharged housing and business property markets impart that the dream of a good life often manifests itself as desirable spaces, moments, atmospheres; the pursuit of a specific style of existence. 

The Bliss of Metabolism

75% of the surface area of the Earth is already heavily impacted by human activity, and the rest of it is inevitably shifting further from its natural state also due to climate change. (22) Architects are involved in nearly all building projects that modify the planet. Though architects do not usually decide about the realization and funding of the projects, they create the desirability of the new structures. 

Architecture can be interpreted as a socioecological process where material and ecological factors meet human social and cultural spheres. Socioecological research focuses specifically on recognizing the colonial approach human civilizations have towards nature (23). Suprematism and several other modernist schools of thought where nature is seen just as matter and a source of resources for humans to utilize in order to reach their goals can be considered prime examples of a colonial relationship with nature (24).

Socioecological research can identify different feedback loops where the environment and its change or human views of the environment affect the development of society and culture, which in turn impacts the environment. (25) Architecture can be seen as such a loop, which reacts to the environment and changes in its perception, but also, directly and indirectly, creates new environments and perceptions thereof.

Energy is often discussed as a techno-economical product, the perpetually increasing need of which engineers are desperate to meet. Societal and cultural energy research asks instead what we need energy for, and how energy transmutes into social practices (26). In this analysis, the quality of energy and the opportunities it creates are of key interest over the quantity of energy.

As we spend most of the available energy and resources on building and the use of buildings, the question of energy shifts to the question of building: what do we need it for, and how can each building enable meaningful social practices and wellbeing? Could an architect advise against the building of a structure that does not increase the quality of life but must still be heated or cooled for decades after construction?

Buildings and society are extensions of humans, bodies, and minds, as are nations’ energy and material flows. Instead of severing ties between corporeal experiences and natural systems, the connection could be emphasized. What kind of architecture could encourage us to draw inspiration from bodily experiences and planetary and life-sustaining flows rather than impossible cosmic visions?

Ecological art of reconstruction

Reconstruction after the Second World War was the golden era of modern architecture. Could ecological reconstruction, or the shifting of society towards a more sustainable path as quickly as possible, create unforgettable architecture in the process? I cannot think of a single reason why not.

The infrastructures of energy production and distribution, industry, transportation, and consumption must be largely rebuilt in just a few short decades (27). We must dismantle much of the old fossil infrastructure and build new low-carbon structures. We must recycle shopping centers and offices into apartments and meeting places, roads into parks. We must create combinations of flood barriers and water-based heat exchangers, and who knows what else. This is a challenge that cannot be undertaken without architects. Enabling new uses for spaces or even bringing about a complete sustainability transformation on a societal level with minimum intervention is the starchitecture of our time. 

For a human individual, metabolic issues which manifest as mental and physical symptoms are cared for in multidisciplinary health teams (28). Adopting this approach of caring for the ill could help us treat the wicked social metabolic disorder threatening the continuity of our society. 

Currently, despite good intentions, architecture and urban planning usually only serve to weaken the state of the patient society. Knowledge of the systemic effects of the ecological systems which sustain society and individuals is equally crucial in material planning and ecological reconstruction as knowledge of the human body and mind are in medical care.

The development of medical knowledge is carefully controlled, and new treatments must pass rigorous testing to be approved. Spreading misinformation which puts patients at risk leads to expulsion from the medical community. In the case of socio-ecological systems such care is not taken to vet procedures or weed out misinformation. Ecological planning and design require strong education and capability for critical knowledge gathering. 

Rebuilding society to abide by ecological boundaries requires numerous experts familiar with different systemic patterns. It is important to cherish multidisciplinary collaboration. In addition to architects, we do not yet have many professions where material, economic, technical, social, cultural and hopefully soon also ecological understanding would merge. The body and mind, the environment, micro-level personal experiences and macro-level global systems should be combined into this same picture. Only by collectively recognizing all these dimensions simultaneously can we prevent humankind from running into intellectual and ecological bankruptcy.

references

1 Rocketry, NASA. Available at: https://www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/rocketry/home/konstantin-tsiolkovsky.html (10.12.2021)

2 Malevitš, Kazimir S. 1968. Essays on art 1915-1928, Vol. I. Borgen. Copenhagen.

3 Malevitš, Kazimir S. 1968. Essays on art 1915-1928, Vol. I. Borgen. Copenhagen: 89, 117

4 Department of Exegesis, University of Helsinki. Gnostilaisuuden määritelmä -webpage [definition of gnosticism]. Available at: http://www.helsinki.fi/teol/pro/gnosti/gnostilaisuus/gnostilaisuuden_maaritelma.html (15.10.2020)

5 Lodder, Christina. 2012. Man, Space, and the Zero of Form – Kazimir Malevich’s Suprematism and the Natural World. In Crowther, Paul & Wünche, Isabel (edit.) Meanings of Abstract Art, Between Nature and Theory. Routledge. London: 60

6 Wünche, Isabel. 2011. Organic visions and biological models in Russian avant-garde art. In Botar, Oliver I. A. & Wünche, Isabel (edit.) Biocentrism and Modernism. Ashgate Publishing. New York: 129

7 Arendt, Hannah. 1958. The Human Condition. 2nd edition. The University of Chicago Press. London. (1998): 1-6

8 Sotamaa, Yrjö (edit.). 1968. Skandinaviska Designstuderandes Organisation (SDO) [Organization for Scandinavian students of design] 2. SKK. Helsinki. Reprint of the catalogue. HIAP 2020.

9 Jansson, Ulrika. 2015. In Search for Ararat -webpage. Available at: https://insearchforararat.wordpress.com/inspiration-to-ararat/ (10.12.2021)

10 Wikipedia s.a, Whole Earth Catalog -webpage. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whole_Earth_Catalog (10.12.2021)

11 Meadows, Dennis; Meadows, Donella H.; Randers, Jørgen; Behrens, William W. 1972. Limits to Growth - A report for the Club of Rome on the predicament of mankind. Universe Books. New York.

12 Herrington, Gaya. 2020. Update to limits to growth: Comparing the World3 model with empirical data. Journal of Industrial Ecology 25:3, 614-626 and Turner, Graham (2014). Is Global Collapse Imminent?, MSSI Research Paper No. 4, Melbourne Sustainable Society Institute, The University of Melbourne.

13 Majava, Antti. 2018. Puolueissa herättiin ympäristöongelmiin. [Political parties awoke to environmental problems] Politiikasta.fi online publication. Available at: https://politiikasta.fi/puolueissa-herattiin-ymparistoongelmiin/ (10.12.2021)

14 Suomen keskusta. 1989. [Finnish Centre Party platform for the 1990s (draft)]. Pohtiva online database for political platforms. Available at: https://www.fsd.tuni.fi/pohtiva/ohjelmalistat/KESK/215?start_ year=1987&end_year=1992&setting1=0&type2=yleisohjelma&type1=vaaliohjelma&type3=erityisohjelma&type4=muu_ ohjelma&party1=PARLIMENTARY&party=KESK&language1=FI&language2=SV&stext (18.12.2021)

15 Hawking: Humans at risk of lethal 'own goal'. 2016. BBC news 19.1.2016 -webpage. Available at: https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-35344664 (15.12.2021)

16 Grant, John. 2021. Is there Life on Mars. Smithsonian Magazine online publication. Available at: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/blogs/air-space-museum/2021/02/25/there-life-mars/ (12.12.2021)

17 Barnosky, Anthony D.; Hadly, Elisabeth A. 2016. End Game -Tipping Point For Planet Earth? HarperCollins. London.

18 Vaden, Tere; Lähde, Ville; Majava, Antti; Toivanen, Tero; Eronen, Jussi; Järvensivu, Paavo. 2019. Onnistunut irtikytkentä Suomessa? [Successful decoupling in Finland?]. Alue ja ympäristö 48:1 3-13.

19 Malevitš, Kasimir. 1915.: From Cubism and Futurism to Suprematism: The New Painterly Realism. InJohn E. Bowlt (ed.) Russian Art of the Avant-Garde Theory and Criticism 1902-1934. Thames & Hudson. London: 123

20 Yliaska, Ville. 2014. Tehokkuuden toiveuni-Uuden julkisjohtamisen historia Suomessa 1970-luvulta 1990-luvulle. [A history of public management in Finland from the 1970s to the 1990s]. Into. Helsinki.

21 Schumpeter, Joseph A. 1943. Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy. Taylor & Francis e-library 2003. Available at: https://eet.pixel-online.org/files/etranslation/original/Schumpeter,%20Capitalism,%20 Socialism%20and%20Democracy.pdf (13.12.2021)

22 IPBES 2019. Summary For Policy Makers of the IPBES Global Assesment On Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services. Available at: https://ipbes.net/sites/default/files/2020-02/ipbes_global_assessment_report_summary_for_ policymakers_en.pdf (12.12.2021)

23 Fischer-Kowalski, Marina & Haberl, Helmut (edit.) 2007. Socioecological Transitions and Global Change. Edward Elgar Publishing Limited. Cheltenham: 18

24 Majava, Antti 2021. Aineettomuuden jalanjälki -Suprematistinen modernismi globaalin ympäristökriisin kontekstissa. [The footprint of immateriality - Suprematist modernism in the context of the global climate crisis]. In Johansson, Hanna & Seppä, Anita (eds.) Taiteen kanssa maailman äärellä, kirjoituksia ihmiskeskeisestä ajattelusta ja ilmastonmuutoksesta. Parvs. Helsinki: 244-253

25 Berkes, Fikret & Colding, Johan & Folke, Carl 2003. Navigating Social-Ecological Systems. Cambridge University Press. Cambridge: 1-30

26 Shove, Elisabeth & Walker, Gordon. 2014. What Is Energy For -Social Practice and Energy Demand. Theory, Culture, Society 31:5 41-58.

27 Research Unit BIOS. 2019. Ecological Reconstruction website. Available at: https://eco.bios.fi (10.12.2021)

28 Eating disorders. 2019. Finnish Student Health Service webpage. Available at: https://www.yths.fi/en/health-information-resource/eating-disorders/