Building free of dogma

At the beginning of this century, when I had to work out a housing complex entirely in wood frame construction, because the project was only feasible that way because of weight restrictions, it was still viewed very suspiciously. Was it sturdy enough, what about sound insulation, did it last long enough? Twenty years later, wood seems to be the only good solution for construction, and that creates suspicion in me.

I started my training as an architect in the US, at Pennsylvania State University. In the US then, and still today, two-thirds of homes were built in wood, so wood construction is an essential part of your education in the US. 

After completing my education at TU in Eindhoven, the Netherlands, I went to work on St. Maarten. It was mid-October 1995, five weeks after Hurricane Luis swept by, with 80% of the buildings severely damaged or completely destroyed. A tour of the island taught me that buildings made of concrete and old historic wooden houses had remained standing. There was panic; can we make buildings that can withstand wind speeds over 250 mph? My eureka moment was the realization that airplanes fly at speeds in excess of 900 mph. That means we have long known how to build to withstand high wind speeds.

With this I want to illustrate that as a designer you should not be led by the delusion of the day and the dogmas of your time. Because you can make hurricane-resistant buildings with concrete, wood, steel and aluminum. We don't have hurricanes here in the Netherlands, but we do have a great demand for housing at the moment. Besides, we seem to be slowly but surely realizing that in the past century(s) we have dealt with nature in a devastating way, both in our own environment and far beyond.

In crisis situations, our job as engineers is to keep calm, analyze the real demand and then come up with integral solutions. Just to be very specific: don't all run blindly to heat pumps and solar panels. Don't join in the bashing and canceling of steel and concrete, but analyze what materials you need to answer the question that is really there. Contribute to finding a more sustainable way of making cement. Devise steel structures that can be reused. Design a concrete support that, like Amsterdam's canal houses, can last for centuries and be adapted to changing demand. Constantly look for biobased materials as an alternative to our current energy-consuming choices. See construction, buildings and the people who use them as part of the ecology, and strive for a healthy natural balance.  

In addition, it might be good to realize that 60% of the world's population lives in Asia, 15% in Africa, 15% in the Americas and 10% in Europe, so the majority live a different reality than yours. It also doesn't hurt to wonder from time to time if the choices you make are not born from a predominantly masculine narrative. Only by thinking in one and the other, by putting diversity at the center, will we be able to answer today's questions.