BEAUTY IS ETHICAL Why saving our planet is a matter of design When you’re struck by a man-made landscape, the first thing your eye focuses on is a feeling of harmony between its elements. The creation of such harmony, by emphasizing certain aspects and de-emphasizing others, has always been the goal of architecture. Until recently, design choices were largely based on aesthetic or functional considerations. However, with a growing awareness of climate concerns, the environmental impact of design must now be seriously taken into account. The future of the planet will partly depend on whether we are able to preserve old buildings and erect new ones using fewer raw materials, and consuming less energy — or perhaps producing more —with a carbon footprint as close to zero as possible. This is what “ethical beauty” is about: the idea of responsible, practical beauty, able to meet various needs. The aesthetic–sustainability virtuous circle must work in both large and small projects, through scalable solutions, developed for each and every scenario. The projects displayed on the following pages, curated by Zintek between 2016 and 2020, show the potential of such a method in heterogeneous contexts. The basin in the centre of the Davines Village internal courtyard (project illustrated on page 30) contains eight pockets for growing water lilies. 27 EXCERPT
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