Environ(ne)ment

Landscape designer Gilles Clement and architect Philippe Rahm present their contrasting visions through installations created specifically for the Canadian Centre for Architecture. Gilles Clement advances his theory of abandoned and overlooked spaces in cities and the possibilities they offer to sustain biological diversity in the future. Philippe Rahm proposes a new way to address the use of energy in architecture and raises the possibility that climate can replace typology, function, and spatial form in determining the way we use and define architecture. Giovanna Borasi situates the opposing positions of Clement and Rahm within a larger cultural context, and opens a new discussion on the place of humans in relation to the environment.