Author(s): David Kennedy & Alyssa Kuhns
Since its founding, economic forces in the United States have depressed the integrity and durability of construction material systems, continually diverging them from first principles and culminating in the current ephemeral state of housing. Housing is not built to last, let alone withstand the devastating effects of climate change-driven weather events. A hallmark of durability is repairability, and it stands to reason that deploying irreparable, fluid-applied materials will only hasten their demise. Manifest in contemporary American housing construction practices, this condition does not emerge for lack of alternative strategies; the most enduring architectural texts privilege durability and repairability as fundamental values in good, ethical architecture. From the early American context, the forces of capitalism diverged the disciplinary connection to these established theories, yielding material system innovations with little regard for repairability or durability. This paper examines canonical texts for their positions on durability, argues that their undoing is endemic to the American condition, explicates this through a case study, and explores how a reconvergence with “first principles†may provide a pathway toward a more durable and equitable housing future.
Volume Editors
Reed Kroloff & Francisco J. Rodrأguez-Suأ،rez
ISBN
978-1-944214-52-4