tectural practice, explained Lahoud.
“We are at a point of ecological col-
lapse, and one fact must not be ignored:
the sites, regions and populations most
immediately and irreversibly threat-
ened by climate change are the same
ones that face regimes of global socio-
economic extraction and exploitation,”
he said. “Valuable insight can there-
fore be drawn from paying attention to
existing social struggles at the frontline
of climate change, including indigenous
ones.”
According to Lahoud, the Western
ontological distinction between hu-
mans and the environment is a particu-
lar problem – architecture is viewed as
‘shelter’ from the environment, thereby
validating land grab and resource ex-
traction. Human history, he said, offers
a myriad of examples of alternative so-
cial orders, of relationships between
humans and other beings that evolved
according to various beliefs and prac-
tices, and through these examples, we
might understand our agency and
relationship with the world differently.
Elsewhere in the issue, Jason Ho of
LWK+Partners also discusses the urgent
need to address and discover solutions
for the impact of future developments
on the existing natural environment
(pg16). The comments were part of a
larger conversation that addressed wa-
terfront development in the GCC.
“With the advanced technology that
we have today, we should be able to ad-
dress and tackle these risks on lives and
property,” he said.
On a separate note, Middle East Ar-
chitect is making a few changes: in fol-
lowing the trend of digitisation and the
reduction of printed materials, this will
be the last print issue of the magazine
until November.
We will be going quarterly, and be-
tween issues, we will continue engaging
and informing our online and digital
readership, so make sure to keep check-
ing in with our website, where you will
continue to get the latest news on the
region’s architecture industry.COMMENT / 7Al-Qasimiyah School in Sharjah- one of the two venues that the
emirate’s architecture triennial will
take place
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