With pain, experience shows me that no matter how terrifying and Dantesque the impact of the Valencia disaster may have been, even though it was reported by media around the world, in a short time it will only remain as a local catastrophe in the memory of those directly affected.

The social inaction of this planet is unbearable and those who have been involved and warning, for decades, of the virulence of these situations are always branded as exaggerated and extremist. In some cases, it is surprising to hear with complacent erudition ambiguous contextualizations and justifications, such as the process of adding layers to explain an absurd and incessant process of speculative destruction.

To sweeten our inaction with a vademecum of recipes with layers to which the anthroposphere or now the technosphere are added, to adorn the acquiescent inaction of our societies, or to justify the inevitable as the process of an alleged human stupidity or lack of intelligence of others, seems truly unbearable to me.

Since the Rio Declaration of 1992, the UN meetings, the investigations of international organizations and study centers pointing out the inevitable consequences of our inaction in the face of climate change seem to have been of no use in the face of the assumption of an inexorable determinism, fostered by the toxic disinformation used by deniers and spurious interests.

It is surprising that the misinformation of those who should be well informed makes them ignore that we have plenty of legal and administrative tools to reduce the impact of the brutal action of nature and that the solution is not to “terraform” and continue savagely anthropogenically destroying our planet.

Faced with transformative brutality as the only solution, and despite everything surely necessary to be able to heal this savage transformative process in which we are immersed, faced with the irrationality of deploying more testosterone muscle, it would be advisable to review the advice, warnings and studies of the hydrographic confederations, which are not heeded, which are not appreciated, which are simply ignored.

We cannot continue to ignore the construction processes that seek to consolidate themselves as unequivocal processes of urbanization, to justify our developmentalism or current model of consumption. Rapid actions are needed to respond with extreme attention to climate change but also a deep look at our technicians and organizations, at the traits of intelligence that still remain in our humanity.
 

More information

José Juan Barba (1964) architect from ETSA Madrid in 1991. Special Mention in the National Finishing University Education Awards 1991. PhD in Architecture ETSAM, 2004. He founded his professional practice in Madrid in 1992 (www.josejuanbarba.com). He has been an architecture critic and editor-in-chief of METALOCUS magazine since 1999, and he advised different NGOs until 1997. He has been a lecturer (in Design, Theory and Criticism, and Urban planning) and guest lecturer at different national and international universities (Roma TRE, Polytechnic Milan, ETSA Madrid, ETSA Barcelona, UNAM Mexico, Univ. Iberoamericana Mexico, University of Thessaly Volos, FA de Montevideo, Washington, Medellin, IE School, U.Alicante, Univ. Europea Madrid, UCJC Madrid, ESARQ-U.I.C. Barcelona,...).

Maître de Conférences IUG-UPMF Grenoble 2013-14. Full assistant Professor, since 2003 up to now at the University of Alcalá School of Architecture, Madrid, Spain. And Jury in competitions as Quaderns editorial magazine (2011), Mies van der Rohe Awards, (2010-2024), Europan13 (2015). He has been invited to participate in the Biennale di Venezia 2016 as part "Spaces of Exception / Spazi d'Eccezione".

He has published several books, the last in 2016, "#positions" and in 2015 "Inventions: New York vs. Rem Koolhaas, Bernard Tschumi, Piranesi " and collaborations on "Spaces of Exception / Spazi d'Eccezione", "La Mansana de la discordia" (2015), "Arquitectura Contemporánea de Japón: Nuevos territorios" (2015)...

Awards.-

- Award. RENOVATION OF SEGURA RIVER ENVIRONMENT, Murcia, Sapin, 2010.
- First Prize, RENOVATION GRAN VÍA, “Delirious Gran Vía”, Madrid, Spain, 2010.
- First Prize, “PANAYIOTI MIXELI Award”. SADAS-PEA, for the Spreading of Knowledge of Architecture Athens, 2005.
- First Prize, “SANTIAGO AMÓN Award," for the Spreading of Knowledge of Architecture. 2000.
- Award, “PIERRE VAGO Award." ICAC -International Committee of Art Critics. London, 2005.
- First Prize, C.O.A.M. Madrid, 2000. Shortlisted, World Architecture Festival. Centro de Investigación e Interpretación de los Ríos. Tera, Esla y Orbigo, Barcelona, 2008.
- First Prize. FAD AWARD 07 Ephemeral Interventions. “M.C.ESCHER”. Arquin-Fad. Barcelona, Sapin 2007.

Read more
Published on: November 3, 2024
Cite: "Alphabet soup and inaction in the face of climate change" METALOCUS. Accessed
<https://www.metalocus.es/en/news/alphabet-soup-and-inaction-face-climate-change> ISSN 1139-6415
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...
Loading content ...