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Architects sign on for the Global Climate Strike

#Pledge

Architects sign on for the Global Climate Strike

Greta Thunberg protesting at the Fridays for Future demonstration in Berlin, in March of this year. (Leonhard Lenz/Wikipedia)

You may have heard Greta Thunberg’s name in the news recently. She’s the 16-year-old from Stockholm who in August 2018, week after week, stood in front of the Swedish Parliament building with a sign reading “School Strike for Climate.” Today, Greta is joined by thousands and thousands of teenage leaders from around the world who purposely walk out of their classrooms on Fridays to advocate for action against climate breakdown. Her mission for climate justice and to bolster a living planet has inspired countless numbers of people from all generations and geographies.

The public outreach initiative, Architects Advocate, is following the lead of Global Climate Strike, a grassroots campaign calling upon the architecture industries’ professional interests and commitments to the building sector. Architects Advocate co-founder Tom Jacobs has pleaded for architects to stand up for the next generation and support the “true leaders of our time.”

The pledge form states, “The building sector accounts for nearly 40% of global greenhouse gas emissions, and buildings alone account for 72% of U.S. electricity use. The transition from fossil fuels to a thriving zero-carbon economy isn’t just possible—it’s necessary.”

The Global Climate Strike will occur on Friday, September 20, just ahead of a UN emergency climate summit. On this day, inspired by the countless schoolkids leaving the classroom, everyone—sports-stars, actors, architects—are encouraged to disrupt business as usual.

Architects Advocate are encouraging widespread industry participation, stating, “we share responsibility for creating healthy and safe communities for all.” To coincide with the global strike, the organization is initiating a mass assemble on September 20 at Chicago’s Federal Plaza, arguably the city’s most popular public square known for a cluster of three austere Mies van der Rohe-designed buildings: the Everett McKinley Dirksen Building, the John C. Kluczynski Building, and the (most beloved) Post Office building. Perched in the middle of Mies’ pitch-black intervention is Alexander Calder’s fiery Flamingo sculpture.

Both individuals and firms may pledge to support #StandWithGreta. Below is a list of participating architects and firms at the time of this posting, although the number of Architects Advocate members is much larger.

Firms: Krueck + Sexton Architects, blank studio design + architecture, Bright Common, John D. Kelley, Drawing Conclusions LLC, Architecture Is Fun, Inc., Strawn + Sierralta, Jones Studio, Jurassic Studio, DTW Architects + Planners, Kuklinski+Rappe Architects, Atelier Ten, Corporate Architectural Services, Harboe Architects, dSPACE Studio, Leddy Maytum Stacy Architects, COULSON, Pappageorge Haymes Partners, Lake|Flato Architects, Manypenny Murphy Architecture, Design2 LAST, Peckham Architecture, Sheri Olson Architecture, DIAG Studios, David Fleener Architects, Rykerson Architecture, Paragon Designs, Thomas W Angell Architect, Asakura Robinson, emar Studio for Public Architecture, Cleary Design Studio, Heidrun Hoppe Associates, Elizabeth Herrmann Architecture + Design, Abruna & Musgrave Architects, BCG AE, LightLouver, ArchitecturaLAB, Robin Ashley Architects, Croft Design Collective, Atelier Ten, Landon Bone Baker Architects, beta-field

Individuals: Tom Jacobs, Jason Roberts, Hilary Noll, Phoebe Schenker, Holly Lennihan, Melanie De Cola, Alison Musch, Peter Exley, Mia DiMeo, Theron Gabel, Luis Huertas, Raphael Sperry, Pam Crowell, Alima Silverman, Robert Harris, Fumiko Docker, Josephine Jacobs, Cory Rouillard, Alan Scott, Taryn Sabia, Lee Burkart, Dante Amato, Matthew Hardy, Karen Votava, Jennifer Park, Jim Morgan, Maria Bergh, Mark Weitekamper, Scott Rappe, Michael Kloefkorn, Nicole Ellis Semple, David Langdon, Kristin Boyer, Keith Knapp, Joshua Grossman, Xiang Qiang, Beau Rhee, Rory Gilchrist, Yugene Cha, Debbie Slacter, Jennifer Cutbill, Mika Sautet, Brian Kidd, Patrick Danaher, Heather Holdridge, Joe Villanti, Ludmilla Pavlova-Gillham, Marcy Giannunzio, Rick McDermott, Christopher May, Laurie Barlow, Angie Klein, Ryan Ornberg

Meanwhile, as the Architects’ Journal reports, the U.K. Green Building Council and Ben Derbyshire, president of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), have also pledged their support for the strike.

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