Author Archives: Smith Mordak

I love watching architects squirm when they accidentally refer to the ‘homes’ they’ve built in their projects as ‘units’, writes Smith Mordak 

Last week’s mini-budget didn’t just spark market turmoil, it signalled a development free-for-all that will harm the natural environment, writes Smith Mordak

Most businesses don’t yet embody values like reciprocity, equity, or democracy, but what if they did? asks Smith Mordak

As the UK slowly cools down from the hottest day on record, the Stirling shortlist is announced. What does this batch of the UK’s proclaimed best buildings tell us about architecture’s readiness for our changing climate? asks Smith Mordak

‘What gets measured, gets managed.’ But what if measuring whole-life carbon gets managed in the sense that it gets handled, gets obfuscated, gets spun, gets co-opted by those with the biggest lobbying budgets? asks Smith Mordak

If architecture awards are intended to support the health of the architecture ecosystem, maybe they ought to eschew competition and instead facilitate co-operation, writes Smith Mordak

A dream takes Smith Mordak back to their teenage vision of Woo-land – a post-work, post-family, post-gender utopia which seems oddly more plausible with every passing day

Don’t despair. New research from the USA suggests individual advocates for climate action have a much bigger impact than previously thought, writes Smith Mordak 

Why should we need to sell you the idea of doing something to avert a looming planetary catastrophe? asks Smith Mordak 

When it comes to developing the built environment, the same words can be used to mean very different things – just like Neil Young’s lyrics, writes Smith Mordak