Slow architecture is a term believed to have grown from the slow food movement of the mid-1980s.Holly Hoffma
''Calgary designers take interest in ‘slow architecture’''
, The Calgary Journal, 12 August 2010. Retrieved 11 November 2011.About Slow
, Slowarchitecture.ie. Retrieved 11 November 2011
A Daily Dose of Architecture (blog) - text attributed to Nahm Yoon-ho of the Korean JoongAng Daily, 21 June 2004. Retrieved 11 November 2011. Slow architecture is generally

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and construction, constructi ...

that is created gradually and organically, as opposed to building it quickly for short-term goals. It is often combined with an ecological, environmentally

sustainable Sustainability is a social goal for people to co-exist on Earth over a long period of time. Definitions of this term are disputed and have varied with literature, context, and time. Sustainability usually has three dimensions (or pillars): env ...

approach. Slow architecture could also be interpreted literally to mean architecture that has taken a very long time to build, for example the

Sagrada Família The Basílica i Temple Expiatori de la Sagrada Família, otherwise known as Sagrada Família, is a church under construction in the Eixample district of Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. It is the largest unfinished Catholic church in the world. Desi ...

, in

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

. When Eduardo Souto de Moura won the 2011

Pritzker Prize The Pritzker Architecture Prize is an international award presented annually "to honor a living architect or architects whose built work demonstrates a combination of those qualities of talent, vision and commitment which has produced consisten ...

, a jury member described his buildings as slow architecture, because it required careful consideration to appreciate its intricacies. Professor Kenneth Frampton said "Souto de Moura's work is sort of more grounded in a way... They have their character coming from the way in which they have been developed as structures." 2012 Pritzker winner Wang Shu was described as "China's champion of Slow architecture".

Slow architecture examples

Canada

Professor John Brown of the

University of Calgary {{Infobox university , name = University of Calgary , image = University of Calgary coat of arms without motto scroll.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms , former ...

has launched a not-for-profit website designed to promote "slow homes". This follows ten years of research. A slow home is described as attractive, in harmony with the neighbourhood, and energy efficient, using a smaller

carbon footprint A carbon footprint (or greenhouse gas footprint) is a calculated value or index that makes it possible to compare the total amount of greenhouse gases that an activity, product, company or country Greenhouse gas emissions, adds to the atmospher ...

China

Pritzker Prize winning architect Wang Shu has been described as "China's champion of Slow architecture" His buildings evoke the densely packed architecture of China's older cities, with intimate courtyards, tilting walls and a variety of sloping roofs. "Cities today have become far too large. I’m really worried, because it’s happening too fast and we have already lost so much" he says.

Ireland

The slow architecture project in Ireland launched a touring exhibition by canal boat in 2010. The boat travelled between seven locations over a six-week period, with artists and architects holding workshops and lectures at each stopping point.Slow Architecture and Place - Exhibition, Ireland
e-architect.co.uk. Retrieved 11 November 2011

United States

In 2008, architects from leading US practices took part in a

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

-based project called Slow Food Nation. They created constructions that were generally food-related and ecologically motivated, including a variety of pavilions, a water station made from recycled bottles, a compost exhibit and a "

soapbox A soapbox is a raised platform on which one stands to make an impromptu speech, often about a political subject. The term originates from the days when speakers would elevate themselves by standing on a wooden crate originally used for shipment ...

" for farmers.Paul Adamso
"Slow Architecture: Green designs showcased at SF's Slow Food Nation"
''The Architects Newsletter'', 9 April 2008. Retrieved 12 November 2011.

References

{{reflist

External links

* http://www.slow-architecture.com * http://www.slowarchitecture.it Architectural styles

Architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and construction, constructi ...