White paper on creativity - ebla center

Chapter 12competitions are finally growing,offering opportunities to begin work onthe market. For young architecturalfirms, however, experimentation andregularly participation in competitionsrequires huge investments. Measures arerequired to develop the creativepotential of young architects, to removethe obstacles forcing them to fall backon well-tried solutions, and to ensurethey continue on the path of research byencouraging them to experiment andinnovate.12.2 Creativity andarchitectural qualityWho wants to live in an architecturalfolly? As in other sectors discussed inthis <strong>White</strong> Paper, in architecture, too,creativity is a fundamental input for theproduction of culture, a way of pursuingsocially shared values, and not an end initself. Pure formal innovation, not on ahuman scale nor respectful of the needsof users’ lives, gives rise to unliveablearchitecture. Pursuing noveltyexclusively for market requirements iseven more harmful, a gilded patina atthe service of pure speculation,irrespective of the damage to a localarea, environment and landscape, whichdeteriorates our quality of life. We allknow the kind of impact the large-scaleconstruction industry has on thelandscape or the disastrous results ofunregulated urban sprawl. Every day wesee congested chaotic cities in whichservices are inadequate, movementsdifficult, and the environment neglectedto such an extent that it undermines thehealth of city-dwellers.But creativity can supply new solutionsfor the harmonious insertion of newbuildings in historical contexts,landscapes and environments. It canencourage the pursuit of objectives witharchitectural and social quality. Whatinterests us here is innovation thatexperiments with new materials andbuilding techniques with due care toaspects such as durability and recycling.The materials chosen must not beharmful to the environment or people.Energy savings and environmentalsustainability must be pursued withoutendangering the health of those whowork on construction sites or in theproduction of materials. Functions mustbe designed and distributed alwaystaking into account the quality of socialrelations. Good architecture is aware ofhaving come into being at the interfacebetween (invisible) society and(observable) built reality and thereforedoes not simply interpret their historicalrelationship, narrated in the socialhistory of architecture, but knows thatdecisions and innovations at design levelaffect the kind of society produced.This kind of architectural creativitycannot pursue a development modelbased on extreme competition andcontinuous growth in consumption butaims to raise the quality of life in acontext of social equality andenvironmental sustainability. A newarchitecture which seems always to haveaccompanied us and therefore we areperfectly at ease with it.WHITE PAPER ON CREATIVITY 276