Kites

From what perspective can the aesthetic dimension impact on our way of thinking about an environmentally responsible and socially just future? This chapter reflects upon an exhibition of instructors of architecture, and their students, at the Venice Biennale in 2018, exploring such a question. In the theory and practice of sustainable design, little attention has been given to architectural aesthetics dismissed either as a superficial concern in comparison to the serious matter of sustainability, or worse, as an attempt at “green-wash” or to deceive. As climate change brings with it the burden of change in plant, animal and human relationships, ecological systems respond unpredictably. A dialogue is needed to establish a reconnection to concern but what exactly might this relationship be with the living environment and its systems? The scholarly question this chapter thus asks is “How can we understand an ecological architectural aesthetics within the field of sustainable architectural design?