Major grant from the Kone Foundation for modern architecture research - Laura Berger's project equates building loss with biodiversity loss

The project, which will start in 2025, aims to highlight the large-scale demolition of buildings, or building loss, as a phenomenon equivalent with biodiversity loss. The project explores the demolition wave in modern architecture from historical, conceptual and social perspectives, and aims to raise awareness of the role of demolition and new construction in accelerating the biodiversity loss and climate catastrophe.

In Finland and around the world, more and more new buildings are being demolished to make way for new ones. "Demolition is presented as something for which there is no alternative by saying that the building is at the end of its life cycle - a bit like a food that you can't do anything with anymore except throw it away," says Laura Berger.

New wave of demolition

The timing of the project is particularly appropriate, as it is estimated that around 8 000 buildings were demolished in Finland last year, and a demolition wave even greater than in the 1960s is about to begin”, Berger says. The forthcoming Building Act will limit the right of authorities and citizens to appeal against demolition permits, which will also make demolition much easier.

The project aims to place demolition in a broader context and make it visible and understandable as a phenomenon that can also be influenced 

The research will look at which types of buildings have been particularly endangered over time, how the circular economy has operated before the current conceptualisation, and how legislation and regulations have evolved in relation to recycling and demolition.

The project will show, through practical design examples, how the longevity of traditional buildings and their suitability for repair and recycling can be brought to modern renovation. The project combines a wide range of expertise and a multidisciplinary approach from the fields of architecture, business and legal history, ecology, philosophy and architectural design.