Slow Space: Good, Clean and Fair Architecture and Construction
We believe good, clean and fair housing is a human right. It is the foundation upon which lives are built and no other building type has as much of an impact. We spend 90% of our time indoors and 70% of our time at home sleeping, eating, working, and hanging out.
Aamodt / Plumb are a team of architects, designers, and builders. For more than a decade we have specialized in designing and building homes, and have learned some lessons along the way.
- Good design has a huge impact on people’s lives, and so does bad design.
- Hiring an architect is out of reach for most people.
- Typical buildings today are only expected to last 3040 years.
- Common building products contain a wide array of toxic chemicals.
- Skilled trade jobs can offer meaningful and well-paid careers for many people.
- The construction industry contributes to exploitation and modern slavery.
We uncovered some serious problems within the design and construction industry and were not satisfied with the impact we were making. In 2017 we started The Slow Space Movement, modeled on Slow Food, to rally like-minded architects, designers, builders, and artisans around the idea of good, clean and fair buildings for all. We started the conversation around many of these issues and began to raise awareness about material health and fair labor in the building industry.
In 2020 the coronavirus pandemic put a hard stop to business as usual. As we all sat at home pondering the health and economic impact of this crisis another virus of-sorts reemerged. Racism, injustice, and inequality lay just beneath the surface of our society and the killing of George Floyd and the resulting protests shone a new light on an old problem.
Meanwhile the climate crisis continued, unaltered by the covid related pause in industry and automobile use. We are in the midst of a climate, justice, and public health emergency. Business as usual will not cut it. The great pause of 2020 allowed us to see things clearly and take a hard turn toward doing what is right.
Our mission is to create homes that are good, clean and fair.
We came together as a studio to define what ‘good, clean and fair’ means to us. We synthesized design principles from our early influences and current inspirations from around the globe to define these terms and a list of design principles. This guide is a work in progress and will change as we learn and grow. We are sharing this with the design and construction industry in the hopes of furthering conversations, inspiring action, and broadening our impact.
This article is the first in an upcoming series around the concept central to our work philosophy: good, clean, and fair housing. We hope to spark inspiration and conversation around what good design really is. We welcome your thoughts and feedback.