Page 17 - Between light and shade

A knowledge base

drafted in haste and without taking a step back
from events, they evolve in line with the latter far
more quickly than the subject that they codify.

Nor can they keep pace with the speed of
scientific and technical progress and thereby
hinder its application, to the point that the time
between an invention (or discovery) and its prac-
tical implementation is generally several decades
in the construction industry, even though this
period rarely exceeds a year in other industrial
sectors.

The concept of sustainability may serve as a
guide to finding one’s own way in this changing
environment.

In effect, construction is static, it does not
fly, sail or travel on land. Its form should always
originate from the requirements it needs to
satisfy. Thus, for example, although they are
necessary for planes, boats and cars, the aerody-
namic and fluid forms (chiefly without the trace
of a shadow!) that we see everywhere nowadays,
are entirely inappropriate for a building.

Therefore, the search for savings on materials
and lightness is essential for construction, not to
enable it to move better 7 but out of respect for the
environment.

7 We must pursue intellectual exploration of static construction,
just like Bertrand Piccard and André Borschberg are doing for
mobile construction with the Solar Impulse plane!
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