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March 17, 2021 · Iñaki Ábalos

Bartleby, the Architect

Translated from the Spanish by Sebastián López Cardozo

This article was originally published in El País in March of 2007

In today’s architecture, sustainability is in vogue. The introduction of sustainability into the discipline implies several
changes to its structure—in addition to architects and builders, specialists and technicians now form part of new, more
complex teams that feed environmental, economic, and social factors into the process of design. Given the enormity of
such changes, it is necessary for architecture to examine what is at stake in its embrace of the concept of
sustainability, without casting aside matters of aesthetics.

About once a decade, architecture suffers the invasion of a new word which engulfs it whole and disrupts the
established modes of working. Just as the cries for “smart” design begin to grow faint, the “sustainable” invasion
arrives in full force to proclaim itself as the quintessence of architecture; there is now not a council of urbanism that
will not demand the most thorough deployment of the principles of sustainability—that is, so long as it does not
compromise the budget nor threaten the for-profit model of the city. Architects are left with no choice but to navigate
through the labyrinthine demands of the new sustainability regime, contributing to its semantic overflow and followed
by the subsequent collapse of its meaning.

In parallel with the aforementioned semantic abuses, the adoption of the Código Técnico de la Edificación1 in Spain
signifies a major shift of construction practices in the country, overstretching the technical capabilities of the
architects and their consultants. Thrust into the new paradigm, architects are forced to replace “constructive
experience” with parametrically-driven environmental modeling; this implies an intrusion by physicists, ecologists, and
engineers into the design process—just as some decades ago, structural estimators and structural engineers became
an integral part of that same process.

The abandonment of the Modernist conception of architecture—one that was based on modular seriality and industrial
materiality—occurred alongside a reshuffling of the multidisciplinary chorus that typically accompanies the solo voice
of the architect. What succeeded it—reflected by the shift from a mechanics-based to an energy-based form of expertise
—was the emergence of what some experts such as Sanford Kwinter have been quick to call “thermodynamics.” Kwinter
places such term within the context of a shift from the traditional “tectonic” model of architecture to a new
“biotechnical” model—one capable of equipping architects with tools to think of their buildings as living organisms, as
entities engaging in permanent energy exchanges with their surroundings, and as endowed with a limited life cycle.
With its messianic tone, the shift to the “biotechnical” promises to be embraced and adopted unanimously within
academic circles, in Spain and beyond: the recent encroachment of such idea into American universities—the latest
arrival among the new conception of the environmental—has been nothing short of devastating.

The problem arises when, stimulated by a construction

industry that has begun to see business value in the
magic word (sustainability)—and energized by good
intentions—the disparate voices of the expert chorus
degrade into an indistinguishable noise that overpowers
the solo voice of the architect. Despite the efforts of
various institutions (e.g. Escuela Técnica Superior de
Arquitectura de Madrid, Consejo Superior de los Colegios
de Arquitectos de España, and Centro Nacional de
Energías Renovables), what is ultimately endorsed and
exhibited in the endless conferences and seminars is a
series of clunky technological gadgets that do nothing
more than turn old and poorly designed buildings into hi-
tech drag queens. The trivialization of sustainability—
brought about by its pseudo-technical and marketing-
oriented adaptations—bores architects as much as it
does students, while exciting the large consulting firms
and politicians.

The current panorama as presented has raised the alarm

in various well-established North American institutions.
Several of these institutions have decided to take action
and promote serious debate on the matter with the
objective of interrogating its architectural and cultural
nature—first through engagement with their associated
international consultants and subsequently through
Figure 1. Palais de Tokyo (2012-2014), Lacaton & Vassal. Paris, France. Interior View, seminars, books, and exhibitions.
2019. © Florent Michel / 11h45
The main idea is simple
Only if there is, among all its rhetoric, a hidden idea of beauty, will it be possible for sustainability to gain enough
significance to remain a more integral part of the discipline. Architecture must avoid being led on by a vast array of
technological gadgetry and, in introducing into the debate an aesthetic dimension, ask itself where the interest in the
concept of sustainability truly lies. At present, an idea has infiltrated the first debates on such matter: the idea that
Bartleby—the character created by novelist Herman Melville—and his famous “I would prefer not to,” represents the
most compelling evocation of sustainability’s aesthetic dimension. The success of Bartleby’s “I would prefer not to” lies
in that it puts the supposed inevitability of action into question—an idea expressed years ago by Cedric Price, which,
applied with common sense, here and today, would have saved us from the brutal colonization of the Spanish shores
that has occurred over the past decade.

It may appear as if, rather than bringing about a renewed aesthetic dimension, an architecture guided by Bartleby’s
spirit would lead to its self-destruction; however, cases such as French architects Lacaton & Vassal demonstrate that
this is not necessarily the case. Spending their formative years in Africa—primarily in Nigeria— where they acquired a
more pragmatic grasp of ecology and economy, Lacaton & Vassal declared that they would prefer not to when
confronted with the commission to redesign Place Léon Aucoc in Bordeaux. Seeing that, as it was, the plaza was
agreeable for its users and adequately urban in character, the architects dedicated part of the budget to replenishing
the gravel, repairing existing benches, and replacing any worn curb segments. Why should one design something
spectacular? What did the citizens do to deserve such punishment? These and other questions Lacaton & Vassal asked
themselves in approaching the Place Léon Aucoc commission. The transformation of the park was rather minor, but
neighbors’ satisfaction from the transformation was immense—and not too different from the satisfaction that now,
years later, artists feel when invited to participate in developing projects at the Palais de Tokyo (2001), another Lacaton
& Vassal project. For the Palais de Tokyo, the architects opted to strip down the existing structure, leaving its interior
practically bare and ready for action and, in the process, avoided producing the overly manicured spaces that typically
call attention to themselves over the art on display. (I invite anyone who happens to be in Paris to go across the Seine
and visit, on the same day, the Palais de Tokyo and Musée du quai Branly. One will be surprised that, although for the
latter, Jean Nouvel has managed to excite museum-goers enough to have them arrive in hordes to see—or attempt to
see—an interesting collection, all his decisions, formal and banal—coupled with his squandering of resources—reveal a
complete incomprehension and an obscene indifference towards the cultures that the museum is meant to exhibit.)

It is not by coincidence that the rejection of the technological manipulation of sustainability involves an effort to start
over from the beginning, to return a certain naturalness or normalcy to the role of architecture and design—in the city
and in everyday life. “Supernormal” is the term with which designers Jasper Morrison and Naoto Fukasawa promote in
the design world—a world that is even more affected by the demand for the spectacular than architecture is—an
environment of well-designed objects, at times anonymous and recognizable, that show, with educational undertones,
a place vaguely familiar. (The Super Normal exhibition opened on June 9, 2006 in Tokyo and will travel to Europe in the
spring [of 2007], making its first stop at the Triennale di Milano). A well-founded path forward for the concept of
sustainability has yet to emerge, but there is no doubt that its various manifestations have already exhausted their
credibility. It is now time to reaffirm, in the present context, the idea of Bartleby as an architect—with the entire
academic and cultural apparatus already at its service.

Iñaki Ábalos is professor in residence in Harvard University GSD and chaired professor of ETSAM. He was appointed
“Buell Book Fellow” and “Visiting Professor” at Columbia University (New York, 1995), “Diploma Unit Master” at the
Architectural Association in London and “Professeur Invite“ in the EPF Lausanne 1998. He was “Jean Labatute Professor”
at the University of Princeton (New Jersey, 2004-2007),“Visiting Professor” at Cornell University (Ithaca, 2007-2008), and
Professor at BIArch (Barcelona, 2010-2012). He is the author of Le Corbusier. Skyscrapers (Madrid Town Hall, 1988),
Técnica y Arquitectura (Nerea, 1992), Tower and Office (The MIT Press, 2003) and Natural Artificial (EXIT, LMI,1999) with
Juan Herreros.

1 The “Código Técnico de la Edificación” is a regulatory framework in Spain that establishes the basic safety and
habitability requirements that must be met by buildings.

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