An installation view from the current CCA exhibition To Build Law. Photo by Matthieu Brouillard CCAOn February 1, an architect-led group called HouseEurope! launched its No to demolition, Yes to renovation campaign. Using a mechanism called a European Citizens Initiative, they are filing a proposal for all European countries to introduce tax incentives for renovation, harmonize assessment standards for renovations, and require lifecycle analysis before demolition. They have a year to collect a million signatures from across the EU in support of their proposal. If they succeed in doing so, the EU parliament is obliged to discuss the implementation of the proposal.The story of this effort is told in a documentary film commissioned by Montreals Canadian Centre for Architecture (CCA). The film, directed by Joshua Frank, is the centrepiece of a new exhibition at the CCA called To Build Law, on display until May 25, 2025. It is the second part of an ongoing exhibition and film series by the CCA that explores alternative forms of architectural practice.How did architects end up making a major policy proposaland embarking on an ambitious PR campaign to convince a million others to support it? The effort was spearheaded by two groups: Berlin-based collaborative architecture practice bplus.xyz and the ETH Zurich-based chair for architecture and storytelling s+. As is becoming increasingly clear, the construction and operation of buildings is a significant contributor to the climate crisis, accounting for at least 38 percent of carbon emissions globally. The construction sector is also the biggest producer of waste in the European Union. Architects have a clear view of the environmental impact of buildingsas well as the upfront carbon that can be saved by reusing and transforming buildings, rather than demolishing them.The architects involved in the HouseEurope! campaign contend that the needed change cannot happen through the scope of traditional architectural practice, which is limited to addressing a single building at a time. A shift in cultural norms is needed, supported by larger policy and legal structures.How do such laws get made? Franks documentary follows the architects going through many of the processes that will be familiar to architects: establishing partners, drafting positions, testing ideas and slogans, convening meetings, strategizing campaigns, presenting at conferences.The organizers note that every minute, a building in Europe is demolished. Demolishing buildings wastes homes, jobs, energy, and history, they write. The demolition drama, as they term it, is supported by the way that buildings are held as assets, to be torn down and redeveloped for the sake of profit, with limited consideration of community and environmental impactseven in the face of housing crises throughout Europe.Over 50 percent of global assests are currently invested in real estate. The built environment is one of the most valuable assets in todays globalized speculative economy, says Aris Komporozos-Athanasiou, Director of the Center for Capitalism Studies at University College London. We happily forget about and exclude [thinking about] those speculators and real estate developers who are planning at this moment to destroy the very fabric of our society so that they can make more money, says economist and political advisor Ann Pettifor. If your land is finite, the only way you can keep reinvesting it and keep generating returns is destroying everything and starting again.HouseEurope! argues that a fundamental change of values is needed that prioritizes social and environmental good, and that this change becomes possible when citizens demand it. Renovation and transformation are real alternatives, they write. We can change our value system through activism and direct democracy.As appeared in theFebruary 2025issue of Canadian Architect magazine The post Viewpoint: To Build Law appeared first on Canadian Architect.