Building with What Remains - by Philippe Simay (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Proposing new frameworks for sustainable architecture and construction

Resource scarcity defines the conditions under which architecture now operates. This concise and rigorously argued essay addresses material use as an ethical and political question rather than a purely technical one. It moves beyond carbon metrics to propose a broader understanding of resources that includes ecological systems and the interdependence of human and non-human life. Drawing on the discipline of environmental humanities, the text exposes the consequences of extractive building practices and outlines alternative approaches grounded in reuse and restraint. Its central proposition is direct: we can build anew without further extraction. Aimed at students, researchers and practitioners, the book provides a clear conceptual framework for rethinking construction in a context of environmental limits.
Philippe Simay is an associate professor of philosophy at the École Nationale Supérieure d'Architecture de Paris-Belleville and a lecturer at the Saint-Etienne School of Architecture. His work focuses on theories and critiques of modernity, the city and architecture, and the philosophical history of the human and social sciences.