Efficient? The History and Future of Architectural Performance

Organized by

Jean Souviron
Early-Career Fellow 2024–2025

Laurent Stalder
Associate Fellow

Guillaume Habert
ETH Zurich

Details

Venue & accessibility info:
Rudolf Wolf Room, Collegium Helveticum

This is a public event. Participation is free of charge, registration is not required.

Add event to your calendar (ICS).

How have “efficiency” and “performance” shaped architectural theory and practice in relation to energy issues? This two-day workshop at the Collegium brings together historians, sociologists, engineers and architects to explore the materialization of these two concepts throughout the history and life cycle of buildings. Presentations and discussions will provide an opportunity to critically examine how this conceptual framework and related policies must evolve to address ongoing socio-ecological upheavals.

The concept of efficiency took on its modern meaning in the era of thermal machines and thermodynamic laws, which marked the rise of Western industrial society. It was in this context that productivism emerged, drawing direct parallels between the performance of steam engines and that of society: progress depended on the ability to maximize output per unit of energy input (Ostwald, 1909). Efficiency soon extended to environmental concerns, as industrialists framed it as a rational solution to waste (Taylor, 1911)—an argument that would later echoe in face of energy crises and climate change.

Efficiency thus became a hallmark of modernity, “conveying a sense of scientific truth, political wisdom, social consensus, and compelling moral urgency” (Winner, 1982). As such, it has had a profound impact on architecture, where buildings have been seen as vast, inefficient thermal machines in need of modernization. The pursuit of efficiency has shaped construction methods, energy systems, and design practices, influencing not just how buildings are conceived, but also how they are inhabited. This legacy continues today, seen in policy frameworks like the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD)—which seeks to “boost the energy efficiency of buildings across Europe”—as well as in energy modeling practices and efforts to integrate carbon accounting into building regulations.

Yet, a significant portion of the world’s building stock remains energy-inefficient, even as the ecological crisis demands an urgent shift away from fossil fuel dependence. Are efficiency policies and metrics sufficient? Have they become obsolete? What new concepts, policies, and design approaches are needed to address planetary boundaries in the act of building? What does it mean today for a building to be “performant?” And what research directions and architectural explorations can help redefine these questions for the future?

Program
May 19

Program
May 20