The Architects' Chicago Declaration

What follows is the text of the UIA (Union Internationale des Architects)/AIA (American Institute of Architects) "Declaration of Interdependence for a Sustainable Future," created at the World Congress of Architects, June 1993. The Congress was attended by more than 10,000 design professionals from around the world and had the theme of "Architecture at the Crossroads: Designing for a Sustainable Future."

The process of creating it went as follows: Context Institute Director Robert Gilman was asked by the UIA and AIA to create a draft declaration in conjunction with a group of four architects from around the world. They distributed a few thousand copies of that draft to the Congress and asked for feedback. Over the next day or so they incorporated that feedback and shaped the final document. The UIA and AIA presidents signed it and then read the commitment part of the declaration to the closing plenary session. Large banners were available after the session for individuals to sign-on to the declaration -- which about 3000 participants did.

Declaration of Interdependence
for a Sustainable Future

In recognition that:

A sustainable society restores, preserves, and enhances nature and culture for the benefit of all life, present and future; * a diverse and healthy environment is intrinsically valuable and essential to a healthy society; * today's society is seriously degrading the environment and is not sustainable;

We are ecologically interdependent with the whole natural environment; * we are socially, culturally, and economically interdependent with all of humanity; * sustainability, in the context of this interdependence, requires partnership, equity, and balance among all parties;

Buildings and the built environment play a major role in the human impact on the natural environment and on the quality of life; * sustainable design integrates consideration of resource and energy efficiency, healthy buildings and materials, ecologically and socially sensitive land-use, and an aesthetic sensitivity that inspires, affirms, and ennobles; * sustainable design can significantly reduce adverse human impacts on the natural environment while simultaneously improving quality of life and economic well being;

We commit ourselves,

as members of the world's architectural and building-design professions, individually and through our professional organisations, to:

• Place environmental and social sustainability at the core of our practices and professional responsibilities
  
  
• Develop and continually improve practices, procedures, products, curricula, services, and standards that will enable the implementation of sustainable design
  
  
• Educate our fellow professionals, the building industry, clients, students, and the general public about the critical importance and substantial opportunities of sustainable design
  
  
• Establish policies, regulations, and practices in government and business that ensure sustainable design becomes normal practice
  
  
• Bring all existing and future elements of the built environment - in their design, production, use, and eventual reuse - up to sustainable design standards.