Every minute, a building is demolished in Europe: not by natural disaster, but by financial speculation. Each time I hear this, I think of the homes erased, the memories discarded, and the carbon emissions released into the air we all share.
As an architect and researcher, I often wondered: how can we make our discipline truly conscious of its impact on people, communities, and ecosystems? I found part of the answer when I became a National Organising Member for HouseEurope! in Cyprus and Spain, a European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI) that turns architecture into civic action.
From Demolition to Renewal
HouseEurope! calls for a simple but radical shift: to make renovation, not demolition, the norm across Europe. Just as fast fashion or single-use plastics have become socially unacceptable, tearing down functional buildings for profit should also be seen as outdated.
The campaign is structured around three legislative pillars currently under review by the European Commission:
- Tax reductions for renovation and material reuse.
- Fair rules to assess the risks and potential of existing buildings.
- New CO₂ values that recognize the embedded carbon in what already stands.
If one million signatures are gathered by January 2026 the Commission must formally respond (reaching national thresholds in at least seven countries). For me, this was a revelation: citizens can directly shape the legal frameworks that govern how we build and live together.
Still from the documentary ´To Build Law’ (CCA | 2024 | 49 min) CCA, Canadian Centre for Architecture.
Conscious Design in Practice
As a Fellow of the CCD, I see strong parallels between HouseEurope! and the Conscious Design Principles, developed by architect and researcher Itai Palti, founder of the Conscious Cities movement.
- Co-Imagined: born out of dialogue across more than 23 European countries.
- Context Driven: each local chapter adapts to its own challenges like touristification in Spain, abandoned buildings in Cyprus, housing unaffordability across the continent.
- Evidence Based: the facts are stark, for instance, the building sector is Europe’s largest emitter (38% of CO₂) and waste producer (36%).
- Co-Created: from film screenings to participatory maps, citizens and professionals co-produce the campaign.
- Reimagined: instead of seeing old buildings as obsolete, we learn to see them as adaptable, resilient, and full of memory.
As Palti has written in the Manifesto for Conscious Cities: “the conscious city considers new parameters for successful planning … that is our right to the city.” I believe HouseEurope! translates this vision into practice. It shows that conscious cities will not emerge only from new technologies or design methods, but also from communities empowered to reshape the laws that govern them.
Conscious Design Principles by Itai Palti. Read more on CCD website.
Architects, Citizens, and Shared Agency
When HouseEurope! received the OBEL Prize 2025, the jury emphasized the civic role of architects. I agree, but I would go further: architects can be catalysts, yet real change happens when citizens themselves engage with democratic tools.
The ECI is one of those tools. It shows that urban futures are not only decided in parliaments or design studios, but also in the signatures, debates, and gatherings of people who care. This is where I locate my own practice today: at the intersection of architecture, activism, and community.
Still from the documentary ´To Build Law’ (CCA | 2024 | 49 min) CCA, Canadian Centre for Architecture.
Towards Conscious Cities
I believe that conscious cities will not materialize unless we also cultivate conscious lawmaking. HouseEurope! is a living experiment of how that might look: collaborative, evidence-based, and continuously reimagined by the people it serves.
We are all stewards of the built environment. Renovation is not just a technical choice: it is a cultural act, one that values memory, reduces waste, and creates more just and livable communities.
If you share this vision, I invite you to learn more, watch our documentaries, and consider signing the initiative. Together, we can make the renovation and reuse of buildings Europe’s regenerative common path.
Resources
- HouseEurope! website
- Sign the European Citizens’ Initiative
- OBEL Award 2025 announcement
- Conversations Full House: celebrating OBEL Award winners HouseEurope!
- Conscious Design Principles
- Documentary Power to Renovation
- Documentary To Build Law
- Interview with Itai Palti on Conscious Cities
- Manifesto for Conscious Cities
