Sustainability and Ecology

A thematic exploration of sustainability ideas in the ArkDes collection.

In her research, Anna Lundvall identified ideas and buildings that explored sustainability in a broad sense. The concept of sustainability was divided into ecological, social, and economic components, and the projects were selected based on three themes: closed-loop systems and cycles, developments in materials and technology, and green structures that can illustrate sustainable development.

Anna Lundvall is a landscape architect and art historian. Alongside her own practice, she teaches landscape architecture at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU) in Uppsala.

Based on these themes, Lundvall identified a number of projects in the ArkDes collection. Her analysis revealed that various crises often underpinned what later came to be seen as successful examples of sustainable architecture. War, housing shortages, food insecurity, and energy crises could be traced in projects from specific decades. During the 1950s and 1960s, many projects reflected a sense of optimism about the future and a critique of modernism—highlighting materials, reuse, and tradition. From the 1980s onward, there was a continued focus on energy efficiency and also on cultivation as part of the built environment.

Lundvall’s work also highlighted gaps in the collection, and she proposed names and projects for potential acquisition.