The future we need starts with the buildings we already have. Stop demolition now!

Together with other European ACAN chapters, we flipped this years Action Week slogan “Building The Future We Need” into a counter-narrative: “Saving The Future We Already Have”. 

To challenge Norway’s demolition default, we flooded cities across the country with a poster calling for “Rivestopp NÅ!” (Demolition stop NOW!). With the posters having appeared everywhere, locally and nationally, on the streets and online we tried reaching beyond architects and other professionals of the built environment to the general public, media and decision makers. Our hope is that those fuelling the demolition default can and will not look away anymore.

Alongside the poster campaign we launched a petition calling for a mandatory exemption policy for demolition in Norway, which we are continuing to run beyond the Action Week. Our demand was simple: Demolition of existing buildings should require a dispensation, where the developer needs to document and justify why a building cannot be preserved, renovated or repurposed. This would create a real barrier against unnecessary demolition, reduce greenhouse gas emission and material waste. 

With our petition we are urging the government and the new Norwegian Directorate for Housing and Building to introduce the requirement for dispensation in cases of demolition as part of future regulatory frameworks. We continue to invite anyone who shares this commitment to sign our petition.