36) Creativity sounds better.

Hunger, violence, victimization, and injustice have long been a part of human habitats. Can we change? Or are we doomed to build as usual until the end of time? 

Instead of defaulting to our traditional convergent approach we can make the best choice out of available alternatives.

An emphasis on human rights and community development is fundamental to achieving innovative and imaginative cities.

Architecture exists to create the physical environment in which people live. This is obvious a very neutral answer, but if we dig deeper into the city context we also see the power of architecture to change and disrupt: from simple design features that improve quality of life for old people and people with disabilities, to the global impact of the movement towards sustainability.

It is not surprising that cities grow: for them, the real challenge is to do so while eradicating poverty and promoting equality. The future is urban. As long as a human rights approach to architecture is established, cities will grow ever larger and will be the inevitable future of a more just and prosperous humanity. On the contrary, a lack of human rights will create crises that will cause the collapse of cities in a worst-case scenario. 

So if our buildings do not respect people’s rights, where should they safely live?

What is the built environment? What constitutes equality? How do architects determine whether something is fair, positive, helpful, or relevant for individuals and collectives? 

And what kind of design is most likely to respect people’s human rights?

If we put architects on the spot and get them to explain exactly how their design complies with the right to free speech or why violating this right is wrong, then they’ll have a much harder time coming up with a solid answer.

So what for an architecture discourse? Well, because on closer inspection the architectural design matters. Divergent approach in architecture means to explore new alternatives, new solution, new ideas that have not existed before. Human rights through architecture, this is a process for the practical and creative resolution of problems or issues that seeks a better result in the future. It is an architectural thinking process based around the ‘building up’ of rights. Freedom of peaceful assembly is a fundamental human right that can be enjoyed and exercised by individuals and groups, unregistered associations, legal entities, and corporate bodies only if such a place exists.

Mainstreaming human rights into the practice of architecture will raise the standards of the profession in terms of meeting its obligations to the public good. Achieving the will, if not yet the ability, to promote human rights through architecture may be a small step, but it is a step in the right direction. Now, some things in cities do take time. Some things in architecture can happen much more quickly. Major structural transformations in our cities are going to happen anyway in the next two decades. But the second of the transformations, the architectural transformation, we have to decide to do now. The next two decades are decisive for what we have to do. We know little but we will learn everything along the way. Building is a powerful way to learn.