Field Notes on Scarcity

Scarcity of resources in all forms is commonly portrayed in a negative light. Yet these conditions-which have long been a reality in many extreme climate conditions across the global South and are increasingly becoming a global reality-often stimulate an abundance of innovation, inspiration, and ingenuity. Permanence has created a climate crisis, with spaces constructed with non-degradable materials, resource extraction without active replenishment, and buildings designed for a single-eternal use. Our present reality is marked by a global pandemic, violent conflicts, and the looming threat of climate change-induced environmental disasters. Yet there remains an optimism about the creative possibilities that arise within these constraints.


Field Notes on Scarcity, published in conjunction with the 2023 Sharjah Architecture Triennial, examines what scarcity truly looks like on the ground, and the challenges and opportunities it presents across architecture and design. Sixty scholars and practitioners from across the Global South-including Lesley Lokko, Yinka Shonibare, Formafantasma, Rahul Mehrotra, Olalekan Jeyifous, Abeer Seikaly, Ilze and Heinrich Wolff, Chitra Vishwanath, and Deema Assaf-contribute reflections, poems, visual essays, and dialogues exploring what scarcity represents, what it inspires, and what it reveals.

About the author

Tosin Oshinowo
is an architect, creative entrepreneur, public speaker, and author based in Lagos, where she runs her own design consultancy firm CmDesign Atelier. She is the curator of the 2023 Sharjah Architecture Triennial.

Julie Cirelli
is a Stockholm-based American journalist and editor specializing in architecture and design.

Product details

• Assisted by: Julie Cirelli (Editor), Tosin Oshinowo (Editor)
• Publisher: Park Books
• Languages: Arab, English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 02.11.2023
• EAN: 9783038603573
• ISBN: 978-3-03860-357-3
• No. of pages: 160
• Dimensions: 170 mm x 240 mm x 14 mm
• Weight: 509 g
• Illustrations: 156 farbige und 13 s/w-Abbildungen
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > Art > Architecture; Innovation, Architektur, Inspiration, Geschichte der Architektur, Sustainability, Stadtplanung und Architektur, Architecture, Climate Crisis, Global Warming, Global South, Resilience, auseinandersetzen, Urban Design, Resources, Formafantasma, Ilze Wolff, Permanence, Deema Assaf, Inventive responsiveness, Rahul Mehrotra, Scarcity of resources, Olalekan Jeyifous, Julie Cirelli, Heinrich Wolff, Yinka Shonibare, Lesley Lokko, Wolff Architects, Abeer Seikaly, Chitra Vishwanath, Scarcity, Ingenuity, Impermanence, Tosin Oshinowo