Rencontres La Foncière – Ecological transition, the end of concrete?
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This article takes a look back at the event organised by La Foncière on the theme of concrete in the context of environmental responsibility. And the parallel with concrete in our web businesses.
Thank you to Investissements Fonciers SA, better known as La Foncière, for inviting me to their event. We've been lucky enough to have a fruitful collaboration with this benchmark fund for several years. We look after their web presence. We have produced two major versions of the lafonciere.ch website and are also working on the newsletter.
Getting out of our environment
This event gave us the opportunity to get out of our offices and meet professionals, while learning more about a subject of vital importance: the challenge of sustainability in a sector that has a huge impact.
Concrete, a heavy subject.
The theme of this year's event was "What place for concrete in the ecological transition? We began with an introduction to the major challenges we face (Switzerland uses tens of thousands of tonnes of concrete every year). Three fascinating speakers tackled the subject from different angles.
Transition between cycles and trends:
Looking at the economic situation in Switzerland and around the world, Valérie Lemaigre was resolutely reassuring and optimistic. She explained the causes and challenges that the figures reveal. It is important to note that the energy and demographic transitions we are experiencing are disrupting and challenging the players in the economy. According to Valérie, this is not a structural crisis, and the indicators will improve.
Concrete in question
Alia Bengana then took us through the current state of concrete, highlighting the main impacts of its production on the environment and the possible alternatives.
Why reuse?
Finally, Raphaël Bach introduced us to Matériuum, a company that aims to improve the reuse of materials. He invited us to think about the difference between waste and resources. During the discussion and questions phase, Raphaël reminded us that we have never yet experienced an energy transition, citing in particular the work of Jean-Baptiste Fressoz.
Time for debate and questions
As well as the pleasure of talking and debating with fascinating people, these questions about sustainability within our companies and our sectors are truly vital. They reinforce our pride in working with a company that is committed to the future.
Can we draw a parallel with our industry?
It's interesting to ask what the web has in common with concrete in the world of real estate. Knowing that the Internet has a disastrous carbon footprint, we can indeed draw a parallel.
We are striving to improve the situation and change our habits in our web projects. By working from the design stage through to development, we aim to reduce the weight of pages and be more mindful of our users' attention spans.
Although we haven't reached the end of the road yet, we are committed to reducing our environmental impact and improving our approach to eco-design.
By the way, what does brutalism mean for the web?
We're completely off the subject of the conference on the sustainability of concrete. But I couldn't help trying to understand this irresistible urge to use concrete to build. There's the excuse in Switzerland, dams and bridges that shape our imagination.
At the conference, we were told that it's a material that can be used to create all kinds of shapes and offers a huge range of creative possibilities. Think of the Sydney Opera House, for example, or the headquarters of Vaudoise Assurance in Lausanne (almost the same thing :-P).
This fascination with what concrete has revolutionised in the world of architecture comes from the possibilities of creating structures with fewer technical constraints. We shape the project as our imagination takes us. It also comes from the desire to make the structural foundations of the creation apparent.
If we go back to the basis of this fascination, which goes beyond the material used and focuses on this notion of apparent structure, there is also a trend towards brutalism in web design.
One of the definitions is a trend in design that focuses on content, on the interactions available on the page and on respecting the behaviour of the browser (scroll, previous page, etc.). Content that adapts perfectly to all types of screen and proudly displays its structure.
A new creative impetus, a return to basics
Other examples contradict these guidelines, but offer content-focused web experiences, with an emphasis on typographic choices. Like the examples from Brutaslitwebsites. These examples almost give you a feeling of nostalgia for a time when no two websites looked alike.
That's where the parallel ends, because sites that respect the guidelines of web design brutalism by concentrating on the essentials are, on the face of it, far less resource-intensive.
All these trends are helping us to evolve in the way we use digital media. Every day, every new original page published represents a step forward in human creativity to interact and communicate with our fellow human beings. One of the conclusions of the conference was that it is vital to rethink the way we do things. To see what can be done with wood, straw and earth, and to think in the longer term and explore old methods with our current tools and challenges.