ABSTRACT
Is there not some irony in questioning sustainability of buildings and the built environment? Is there not clear evidence that these artifacts far outlive the cultural systems that bring them into being? Have not the Parthenon, the Roman Forum and the cities of the pre-Columbian America demonstrated that they have survived for many times longer than the cultures that built them and which they now represent to us? The simple answer to all of these questions is, of course, yes. Buildings and the built environment do survive, indeed, they persist. But in that characteristic lies one of their great advantages and a salutary warning. They often survive beyond their usefulness. In so doing they may act as a restraint on the changes that may be necessary for survival of the culture that they were created to support. Like a mill stone, they may be useful cultural artifacts but also, like a mill stone round the neck, they may herald and then contribute to the demise of a culture.
