Seventeenth International Conference on Environmental, Cultural, Economic & Social Sustainability

Abstract

This illustrated paper is an academic follow up to my exhibition Environmental Justice as a Civil Right, which was originally launched as Antigua and Barbuda’s inaugural National Pavilion at the 16th Venice Architecture Biennale in May of 2018. “This government cannot endure half slave and half free,” proclaimed Antigua and Barbuda’s Honourable Prime Minister Gaston Browne shortly after the devastation of Barbuda by Hurricane Irma, quoting Abraham Lincoln’s remark on national sustainability and holding the US and other developed countries accountable for the adverse effects of climate change. Environmental Justice as a Civil Right is an investigation into the acute crisis of climate change facing the small island nation of Antigua and Barbuda and a search for solutions. It examines sustainability at three scales: 1. Rebuilding Barbuda for resiliency, 2. Preserving the Government House in community building, working with the incarcerated, historic preservation (world Monuments Watch 2018), and as the first LEED-registered property in Antigua, 3. Redesigning the historical Victoria botanical gardens to reflect cutting edge environmental practices, increased use of native and historically relevant plants, and the preservation of intangible cultural heritage.