pihlmann architects, Thoravej 29 Building, Copenhagen (Denmark)

2020 marked a symbolic milestone in the Anthropocene era: for the first time, the anthropogenic mass – that is, the whole set of the solid materials manufactured or modified by humans – exceeded the overall biomass of the planet, which includes all live matter. The dating of this period is still a subject of dispute: while some anchor it in the industrial revolution, others identify it with the ‘Great Acceleration’ of consumption and urbanization from the mid-20th century, and others propose as representative start the exact moment when the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. Whatever the chosen event, this data is particularly revealing for understanding the scale of a phenomenon which has sped up exponentially with industrial development. It is not only a climatic and biological transformation, but also an unprecedented physical accumulation: the planet already contains more human-made matter than biomass generated by life cycles...[+]