UK architecture studio Foster + Partners has withdrawn from climate change action group Architects Declare, stating that aviation needs "the most sustainable buildings".
Foster + Partners made the decision to leave the group, which launched in 2019, as it believes that architects should be involved in designing more sustainable airports for the aviation sector.
"Foster + Partners has withdrawn from Architects Declare because, since our founding in 1967, we have pioneered a green agenda and believe that aviation, like any other sector, needs the most sustainable infrastructure to fulfil its purpose," said studio founder Norman Foster in a statement issued to Dezeen.
"Agriculture and aviation are not going to go away and they will both need the most sustainable buildings to serve them together with the architects who can most responsibly design them." Foster + Partners was one of the founding signaries of the Architects Declare manifesto alongside 16 other high-profile UK studios, including Zaha Hadid Architects.
Since its foundation, the UK group has gained over 1,000 signatories, while its international sister group has almost 6,000 signatories in over 20 countries.
"Aviation has a vital role to play" in confronting global warming
The decision to leave Architects Declare was made following tensions over signatories, including Foster + Partners and Zaha Hadid Architects, who have designed airports.
The studios have been criticised fo...