In commemoration with the book The Limits to Growth produced by the Club of Rome, this proposal displays original drawings and process sketches of the world model presented in the book along with similar architectural diagrams from the 1970’s until today. Made by Jay Forrester and his colleagues at MIT, these drawings: Visualize consequences of industrial production and population growth on a global scale, and thus demonstrate how the concept of de-growth was discussed in 1972. The drawings are visual representations of systems theory, which is a mode of thinking closely connected to postwar developments in computation. Systems theory became highly influential to architecture and design in terms of thinking of design via systems—a mode of thought which still resonates today.This proposal reminds us of how long the consequences of growth has remained in the collective consciousness. Hopefully, the proposal brings about tough questions and conversations about the drawings themselves, systems theory employed as a design method, the topic of growth, and the consequences of the shift in terms of architectural methods from designing buildings to systems.

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