It is difficult at the moment not be completely preoccupied with the unrelenting horror of the war in Ukraine. It goes without saying that the loss of lives is the worst element of it all, but the mass displacement of people and the severing of families is also traumatic, as is the destruction of what appear to have been interesting, and often beautiful, towns and cities in a country that I know little about. These are places evidently loved by their remarkably resilient citizens.

The war is, of course, an environmental disaster too. We know how lethal embodied carbon is and that today’s conventional ways of building rely on unsustainable techniques and materials – particularly steel and concrete. So far, there is no sign of that changing in any cities that I know, including London, largely because – barring a few exceptions – we have only ever built taller and denser and that limits our options.

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