VOICES 06


TREAD LIGHTLY – OR, SADLY, NOT AT ALL


TO MOVE FORWARD SUCCESSFULLY AND SUSTAINABLY, SAYS MUSA SHANGASE, WE SOMETIMES NEED TO LOOK BACK AT WHERE WE’VE COME FROM


A


s American poet and philosopher Henry David Thoreau asked: “What’s the use of a house if you don’t have a decent planet to put it on?” At Corobrik and as an integral part of the construction industry, we could adjust that a little to read: “What use is


building a house if, while doing that, we don’t help create a decent planet on which to live?” For the past two decades, we’ve heard dire warnings of global warming and pleas to live sustainably. At the same time, we’re caught up in a whirlwind of technology and hyperconnectivity as we create the next best gadget, disposing of the old one in a growing mountain of toxic waste. It seems the true challenge for man is not


to be too clever. In other words, the fourth Industrial Revolution that’s unfolding around us needs to be sustainable, if it’s not to be our very last. I’ve come across many diff erent


defi nitions of sustainability, each one more sophisticated and philosophical than the next. But for me, it’s really quite simple: tread lightly on the earth. Use key resources like water and energy sparingly so that you don’t leave heavy footprints on the earth in the form of waste and pollution. We also sometimes need


to look back at past successes in order to move forward wisely. This is the era of disruption and reinvigorating processes which we’ve taken for granted for centuries. Think of photography, music and public transport. We’ve


even tried to reinvent building houses with “quick-fi x” solutions that arrive pre-packed and engineered, ready to erect. But are the materials environmentally sound and will the durability and longevity of clay bricks really ensure they’ll still exist decades later? In our business, we’ve been making bricks for more than


115 years and we work on the adage that a sustainable future begins with the past. The clay brick has been traced back to 7 500BC, to the days of the ancient Egyptians. They were still used centuries later, during the Roman Empire. In the late 18th century, the fi rst Industrial Revolution in England revolutionised brick-making, as the need for factories burgeoned and large cities grew. Over the years, more effi cient and sophisticated methods of production saw the clay brick become the building material of choice and the foundation of modern architecture and the built environment. We’ve continued this process by


harnessing technology to make the brick- making process more environmentally friendly and have converted the kilns at our


factories to use clean natural gas. That’s also why we work so closely with


young, up-and-coming architectural students. These architects of the future will completely transform the way we inhabit this earth and they will usher in the lived reality that will be the fourth Industrial Revolution. • Musa Shangase is Commercial Director at Corobrik, with responsibility for marketing. Prior to joining the company in 2013, he was Managing Director at African Brick Company.


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