The Iron Curtain

Paris

Christo & Jeanne Claude

Embodied Carbon

2384

1192

kgCO₂e

kgCO₂e/m²

Barrels of Oil

Hectares of Forest

Cost

890

445

GBP

GBP/m₂

In 1962, artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude blockaded the Rue Visconti in Paris with 89 oil barrels. The project was intended as a provocative work of art, changing the use of the street by transforming it into a dead end. By using reused oil barrels, the project transformed the space with little cost or embodied carbon involved.

Approaches:

intervention

policy

Notes:

Based on 89 reused oil barrels, weighing 20kg each, calculated as new steel with 50% reduction in CO2.

References/ further links:

Christo & Jeanne Claude "The Iron Curtain" [n.d.]. Christojeanneclaude.net <https://christojeanneclaude.net/artworks/the-iron-curtain/> [accessed 26 February 2024]

About
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Embodied carbon is 'the emissions from the construction materials, the building process, [...] as well as from deconstructing and disposing of [the building] at the end of it’s lifetime' (UCL).

The figures featured on this website were calculated using Structure Workshop's Carbon Calculator v4 (unless otherwise stated).

Each case study includes carbon equivalents - the equivalent barrels of oil burnt and the equivalent hectares of US forest growth per annum to offset it. The figures these are based on are available here.

Find the carbon database here. Submit a case study here.

In future the website aims to compare 'whole life carbon' - this is 'the carbon emissions resulting from the materials, construction and the use of a building over its entire life, including its demolition and disposal' (Greater London Authority, 2022).