The Architecture of Degrowth: The Antidote to the Dividing Designs of Capitalism Part 1 Dissertation 2024 Umar Mahmood Coventry University | UK Capitalism is critiqued for its inherent inequality and commodification of necessities. The first aim of this dissertation is to identify the ways architecture is influenced by this inequality and the consequences of its commodification in the design of housing for the vulnerable. This is given context through historical analyses of post-war regeneration schemes in Birmingham. Further implications are determined through analysis of a planned high-rise housing development in Birmingham. The analyses demonstrate that architecture under capitalism creates cramped, inexpressive spaces and the necessity for an architecture of an alternative economic theory. Degrowth is an economic theory that proposes that restoration social and environmental balance is possible through a planned reduction in resource consumption. Analyses of architectural strategies that potentially exemplify degrowth will be conducted. These strategies are participatory design, exhibited in the St. Bart’s Community Hub, retrofit, exhibited in Civic Square’s festival Retrofit Reimagined, bioclimatic design, exhibited in Zero Carbon House and community-led projects, exhibited by Granby Four Streets.This dissertation demonstrates that degrowth architecture is capable of solving capitalist architecture’s heavy resource consumption through reclamation of unused buildings by Retrofit Reimagined and Granby Four Streets and use of low carbon strategies for internal comfort, demonstrated by Zero Carbon House. Tutor(s) Tulika Gadakari Satvinder Sohal