Constructing societies – Unravelling building projects’ entanglement in society and nature

Framed by the anthropocentric era, this essay aims to investigate projects' roles in constructing societies and the parallel evolution of project theorizing. Using texts and interdisciplinary analyses, the essay outlines a historical review of the human’s relationship to nature and on the evolution of the construction industry. The results document the temporal role of projects and how they have historically been pivotal in constructing societies through different time periods. Moreover, this paper identifies modes of theorizing projects, from crafts, production, and temporary organization to interventions, and it recognizes the disconnect between current project theorizing and nature. It identifies research implications that realign humans with nature in constructing sustainable futures. Thereby, it supports building an ecocentric perspective on construction for the future.