BUILDING BLOCKS
Architecture will need to bridge the gap between tradition and modernity while focusing on sustainability through resource optimisation
Architecture like poetry requires you to wander through space to appreciate it. From trends to question and answers with top Indian architects, read on to stay ahead of the design curve.
One must derive inspiration from the past to lend contextuality to projects while looking forward at global trends. No future vision involving incorporation of technology, political globalisation, or a paradigm change in the building industry can take plave without the backbone of sustainability as its key parameter. Sustainability is defined as the ability to endure in local conditions and thrive in its life cycle. Constant emphasis should be put on developing and practicing an approach where we use ‘no energy and no water’ and ideally give out no waste because the responsibility of architecture of the future will primarily be this.
FUTURISTIC ARCHITECTURE
There are two approaches to futuristic architecture. Some believe that it has to ‘be green’ and green buildings should be designed like an aircraft—highly engineered and hermetically sealed, to achieve a high degree of efficiency. This may work in some environments but essentially this is not the most contextually correct response in terms of the availability of resources. The alternate view is that climatic specifications and socio-cultural contexts are imperative and take need to be into consideration before designing a building for the future.
GLOBAL YET LOCAL
Project briefs are getting increasingly global but the response needs to be deeply rooted in the local. There is an intrinsic need to begin to explore the
possibilities of a closed-loop typology of architecture. Assuming there is no energy, no water, and no waste disposal, how does one approach design? A potential answer lies in traditional architecture which has always been green as a response to limited natural resources, especially water and energy.
RESOURCE OPTIMISATION
The second approach is resource optimisation. There is no dearth of natural or human resource. Yet cities are under stress and scarcity of recourse is an all-pervasive phenomenon. One needs to take inspiration from the processes in nature; how nature has no waste, uses and consumes everything, using the least amount of material for maximum impact.
SUSTAINABLE URBANISM
We are a rapidly developing nation and sustainable urbanism is imperative. That said we can only mitigate environmental impacts so long as they are conceived with economic adequacy. Affordability derived from resource optimisation is as crucial to sustainable urbanism as environmental protection and socio-cultural sustainability.
DON’T FORGET TRADITION
There is a challenge of nurturing local arts, crafts and traditional construction technologies, often not in sync with globalised methods of construction. Given the rich cultural heritage of our country, it is essential for all new developments to sit deeply rooted in their context, for materiality to be localised, and thus cost optimised.