Architecture is a profession that does not only teach one how to design a building but to design a space that can merge with the surrounding making it whole. It teaches us about all the things happening in the world that can affect mankind in general. As an architecture student, I am concerned about a lot of things. From global warming to lack of space, we have read about it all and are constantly curious and willing to contribute our share of help to make the earth a much nicer place to live in.
One such thing that I am usually very curious about is Glass Structures. When we look at Indian Architecture today, we don’t see much creativity or the use of eco-friendly ways. When we design buildings the only thing that strikes our mind is to make it as tall as we can and then clad it with glass. But as beautiful as they look, these glass structures are not a healthy habitat to be living in. They may look nice and shiny from the outside but the interiors have no natural ventilation and must be air-conditioned 24X7. As a result, people get sick.
Our historical monuments which were constructed many years ago had natural ventilation and some of them even followed the so-called “Neighborhood system”. They were magnificent and eco-friendly at the same time. If our historical leaders could make such masterpieces why can’t we with today’s variety of technology? We don’t have to adapt to the Western style all the time when we have so many examples in our very country to take inspiration from.
Secondly, as we are approaching a world so developed and sophisticated, where we don’t give any second thoughts about building structures so massive that even the name skyscrapers don’t do justice to them, we are also on the verge of destroying mother nature. The massive amount of trees that are cut down to make such huge structures not only makes the environment poor but also takes away the livability of the habitats that are going to inhabit those places. As architects, we must look for means and ways to make structures that blend and act as one with the environment. We must look for ways that do minimum damage to the environment we are building the structure into. The number of trees we cut must be taken into account and we must plant the same in that very surroundings. The lawn grass and planting a few flower pots on the balconies won’t make our atmosphere breathable. We must take a step towards a positive eco-friendly design career where we design only good natural buildings.
