CARPE DIUM-ruining our future.......
The sensational surrounding was all blue in the dusky winter evening & I was watching the blue city of Jodhpur from a jharokha of the majestic Meherangarh Fort. The moment was so overwhelming I just forgot to move. Suddenly one of my friend reminded me that we had to live the place soon. Immediately I took out my digicam & clicked some snaps so that I can share this wonderful moment with others in future.
Then I realized that i was just following that particular trend which allows us to think about the present only, not about the future. This is the current trend which is observed in most of our daily life cases, be it science, be it visual arts, be it architecture......
As a student of architecture I can understand this that there must be some futuristic approach in each & every projects. Buildings are not for years, they are made for several decades or centuries. Some of the very old ancient structures are still present. Lots of medieval architecture examples are existing with the help of some little renovations, such as Tajmahal, Khajuraho temples, Gothic cathedrals in Europe etc.....
But architecture is everchanging with the changing aspects of society & nature. After the industrial revolution, lots of changes came in the field of architecture. This was the period of ‘expansion of creativity’ & brought about various architectural transformations. Post-lintel construction method came out where sometimes columns were embedded with steel. Direct steel structures were built. One of the most important advantage of this period is that new materials gave a better chance for experiment. Then the Art Nouveau style came with its asymmetrical curvilinear botanical forms which allowed architects like Antoni Gaudi or Hector Guimard to make buildings which are still regarded as one of their finest works. After that buildings of Art Deco style like New Empire State Building or Rockefeller centre in New York were constructed. Chicago Stock Exchange Building was built in the year 1894 with such a futuristic approach that the building is still functioning. It pioneered the journey of skyscrapers.....
And today’s architecture is just more than defining or designing a space.........
The approach of the past when we could ignore the consequences of our own action lies far behind us. We now have no choice in the matter. A radical alternation of our relationship to the environment has become essential now-a-days. An awareness of the need to modify behaviour patterns & means of production now touches all population layers. To make sense of the scale & character of the impacts, we have to reckon with the such issues of population increase, degradation of soils, exploitation of resources, climatic change, environmental pollution & destruction of other living species both small & large on which we wholly depend.....
So far the most conspicuous demonstration of the human impact has been the growth of cities. Seen from space, they look like rapidly growing pimples on the surface of the Earth, a sort of global measles, testifying to favourable conditions and proliferation of the organisms that produce them. At night they become points of light, occasionally animated by flares that come from the extraction of the fossil fuels that make them possible in their current form....... Thus Modernism or Post Modernism in architecture has the capacity to become a vector of creativity & the source of new economic dynamicism. It has the particular merit of being able to reintroduce the concept of the future into architectural & urban thinking. But it has led spatial designers to question their approaches and solutions. No doubt, the materials and construction system of today can create futuristic buildings which will last for centuries. But are these concrete and steel structure giants really futuristic?
In this case sustainable development would be a fresh solution. Minimizing enegy conservation, uses of solar energy, more day lighting techniques, uses of eco-friendly sustainable building materials – these can be done effectively. Buildings should be made in such a way that they will be able to survive from the harsh climatic conditions in future. Buildings like Kansas City Science & Technology Centre, Kansas can be taken as a n example......
But being an architecture student I can say this that a building is not just a programme of a space or an area, this is actually a normalised, rationalised and minimum relationship between the people and space. So designs should be prepared in such a way so that-
“solutions which meet the needs of today without compromising the ability of future generations to fulfil their own needs.”
May be all these will help us to design spaces with futuristic approaches. This is the time to improve the quality of our natural environment as well. So, we must begin to widen our thought process in such directions, so that buildings of today can witness the sunrise of the next century also........
date:21.09.2011
rm no: R 302
pandya hall,
bengal engineering and science university,shibpur
posted by shreyabanerjee @ 11:28
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