This is one of the most common questions that we come across in our life multiple times related to various reasons. Ever wondered what will be in store for the architecture discipline in the future? Will it be more sustainable or will it be a repetition of buildings, or will it be straight out of a sci-fi movie. How juxtapositioning of multiple professions influences the architectural style and its functioning?
Architecture is one of the unique multidisciplinary professions, and it holds the potential to guide the life force to heaven or hell. It all depends on how we use this complex tool to carve out our tomorrow.
Cities Striving For Identity
When there is a question for the future of anything, “development” is the term that comes to our mind Foremost. But what exactly does development mean in today’s world? How do we differentiate between a developing and developed city? If we have a look at most of the so-called developed and leading cities all over the world, such as Newyork, London, Toronto, Singapore, Tokyo, etc.
We observe that all these cities give out more or less a similar vibe in the sense that a person finds himself surrounded by similar glazed buildings erected to great heights and little to no horizon in sight. The skyline of these cities appears to be the same except for few notable structures.
Such conditions arise as in this process of developing the idea of a place’s own cultural and contextual identity is forgotten. This idea of retaining the unique identity of a place in the process of its development plays a crucial role in making the future world an interesting place to live in.
Sustainability
Rapid industrialization and modernization have significantly affected nature in more ways than we are aware of. This is especially clear with the current situation we are facing in which environmental issues such as global warming, rising sea levels, disruption in the climatic cycle, few species on the verge of extinction, and therefore, the list goes on.
All these problems pose a great threat to human civilization. Now more than ever. Architecture plays a key role in ensuring that the balance in the ecological cycle is well maintained. And sustainable building practices are a way to ensure the same.
Sustainable building solutions such as passive solar design, environmentally friendly building material, construction waste management, etc., ensure there is the least impact on the environment from a built form and even lessens the burden of demand for more and more resources from nature, thus giving nature much-needed time to recharge itself.
Sustainability is surely a key part of our future architectural developments. The growth in the field of research and invention of new sustainable practices will play a key part in ensuring harmony between different lifeforms on earth.
Influence Of Technology
Development in material and construction technology is bound to change the face of built forms in the years to come. With more efficient and sustainable building materials being produced everyday technology has contributed to a change in building typologies and quality of the built environment as it paved the way for bigger and greener buildings. The ability to use these new materials in construction is aided by computer simulations which enable us to predict how new material will react to its environment, and therefore assess the practicality and sustainability of a material.
With the development in science and technology, there is a possibility that the built forms become a more dynamic, intelligent built environment that is adaptive according to its environment and user’s requirements. These flexible designs will extend the lifespan of a structure.
MIT professor Richard de Neufville has championed the concept of “Flexibility in engineering design” (FIED). He advises architects and engineers to style systems in anticipation that usage will vary significantly throughout their lifetime, and build flexibility into their designs accordingly. This concept has been applied to various projects, one of them being redevelopment of Sydney airport. There is a possibility that the overall urban planning might undergo a major change when driverless vehicles take to the road. This step holds the potential to reshape our cities.
The New Normal: COVID-19
There was always a historical incident linked to the change in an architectural style both globally or regionally. This historical incident could be a revolution, inventions that changed human lives, change in art forms, or a global pandemic like the one we are facing right now. These major incidents had a significant impact on the human lifestyle which in turn led architecture to grow, modify and adapt itself to the changing needs of the users.
Similarly, COVID-19 has taught us many valuable lessons such as nature’s rejuvenation, restoration of the ecological cycle, and a new way of harmonious coexistence with all other lifeforms on earth. All these changes were a result of the controlled human interaction with nature.
All the global environmental issues which were threatening the existence of lifeforms on earth were resolved. Now there is a change in our daily routine and lifestyle because of this pandemic, this change in lifestyle demands different spatial requirements. Architectural ideas and practices are undergoing a gradual change right now to adapt to the new normal.
The world we see today is the result of countless significant and insignificant events of the past that played a crucial role in shaping today’s reality. A person from 1920 would probably never have thought about the world we live in today. Be it communication, transportation, medical, architectural, or any other discipline there is a notable difference observed.
But as far as today’s generation is considered this is what “normal” means to them. Similarly, for all the future generations there will be many changes owing to the “need” felt by the population. And all the professions, including architecture, will evolve to cater to these requirements.
There is no doubt that future architectural developments will be humanitarian and will try to integrate multiple contrasting disciplines such as humanities for thinking, science for exploring, art for expressing and technology for inventing to create a space, environment, and built forms that will, in turn, define the growth trajectory of human beings.
