Emerging Trends in Architecture

Discussions on emerging trends in architecture seems to be a perpetual topic of discussion. It is now 30 years since the BBC serial ‘Architecture at Crossroads’, but architecture has always been at cross-roads since the Industrial Revolution, and even after 200 years of discussion on all the ‘isms’ and debates, we have not so far come out with a lasting definition or purpose of architecture which is universally acceptable.

Trends in architecture reflect the milieu of the society it caters to. In any field of human endeavor, creativity follows the innovations in all relevant fields to find solutions for the problems of the day. The Crystal Palace by Joseph Paxton, Eiffel Tower by Gustav Eiffel and bridges by Robert Maillart epitomized the capability of concrete and steel for creative form. In fact, it was the creativity of these engineers which transpired some soul searching for the architectural fraternity, leading to the birth of modern architecture.

In the early phase of its development, the architectural fraternity was more concerned with the aspects of purity of form, honesty in the use of materials and addressing the issue of function. Though architects like F. L. Wright did evolve theories like organic architecture; environmental compatibility was never the priority of any of these ‘isms’. Major clientele of the Architecture has always been big business and the government, and that is how the humanistic agenda of the modern movement was hijacked to serve the monuments of 20^th century like the World Trade Centre in New York and the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur.

Most of these monuments have one thing in common. The blatant and mind-boggling consumption of energy, making you wonder how the human society survived 50,000 years of its existence without electricity. When Sears Tower in Chicago was built in the 70’s, it was the tallest building at the time, built in the form of nine square tubes, curtailed stagewise as it rose to its 110-floor height. It was proudly announced at the time to have had electrical wiring of about 80,000 km. long; enough to wrap around the earth twice.

All this extravagance did not go unnoticed. In the aftermath of acid rain and pollution in the developed world, concern for the environment and the impact of human activities on the climate became a major issue in the seventies. It was the awareness that advantages the modern society enjoys by virtue of the industrial development come with a cost that will have to be borne by future generations of mankind, if we do not consider the damage to the environment and modify our ways.

It is this realization that has guided a majority of green movements all over the world. The UN Agenda for Sustainability, called Agenda 21 is now the agenda for the 21^st century. It is not one more philosophy or ‘ism’ of architecture, it is an agenda for survival of the human race, and architecture has to follow suit if we consider ourselves as responsible professionals. LEED & GRIHA certification and compliance to ECBC is not an option now but a mandatory requirement – and it deals with not only the architectural design but includes all aspects of impact of the new development on the eco-system – starting from soil, water supply and drainage & solid waste disposal systems, recycling of water and so on.

Any manufactured product and its manufacturing process today needs to confirm to these requirements. As for energy consumption, use of coal and fossil fuel for generation of electricity has now come under scrutiny for its impact on ecology, and the search is on for renewable sources of energy on one hand, and reduction in the use of energy on the other hand.

The architectural fraternity needs to respond to this global agenda by trying to find ways and means to reduce energy expenditure in buildings, both by using low-embodied energy building materials, and search for solar-passive architectural design solutions to use least energy for the building in use, while making it comfortable for the occupants.

Incidentally, Climate compatible buildings is not a new idea. Vernacular architecture all the world over has demonstrated that it is possible to make a comfortable shelter in any climate with the use of local materials and appropriate built form. In fact, majority of architects in the third world countries have taken cue from this, interpreting the tenets of the modern movement in their own context, making architecture that is compatible not only to their own climates, but also to their culture, lifestyle & resources. The works of stalwarts like Hassan Fathy, Geoffrey Bawa, Charles Correa, Laurie Baker et al, are a testimony to this fact.

It is heartening to see that all over the world, awareness for sustainable architecture is on the rise, coupled with the development of technological innovations in the building industry. A whole new set of building materials for cladding to manage solar heat gain have evolved, right from specialized glass to ceramics to composites, and microprocessor-based control of building facades to regulate the solar light & heat gain. Ken Yeang has demonstrated that vertical landscape not only makes the building climatically comfortable but also makes it more humane in terms of the psychological impact of natural surroundings in an otherwise concrete jungle of our cities. The emerging trends in architecture are thus a search for architecture in harmony with the ecology.