{Comment}

What has our world become today? Why is there the inherent need to reduce carbon footprint in everything, why do we require so much of ‘sustainable’ architecture now as opposed to the days of yore?

Immediate causes are identified as the overpopulation of our world, the careless attitude of us people, the ‘reaping and not sowing’ human traits et cetera et cetera.

What have we architects(or architects to be) done to reduce carbon footprints, overcome overpopulation, or been sustainable? These questions relate directly to architecture, of building buildings that need to be less and less harmful for the environment, but are we taking a proactive role in our execution of designs?

In light of that, I would like to bring your attention to a former post from BLDGBLOG entitled ‘architectural sustainability’.

BLDGBLOG had a post on sustainable architecture which talks about buildings that are not as bad as they could have been (as opposed to being helpful to the environment), and also about a comparison between flashy architects who slap fans onto a skyscraper and tout it as green, as opposed to other architects who do it in less apparent ways like reducing embodied energy. The bottom line is that the building with wind turbines get press coverage and popularity – when it actually is less green than the other, less glitzy one. This reflects what the society’s perception has become, to revere showy buildings.

What saddens me is that when you factor in the commercial glamour, net profit, and materialistic clients, that is very much a building that they are ultimately looking for – pompous buildings.

The Castle House tower by Hamiltons architects; taken from BLDGBLOG which took it from Inhabitat

Disclaimer: this post is not an attack on the architect or its client, it is merely an observation culminated from my personal readings.