Ethically, architects and engineers alike have been good at policing themselves to meet their client’s needs through the design process. In the UAE’s design industry predominantly of South Asian architects and engineers, an elite has emerged to respond to the built environment’s strong but slightly waning demands successfully. But why sustainability is essential to long term development in the Middle East that makes it at this conjecture, climate emergency has become not only a challenge but a goal; all had to keep in mind. The said elite is rising to meet such arduous tasks, as highlighted in this article written by Payal of Prasoon Design Studio.
Why Sustainability is Essential to Long Term Development in the Middle East
May 26, 2021
Sustainability is an essential design philosophy that influences the construction sphere within the Middle East. The implementation of green energy, eco-friendly strategies, and sustainable rating measures have significantly affected the way that the region drives development long-term. In fact, sustainability and green strategies have the power to unlock close to US$3 trillion in economic development by 2030, which is why cities such as Dubai and Abu Dhabi are leading the way.
With rising energy demand and increased urbanisation, developers are also focusing on sustainability from a strategic perspective. Along with green materials and natural landscaping, sustainability is being driven right from the planning stage. The top architecture firms in Dubai, such as Prasoon Design, are specialising in planning the right layout, orientation, methodology, and approach to ensure long-term sustainability.
The region has historically focused on introducing new measures and guidelines to implement eco-friendlier design and construction. Using indigenous materials, new technologies, and recycled components, the Middle East’s architects are redefining the limits of sustainability. They are innovating not only on the aesthetics front but also in the longevity and ecological balance sphere as well.
Impacting Policymaking in the Region
The construction industry in the Middle East works within specific guidelines that govern its practices across residential, commercial, industrial, and infrastructure spheres. In terms of policymaking, sustainability is a key driver of the region’s long-term goals and vision. Saudi Arabia and UAE’s Vision 2030 includes plans to enhance renewable supply by 30%, with Dubai focusing on 75% clean energy by 2050.
Sustainability also shapes many of the policies around energy consumption, the use of new technologies, innovative materials, and novel construction practices. Sustainability is helping drive the industry forward by aiding in the formation of longevity-focused guidelines. The Pearl rating system is the ideal example of this, giving developers points for specific objectives that can be analysed and approved during development.
Promoting the Use of eco-friendly Measures
The construction industry is one of the few ecosystems worldwide that can radically transform the scope of sustainability within a region. With the industry accounting for 38% of carbon emissions, it is important to leverage the right construction methodologies and waste management strategies to ensure long-term sustainability. In fact, the construction industry has the potential to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 if it follows the right practices and guidelines for sustainable development.
The construction industry in the Middle East can lead the way in achieving the region’s targets of sustainability, energy consumption, and renewable energy use. Architecture firms Dubai and Abu Dhabi based are actively working with government entities, developers, and construction material suppliers, to ensure that new projects are aligned with the region’s overall sustainability vision.
Improving adaptability to new challenges
Many of the key challenges of the next few decades are going to be around sustainability and energy consumption. With the summer months accounting for 50-60% of energy use within buildings, it is important to design all future iterations of residential and construction projects to be self-sustaining. Whether through solar, wind, or an eco-friendly hybrid model, energy generation and utilisation would have to be optimised long-term.
The circular nature of construction means that developers need to focus on the entire lifecycle of the project. To implement truly impactful initiatives, such as zero waste, recycling, ecological balance, natural landscaping, zero emissions, and resource efficiency, developers need to be adaptable to new challenges. Developers that overcome challenges of the future in the present are also more likely to attract investment within the region for large-scale construction projects.
Innovative Materials Use within the Region
The construction industry is a highly innovative sphere within the Middle East, focusing on using the best materials that are sustainable, aesthetically pleasing, and durable. High-performance concrete, nanoparticles, cross-laminated timber, 3D graphene, and other innovative materials are shaping the way for the future of development. The region’s focus on leveraging these new materials is unmatched, with many new projects being designed keeping these high-insulating and low-maintenance materials in mind.
Additionally, innovative materials are easier to store, manage, and dispose of. They are highly sustainable by design and can be recycled or demolished without releasing toxic emissions or harmful compounds in the air. With C&D waste accounting for 70% of total waste generated in the UAE, it is important to use the right materials to ensure long-term sustainability within Middle Eastern countries.
Influencing design aesthetics through sustainability
Some of the most architecturally complex and aesthetically advanced projects are being designed in the Middle East owing to the region’s focus on sustainability. New geometries, shapes, layouts, and styles are being innovated to ensure that projects capture as much natural energy as possible. The balance between ecology and construction is also being promoted through sustainable architecture in the region as well.
From the exterior façade to the interior finishes, the use of innovative strategies is the key to sustainable development in the region. Both active and passive strategies are being leveraged to accomplish the goals of the construction project, with developers focusing on the right techniques to optimise energy management. Through key initiatives, such as rainwater harvesting, recycled materials, re-using of resources, solar, and water management, buildings are emerging both aesthetically superior and eco-friendlier.
Marking five years since the passing of renowned architect and artist Zaha Hadid, Zurich’s Galerie Gmurzynska presents a celebratory and revelatory exhibition of her work entitled “Abstracting the Landscape”.
The picture above is for illustration and is of Ocula.
An Homage To Zaha Hadid: “Abstracting The Landscape” Exhibition At Galerie Gmurzynska In Zurich
I write about conscious luxury, focusing on travel, well-being & art.
Described as the “Queen of Curves”, this Iraqi-British innovator was one of the major figures of late 20th Century and 21st Century architecture and design. Her buildings and interiors always dared to be different and her global legacy reveals her creative and enduring genius. What she achieved is an influential body of work which others look to for inspiration.
Zaha Hadid Abstracting The Landscape at Gallery Gmurzynska Paradeplatz Zurich GMURZYNSKA
Hers was a career marked by recognition for all that she contributed to the development of design and function. Her impact on the built environment was extensive and driven by her fusion of Modernism into her architectural creations. This saw her become the first woman to receive the Pritzker Architecture Prize and the only woman ever to be presented with the Royal Gold Medal from the Royal Institute of British Architects. Her numerous and acclaimed exhibitions have included “The Great Utopia” at the Guggenheim Museum and Art Basel in both Switzerland and Miami.
Zaha Hadid Abstracting The Landscape at Gallery Gmurzynska Paradeplatz Zurich GMURZYNSKA
Her architecture always evolved as she was never prepared to stand still or to accept anything that would compromise her vision. She was always eager to challenge preconceptions bringing some much-needed refreshment to an architectural establishment that can often appear stale and inflexible. The fact that her many buildings already seem timeless is a testament to her ongoing relevance and her ability to prompt those who follow to strive to achieve such a level of authenticity.
Zaha Hadid Abstracting The Landscape at Gallery Gmurzynska Paradeplatz Zurich GMURZYNSKA
Galerie Gmurzynska has had a long association with Zaha Hadid having highlighted her work in a number of earlier exhibitions. There is therefore an initial poignancy around this collection of models, drawings, artworks and sculptures as it prompts the thought that she has now gone. However, the sheer vibrancy of the pieces quickly dispels any feelings of melancholy and it is a joy to look at and experience what is so carefully set out here.
“When we saw Zaha’s design for the “Great Utopia” exhibition of Russian Avantgarde at the Guggenheim New York in 1992, it took our breath away. And that is what our relationship was about, to implement breathtaking projects ever since. For most she will be remembered as the female architect who broke the glass-ceiling. For her the term “female architect” was irrelevant. For us, as a gallery, her drawings and paintings could be considered works of art, while Zaha never considered herself to be an artist. Zaha was an eternaly curious and artistic minded person with a vision. It is this Zaha that we attempt to present in our current exhibition as an homage to Zaha Hadid.” says Matthias Rastorfer, CEO and Partner at Galerie Gmurzynska
Zaha Hadid Abstracting The Landscape at Gallery Gmurzynska Paradeplatz Zurich GMURZYNSKA
Zaha Hadid’s use of non-figurative forms and shapes fuses technology with art and the clever interplay of light and color combinations show her freshness of vision, creativity and technical expertise. Elements of the exhibition are so “reach out and touch” that they draw both the hand and the eye as they fill the gallery’s floor space. The sinewy contours of many of the works on display seem irresistible and lure both our eyes and hands to discover more. The mixing of media adds depth to the exhibits and there is also the contrast between the modernity on show here as it juxtaposes with the traditional architecture of the commercial building which appears opposite.
Zaha Hadid Abstracting The Landscape at Gallery Gmurzynska Paradeplatz Zurich GMURZYNSKA
The exhibition involved close co-operation with the late artist’s designs team who act as the guardians of her legacy and who seek to preserve and respect her artistic integrity. It is fitting that Galerie Gmurzynska has decided to incorporate key elements of Zaha Hadid’s work as a permanent element of its gallery space. This will act as a reminder and a living memorial of this great architect and artist’s depth of contribution over the length of her career.
Nel-Olivia Waga at Galerie Gmurzynska’s Zaha Hadid Exhibition: “Abstracting The Landscape” in Zurich XANDRA M. LINSIN
I view luxury lifestyle from a conscious perspective and am most passionate about wellbeing, art and travel. I am the founder of the lifestyle blog her-etiquette.com (follow me on Instagram: @her_etiquette). I also run the consulting firm HER CIRCLE which specializes in sustainable luxury strategies and marketing concepts with purpose. Before becoming an entrepreneur I have worked in Sales & Marketing at Coutts & Co, Deutsche Bank and Hugo Boss. Based between Zurich and London, I travel the world and write about the joy of the journey.
CleanTechnica written up by Carolyn Fortuna provides an overview of the specific situation of the struggle against climate change in the developed world via building better-adapted codes. So is it time to stop relying on Outdated Building Codes? Instead of adopting the same process in the MENA region, it was decided to opt for solar/renewable Building Codes instead, quickly labelled Green Buildings. These are at this conjecture, a popular demand-side support scheme by the industry. Green buildings contribute to sustainable construction and environment and benefit building owners and users with increased comfort, healthier indoor environment quality, and enhanced durability and fewer maintenance costs. The impact of such green building codes on solar thermal technology is relatively small. And despite that, several countries in the MENA region have shown keen interest in adopting a unified green building code. So, what to do?
It’s Time To Stop Relying On Outdated Building Codes
Building codes and referenced standards need to be updated to replace historical weather data with future-focused climate data.
Outdated building codes are a real problem. Today’s changing global weather and other unexpected events such as high winds, flooding, wildfires, and heatwaves makes it imperative for international collaboration to design updated, practical, and appropriate codes. Building codes rely on climate data, and that data is generally updated on a 10-year cycle. The requirements related to structural/ atmospheric loads for wind and snow/ ice, energy use/heat stress, flooding, and wildfire/ bushfire protection have changed tremendously in the last 10 years due to the climate crisis.
It’s time for countries around the world to step up and assess the way they review building codes.
As the weather becomes more severe from year to year, the underlying historical data simply does not accurately reflect the risk to buildings as a result of these extreme weather-related events. The building codes in some countries, particularly in Europe and the US, do reference design standards and dictate the energy performance and structural standards that impact wind loads and snow/ice loads. The issue is that the underlying data is updated on an “as needed” basis, which can exceed the 10 year average.
So a new struggle has emerged in the building industry. Relying on historical climate and weather data no longer provides the same level of safety and resilience for future extreme weather events as they have in past years and decades.
The Global Resiliency Dialogue
Building code developers/ researchers from Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the US have launched the Global Resiliency Dialogue as a joint initiative to inform the development of building codes that draw on both building science and climate science. Their goal is to improve the resilience of buildings and communities to intensifying risks from weather-related natural hazards.
The following “Findings on Changing Risk and Building Codes” statement outlines the work by the members of the Global Resiliency Dialogue, including:
Identifying strategies for the identification of future risks and the development of building code solutions that support adaptation to those risks
Cooperating on the development of international building resilience guidelines and further exploration of the relationship with land use planning instruments that help determine the location of buildings
Supporting research initiatives to better understand climate science, to assist in aligning expectations for building durability and resilience with the projection of future hazards
Developing and deploying messages and resources that enhance understanding of building codes, support a common understanding of risk and communicate the importance of up-to-date building codes
Advancing risk and impact analysis to recognize the multiple economic and social benefits provided by resilience investments and the desirability of alternative approaches that fully capture the benefits and costs provided by the building codes
The primary function of building codes universally is to protect life/human safety. Often this requires structural durability, resistance to fire, adequate means of egress, and other related functions to ensure that lives are protected. However, in discussions of natural hazard mitigation and community resilience, particularly as risks continue to become more severe and impact different geographic locations, the question of greater levels of property protection and bounce back recovery of function following an event is increasingly debated by key decision makers.
Survey findings from the Global Resiliency Dialogue describe the status of international building codes today. Currently, none of the building codes in use in the surveyed countries addresses future climate risk – all are focused on addressing risk based on past weather experiences and extreme events. However, — and this is a really good thing — discussions are underway about how to include future-focused risk in outdated building codes. As is to be expected, some countries are farther along than others.
Integrating Climate Data & Building Codes
Most building code development and research organizations rely on outside organizations with expertise in natural environmental sciences to develop the climactic and hazard maps that are included in the codes. The climate data used to inform provisions of building codes is generally not limited to the building safety industry and has the potential to impact other sectors of society. That’s important, particularly because the key science agencies are often national bodies that service the diverse needs of state, provincial, tribal/indigenous, and local jurisdictions.
Most building codes that address extreme events do so as part of the design standard and based on the probability of the occurrence of the specific event, with the design requirements changing based on the potential severity of the event, location, or the importance of the building. Design events are frequently measured in probabilities, with the ratios varying greatly by country with no apparent international consistency. In some cases, certain extreme weather occurrences have been determined as difficult to address through building codes due to either the localization of an event or the severity of the natural forces involved. Two such examples are hailstorms and storm surge impacting coastal regions.
As countries consider modeling scenarios to incorporate future climate-related risk in building codes, one option under wide consideration are Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs) – scenarios that consider the emissions and concentrations of the full suite of greenhouse gases, aerosols, and other chemically active gases, along with land use by the year 2100, based on the radiative forcing limit reached on earth before emissions begin to decline. If climate modeling is used, building codes and referenced standards will need to be updated with future-focused climate data. In most countries, this type of change will follow the standard code revision process.
Assuming that code provisions can be adjusted to address future climate risk assessments, countries will need to have a process in place to ensure that the changes are not only adequate but equally suitable and proportionate in scope. This work will fall primarily to the building code development and research organizations in each country, where they utilize their own internal processes. Some entities may develop new standards to assist with regulatory impact analysis.
In the US, a National Climate Assessment is conducted every 4 years by the US Global Change Research Program, a joint effort of 13 federal agencies. To date, the assessment has only focused on the built environment at a relatively high level. As the fifth assessment gets underway, there may be increased focus on the needs of the design and construction industry, which may result in a deeper dive into outdated building codes.
Final Thoughts About Outdated Building Codes
A whole bunch of job types are involved with the design and implementation of building codes:
Academia
Architects
Building owners/managers
Building safety professionals & industry associations
Conformity assessment bodies, such as product evaluation services
Consumers or consumer advocacy groups
Contractors
Developers
Energy efficiency advocates
Engineers
Fire safety professionals
Government entities: federal/national, state, provincial, tribal, territorial, local
Home builders
Insurance industry representatives
Manufacturers of building products
Professional societies
Plumbing professionals & industry associations
Subcontractors
Subject matter experts
Supply chain/distributors
As Forbesnotes, building codes must keep pace with technology advances in order to help tap much larger potential energy savings and cost reductions. By adapting to reflect the growing trend of fuel-switching and electrification to enable zero-emissions technologies like efficient electric heat pumps and electric vehicles, policymakers can cut consumer costs and harmful pollution while supporting the transition to a clean economy.
Architectural Digest‘s TRAVEL published just in time for Earth Day: 7 New Sustainable (and Stylish) Hotels would not typically create interest. However, in these extraordinary days of planet earth being heavily affected by human interference coupled with a semi-cloud of worldwide pandemic infection, the following are most welcome. They would find customers and many.
There’s a stigma that anything “eco” or “sustainable” must be low-budget, when in fact it’s just the opposite. Prior to the pandemic, the travel industry was one of the few that had been moving toward a more sustainable future. Hotel developers began looking at the extra costs of creating a sustainable luxury property as an investment, going beyond simple initiatives like prohibiting single-use plastic. Instead, they’ve focused on ways they could implement sustainability from inception. The past year of shutdowns and travel bans revealed the impact that the travel industry has on the environment, with carbon emissions dropping 7% globally in 2020. According to recent data from Booking.com, 70% of consumers are likely to book an accommodation that they know is implementing sustainable practices. And with the alchemy of sustainable hotels in the luxury space, travelers are quickly realizing that you don’t need to sacrifice luxury for sustainability. In many ways, sustainable hotels go hand in hand with high design. From hotels that are powered entirely by solar energy, to others that are built using vernacular architecture, luxury design hotels are paving the way to a more sustainable future in hospitality from the ground up, without skimping on all the comforts a luxury experience typically provides.
Situated on a secluded beach on a saltwater lagoon in Southern Mozambique and run by Sarah Birkett, Sussurro features various beachfront bungalows with indoor and outdoor bathing areas, as well as a library and gallery space, a lap pool, a yoga deck, and a bar and restaurant. Every aspect of the architecture, design, and experience has sustainability on the forefront. “Solar-generated power wasn’t an afterthought, like so many African safari lodges and hotels,” says Birkett. “More than 90% of the residence was built utilizing renewable energy. We began with the sustainable systems at inception.” Vernacular architecture is another way in which Sussurro is fundamentally sustainable. Using only natural and endemic materials native to their ecosystem is a means to preserve heritage craft skills as well. In this spirit, 100% of the materials are sourced and made in Africa. Sussurro’s commitment to protecting the environment is further emphasized through its efforts in their regenerative mangrove reforestation plan, where they plant carbon-rich mangrove seeds in their nursery in order to re-afforest an old salt pan that has been heavily eroded with native mangroves.
The new Casa di Langa in Italy’s Piedmont region is setting a new standard for luxury through sustainability. Situated across 100 acres of working vineyard and rolling hills, the 39-room property features a bar, a restaurant, and a spa, all combining traditional Piedmontese design with sustainable practices. Milan-based design firms GaS Studio and Parisotto + Formenton Architetti, who teamed up on the project, sought to create a property that was luxurious for both the guests and the environment. The team carefully incorporated a sustainable approach to both architecture and design. “Casa di Langa is committed to operating on 100% sustainable energy. That is why we designed the hotel with geothermal heating and cooling, installed solar panels on-site, and pay extra for utility electricity that’s certified renewable,” says Kyle Krause, chairman and CEO of the Krause Group.
Set on Mexico’s Lake Bacalar, Habitas Bacalar is slated to open this July as an eco-sustainable oasis comprising 35 cabanas with lagoon-facing views, a restaurant with an open-air kitchen, and a Mayan spa. Staying true to the brand’s innovative modular build and in an effort to minimize their environmental impact and carbon footprint, the rooms were designed by their local in-house team, which were then delivered and assembled on-site using only sustainable materials. “Biodiversity is another key pillar for the property with architecture that blends with the jungle and Bacalar lagoon,” says cofounder and CEO Oliver Ripley. As the first hospitality group to build on Lake Bakalar, there’s an added responsibility to protect it, so Habitas Bacalar will partner with a local organization to join forces for an environmental and water quality citizen science project that provides sound information for the management and conservation of the lagoon and its unique biodiversity.ADVERTISEMENThttps://3b3e19fefff3a6b64b9cbbe9421a9232.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-38/html/container.html
While over the past few years AlUla, Saudi Arabia’s isolated and expansive desert region, has been a backdrop for art and music events, Habitas will be the first luxury hotel group to open with an 100-room property, featuring a yoga deck, wellness center, restaurant, and pool. Core to Habitas’s mission is sustainable hospitality. Much like its other properties, Habitas AlUla will be built using a modular construction plan, with organic materials only, and much of the power will be supplied by solar panels. Guests will also contribute to offsetting carbon emissions by using electrical buggies and bicycles that will be provided by Habitas to transport guests around the vast resort grounds.
Easily accessible from São Paulo or Rio de Janeiro, Six Senses Botanique is located in the heart of the lush Mantiqueira Mountains. The property consists of seven suites in the main building and 13 villas scattered throughout the property, all of which are constructed modularly and using only local materials, such as jacaranda wood, natural stone, and chocolate slate. The hotel also features a farm-to-table restaurant and bar, a spa, and an experience center. Additionally, there are seven natural springs on the property providing guests with their own mineral water (avoiding single-use plastics such as bottles) and a treatment station to return clean water back to nature.ADVERTISEMENT
Located in Nago City, in the north of Okinawa island, the Treeful Treehouse Sustainable Resort is the ultimate luxury glamping destination. The property, which is operated exclusively by solar power, consists of four design-forward tree houses along the Genka River. The tree houses feature floor-to-ceiling windows and hammock swings on the outdoor decks for a fully immersive experience, and are made from wood that is 50% carbon. The resort also features the Aerohouse, a communal treehouse consisting of a kitchen, bathrooms, and relaxation rooms, as well as a roof that will be covered with solar panels. The father-daughter team behind Treeful Treehouse have also been focusing on ways to help the local community, like rebuilding a watermill at the Shizogumui waterfall that had been destroyed over a century ago.
From Capella Hotel Group, Patina Maldives, in the Fari Islands, designed by renowned Brazilian architect Marcio Kogan of Studio MK27, will open with 90 beach and water villas and 20 studios, built using natural and renewable materials. Along with the property being powered by solar energy, used water is preserved, filtered, and recycled as irrigation. As coral reefs play a big role in the local community and ecosystem, the Patina Maldives team is also investing in its younger travelers by offering free diving lessons to kids in order to encourage next-generation respect for the environment.
Shalini Chandrashekar, principal designer and co-founder of Taliersyn – Design & Architecture, writes that the case for sustainability is of paramount importance and relevance in the present day and future.
Architects are increasingly faced with the dilemma of building something that answers the immediate fanciful demands of their clients or orchestrate responsible end-user behaviour for generations at the inhabitant’s end.
The case for sustainability
The proposition of taking contemplative pauses that yield intimacy and delight often seems unattainable in modern-day living. Resisting the temptation to get caught up in the frantic rush of everyday life doesn’t come naturally to any of us these days. But acknowledging the psychological distress that fast-paced lifestyles are posing on our physical and mental well-being has become crucial.
Back in the day, when people weren’t so blinded by the allure of modernity and took time to unwind themselves in the lap of nature and the arms of their loved ones, daily routines did not turn exhaustive as quickly as they do now. With the electronic skein rapidly winding around us, there is a pressing need to identify the importance of hosting built environments that iterate a harmonious lifestyle.
Throughout humanity’s life history, evolution has been central to its synergy with nature. We, as human beings, are inextricably bound to the well-being of our environment. We thrive when our natural surrounding thrives. Since its prevalence, architecture has helped humans to devise this affiliation with its context through tangible curations.
But amid the prevalent technocratic paradigm, where we have resourcefully restructured all aspects of earthly life; it becomes an architect’s social responsibility to identify with the urge to express affinity towards nature where an environmental disaster seems to be pending.
Seeking the well-being of current and future generations within the limits of the natural world, architects are now trying to strike a balance between how short-term interests at the individual and organisational levels are at odds with the global systems and communities in the longer run.
Today’s conscious design behaviour at the architect’s end can orchestrate responsible end-user behaviour for generations at the inhabitant’s end. Whereas end-use behaviour can determine what happens in a situation, design behaviour often determines the case itself. While the end-user is an office worker deciding whether to put on a sweater or turn up the air conditioning device, the architect decides whether to heat that office with renewable solar energy or with mechanical systems powered by fossil fuels.
An architectural design that does not contemplate its local and global repercussions and fails to adapt to the ever-evolving future dynamics becomes infeasible for subsequent generations. Individual comfort can only be endured if achieved collectively with a sustainable consciousness on a larger scale.
Design practices worldwide, have started feeling accountable for devising socially equitable development that is respectful of nature now more than ever and, have started resorting to new approaches towards more sustainable energy usage in buildings. While technological advances pose some challenges in creating contextually sound built forms, its progressive attributes in terms of modern innovations ease the desperation to rely on natural resources. Contemporary practices like opting for solar panels, incorporating automation systems, or imbibing something as fundamentally classic as rainwater harvesting can contribute a fair share in taking care of our atmosphere.
But the pursuit of sustainability doesn’t come easy. It is a layered and interdependent network of judgments and decisions shaped by specific socioeconomic contexts and must consider both existing and preferred states of complex Anthropocene situations. Along with which architects also face challenges while narrating their environmental concerns to the clients who, on most days, are inspired by the fanciful ideas and foreign concepts for their dream abodes that might not sanction a contextually inclusive design intervention. Working on tight schedules and a decline in skilled labour furthers this dilemma on the creator’s side when, as a designer, all he aspires for are meaningful and appropriate design solutions.
We, as architects, hustle with the situational impositions and invest all our will in crafting architectural volumes that strike equilibrium amid the user, nature and the context. We identify with the moral sense of safeguarding the environment and composing poetic architectural vocabulary derived from human behaviours in response to its habitat.
Spaces rooted in the landscape and inspired by the local vernacular have been apparent in introducing a healthy living experience and motivating productivity in the work-life. Tethered to user experience and sustainability, these spatial identities offer a deeper resonance with harmonious life patterns by inducing a contextually inclusive built environment.
Conclusively, in today’s time when chronic modifications to the environment have registered a direct impact on our quality of life and health, holistically curated sustainable built forms willingly induce a sense of calmness among its inhibitors by offering them a contemplative pause they rightfully deserve amid their fast-paced lifestyles.
Originally posted on looking beyond borders: As a key player in the recent Israeli-Palestinian ceasefire and with its diplomats more active than they have been in years, Egypt is back as a major influencer in Middle Eastern affairs. From Gaza to Libya, the Eastern Mediterranean to the Horn of Africa, Cairo is now key in…
Originally posted on Eli Lester: The African Colosseum in El Djem, Tunisia
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