The purpose of our built environment has changed over the millennia. Our first dwellings were designed for the user and were engineered for human comfort to keep their hosts warm, cool, and dry. These first structures were built by locals, using local material, it was regionally specific and sustainable. As buildings progressed, organic ingenuity and engineering methods gave rise to ample leisure time necessary to produce artistic engineering i.e., architecture. Within architecture, the freedom to acquire a distinctive regional, cultural and aesthetic beauty had arrived. Architecture became in part, an intentional and theoretical exercise. One of these theoretical architects was the Roman Architect Vitruvius, who codified architectural design in three words, firmitas(strength) utilitas(functionality), and venustas(beauty).

In the previous century functionality (utilitas) became a product of form. We designed cubic volumes and tall glass towers without climatic considerations because of our perceived notion of unlimited resources. In Academia, theoretical notions sometimes overwhelmed our attention to our environment and logical evolution. Modern architecture developed an international style of form and function that made no conclusive promise to improve our lives or preserve the environment. Much of the modern movement lacked intention and respect for the culture and regional sensibilities. Engineers simply followed the direction of their architect’s “artistic” aspirations. As the 21-century arrived, the era of experimentation, deviation, architectonics, morphism, and “talkitecture” had passed. Our present task is to sustain our planet. The warning has been sounded loud and clear; sustainability is forever.

Recently and rather suddenly, we introduced “green” and sustainable attributes to the preplanning and design phase of architecture. As architects accept their role as primary decision makers with environmental engineers, in making places livable and sustainable, it is important that we reconsider all rational design concepts, and vernacular and regional solutions amenable for modern construction. In particular, vernacular architecture provides a foundation for design solutions that solved problems particular to climate, geography, social, and environmental regions.

The objective of this address is to reveal the pivotal role that architecture must perform as the arbiter of environmental engineering and the various ways it reestablishes and fosters a sincere focus on sustainability. And lastly, to demonstrate how the architectural profession redefines its primary role professionally and academically, reinforcing sustainability along with,firmitas utilitas and venustas.

 

 

Keywords: Architecture, green, sustainability, Vitruvius, environmental engineering, site, microclimate