One Step Forward, Two Steps Back

 
Technology has thrusted us into the future. It is the focus and driver for many things including architecture. We often find ourselves trying to find new ways to include technology into design. The more we include the more we say our designs are sustainable. However, the more technology we include, the less sustainable we become. As consumers we receive products not realizing the impacts, they leave behind being created. They’re designed to serve its purpose in life and by the time they need repair, the newest advancement in technology comes about and its replaced. Technology and consumerism create a false sense of sustainability in architecture. We preach about our buildings consuming less energy, and integrating these new technologies that efficiently use the energy we consume.

                When was sustainability in architecture defined as efficiently using energy versus not using energy. Architecture’s prime was before it needed technology to be considered great. Designing for the use of nature’s energy versus man made energy proves a much better feat over time considering the impact on our resources we so desperately preach we are running out of. Technology has degraded architectural design and has made us lazy. The more we strive to be this new “sustainable”, the deeper the whole that we dig our graves.