Perspective from the Past

 

   Throughout human history, a major check that stabilized human populations and kept them from exploding with exponential growth was the regional limitations in resources. Settlements needed to be close to rivers or easily accessible groundwater for drinking and irrigating crops on fertile soils. Architecture came about as a response to the regional environmental factors, providing shelter, gathering, and ritual space. Limited in material and technology, the architectural response to climate was almost purely made up of passive strategies suited to the place - some of which were quite sophisticated, such as using water moats around structures in dry climates for cooling. Now, in a global society, for the first time in human history regional resources are not our limiting factor - global resources and changing climate dynamics are. I believe that we should have a similar attitude towards these global issues as past generations have had towards regional issues - limiting ourselves to materials and methods that won’t drain the world of depleting resources and won’t unnecessarily exacerbate climate change. While that is in no way a new sentiment, I hope that looking to past architectural adaptations will provide some perspective into the level of limitation and change we are capable of in order to survive. We have the advantage of technological innovation happening daily at unprecedented levels.