When I was younger, I wanted to be an architect. The play between our built environment and our emotional feelings, whether conscious or subconscious, has always sparked curiosity within me. I look at buildings built long before me and can’t help but be inspired by the thought that went into designing them, the lasting quality materials chosen, and the care with which they were built. In contrast, many of today’s buildings are built to maximize profit – their designs overly value engineered and their materials mass produced at a low to medium quality. It speaks to the values of our society at this particular point in time, or perhaps to our abilities. To me, there is a growing tension between what should be and what is. As author Alain de Botton puts it:
“buildings will strike us as offensive not because they violate a private and mysterious visual preference but because they conflict with our understanding of the rightful sense of existence – which helps to the seriousness and viciousness with which disputes about fitting architecture tend to unfold.”
What is so bad about value engineered architecture and mass produced materials, you might ask? Doesn’t it provide more to the masses? I don’t know whether we mass produce to fit a growing population or our ability to mass produce has encouraged our population growth. However, we seem to ignore the reality of a world of finite resources. Making the few rich seems to be the overarching goal, while everything else is built in haste. We must ask ourselves what is sustainable and how can we build a physical environment that speaks our visions of happiness for the greater whole, while being respectful to the planet that provides us life. In other words, “any object of design will give off an impression of the psychological and moral attitudes it supports.” In my opinion, it is time for us to adjust our psychological and moral attitudes to provide for a sustainable future with the goal of greater equality.
