Design Case Studies

Abstract

In the backdrop of the above quote, there is an emerging movement of architecture in India beginning to critically re-examine context in terms of climate, comfort, sun, locally available building materials and labour, construction methods and natural resources. Advancements in architectural science, computer modelling, material testing and collaborative on-site training are strategically utilized to provide architects with the profound understanding of context required for sustainable design. Five projects presented in this chapter in each of five climatic zones of India will exemplify the knowledge emerging from climatically and technologically optimized sustainable design, which is neither imposed from the outside nor is solely the product of local culture. All five projects reveal climate-responsive and technologically sound architecture that usher more consciously in sustainability thinking.

A human being is part of the whole called by us the universe, a part limited in time and space. We experience ourselves, our thoughts and feelings, as something separate from the rest, a kind of optical illusion of consciousness… Our task must be to free ourselves from the prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty… We shall require a substantially new manner of thinking if humanity is to survive.

Albert Einstein (1879–1955).