In the era of capitalism and consumerism, architecture follows human desires with no regard for nature. The following strategy needs to be reevaluated and substituted with much more beneficial sustainable design principles. The manifesto covers the focal principles of sustainable design from the perspective of its possible application. Sustainable design strives to reduce negative environmental impacts and improve building performance with an increase in the comfort and health of the people.
In the pursue to alter and improve the current state of design and bring innovation, the new principles relying on natural ideas are necessary. The manifesto introduces the principles and establishes their value for the reader to take action. The reader will get an overview of the situation and see the practical solutions to the environmental problem. The purpose of sustainable design is to put the question of the design purpose first. It seeks to meet a need, achieves a goal, and make a statement by oneself (McLennan, 2004). This allows the people to show responsibility for the nature that hosts us and for future generations. Following sustainable design principles would allow people to take a less aggressive pathway towards harmony with nature, a more harmonious living, and a better future for the entire humankind.
Biomimicry Principle
The Biomimicry principle seeks to create architectural designs based on natural patterns. Nature serves as the center of all-natural systems, so the design should also track down to it. Nature serves as an inspiration for architectural designs and should lay based on the building techniques and design (McLennan, 2004). Nature inherently provides the best solutions for the problems applicable to architecture, such as climate control, energy, and food production, and many more. Following the biological principles through biomimicry allows funding lasting clues for improving the architecture.
The surrounding nature is the secret to survival to which we have to come back in our designs. It creates sustainability for the communities through the emulation of natural systems and follows environmental stewardship principles. The biomimicry principle applied to my projects would make the design more sustainable in the long-term perspective and serve the goal of creating a naturally complimenting project that articulates an environmental idea (McLennan, 2004). To follow the principle, the design should follow the shape of organisms that perform a specific role in nature. The living organisms can inspire the design as a model (running on sunlight), measure (the idea of balance and abundance), and mentor (following the natural shapes).
The Human Vitality Principle
The human vitality principle claims people to put their comfort in the core of the new design. With the continuously developing technology, the needs of a person often get behind the unfriendly facade. In utilitarian buildings, the infrastructure gets filled with electromechanical systems that are alien to people. The technology divides the person from his community and becomes addictive instead of serving the people’s needs. The phones usage discourages a sense of community, the hospitals become healthcare factories, and cars are now the place people spend more time by themselves than ever before. Creating healthy and nourishing places for people to feel human is the goal of the principle (McLennan, 2004). Combined with the ecological principles, it aspires to create the most suitable housing for people without damaging nature.
The design projects would only benefit from the approach that is carefully tailored to comfort people. It becomes an ethical principle for the designer to find the best suitable option for a person’s needs (McLennan, 2004). To practically apply the principle in one’s work, a person needs to ask oneself the question of what real nourishment, comfort, and well-being means to them. The design project does not necessarily have to be highly technological, and contain all the latest achievements in electronics, but rather have the special comfort for a person who wooden buildings.
Ecosystem Principle
The ecosystem principle is another essential principle of sustainable design that requires taking the location into consideration of the design. The place should determine the future design other than the possible ideas that get tailored for a specific location (McLennan, 2004). The use of natural resources and processes is encouraged for exterior and interior design. The earth also needs to be respected as a non-reusable resource that may not be suitable for a particular architectural project. It is imperative to value the landscape and unique natural resources for the benefit of the entire planet. The following principle allows not only to find inspiration from ecologically various landscapes but also to implement new creative projects that harmonically add to nature (McLennan, 2004). It goes well with the idea of environmental stewardship as considering the place allows nature to dictate the types of buildings on the set.
The regional aspect of the principle also honors the great variety that exists in different places both on the macro and micro levels. From climate peculiarities to biological differences, nature provides the world with a vast diversity of natural conditions. Thus, the buildings should not be the same glass boxes but instead differ in design based on the specific location and the climate characteristics. By applying the principle, I hope to achieve a wider diversity of designs that correlate with the regional and personal needs of the person and the place itself. The materials used for building, the ventilation system, and the treading of light may show the design’s application in symbiosis with the local environment.
“Seven Generations” Principle
The seven generations principle implies that the design should be considered beneficial not only in the meantime but also for the next seven generations. It goes well with the idea of temporal rates of nature with its solar radiation or tree growth cycles. Such an altruistic consideration promotes the ideas of environmental stewardship and promotes social justice for the following generations. It is instrumental for the well-being of the entire human species, as considering the needs of future generations allows the people to start considering humankind’s development (McLennan, 2004). It is also beneficial economically because of the provided place and resources for future generations. People so thoughtlessly consume the resources will no longer be there for later unless the rates of consumption are below replenishment or are renewable. The life expectancy of the object and its use should be counted towards the other living organisms.
My projects would be complemented by an in-depth analysis of the and careful choice of resources for production. The specific step would be to start using renewable sources to build or use natural objects in design projects. The consequences of the modern projects will not only affect the current population but the future ones too, which only proves to be just to consider the consequences. Our every action affects the generations’ future since many resources are not renewable, the waste gets collected, and consuming ability only grows.
Respect for Energy & Natural Resources Conservation Principle
Respect for energy and natural resources principle presents one of the essential principles in the modern world of global warming and people’s destructive tendencies. People wastefully consume non-renewable resources at astonishing rates, which leads to immersive wastes and ecological damage. The world and the resources it gives are finite, and the way people selflessly use it could only lead to utter destruction in the end. The principle aks to recognize the essential value of the natural resources in their natural state (McLennan, 2004). The industrial economy that we have is only built on the natural economy; thus, it is imperative to take responsibility and control the spending of resources. They are necessary for the functioning of our economy and the entire system.
Respect for the energy principle shows the people several practical ways of applying design projects. The numerous ways of energy concentration and storage, such as physical (hydrologic cycle), biological (solar energy), and chemical (food calories transforming into ATP in the body) processes, can be used for energy production today. The following change in resource consumption would allow humanity to preserve or minimize the usage of non-renewable forms of energy, such as natural gas, petroleum, or coal. The renewable resources that nature provides us within massive amounts should not only be used in design projects because of the environmental stewardship principles to save the planet but also due to ethical concerns. The ethnocentric ideas of the people having the power to wastefully use and destroy precious natural resources get questioned more often as humanity faces the threat of ozone hole, global warming, and resource depletion.
Reference
McLennan, J. F. (2004). The philosophy of sustainable design: The future of architecture. Ecotone Publishing.