As aspiring and future architects we need to be aware of the influence we have as designers and that with it comes an even greater responsibility. Design has the power to create change and it is important that we use it as a tool to make the right changes. At least half of the human impact on earth is a result of our lifestyles and the choices we make every day. These lifestyle choices do not come from nothing, but they are made in communities and are influenced by design, thus the buildings and the spaces we make.
This template or way of living has been influenced and, even to an extent, created by the previous and current designs of our cities, buildings and the spaces they in turn create. People follow this template of living without even knowing it and it is because of that template that living sustainably becomes an inconvenience to people. As future architects, we have a huge influence to change this template through design and thus making it easier for people to change their lifestyles towards a more sustainable way of living.
It is easy enough to change the way we design buildings or to incorporate sustainable technologies but this is only a portion of the problem and the solution, the real challenge is solving the social problems. Our building designs need to make “green lifestyles” just as convenient and comfortable to the users and public as our current “grey lifestyles” are today.
1. Design has the power to create change, so create the right change.
2. Architecture is a process not an end product.
3. Projects have starts and commonly thought finishes.
4. The only CONSTANT is … CHANGE
People, communities and technologies are always changing … thus architecture needs to adapt simultaneously.
5. Reflexivity theory of design
AWARENESS of the problem and the change
RESPONSIVENESS to the site and the people
ADAPTABILITY for the present and the future
6. Create a new path
Breaking the rules and straying from the path of least resistance will help create work that is more interesting and more meaningful.
7. Look at everything, dismiss nothing.
Everything has the potential to be interesting and influential, yet not everything will be.
8. Architecture must be designed responsibly and should be celebrated, as new architecture is our future heritage.
9. Architecture must facilitate better and healthier living.
10. Architecture must be better than what it replaces.
11. Open building is the pedestal and only time completes.
12. INSPIRE those around you through INNOVATION
13. Never forget who you are, where you have come from and what you stand for!
Prof Paul Kotze
“You should design in such a way that the building becomes an exhibition piece in the museum that is the earth.”
