Architecture of habitat: Design for life

The construction industry and the industries which supply it have a vital role to play in the evolution of a culture of clean technology. Buildings have a crucial impact on the physical and economic health and well-being of the individuals, communities and organizations which they are intended to support. The global impact of the built environment is increasingly evident. It is necessary for everyone involved to recognize the role of buildings in the quality of our lives and the extent of our responsibilities in creating a sustainable habitat. Buildings and their components are basic needs which should be socially responsible products able to contribute to our physical, psychological, cultural and economic well-being; yet they frequently contribute to ill health and alienation, undermine community and create significant financial liability. Modern planning, construction activity, building management and demolition processes are innately unclean and environmentally exploitative. We need to identify the consequences of our actions and to process these to show how we might create a healthy built environment within the ecological limits to which we must all defer. The existing culture of control of the environment must give way to a culture of appreciation and participation. This paper will investigate ecological principles to identify mitigation strategies and the cultural shift which is required to create the intergenerational buildings upon which our future development depends. A critical appraisal of the new generation of self-declared, environmentally benign buildings could assist in determining appropriate directions for evolution of the built environment.