ARCHITECTURE FOR THE FUTURE
Anil Chotmarada
Architecture as a matrix of a civilization is completely time dependent. Changing with the changing levels of civilization in a social climate, architecture is always at a crossroad as the usage of an architectural product is generally for a long time in future. Given this set of facts the shape of unfolding architecture for a given place and people should vary. Globalization has, however, changed this to a large extent. The local geographic, economic, cultural and suchlike factors generate a different architecture for a different place; the tying factor of growth and development in architecture nevertheless, remains technology and technology of all kinds is available all over the world. While the merits or demerits of technology in changing the living and working pattern of people and its consequent changes in architecture are debatable, the appreciation of these probable changes is important and a matter of great concern for architects.
Contemporary technology has introduced a sea change in our life style, especially in the urban situation, which, incidentally, is the major area of concern for architects at present. The introduction of electronics in all the equipment that we take for granted today, as of normal use, will in the near future change the behavioral patterns even more radically. Just take the basic services in a house. With the refrigerator signaling the department store to restock and the toilet bowl sending warning signals to the physician are bound to make architects rethink about the architecture of the future.
Why only the equipment, even the structure of not only the house but all kinds of buildings will be different in the future. ‘Intelligent’ buildings are already being constructed and more ‘intelligence’ is being added to the walls and fixtures. Very soon we may have a home made up of electronic walls which can virtually transfer rooms to any desired ambiance of a park, hills or the seaside. These visual effects will be augmented with not only the necessary audio effects but also the aromatic effects. Such a space would negate the necessity of travelling anywhere or ever feeling getting tired of a space. Imagine the change in the complete thinking of the design of a room in a house.
Electronic communication systems have also brought a change in the life styles. This change is noticeable in all aspects of our life, be it home or office. At home, entertainment brought through the satellite and inter-net negates the necessity of visiting friends and relatives. Even at home most family members prefer to spend time by themselves instead of the family sitting together. All these changes ask for a new spatial order. The split from the joint to the nuclear family has already introduced a major deviation in a house design. Globalization with its exposure to the western world has further changed the situation. Add to that the electronic gizmo now installed and today’s urban house is so very different from a house conceived just a decade ago. With the increase in the role of technology in our lives, there is bound to be a greater change in residential architecture. The increase in old age homes, clubs and recreational buildings are indicative of a changing life style and the changing needs and demands of a contemporary person. This can be seen today. Tomorrow will call for even more drastic changes.
In our work sphere too, the small office home office, working from home for self or even a large organization, conferencing with business associates across the world without leaving the office or home are some of the manifestations of the changing scene in spatial requirements today. Within the office itself the concept of the paperless office is calling for a completely different spatial configuration. Tomorrow will see even more drastic changes.
The rapid urbanization and the growth in population have made physical movement a tiring and cumbersome process. Electronic communication has on the other hand, eased the flow of information. It was generally for information that people were travelling to and fro. Apparently, tomorrow, there would be need to move from one place to another only if there is the need to be physically present in a different place. For most normal activities there would be no requirement to move from place to place generally. Most kinds of office work can be done from home. Office work entailing accessing information and its processing can easily be done from a space through the contemporary electronic communication systems. The office work related to interacting with people is also possible now, sitting at one place by video-conferencing. Office and home will thus merge in their identity and a new architecture will emerge.
In the domain of education, all levels of classroom instructions can be electronically transferred, from the school or college to a home. It is hypothetically possible to get more or less the complete educational training at home. The need of the school, college and institutional architecture as we see today may change entirely. It is not too difficult to imagine the whole educational system working on the more advanced version of the present day ‘open’ school and college. The interaction between the teachers and learners may be limited to fulfill only the need of meeting the demand of the ‘human’ touch.
In the world of entertainment we have already seen the demise of large cinema halls and theatres as a lot of entertainment is already available at home and is improving day by day. The architecture of cinema halls is changing to multiplexes and cineplexes where multiple entertainment spaces are clubbed. With the advent of virtual reality and its consequent implications entertainment will be a complete experience in simulated environments. This will naturally call for a different spatial order than the one we have been used to so far.
Today it is a general practice that we drive out or travel for the purpose of shopping. Be it of daily needs or specialized nature shopping meant travel. At the destination point is the local shopping center, the department store or the shopping mall. These are very distinctly designed spaces against the earlier mixed land use concept of combining the commercial and residential spaces. No longer so, shopping can not only be done from home, home appliances will order goods themselves! Over time we have seen a major change in our planning and architectural scene and the future is bound to bring about a greater change where the shopping malls may become virtual features and available from anywhere a computer and a communication link can be established.
Social interaction at one time in our country had meant visiting relatives on family or social occasions. In the present nuclear family society social interaction means going to clubs, parties or business meets. These activities barring a few specialized ones have also become space and place independent. The moment there is a change in the spatial requirement of an activity, architecture changes. Present day technology has created a situation where social interaction is possible through telephone, Internet, video-conferencing so there is hardly any need to move from place to place. Home, club, school, college, office, shopping mall, where we gathered to meet others physically can all be one space changing the character of architecture and urban pattern.
Areas, which were considered labor intensive like industry and agriculture, are also heading towards greater mechanization with the introduction of robotics and other processor, controlled mechanisms. As it is industrial architecture was always oriented towards the machine, it will, in the future, become even more mechanical in feel and ambiance.
All aspects of architecture will thus be seeing a drastic change in the future. At the macro level of urban planning in which movement forms a basic parameter there will be a primary change as contemporary communication will reduce this function tremendously. At the level of architecture, major changes in the way people live work and play will change architecture. Even the design of small individual spaces like bedrooms and toilets will see a major change in their architectural delineation.
Future architecture will be quite different from today’s architecture also because of the large changes that will occur in the construction technology and material sciences. We are already seeing the changes with the advent of better structural materials and greater aesthetic value added to buildings because of improved finishing materials and other architectural product design. Improved plastics, metals, wood products, fabrics and the like will bring about a greater change in the architecture of tomorrow.
The issue being raised here is not whether this kind of development is good or bad, but that it is most probably going to happen. This is an outcome of the path of development that we have chosen for the present. The loss of human touch and movement will certainly be compensated by something else as has been seen in the development of home gymnasiums and the like. Technology has always compensated for the inconvenience caused by some other convenience, very often creating a new situation which has other side effects which also get rectified by some means in some other manner. Life may become more mechanical and robotic but the human element will be added by the behavioral scientists. This is already seen in the creation of near daylight situation in the underground Japanese shopping malls. Architects will have to keep in mind, now even more carefully the basic human needs at the time of allowing the mechanization of architectural spaces meant for human usage.
Anil Chotmarada is a Faculty & Director in Gateway College of Architecture & Design, Sonipat-131001, India.