MALE’ CITY | CONGESTION | WATER CRISIS ?

        Male’ City – The capital of Maldives          www.obofili.com

Male’ is the capital city of the Maldives, a nation made up of over a thousand islands and completely surrounded by water. The Maldives is most well known as a favorite destination for tourists around the globe for it’s natural beauty, clear seas, rich marine ecosystems and white sandy beaches. However, the capital city Male’ is far from being a natural beauty unlike rest of the country.

While the Maldives is made up of hundreds of islands, the capital city is the only island with ‘proper’ health, education and other necessities. This has caused the majority of the population of the country to move to Male’ and this has caused major congestion in the island over the years. Maldives cover an area of 90,000 square kilometers in the Indian Ocean, but this island nation is often considered one of the most dispersed countries in the world. The capital city covers an area of 5.798 square kilometers by land. The population of the country is just over three hundred thousand and almost fifty percent of the whole population live in Male’. The government has had no proper infrastructure in place for the growing population. The island’s natural water resources are almost completely unusable due to over consumption and the increased construction of buildings throughout the island. It has become impossible to collect rainwater at all in the capital city, due to air pollution and the air being contaminated with dust and cement. However, people have started using bottled drinking water completely. Over the years, with the fight for democracy, Malé has been the epicenter of political protests and milestone events, and this has also brought in many socioeconomic problems in to this very small-congested island.

The Maldivian government established the Maldives Water and Sewerage Company as a solution for this and to provide the public with desalinated water from seawater as the main supply. MWSC has seen slow growth similar to the rest of the government owned companies and is the only water supplier for the whole island. The main income source of the country tourism gets most of it’s income through Resort Hotels established in islands which are fully equipped with desalination plants and resources, which is proof that the country has businessmen or investors who are fully capable of establishing a private water company. Although the government’s policy for this is quite closed and prefers a state owned company.

However, the inhabited islands also face the same problem of water scarcity at some extent. A dozen islands had nearly run out of water completely. If it weren’t for the weekly cargo boat that brought in bottles of water in plastic, the stored water in some households wouldn’t last a week. “I am very upset with the government because we need water,” 42-year-old Jameela Aboobakuru from Gaafaru. “We ran out of water, so we borrowed water from our brother. When he ran out of water we started buying bottled water imported from Male’.” In some parts of the country where there is shortage of clean drinking water a family would spend 22 dollars a day to buy bottled water for drinking and cooking. Due to the dispersed geographical positioning of islands, it has always been a challenge for the authorities responsible to provide proper facilities and services to the public. Not only is the water scarcity, but also in the field of education and health, it has always been a challenge to provide proper and up to standard facilities in every island.  And this has been the main reason why the capital city Male’ have been able to offer better infrastructure compared to islands, and this brought in many residents from islands into the city.

After the Asian Tsunami, over 70 of the 200 inhabited islands had disruptions to their water supplies, either through destruction of rainwater tanks or salinization of groundwater. The immediate response of the authorities was to provide mobile desalination plants, which proved effective if not expensive until rainwater harvesting could be reestablished in the monsoon. This has also brought in new thought of changing from traditional household self-managed systems to community systems necessitating co-operative management, which requires levels of technical expertise and financial recovery.

       Male’ City – How congested we are…          www.obofili.com

The Island of Malé, the fifth most densely populated island in the world, without proper management has faced several problems in the last couple of years. The political unrest in the country itself brought in many new challenges and difficulties to the citizens, and also the struggle for power over political parties have diminished the standards of some basic public services like management of water, health services and also education standards. The Male’ city council at present governed by the opposition party members faces several difficulties when dealing with the government bodies, and this results in poor service for the citizens or delayed service. It is the question of interest that arises, the political interest or the general public interest that needs to be catered first. The decisions that we make for the gain of one single citizen would have several negative effects for the future.

Likewise, in the designing and construction industry designers do not further research into the possible challenges that might arise with poor designing of residential buildings in such a crowded and congested piece of land. If we do not make our designs sustainable enough now, then we do not have a chance even to exist on the land we care so much. Global warming and sea level rise has been one of the most concerning environment factors that the low laying islands have faced in the past several years. Due to its low height above sea level, seasonal rain floods the capital city with water and without proper drainage it becomes a complete chaos in the monsoon season. The poor waste management facilities in the capital add to this bringing in diseases during the rainy season. I believe this could be resolved with better and firm management and designing and proper waste management and recycling.

It is impossible to believe that a country surrounded by water does not actually have a proper water infrastructure. Designers when designing multi-storey residential buildings do not take into account consulting a professional electrician or plumber and even the authorities responsible for checking the building regulations do not take this as a strict measure. However, an office building or a resort island has proper regulations. But I believe that it is the residential buildings that need to be first properly managed in order to have other services running appropriately.Some of the policies of the government have caused increased prices for public services and slow growth in these areas, which could easily be resolved by privatising these companies.

One of the very recent issues the capital island of Male’ faced was the fire in the lone desalination plant (MWSC) on December 4^th 2014, which left the capitals 130,000 inhabitants without running water for days. Schools and government offices were closed and the complete city was under fear of not having clean water for days. The issue was solved due to foreign relations with the neighboring countries like India and Sri Lanka who began airlifting bottled water to the capital as taps ran dry while China and the United States also provided assistance.  India also provided ships with desalination capabilities to boost supplies. However it is sad to say even at times of such crisis political preferences play a huge role in the tiny island nation. The designing also made the situation worse by people living on upper floors not being able to get water for days. Street scuffles erupted at many places where authorities were distributing bottled water under a strict rationing system. Shops ran out of containers to collect water and people went on to collect empty bottles from the junk yards, and the situation was worsened when there was dispute over water being supplied to certain citizens and were limited to others. While water is a basic need that needs to be provided apart from the political preferences.

Shekhar Kapur, at the WaterWoMen conference in the Maldives: ‘Long before we run out of water, we’ll go to war over it.’ 

Many restaurants and shops were closed and some residents travelled to neighboring islands where there is water for drinking and washing. The crisis did not hit the atoll nation’s luxury tourist resorts located on other islands, which have their own power generation and desalination plants.

Maldives with the biggest challenge of global warming and sea level rise needs to rethink in terms of designing and planning for the future. We need to reconsider how we want to shape our future city, and not constructing just buildings, but buildings that are sustainable and efficient in terms of providing the best services and facilities. I also believe that the capital city of Maldives needs better urban spaces and public spaces for the betterment of the future generations. The congestion and such crisis needs to be resolved sooner if we want to make our cities a better place to live in. We also need to keep our political differences aside, which quite seem impossible in a country like Maldives which recently went through a police mutiny by bringing down a government which was elected by the people. But if we are to improve our living standards and improve public services we need to keep political preferences aside. We need to be sustainable and we need to be economical.

Collision Between Public And Private Sector Of The Built Environment Professionals

I believe architecture is the most mature and advanced form of human ingenuity. The timeless appeal of architecture transcends cultures and generations. Historical eras and civilizations can clearly be identified by their distinct architectural patterns, which serve as icons of a bygone era.

Economy is the biggest driving force in architecture. Buildings reflect the state of the macro to micro economy of the city or country. Architecture is akin to a multi-scaled chain that affects humans, communities and societies at a sub-conscious level.

Together architecture and economy decide the time and the level of achievement, a place has gone and marks the social and cultural status of a place. I believe Architecture is the highest form of art that one can practice. It is the most mature and an advance form of design. It is lasting and timeless; it defines cities, affects societies and has a considerable impact on overall human development.

Question?

Are buildings supposed to be a continuous habitable space or it can mean far more?

Can buildings be responsible for the economic progress of a nation or it is just a representation of a neighborhood?

Examples through traveling, reading, talking and understanding through logic

Let’s take Dubai for example. Dubai being a paradise for skyscraper lovers, an architectural marvel, has taken a new dimension in the real estate sector. Oil export which will eventually run out, Dubai had to discover a new economy for the future. They turned to Real Estate. This in the last 10 years this small settlement has transformed into a gleaming oasis. Construction of the iconic Burj-Al-Arab- the billion dollar building attracted the attention of investors from all over the world. This building which independently can possibly never make profit has a direct impact on the over-all economy of the place. Tourism increased in this oil depleting place. This gave birth to the real-estate boom in the country. Around 2005-2006 half of the world’s crane were operating in this region. Prices of houses and commercial spaces sky rocketed. This baffled me. Why people suddenly got so interested in this area? Why the land offered in the middle of the dessert seemed so lucrative? Are these signs of a bubble which might burst? And yes is it. With the global recession impacting Europe and America, Dubai too felt the heat. People in anticipation of increasing real estate prices invested in several properties with no one to buy in the time to need. Most of the buildings were empty. Why were they created in the first place when the local population is so less? The Emiratis only form 17% of the population. They created an entire city for the immigrants and expats who were looking for a higher standard of living and higher income. Dubai is a city of tax haven where the price of petrol is cheaper than a bottle of water.

In spite of these formula for success, to have an alternative means of economy, the city suffered badly. Architecture alone could not save the city which just remained a mystical dream. Buildings which at one point got world-wide attention were also the cause of economic downfall.

All this arises to one question who are we building for? It is important to carefully understand the demand and supply chain. Over supply is not just a burden on the economy but on resources and environment. It is not advisable to rely on a single economy. Architecture is long lived but tourism is not. Travellers are constantly looking for newer cheaper locations. It is just a wave that impacts for a while. Cities have to adapt and change to accommodate all kinds of people. What if tourists stop coming to Dubai? What will Dubai do next?

This takes me to a different land where a burgeoning population has impacted the over-all world economics and economies.

China- Just last week it over took the mighty American Economy to be the number one in the world. The International Monetary Fund recently released the latest numbers for the world economy. And when we measure national economic output in “real” terms of goods and services, China will this year produce $17.6 trillion — compared with $17.4 trillion for the U.S.A.

With an estimated 700 million of its billion plus population are now residing in urban areas, China has reached an important tipping point in its evolution from an agrarian to industrial economy. But this mass population migration, has resulted in an odd form of growing pain: massive, pre-fab cities built for a populace that doesn’t even exist yet.

China has built more than 500 of these empty cities since the Cultural Revolution in 1978, with hundreds more set to come online by the end of the decade. The theory behind it is solid; by 2020 one in eight humans will live in a Chinese city, totaling more than one billion people. China’s existing urban infrastructure simply cannot support that kind of population boom.

But China’s response takes the form of a very significant gamble. Instead of slowly expanding (or densifying) urban areas in direct response to demand, the country’s political leadership instead build entire towns all in one go. While it holds the distinct advantage of centralized planning, allowing government officials to lay out a comprehensive urban design—from public works, infrastructure, schools, and government buildings to stores, malls, and even universities—this method is also seriously risky. Should the any part of the town fail to take hold—business, industry, or residential—the entire project could be in danger of failure.

(Ref: http://gizmodo.com/chinas-building-cities-so-fast-people-dont-have-time-1446570856)

China now has the highest number of vacant space to be occupied. They have built Ghost Towns which mimics the cities of Europe but no one to live.

This also has massive side effects apart from being risky. The skies in Beijing and Shanghai are filled with smog. China now has the highest Co2 emissions in the world. A single molecule of Co2 produced locally has a global effect – stays in the atmosphere for 100 years. This is not sustainable. All in the name of growth and to suddenly become a super power – is it justified?

And this takes me to the next question. Do developing nations have the right to use natural resources to be developed?

Since the developed world used unsustainable methods to grow which now impacts the entire world, imposes ban on other countries to limit carbon emission.  Suppose if I were to image that there is a fixed carbon space in the atmosphere and 50% of it is already full. 90% of that space has been used by the developed world and only a fraction by the underdeveloped nations. India’s contribution to Global warming will be around 2%. Is that fair?

It is estimated that only 2-5% of the global population is responsible for almost all the Co2 produced. An average American emits almost 20 tons of Co2 a year, a European around 15. That would bring the world average to 3-4 tons. Now in order to improve the living standards are individuals entitled to basic amenities like refrigerator, T.V., washing machine, computer etc. etc.? Thus we can conclude the Co2 emitted is directly proportional to the number of humans in the planet. Now that’s a serious problem. Last decade or so we have been witnessing extinction of previously endangered species. Are we responsible for that? Aren’t we the protectors of the world? Over here I would like to use the famous saying from one of my favorite movie- Spiderman, “with great power comes great responsibility”. I can put another equation in the picture where the total number of species in the world is inversely proportional to the humans inhabiting Earth.

But I do feel that developing nations have the brightest chance of being developed sustainably. The richer nations should join the bandwagon so that we can see this world a little longer. We have all seen the images of a polar bear swimming in the deep sea looking for land. We all felt bad at the site of it. So in that relation once a friend of mine asked me this question that “why do you want to save the polar bear when most of us won’t even see it”. This question made me thing. Humans are sensitive beings and sometimes our economic decisions are based on emotions.

Jumping To India

Growing up in this country has been one of my best learning experiences. India still remains a mystery on how to works, to me it is the United States of India where people from all races, casts and languages live. This also has its own problems but has its clearly defined strengths. A country which has a huge potential to be the finest example in Economy study. Nearly 400 million people in this country live below the poverty line drawn by the government. This raises developmental issues in all aspects trade and commerce to education to infrastructure to housing. Won’t this be a huge burden on the environment? Do we have to compromise on environmental issues to address the afore mentioned problems.

We should learn from China. China provides skilled labor to make all kinds of products for the entire world. India too should work on the same. Increasing the literacy level which will empower people for skilled work. The population in these two countries can be the huge work force, proving for the world.

I grew up in contemporary Kolkata, where the skyline is broken in some areas by skyscrapers and tall multi-storey blocks. The cityscape has changed rapidly over the years. The central Kolkata, once a row of palatial houses, has been given up to offices, hotels and shops. In northern and central Kolkata, buildings are still mainly two or three stories high. In southern and south-central Kolkata, multi-storeyed apartment buildings have become more common.

I find myself pulled by two opposing and contradicting observations. On one hand, ancient monuments which is a symbol of pride and timeless constructions and on the other, new buildings, which are made in sheer disregard of the former.

Indian cities lack that immense character about which we once read in history books, because the old and the new are not in sync with one another. Old historic cities which has adapted and blended with the changing times seem to fail now. I found cities like Hong Kong and Singapore perfectly represents what they stand for. The colonial buildings are well complimented by the 21^st century modern buildings. But I felt these cities however clean they are, are manicured to perfection, making it artificial sometimes.

Hence to understand monuments and its impact on modern world and to create a suitable building requires high degree of understanding and maturity.

Accessible constructions that walk the fine line between beauty, practicality and economically are the best constructions. The buildings should have a sense time they belong to. Cities should evolve continuously and age gradually.

The concept of sustainable buildings have taken a new meaning these days. We as architects have this obsession of smart buildings which we think are sustainable. But are these really sustainable?

Our excessive reliance on computer generated modules have given away to thinking, thinking on designing with a soul using natural material and passive ways of conditioning a building. We loosely use energy efficient mechanisms and build a building in a corner of a city and call it a green building. We forget about the embedded energy already used in the making of the building, the transportation costs and people travelling long distances to use the building. We need to look at things in a more holistic manner. We need to reduce the Co2 emitted from the buildings in the first place.

This can be as simple as the newer hotels doesn’t even have windows that can open. Why the indoor environment constantly has to be controlled. Why do we promote unsustainability when at the same time we cry about sustainability?  We need to design with dynamism. Buildings should be more responsive in terms of spaces and living environments.

However starting from the computer age, the impact of space is demolishing, computer started to establish another sense of distance and virtual space. We can perceive an amount of information outreaching the amount contained in the physical space. The technology revolution addressed a new kind of space: “The Tech-Dwelling”. ”The “Tech-Dwelling,” could be a computer, a smart-phone or potentially in other forms, contains every undifferentiated function into a single piece of chip. I am not denying positive impact of technology brought to architecture.

But a little more sensitivity is required in terms of addressing the varying and constantly changing issues.

In these periling times of disturbed environments architects should be seen has heroes.

Architects become more famous but less relevant. After Philip Johnson there has not been a single architect in the cover of the times magazine in last 30 years. The economic trend and new markets have given birth to new kind of global entrepreneur. We are the most entrepreneurial generation. Every other day there is some innovation in the IT, computer industry. What about the building industries and architects which are also being impacted by this global phenomenon of technology. Newer means of design and constructions are sometimes hardly unnoticed.

May be we need more awareness about our habitat, living spaces and conditions.  The goal is to achieve a net zero economy someday. But we are far away from that.

I am of the opinion that necessity is the mother of all innovations. Architecture is just not a subject of suitable constructions on a site but wider debate on various aspects that encompasses various functions attached to a space is necessary.

Thank You for reading my confusing text.

A lot of questionable countries are keen to use events like the Olympic games or Soccer Championships to show off their modernity or ‘open democracy’ on the international stage. Meanwhile behind the scenes the population is being repressed because governments do not want negative headlines in media, relocated in order to create space for the giant stadiums, exploited to pay the costs, nature is destroyed. Architects play an ambivalent role in those affairs. In order to design another awarded and prominent project they are happy to serve those events without questioning them much. They let themselves be utilized for critical projects as well as they use them to increase their prestige.

Olympic Summer Games Beijing 2008 – decay or reuse?

The Olympic games in Beijing in 2008 had to face multiple of the problems mentioned above. Critique for human rights was repressed. 1,5 million people where relocated in order to create space for the Olympic infrastructure. Architects did not seem to have a problem with that. Renowned Swiss-based Herzog & de Meuron won the competition for the Beijing National Stadium – better known as Bird’s Nest. Definitely the design is very poetic but is it 100% good architecture? Is it reasonable to build a 293€ million building for an event of 16 days duration? 110.000 tons of steel where used for the construction, during the Olympic games it could hold 91.000 people. After the event the buildings capacity was reduced to 80.000 but it is rarely used at its capacity. If – IF – Chinas application for the Olympic Winter Games in 2022 is successful, it could be reused. Meanwhile there are some plans to convert it to a shopping mall… It seems like if urban planners do not know what to do with something anymore, it often ends up as a shopping mall….

A more sustainable example from the Olympic Games Beijing 2008 is the Beijing National Aquatics Center nicknamed Water Cube. With total construction costs of 94 millions euros it seems like a bargain compared to the Bird’s Nest. The design of the building focuses on ‘green’ aspects. Therefore the building features various technologies: solar energy is used to heat the interior; there is a system to reuse the water of the facilities; the façade material is self-cleaning with rain. During the Olympic games the building held a capacity of 17.000 seats. After the games the venue was reduced to 7.000 seats, which is less than half. The building was converted into a public leisure aquatic park. This may seem like a trivial reuse but there is a reuse and the building has a new life after the Olympic games. An economic use it important to maintain the buidlings sustainability. Architects should think ahead more often and not just design single-use architecture.

Olympic Winter Games Sochi 2014 – faster, higher, most expensive

The Olympic Winter Games in Sochi last year remain in history as the largest yet most expensive ones in history so far. The estimated cost ranges up to 41 billion euros. Only the Fisht Olympic Stadium planned by Populous and Buro Happold cost 628 millions euros. At least it is going to be reused for the 2018 FIFA World Cup and the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup. Severe damage to the environment had been done by the event; again people were displaced. The architects of the facilities were happy to serve as uncritical accomplices to those topics. The value for the population of Sochi remains little. The image benefit for Russia is diminished by international crises like in Ukraine. If Sochi will remain an international attraction for tourism seems doubtful.

Olympic Stadium Tokyo 2020 – big, bigger, the biggest?

The Olympic games of 2020 in Tokyo are still in planning stage. But one object is already highly criticized: the Olympic National Stadium by Zaha Hadid. Located in the historic outer gardens of the Meiji Shrine, on the site of the 50.000-seat capacity Olympic National Stadium from 1964, Hadid’s 80.000-seat venue is planned with arches rising up to 70m high. After massive public criticism it had been downscaled by a quarter in order to reduce the budget for 40%. Still it is estimated to cost 169 billion yen  (1.14 billion Euro). The reduction did not affect the public opinion. Opponents still label the building as too big and too expensive.  Hadid’s statement ‘…we don’t make nice little buildings’ does reveal the attitude a lot of (star-)architects have nowadays. Sure it is the dream of an architect to design a landmark, not a building, no matter what it might cost to eternize their delusions of grandeur. But is that really necessary. Sometimes yes. Nobody would question Sydney’s opera house despite all the struggles, delays and cost explosions. But still, if there exists already some infrastructure, would it not be possible to adapt, reuse and rebuild the existing facilities? Of course they are not up-to-date but wouldn’t it be more sustainable to alter them? It might be less prestigious but maybe more reasonable.

Soccer World Cup Qatar 2022 – call of duty?

Another big sports event which is planned to happen in 2022 is already prominent in nowadays newspapers. The Soccer World Cup in Qatar is highly criticized by human rights activists. Although there are still some years to pass until the event, more than 1.000 Indian and Nepalese workers already died on the construction site. Accommodated under terrible conditions and without any papers they have no choice to leave. There are already plans to build a monument for the victims but this is not a war, it is simply the construction of a soccer stadium. So would it not make more sense to focus on the conditions of the workers that are still there and assure them proper work circumstances? When star-architect Zaha Hadid who is in charge of the design for the al-Wakrah stadium was interviewed she pointed out that she has ‘nothing to do with the workers.’ She stressed that this is the duty of the government and not the duty of the architect ‘to look at it’. Furthermore this would not concern her more than the deaths of the war in Iraq. Of course it is not her fault. But is it that easy? Architects sell the design and what happens with it is none of their interest anymore? Can we just close our eyes and ‘not look at it’? This unattached view of an architect is critical. It should not be that architects make sumptuous designs no matter at what cost – may it be money or lives. It would be cynical to talk about sustainability when facing over 1.000 deaths for an event eight years ahead during preparation. But that something went terribly wrong in the planning of this world cup is obvious. Architects are not responsible for everything but by the choices they make, which project to plan, with what companies or countries to cooperate and for whom to work they have some influence. After international and prominent critique conditions for the construction workers are being improved. Architects involved remain silent collaborators by saying ‘it is not my duty’.

Olympic Games 1992 – Learning from Barcelona

The Olympic Summer games in Barcelona in 1992 had a huge impact on the city. The general urban plan for the games is still influencing the city nowadays, the method was so successful that it got its own name: the Barcelona model. Although more than twenty years ago, it is still a role model and quoted in other ambitious Olympic ‘plans’ like the Games in London. During the rule of General Franco Barcelona had become and industrial backwater. By the time Barcelona was voted to host the Olympic games in 1992 it was still suffering form the consecutions of that time. But once the decision for the Olympics was made, the planning started carefully. Urban planners started to increase the city’s qualities already years in advance by small urban interventions. More public spaces where created, sometimes just as simple as boulevards with palm trees or a few benches in public space. Aware that the Olympic games often leave host cities with numerous abandoned and sumptuous structures, facilities in Barcelona where created for further use. Football games still happen in the Olympic stadium, but it is capable of doubling its capacity for concerts or shows. But the planners were not afraid to face big infrastructural projects as well – despite the costs they were going to face already for the Olympic infrastructure. The city created a whole new beachfront by demolishing the industrial buildings on the waterfront at marina. A new promenade was created at the beachfront, setting new landmarks as Frank O. Gehry’s giant fish. It became a magnet for tourism; one restaurant is neighboring to the other at the beach boulevard. Nowadays the beach is a main public attraction for tourists as well as for locals. By the time the project was realized people probably were shaking their heads in doubt about the costs and the magnitude. But today no one could think away the beach from Barcelona. It is one of the most precious parts of the city and a main economic drive. The Olympic infrastructure created for the games is thought to have provided over 20.000 permanent jobs for the city. Therefore although costly it remained sustainable.

Conclusion

In connection with careful urban planning the city experienced a huge image benefit from the Olympic games and remains one of the most popular European cities. Architects and urban planners should consider more thoughtful those big events. If planned carefully they can have a massive sustainable effect for decades. But if just planned in short term view the host city usually remains financially ruined, whole neighborhoods abandoned and in worst case society is destabilized and the environment damaged.  Nowadays political pressure of these events is increasing: bigger – faster – more sensational. But architects should consider if they want to be a accomplice in that system. By planning the buildings as well as playing a role in the master plans of those projects they can have some influence. Architects should reflect their social responsibility. Of course it is tempting to plan an iconic landmark when costs do not matter. But somebody has to pay the bills and it is usually the people of the particular country. Reducing some extravagancies and finding a reasonable scale is one way. Thinking ahead about the use of the building is the even more important part. It is absolutely not sustainable or economic to construct a million heavy blown up stadium to leave abandoned and unused ever after. This should be already an important part in the architectural competitions and to be considered in the choice of the awarded projects.  But as long as the juries and committees of those yearly sensations do not reflect those topics, it will remain to the architect to be self-responsible. Architects cannot teach governments or society to act sustainable. But they can use those events to show how things can be done. In a time when world seems to become smaller and smaller anyways, it is important to show new ways to give those architectural giants a second life after their main purpose and stay at least to a certain way economical with the recourses and space.

The Economics of Sustainability_ayaanbarodawala - click to view pdf

Of the many nations in the world only a small handful still consider themselves to be communist. China and Vietnam have markedly capitalist leanings, while the communist labels of Laos and North Korea are dubious, exhibiting many characteristics of military dictatorships. Only Cuba, the former Soviet ally and eternal pariah for the United States, still adheres to many of the tenets established by Marx and Engels in their investigation and pursuit of an enlightened utopian society. Since Fidel Castro and his fellow revolutionaries first raided the island in 1959, Cubans have seen their healthcare system become one of the finest in the world, yet still many subsist on food stamps to feed their families {1}. They have also seen their industrial composition morph from sugar export to beach tourism, and their environment has transitioned from pristine, to degraded, although now it is recovering. In fact Cuba is considered to be one of the only sustainable countries in the world {2}. In part, this is likely due to the United States embargo that affects almost every aspect of daily life in Cuba: the country has been unable to import pesticides or other agricultural products, so the majority of their farming is organic by necessity. In addition, the need to supplement their government food rations has driven Cubans to practice urban agriculture, thus reducing the average embedded carbon footprint of each meal. Perhaps the small scale of their island relative to such behemoth nations as China or Russia has altered the Cuban perspective. For example, by 1959 approximately 86% of the island had been deforested under the colonial powers and the dictator Fulgencio Bautista. Since then the national reforestation project has been repopulating trees. Every aspect of forestry became regulated with the passing of the National Forestry Act in 1998, and today 26.7% of the island is covered in forest, and increasing. The government currently employs over 40,000 people in forest-related work including park rangers, lumber industrialists, and university graduates {3}. Clearly a combination of economic and political factors have produced a uniquely Cuban sustainability paradigm.

Reason of the foundation is the worlds most excellent gift for a man. Knowledge, however, has its limits. The creative spirit of the designers and architects seeks them overcome the craving for knowledge, not to enter the future to design space for the man soared to perfection. To achieve adequate knowledge architect must broaden their horizons, certain knowledge and in other areas, in particular cooperate with other participants in the process of developing a better future for man. The text discusses the need for sustainable urban development which is a prerequisite for creating a sustainable city, as the basic matrix of the city required for life and the future of the city. To address this man should has knowledge of urban development, urban environment, environmental problems and social and intellectual norms in society variable financial and political parameters. The large number of complex parameters are needed knowledge, patience, perseverance and wisdom of all of us, and every mistake is costly punishable.

Architecture-Design often lack the recognition of macroeconomic and microeconomic variables. Most economic analyzes have rightly spatial research. For this reason it is necessary to find a common language for proper functioning. Construction of a new language requires research, the concept of broader spatial analysis in the design, architecture, urbanism. All the oppressed wider context and factors. The mind needs to have environmental, economic, social aspect and political identity.

Is there a possibility to do something new? What we can change?

Ensuring an appropriate level of useful environment in the current urban environment today is a significant problem. Despite the development of science and technology, many elements of the environment are an urban problem today. To achieve this goal it is necessary to develop an awareness of not only the individual, but the entire society. Economics as one of the key factors should determine priorities, the importance of projects that are invested and thus result. I think that knowledge of one key problem is important for further decision. Therefore, if we are aware, for example, the current state of energy availability in the world we should find a way to improve it. The problem arises because of not developed awareness for the benefit of mankind. The investor is willing to invest in a building of several thousand square meters, regardless of its architectural and social value, considering it will brings him a profit. Nevertheless, sustainable architecture and sustainable resources are completely ignored, because it might be unprofitable in a given time. Energy efficiency is important as a essential for the survival of human society.

Where is the exit? In the future Humanity should be significantly turn to the use of alternative (imperative) energy sources. Knowledge of markets, development needs and potential as a whole, established investigation strategies and strategies of industrial development, are essential in order to identify desirable investors who want a clear insight into the situation and potential of each sector, to invest in what interests them. In the cities of earlier epochs environmental problems were mostly related to the lack of proper infrastructure, underdeveloped hygienic level, overpopulation, over construction and others. Nowadays, problems related to the state of the environment are much more numerous and reaching to the very complex problems of technical nature and psychology of urban living . In order to enable further progress of the human population, it is necessary the adoption and implementation of sustainable development. The basic idea of sustainable development is meeting the needs of present generations, without compromising the possibilities for future generations to meet their own needs. Sustainable cities allow the architecture to transform itself, not to be traditional but useful, innovative and economical. As a result we have design that rationally relates to energy use and refrain consumption of limited natural resources. How environmental imperative and a moral imperative become by the fact that designers are constantly exploring models that would be sustainable design is actually implemented in the modern trends of architectural practice. Some of the models, which were presented at the European market actually stress the marketing potential of “sustainable” investments, and so “green building” are more profitable than the label on the real estate market in developed countries. In this case, architecture and economy are finding a common language, not hinder each other.
Sustainable development is based on protection, so it is conditioned by the need to upholding the concept of nature in order to provide the resources and services necessary for life. From this perspective, sustainable development means improving the quality of human life within the limits of the capacity of the submission of ecosystems that support it ‘.
This definition of sustainable development is a normative concept that includes a standard of behavior that should be respected if the human community tends towards satisfying their own needs of survival and well-being. The definition includes three basic components, namely: economic, social and component of environmental protection, which form the basis of sustainable development. All three components are mutually linked and interdependent, and therefore require that everything is being done in the field of development is in line with each of them separately.

When it comes to urban sustainability, it must be borne in mind that cities have never been self-sustaining through history, and that they probably never will be in the true sense of the word. The city, as a man’s environment, had to meet its biological, environmental, social, economic, aesthetic and other requirements and needs that have evolved with the development of civilization. In addition, cities are ‘producers’ external influences on the environment, both positive and negative. How is the growing awareness of aspects of environmental pollution associated with urban living and quality of life in cities, increasingly provoking questions about the relationship of the positive to the negative impact and proof that this relationship is disrupted. As a result, more attentiveness to the capacity of the submission of a sustainable city overall area needed a system that would support life in the city, through the production of goods, resources and acceptance of waste materials from the city  often called ecological rate city. It can be concluded that sustainable urban development can only be achieved if the system is established renewing his energy, human, environmental and technological potential.
Cities today are not only a reflection of the society within which the finding they are more a reflection of society is global. Or how Mumford wrote in 1961 in his book ” The city in history ”: ” … slowly we went from being a city that symbolizes the world, to the world that in many practical aspects of becoming a global city ‘. It can be argued that each generation has the right to regulate their environment according to their needs and capabilities, however there is also a parallel obligation of this generation to their successors, in the coming generations, leave enriched, and not wrecked space. The city is one of the artificial creation and its sustainable development in terms of ecological balance can be achieved only if all urban processes are controlled and synchronized with the laws of the natural environment. To achieve the goals of sustainable development, it is necessary to understand that cities play a significant role in this process.

As a development can take and developing of Dubai. Economics allowed expansion and development of the city. The city has in recent years significantly progressed, we can not omit the worldwide economic crisis, which did not avoid this town, but good economic organization allowed the continuation of his progress, urbanization, and lately concept of green architecture. Projects are based on hundreds of lesser energy and water consumption.

To answer the question of what is a sustainable city, it is necessary to sustainability seen in the wider context. It means that one should not only look and talk about the environment in the city, but also to take into account the role that the city has in a broader context. To achieve this goal should be to act as a company which has developed awareness about their future. The model sustainable city, besides it’s strictly defined physical boundaries, reflecting the social and matrix of the city . This model is manifested through a myriad of different forms, depending on the historical heritage, culture, economic base, climatic, geographic and geopolitical characteristics, to all these forms at the end reduced to only a few variables that determine it. Sustainable city no ” recipe ” behavior towards sustainability, but should have defined the elements of measurement achieved. The city can only be considered sustainable if its governing structure the entire planet is seen as unique.
Cities should be considered for places that serve its attractiveness as drivers of economic development in terms of  creativity, innovation and the creation and sharing of knowledge, the stimulation of proactive innovation and educational policies, on sustainable construction, architecture and urban space use, the high development of the local economy, the exploitation of the architectural values, historical heritage buildings and public spaces through the development and reconstruction of the urban landscape.

Cities need to set the positive principles of urban spatial development, which will be based on:
balanced economic growth and territorial organized activities, with a polycentric urban    structure, strong metropolitan region that can provide services of general economic interest, compact structure of settlements with limited urban sprawl, a high level of environmental protection and quality of life in the city and surrounding areas. Sustainable cities must have attractive open public spaces and promote sustainable, inclusive and healthy mobility in a way that cycling and hiking trails that are attractive, and public transport favored. Increased energy efficiency in buildings reduces the economic and energy vulnerability, and associated innovations, technologies and services in the building and energy are important drivers of local development.

Common approach to solving the problem of exclusion, the energy poverty and better housing conditions come to the key elements of development of the city so that the city becomes more beautiful and lively, but also more competitive and eco-friendly. Building a “green and healthy” cities goes beyond simply reducing CO2 emissions. We come to an integrated approach to environmental protection and energy sector in which many components of natural ecosystems are intertwined with those of the social, economic, cultural and political urban system in a single system. His influence is essential for avoiding rural depopulation and to promote balanced territorial development. The question is whether this problem can be solved on a global level in view of the disparities between the countries in the world have never been more obvious.How to awaken man’s awareness of the efficiency of energy resources and the value of what we have to do. Why not let the natural functions, existing natural techniques to be used for greater efficiency. Every place in the world has ups and downs, problems to be solved but the problem lies in spreading the incentives of his subjects.

Image references:

https://www.google.com/search?q=sustainable+dubai&biw=1600&bih=746&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=DEqGVO6IOcLxUpCJg-gP&sqi=2&ved=0CAcQ_AUoAg

https://www.google.com/search?q=sustainable+cities&biw=1600&bih=746&source=lnms&sa=X&ei=OkqGVNuRGYHlUri2gugP&ved=0CAUQ_AUoAA&dpr=1

Thailand, the country with the water, going back to the history of Thai culture, people live with the water or we can say “embracing with water”, everybody would like to build their own properties on the river banks not only because of the passive cooling that can turn the temperature of the house become cooler but also economic issue that the market transactions are happened around this particular area. There are full of typical Thai architecture such as raft houses, which could be adapted for practical use in city planning for communities along river banks. Most citizens take a benefit from river as the marketing channel to sell their products along the river which have the interaction between the habitat and the merchant created “Community” in each node of the city. If we zoom out to see macro-economic of Thailand, the main economy that driven Thailand for so long is “Agricultural”. Rice becomes the primary exporting products to overseas and Thailand is the number one country of world that export rice with much amount of quantities plus quality because of the soil and the weather and the water that make the farmer can crop the quality rice as we can see that Thailand economy and Thai society are always relevance with the water.

Unfortunately, surrounding with the water is not totally gain benefits as we wish, there are some critical issues that need to be concerned which of course something that we cannot control “the natural phenomena” which is “Rain” which can create the flooding issue. Let’s me identify the term of “Rain” in our Thailand context, rain can be both good and bad. Rain can become valuable asset to the citizen and farmer for growing their crops but when rain is more exceed and without decent management, it will turn to be flooding problem which can destroy the crops and cause many social problem issues to the city. If we have clear visionary about the term “Rain” and clearly understand the behavior of it that can has advantage and disadvantage in itself, why don’t we create the “Water System” to control the water from rain.

The next question might be “Why water need to be systemized?”

Before I answer this question, I would like to introduce the term of “Imbalancing” in Thai context first because Thailand is a country at risk of water disaster both draught and flood. Considering its size, the country has a great length of rivers in its water network, specially the central delta. Together with monsoon behavior around the region, Thailand has always been worried about the water flooding that always comes with monsoon but delirious sprawl of cities and irresponsible agriculture lands trigger huge imbalance of water flow, they get insufficient to use water during dry season and larger scale flood during rainy season.

The 2011 monsoon season hit Thailand with flooding that cost 815 lives and affected millions of others. World Bank estimates put the damage to the Thai economy at nearly US$50 billion, largely due to the impact upon industry. Factories and plants in seven industrial estates in Thailand’s central plains were evacuated due to the deluge, with automotive and HDD industries among those worst hit. Given that the 2011 floods effectively stalled what had been the extremely rapid growth of the Thai economy, it’s not surprising that the Thai government was quick to announce $11 billion of flood-defense spending including approximately a half billion for quick-fix measures at industrial centers. This has got a lot of people rethinking about our relationship with nature, and how at the present rate of economic and industrial development we are moving at a speed beyond the limits of our natural environment.

                                                                            Resource : http://www.travel.cnn.com

According to the unstable delta condition as flooding situation in Thailand, it is caused by changing environment, we have many problems those occur in this case such as in term of lacking of the food and energy, transportation, supplement, the existing networks are disconnected, changing of life process, so all of them are directly effect to our life.

The question that arises is whether it is possible for us to relearn to live with water as we have done so in the past. We have to change the way we live with water and also we need new tools that are more human related. “The people’s tools” the tools that make us more responsible and enable us to live with water in the new way all together.

“Dams won’t work. They are managed by politics.”

“Wake up Architects” We should take part in this!!

This propaganda should be popped up into Thai architect thought but honestly as an architect, I never have an interest in flooding issue in Thailand before, but after 2011 Bangkok flooding which have the big impact to me and my family and also have the effect to all citizens in Bangkok. From this reason, it reflected my thought to really concern to solve this issue and how to deal with this issue as an architect. Of course I’m not politician that have enough power to control everything as I could wish but as architect, we can propose the alternative solution how to deal with the water issue and how to turn water become more valuable in a creative way.

As I’ve investigated the physical land layers of Bangkok, we might say that Bangkok is rapidly sinking as it is eroded each year by floods of seawater that invade the city. A UN study claims that most of the city will become marshes by 2050. The city was built on marshy land 300 years ago, but the grounds are rapidly deteriorating.  But in term of economy issue, I can see the skyrocketing population and development of the city has caused the underground aquifers to become over exhausted, making them unable to handle the flood waters. The city is surrounded by polluted water fields and the water fields are bought by developers who in turn continue to build upon them, which has only worsened the city’s sinking state.

The flooding will cause problem if it has the effect to the living of people which mean that if the flood happens to any territory which there are no citizen living, we might call “Wetland”. No one will get the effect from the flood. As everybody knows that the plateau of Bangkok level is located in lower level and it’s very risky to get flood then in 2011 it is the big disaster of Thailand in the last hundred years. So let’s go to the question “Why we have to choose Bangkok as the capital city as Central Business District and what issue that we have to concern to select the city to live in?” If we’ve already known that this plateau will have most possibly to get flood in the future and Why we choose this territory?’ Is there any hidden agenda or economic issue behind there?

So I started analyzing Thai economy through the lens of architect practiced, it seems to me like the goal of modern development has created a clear separation between agricultural and industrial activities, between human and nature, between fluid and solid territories  which become a threat to human living. As we move forwards and slowly detach from nature, we neglect the power of it and forget how we once live with it. Bangkok is the city which illustrates such on-going situation clearly, from the day when water was city’s breath to the day when water become city’s catastrophe to local economy, society and environment.

The evolution of the city cause Bangkok to developed in the wrong direction. The influence of green revolution in 1967 which allow farmer to use irrigation instead of natural water source and economic development direction caused the development that set Bangkok’s fluid and solid territories apart.  For my point of view, the main idea is to look at nature not just a resource but a natural capital that needs to be maintained as much as physical or human capital. In the context of Bangkok, we need to look at the abundance of water not a threat but an economic opportunity. In planning for the prospect Bangkok we should try to understand the formation of crisis, in order to determine the new balance between water, Bangkok living and Chao Phraya river basin. People should learn to live and adapt with the water. The benefits of the water cause people to change the way they live including their economic and cultural activities to connect with the water.

Because now it’s too late to remove all Bangkok citizens to live in other place what we can do now is we should “think globally and act locally” and also use the economic as the fundamental to develop the project. In Thai tradition, there are many creative solutions how to deal with water in ancient times, they create the channel of water to make water go quickly to prevent flooding and use roots of the trees to absorb and slow the velocity of the water. What we can do furthermore is we can combine the technology and all the data to create a network. Then we have to investigate and study the formation of the Chaophraya flood plain territory and the recent crisis in order to determine a new balance between water, Bangkok city and economic corridor of lower Chaophraya River floodplain for the next 50 years.

As I’ve mentioned before in the beginning paragraph, Thailand is a country at risk of water disaster both draught and flood. What about we propose the concept of a “water detention network” that would retain water during the rainy season for use in agriculture for the rest of the year? This would require the abandonment of the current mode of rice cultivation in which the growing season overlaps the coming of the rain. The idea for “double-cropped” fields that would leave lands available for water retention in designated reservoirs.  Becoming “Floating agriculture” would ensure that these fields and reservoirs are productive all year. All agricultural area is the main key to the effective water management for Thailand and Chao Phraya river basin. Through extending the potential of flood plain characteristic and the existing irrigation system which covers 70% of area, the elements are transformed into the “water detention network system”. The scheme will blur the distinction between the industrial and the agricultural and to a point, the urban and the rural, envisaging as it does a patchwork of rice fields, water storage infrastructure and settlements. We create the network of water detention within their existing agricultural land and focusing on how Thai people lived with water in the past, and offering glimpses into creative ways to live with water and avoid getting soaked  in the future.

As we propose the new idea of “water system”, which can turn out to be effective strategic but there is one critical issue that need to work parallel together which is also the main cause of flooding issue “Deforestation”. The question of how much impact that deforestation has on flooding has been debated in many Thai environmental research issues.  Analyzing something as large and complex as the ecological system presents challenges in isolating the causes and effects. This has led some people to believe that quantitative measurements on flooding and deforestation are too difficult to prove. Forests are a natural mechanism for controlling and regulating the flow of water as it passes through the hydrological cycle.  Unfortunately, Thailand is known for having one of the largest rate of deforestation in the world.  In the past 50 years, what was once a largely forested region has been decimated, mainly for logging and agricultural purposes.  More recently however, industrialization and urban development are the main sources of forest removal, and even protected areas are now under threat.

My question “Is it possible to transform construction from being a destructive force into something beneficial to the eco-system?”  Based on this, we would like to propose a new kind of urbanism, a vision that can accept the realities of land development, but to incorporate it with forest replanting and biodiversity preservation. For us, this is our vision of sustainable development. We call this approach “Forest Urbanism”. My vision is to propose the idea of the future living for unstable delta by using the ecology system by studying the behavior of mangroves system in term of life process how they adapt to live with changing of environment surrounding in two conditions as water comes up and down in term of physical as structure. The vegetation basis is a forest of indigenous mangroves, which the government is already trying to implement in Bangkok. The mangroves naturally filter water, and they also supply fresh oxygen and natural cooling.

So, our community  would be adapted and support the unstable delta as changing environment by using the natural ecology system, the architecture can adjust to the proper activities and function follow the changing environment and provided infrastructure , urban facilities, energy management, pattern organization and living space to encourage the life process in unstable delta. In the future, Bangkok city will become a self-sustaining “floating city” that can thrive with the flow of rising tides to allow Bangkok to live with natural flooding instead of resisting it while reproducing the clean waters that detoxifies the region’s polluted waters.

In the conclusion, I hope Thai Government should take more action to really solve the water problem issue. My proposal is just a one alternative example how to embrace with the water. Water will turn to be the huge benefit for us, we don’t have to worry about water in monsoon season and less worry about water scarcity in summer anymore. After we can solve the problem then Thai Economy will go further more and more from this point. We need collaboration between government, city planner and water management council, architect and also economist to work together closely, not as before that each part just worked and tried to solve the problem only their own parts which didn’t join venture together with other departments then it became solve problem in wrong direction which waste plenty of money and time. We must have a clear objective and vision how to solve the problem together. Finally I hope Thailand will be the best example of water issue problem for Southeast Asia. Even if none of what I have proposed ever gets built, it should at least allow for whatever make-do solutions according to available budgets. It would be even better if this knowledge could be passed on to the government body or those with the power to deal with the nation’s water management system so that next time a flood comes, we are ready and better able to handle it.

Derinkuyu underground city in the Derinkuyu district in Nevşehir Province, Turkey

“If you would see how interwoven it is in the warp and woof of civilization… go at night-fall to the top of one of the down-town steel giants and you may see how in the image of material man, at once his glory and his menace, is the thing we call a city. There beneath you is the monster, stretching acre upon acre into the far distance. High over head hangs the stagnant pall of its fetid breath, reddened with light from myriad eyes endlessly, everywhere blinking. Thousands of acres of cellular tissue, the city’s flesh outspreads layer upon layer, enmeshed by an intricate network of veins and arteries radiating into the gloom, and in them, with muffled, persistent roar, circulating as the blood circulates in your veins, is the almost ceaseless beat of the activity to whose necessities it all conforms. The poisonous waste is drawn from the system of this gigantic creature by infinitely ramifying, thread-like ducts, gathering at their sensitive terminals matter destructive of its life, hurrying it to millions of small intestines to be collected in turn by larger, flowing to the great sewers, on to the drainage canal, and finally to the ocean.”

Frank Lloyd Wright, “The Art and Craft of the Machine” in On Architecture: Selected Writings (1894-1940)

We live in urban nets whose central points represent the cities as density attractors. The development of this grid has been evolving since its first appearance following the concentration, conceived to envelop almost all human activities in opened systems that allow people to exchange matter and energy within and between them. Just after the second world war, nets begin to grow in complexity and functionality according to new technologies and cultural visions, and regained his central position in contemporary debates, exactly as the industrial revolution had made in the previous century.

We live in a spatially limited system (Earth) and our population is rocketing. Our main energy resources are scars or economically not desirable because of the actual market. We are used to say we live in a urbanized world only because half of our population lives in cities, that easily disappear near the nature extension. In addition, circulation and transportation facilities, with housing technical equipments, have been overloading cities and people since the first Ford T. From there, we were really near to the real and mature industrialism.

Within the world actual economic and cultural system, money market and labour market assume the main role in leading people interests and desires. As Adam Smith remind us,

 “Labour was the first price, the original purchase-money that was paid for all things. It was not by gold or by silver, but by labour, that all the wealth was originally purchased;  and its value, to those who possess it, and who want to exchange it for some new productions, is precisely equal to the quantity of labour which it can enable them to purchase or command (The Wealth of nations, 1776).

Robert Minor, The Daily Worker (22nd December, 1924)

With the adoption of the money the labour itself became alienating and, instead of applying your own skills to gain goods and services with values (first of all of survival), you work to obtain something without immediate values with which you are able to get what you need. From a conceptual point of view, what seems to be inappropriate is to insert in this process a third and overcomplicating element. We needed to set a objective rule or method to exchange but this new market has been responsible to transform the way we conceive life and cities. As natural consequence, almost every existing product has a price that rarely corresponds to its real value, the maximum amount of money a specific actor is willing and able to pay.

Christoph Gielen, Nevada aerial

Even if, as L. Mumford said,

 “The city is a fact in nature, like a cave, a run of mackerel or an ant-heap. But is also a conscious work of art, and it holds within its communal framework many simpler and more personal forms art. Mind takes form in the city; and in turn, urban forms condition mind” (The Culture of Cities, 1938),

we know that, at this point, cities shouldn’t be considered like the only source of knowledge and experience. In reverse, cities are becoming a place in which is almost impossible to pander to solitude and calm. For this reason, many people have been moving toward the outer areas, hoping to find better and healthier conditions. But at the level with which this phenomenon appeared, it is clear that this is not going to reveal itself as the right solution, especially thinking that suburbs are the most problematic areas within the cities.

Although we should consider time as a valuable conceptual created by our minds, it is a useful parameter to measure duration. Time, as goods, is scars and everyone has to manage with it, gathering from it all needed activities. This leads us to think about how time is conceived in the city. Without mentioning any examples given that every urban agglomerate has its own rhythms, it is clear that time has become a luxury good according to a always faster and more dynamic world (job, transports, individual growth).

World urban density

After centuries of architectural research and thousands of failed attempts, the human beings recognized that their development, as they conceive it now, it is not the most reliable and fluid growth modality. Seen from outside, our nets are liable to collapse. Looking at the world urban density map it is easy to detect that our spatial occupation is not balanced and widespread all over the planet, according to different parameters like natural conditions and resources, history, cultural development. The most of the population is condensed in Europe, North America, South Asia and beside coasts. The main empty spaces: the inner part of South America (Amazon forest), North Africa (Sahara desert), Australia and central Asia. Human beings always tried to settle in the natural habitats that allowed him to provide materials and energy, accomplishing a constant and continuous concentration mainly towards temperate and flat lands.

Speaking about occupation there are different and contrasting opinions, some of them toward the idea of a dense and compact urbanized habitat and some other toward toward an enlargement of our presence in the natural environment. The first one is about decreasing footprint, reducing pathways and resources use, still maintaining a high rate of consumption. The second one is about occupying the space we have at our disposal dismantling the city and scattering it all over the nature. This concept has strong and little appreciated roots in Frank Lloyd Wright research in relation with north american planning approach. There, urbanization reached its maximum peak despite the huge amount of flat and empty terrain and the critic against urbanization is heart-felt.

What we are speaking about is an intense change both in architectural development and in urban life concept. After having fought with the nature for a long time, now we can occupy all the available space, even in that extreme sites that we are not used to consider. Every occupation act would be different from one to another, since every building would be conceived starting from the natural properties and features of the site. Spontaneous diversity is able to construct a more flexible and reliable world, since there are not any central poles able to fall apart. In a continuous natural inhabited space people would be able to have their own space and to contribute to evolve it, in a more conscious way. Every different location would have its own resources and could exchange them with neighbours. This asset would permit to add cultural multiplicity and more interesting activities in a smaller spatial range, saving time and money from the transportation system. With more space we would have more time since every activities would be present in each cell of this human pattern. Thousands of different dwellings that adapt themselves to the natural elements contributing to create a personal private space for everyone. No more archetype or models. No more passive approach. So that this could be realized the main goal is to change and improve our economical system.

Capitalist production has become our first activity but, as J. M. Keynes said, Capitalism is “the astonishing belief that the nastiest motives of the nastiest men somehow or other work for the best results in the best of all possible worlds”. What mainly appears unusual is that, instead of beginning a consequence of demand, production always control the market. Goods are produced and then sold to people, without counting how many unities the market is asking for. This behavior generates a general misunderstanding about what people really need.

photo credits: http://www.logitravel.co.uk/hotels/rome-11613374.html

Lately there has been a major transformation. Until a few decades, historical heritage (monuments) were the basis of cultural and architectural tourism, today excellent Modern architecture has the same power of attraction, what makes cities great increase in the number of tourists and turning cities into a new tourist attraction. The example that best describes this is Dubai, known worldwide as a Middle Eastern capital of extravagance. If we look at photos from 20 years ago, and 10 years in advance can be clearly seen how the city for only 10 years, thanks to oil money, became a popular and the last few years one of the major tourist destinations in the world. However, it is well known that today oil plays a very small role in the overall revenues of the state, while tourism and trade play a most important role. This is an example of modern branding of the city by the imposing architecture.

Modern architecture is a commercial, whether it be on the premises or on the context in which it is created. The building itself is an attraction, a great advertising that its form points to the leisure facilities, but when placed in the context of the city, the region and the environment in which it is located (location, climate, relief,  cityscape) then becomes a symbol of not only the author’s work but rather the symbol of the city, region, country, society.

An ideal example is Sydney Opera House( by architect Jon Utzon) is a true example of the impact that architecture can have, not only the location at which it is generated, but also to the global culture. Location of the property affects the inspiration for the shape of the object, which visually should be a sail on the high seas. The image that was created by unique performance of shell of the object became a global landmark in Sydney, but also symbol across Australia. Surely, such a facility would be a spectacle at any location in the technological sense, but its siting in the coastal city has a specific meaning and thus the dependence of the location comes into play. Such objects of course should contribute to a better positioning of the city in the network / system of European and world cities, which has the effect of economic advancement.

photo credits: http://www.prideviewproperties.co.uk/listing/dubai-marina/

 However, is this modern architecture economicaly and functionally viable?

As for the commercial component architecture and tourism, art and expressive architecture is certainly a luxury where economically successful enterprise functionality of the building deemed sufficient. For the purpose of explanation must be noted that in this case we’re talking about architectural design that is reduced to the minimum requirements set by one such a functional building. Tourist property mostly have value if they are  profitable, no get no value. Architecture costs and naturally multiplies the investment compared to the facility that is reduced to pure functionality. Already at the stage of business planning topics architecture is the first critical point and requires a professional economical budget and highly professional estimation of the location and design of products. In contrast, good or unusual architecture increases the interest of the market and, depending on the product evaluation, can give a new location, attractive appearance. This again increases demand and real price, which in turn makes for a larger commercial success than it would perhaps be achieved by conventional functional construction.

Architecture creates also new functionality, or causes by using this new functionality that all inherited and old different experiences, thus offering the possibility of tourism development of new products. From the perspective of visitors still here must not remain non-mentioned discussion ‘form follows function’ or ‘function follows form’ that just in tourism real estate and products can lead to oscillation in the evaluation of both positive and negative. Tourism and architecture never before were so closely together on the development of products such as is the case today. This again closes the circle of mutual success. Therefore, unsuccessful projects are “monsters”, built as a demonstration of a specific conceptual directions in architecture, which are successful in their intent to share certain thoughts and way of looking at architecture and urban space and there are only a sculptural, while their function transforms.

There we come to the point of sustainability, which is not just a technical problem. In order to achive success, a sustainable project must be socially sustainable as well as economically. Such a project should comunicate with its society, should attract and be inspiring, and over all mast make economic sense. Architecture in terms of tourism  is now an integral element of the planning of the city, whether it is of cultural heritage or contemporary architecture. When it comes to heritage, it is the architecture resulting in a particular context that is completely defined and therefore it is a testimony about history. In this sense, the architecture can become a brand that describes the identity of certain social or cultural groups, and linked to the cultural and educational tourism.  Although today in most cases this architecture is unfunctional and hard switching to modern forms of construction works and the city life, it must be preserved and used in the planning of sustainable development of the city just as part of the tourism industry.

Modern architecture, unlike the architecture of cultural heritage, is viewed from the aspect of entertainment and spectacle, even if we talk about function of the structure, location or shape. Unusual and controversial form that uses all the benefits of modern technology certainly attracts the attention of visitors, but this is not always enough. Location which provides the context and function that brings the economic viability and the possibility of continued use of space is also one of the important factors for the transfer of a work of architecture in the branded product. Modern cities  nowadays pay  a great attention to precisely such projects, as drivers of further development and city expansion, as well as the region, in some cases and countries. Great architecture, not only that it promotes economic and social development, but it becomes a product that markets itself as a symbol that exceeds target group and everyone’s must-see tourist destination.