'Architecture with a capital "C"' by Arvind Ramachandran

As we enter the third year of the pandemic, a once in a lifetime event that has left few of us untouched, it feels like the right time to ask ourselves where we go from here. The question “What next?” is not just relevant to global society in general, but also to architecture as a field in specific, for one of the most significant changes the pandemic has brought about has to do with how our lives relate to physical space. 

The world we inhabit in the 2020’s is very different from times before. Where we are expected, or even allowed to live, work, relax and just be has changed remarkably. Visits to the local park or restaurant with loved ones, something that was taken for granted, have suddenly become treasured experiences. Telecommuting is now more of a norm than an exception. Flying across continents for meetings and conferences feels like a thing of the past. Entire countries and even the world itself seems to be increasingly run in a post-location reality. 

However, being able to transcend restrictions imposed on the physical spaces we frequent, whether they are streets apart or separated by oceans, continues to be a privilege available only to a select few of us. Whether it is availability of lifesaving healthcare, ability to attend school comfortably from home, or possibility to earn a living while isolating in one’s countryside cottage, the current crisis has reminded us that not just where we “are”, but also where we “were”, still has a big say in how our life looks in these unique times. 

Architecture, some say, is the mother of all arts. Others have a more grounded view, and see it as fulfilling an important need in society, that of shaping spaces that people need. Current trends unfortunately seem to point elsewhere, as what is often considered the pinnacle of contemporary architecture has more to do with expression of power and enhancement of profit than with serving societal needs. Of course, architecture does not deserve all the blame for the multiple injustices that continue to be perpetrated world over in the name of constructing new buildings, neighbourhoods and even entire cities. At the same time, with the pandemic forcing us to stop in our tracks, and demanding we take a hard look at what we have been doing thus far, it is obvious that we as shapers of the built environment need to go beyond just “taking into account” different factors in our design work. We architects need to infuse more holism into our approaches. We need to replace our promises to consider, with a commitment to care! 

As we go about laying the groundwork for the widely discussed “new normal”, a future in which global society’s relation to the physical space it occupies is irreversibly changed, we architects need to build on our existing skills, as well as actively seek out new ones. Our goal in the much needed radical reimagination of our field, as part of the reconfiguring of global society itself, should be to ensure humanity’s changed relationship to space does not end up clothing old inequalities in new facades. In stepping up to this responsibility, the architecture field has an opportunity to refocus around a conscientious approach to everything and everyone our work affects, not just in the immediate context, but with a global perspective. Such a future architecture, based on “care” as a central value, could go a long way in ensuring that we make spaces that support a new normal, one that works for as many people across the world as possible, and not just a privileged few in the planet’s wealthier corners as has been the case until now. 

So how does architecture fit in this new scheme of things, where spaces are being reimagined, reinterpreted, even rejected? 

What can we as architects, whose job it is to make relevant spaces that serve the people, do differently, so that the future we are (re)building is more inviting, and much more inclusive than the present? 

Where do we go from here, if we want to be part of creating a new architecture, not just one that considers, but an architecture that actually cares?

Care for the planet 

Indigenous elders, scientists, activists and laypeople from across the globe have been calling on decision makers to accelerate action on climate change for decades. The recently concluded proceedings at COP26 have proven how challenging it continues to be for world leaders to be on the same page when it comes to heeding these calls. 

As global institutional mechanisms stumble when faced with one of the greatest threats of our times, it becomes all the more important that each sector of society gives its everything to prevent catastrophic environment collapse. Architecture has an important role to play in this collective endeavour, not least due to the construction industry accounting for a lion’s share of humanity’s negative environmental impact. The fact that we live in an increasingly urbanising world, where for the first time in history a majority of the population calls a city home, reminds us that now is not the time to pat ourselves on the backs for designing projects that do the bare minimum in terms of environmental impact. We need to move past greenwashing organized around checklists and environmental accreditations, and prepare to bravely build less, build better, and build to last. 

Thankfully, the environmentally damaging extravagance associated with what is considered “great” architecture is a comparatively recent trend. Indigenous and vernacular architecture, from the brilliantly situated humble dwellings built worldover since time immemorial, to more recent low-energy homes in recently industrialising societies, have shown it is possible to create inspirational spaces that fit users’ lifestyles while keeping environmental impact to a bare minimum. Resource frugal architecture, when designed with care, does not have to be uncomfortable, or even aesthetically unsuitable to our times as is sometimes thought. All we need to do is take our environmental crisis seriously, use our abilities to work within what are very real local and planetary limits, and let a new kind of humble and context specific architecture take the place of the “Who built it flashier?” competition that exists today. 

The central question here is not if architecture can resolve the challenges posed by climate change on its own, or whether the work of one architect or firm in a remote corner of the world can ever be anything more than a drop in the ocean. Instead of deciding to do nothing, immobilized by the enormity of the task of arriving at a planet-friendly way to build at scale, we need to remind ourselves that we all need to do our part, irrespective of the scale and location we operate in, from regional planning to interior design, to ensure that in preserving the spaces of the past and making the spaces of today, we are not actively involved in destroying those that might come to be needed in the future. 

Care for the people 

Widening our horizons as spatial designers, by expanding our toolkits to include care as a central component, is as relevant when it comes to thinking about the people we design for, as it is when evaluating the environmental impacts of our projects. 

Current environment-friendly architecture, especially as it has developed in recent decades in the global North, has received justified criticism for how it entrenches existing global inequalities with its excessive reliance on cutting edge technology and 21st century capitalism. This trend, while lessening environmental impact locally from a short-term perspective, leaves in its wake environmental degradation elsewhere, while often contributing to the erosion of human rights as well. From exploitative conditions in mines where materials for the solar cells embellishing our green rated modern masterpieces are extracted, to workers literally dying in their dozens to erect our supposedly green monuments to international sporting excellence, it is obvious that today’s so-called “sustainable” architecture impacts far more people than just the ones inhabiting it, often negatively and in simply inexcusable ways. 

It is hence imperative to move past “considering the end-user”, as our teachers in architecture school often liked to remind us, to consciously caring about people whose lives are intricately linked to what and how we design and build. Caring for all people spread across the entire planet, and treating humanity as a whole as a client even for the smallest of projects, is by no means easy to achieve, not least when faced with increasing competition, tightening budgets and one unexpected external crisis after another. But a thorough understanding on the designer’s part, especially of historic injustices and global inequalities that continue to colour the construction sector's operations across the globe, can go a long way in ensuring we demand more from each link in the convoluted material and labour supply chains that transport our designs from drawing board to reality. 

Care for each other 

An architecture that cares, both for the planet and for its people, is hardly an immediately and easily attainable goal. An urgent and comprehensive rethinking of what we consider good architecture, that encourages and enables built environment design solutions that increase well being across the board, is hence a much needed first step in a long-term process of change.

Such a radical reimagination of the field cannot happen without a corresponding change in the way we work as architects. For too long and in too many places, practicing architecture has been possible only for those who are able to dedicate a considerable part of their lives to the profession. Gender, nationality, sexual orientation, ethnicity, ability, age, social class and other factors have affected and continue to affect how much of a headstart one has as they go about carving out a career as an architect. Even in countries that are at the forefront of bridging the widely identified structural barriers in the field, such as Finland and the USA, there remains immense work to be done before it can be said that structural barriers to succeeding as an architect are a thing of the past. 

Design decisions always involve assumptions about the end user. Their preferences, values, wishes, even dreams are predicted by the one doing the designing. As our societies increasingly realize that one size does not fit all, and we as architects are faced with designing for realities where each individual’s unique and specific needs are finally being taken into account, it becomes all the more crucial that our profession is at least as diverse as the societies it serves. In bringing down the structural barriers that keep the design fields artificially homogeneous, we not only create opportunities for more of us to have a say in shaping our environments, but also redefine what sensitive and successful built environment design means as a whole. 

Bringing down structural barriers that prevent entering the field is only the first step. A lot remains to be done to make sure that the ones who do join the field, decide to stay on as architects. Right from the initial stages of architecture school, long working hours, poor work-life balance, and an unhealthy relationship to work itself, are seen as signs of a committed design professional. A better work culture, where people in diverse life situations all feel welcome and are able to thrive, will be a crucial step in ensuring that as those who shape built environments that serve society, we do not end up perpetuating exploitative cycles, whether internally within our field or externally in communities where we operate. 

A collective way forward 

As confirmed by our experiences with some of humanity’s biggest challenges, from climate change to the coronavirus pandemic, we can hope to have a collective future only by prioritising long term wellbeing for all over immediate gains for a select few. Such a change from the current approach hinges on being aware of existent power imbalances, and working together to remove them across barriers that have traditionally separated us, such as gender, ethnicity, age, social class, nationality and much more. 

While the pandemic has jolted our lives in multiple ways, demanded that we recalibrate our relationship to physical space, and tasked the architects among us with imagining what a new normal in terms of space usage might look like, it has also reminded us of what unites us as members of global society, and in the process shown the way for collaborating across outdated boundaries. In enabling free online education from the comfort of our homes, allowing friendships and collaborations to blossom without meeting in person, bridging physical distances to loved ones in ways we thought were not possible, and even reminding us all of the fragility of not just our lives but the planet itself, the crises we find ourselves in has indeed been a wake-up call. 

As architects, there is so much we can do towards imagining and realising a new normal, provided we learn from past mistakes, let go of entrenched assumptions, move past the individualistic approach that has characterised our work over the past decades, and are ready to find solutions in the most unlikely of places. In recentering the architecture field around conscientious care for the planet, its people and for each other, we would do well to benefit from learnings offered by varied fields of thought, from feminism to anti-racism, anti-capitalism to indigenous scholarship and anti-colonialism. 

It is certainly absurd to think architecture can solve the world’s problems. Many of the challenges facing humanity that architecture has contributed to, from the resource crisis to housing scarcity, have in fact been made worse exactly due to such narrow thinking, bordering on arrogance, of architecture’s role in society. On the other hand, if we are able to let go of architecture with a capital “A”, and instead recast the practice of architecture around humility, solidarity, patience, understanding and most importantly, active care for everyone and everything we directly and indirectly affect, we might find ourselves with a fighting chance to build that new normal that works for everyone that so many of us so fervently wish for. 

Here is to hoping that we find ourselves up to the challenge, wherever in the world we find ourselves, and in whatever capacity we might participate in shaping the spaces that surround us!

*This essay was written as a continuation of Arvind Ramachandran’s discussion with Professor Lori Brown and FCINY's Tiffany Lambert on Feminisms and Architecture in episode 6 of Withstanding, a podcast by the Finnish Cultural Foundation in New York.