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TEDxOkanaganCollege
change, building owners are incredibly risk adverse, which is not a surprise since a building will stand for 50 to 100 years3, any mistakes made last a very long time. Although there is a great deal of inertia behind current building practices, much of what we take for granted has only been around for the last 50 to 100 years. Air conditioning and fluorescent lighting were both introduced in the early to mid twentieth century, and had a profound impact on architecture. The ability to inexpensively and artificially light a space eliminated our dependency on natural daylight, and artificial cooling removed the need for cross ventilation and operable windows. As a result, buildings became a collection of separate systems – the envelope, heating/cooling, and lighting were now all dealt with independently. The form of our buildings, driven by land and construction costs, became deep, square, and with the introduction of cable borne electric elevators, tall. What wasn’t diminished was our psychological need for natural light, fresh air and a connection to the outdoors. The “corner office” became a status symbol because of it’s access to views and light. In the developed world, we quickly forgot how to design and build naturally ventilated, naturally lit buildings that worked in the context of their environment. One of the results of this was the “International Style”, an architectural genre that produced buildings constructed of concrete, steel and glass that could be found anywhere in the world,