Environment and Architecture

Environment as a perspective. This involves an exploration of the link between acquiring resources, colonialism and imperialism. By understanding this link, an individual can trace the environmental history of architecture. For example, the trade of resources such as gold, iron and money has shaped how individuals choose to interact with the environment and construct their buildings (Hochhausl and Lange, 2018). During the colonial era, westernized buildings were constructed mainly using wood, bricks and in rare occasion’s stones. The abundance of trees at the time made wood the practical way of building houses and therefore led to a lot of trees being cut. As such, deforestation occurred at very high rate because the trees were cut and were not being re-planted. This in turn led to environmental degradation whose effects are currently being felt through global warming (Nick, 2019). In addition, over exploitation of minerals led to the construction of many factories. These factories have polluted the environment for years as is witnessed in westernized countries that have many oil rig industries whereby their skies are not clear or blue. Therefore, architecture has contributed heavily to the current environmental degradation being witnessed and as such, moving towards eco-friendly constructions will contribute to positive climatic changes globally.