Building for tomorrow

Built environment is around us almost all the time. We spend almost all our lives in what were once the thoughts of architects. Today’s thoughts make the world of tomorrow – an awesome responsibility. Especially so as, in barely half a lifespan, architecture has destroyed so much cityscape and landscape the world over; so many communities, so much ecology, local and global. Hopefully, we’ve learnt enough not to repeat this. But the future will be very different from the past. A mere half lifetime hence, we’ll have to cope with 6°C (11°F) higher summer temperatures ¹ and increasing weather extremes. With declining oil production paralleling increased demand, we can expect energy to be expensive and supply uncertain. All this will be in the context of shifted economic power and global food shortages. Designing for tomorrow is already challenging.