Sustainability as the Only Way Forward
Design Dialogues · 7 conversations · a podcast and video series on architecture in India
What does sustainability really mean in the context of architecture and design?
Architects including Chitra Vishwanath, Mehul Sanghvi and Rajesh Advani, and practitioners of vernacular architecture, talk about climate change, the limits of climate-responsive design, adapting old houses by reusing bricks and mud, natural materials such as cow dung, and how sustainability became a marketing slogan.
- sustainable architecture India
- climate-responsive design
- vernacular architecture
- reuse and adaptation
Start with this one
Sustainability as the Only Way Forward Part I: Climate change will touch everyone. Chitra Vishwanath, one of India's leading voices in sustainable architecture, reflects on what it means for how we build.
The conversations
- Sustainability as the Only Way Forward Part I
Climate change will touch everyone. Chitra Vishwanath, one of India's leading voices in sustainable architecture, reflects on what it means for how we build. - Sustainability as the Only Way Forward Part II
Once, sustainability meant hope. It meant responsibility. It meant designing for the planet and people, not just profits. - Sustainability as the Only Way Forward Part III
Old houses are not demolished when families grow: bricks are carefully removed, mud is scraped, and both are reused to expand the home. Architect Mehul Sanghvi on adapting what we already have. - Sustainability as the Only Way Forward Part IV
Sustainable design is not a magic fix: sometimes passive cooling lowers a home's temperature by only about five degrees. How do designers deal with the limits of climate-responsive architecture? - Sustainability as the Only Way Forward Part V
Cow dung as a natural material: how it has been used from ancient times to modern sustainable practice to clean homes, heal surfaces and make healthier spaces. - Sustainability as the Only Way Forward Part VII
Ar. Rajesh Advani brings a bold perspective — Building, by its very nature, is unsustainable. Yet, as architects, we strive to find balance. - Sustainability as the Only Way Forward Part VIII
For generations, our ancestors reduced, reused, and recycled — Not because it was a trend, but because it was the way of life.
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