Implications of the Term ‘Sustainability’ in Architecture. Teaching Tools for Lecturers

Abstract

Society in the physical medium, that is, culture, is reflected in architecture understood in its wider sense as habitability, and especially in its location within the territory. The appropriation of the territory by means of architectural structures is one of the main human cultural mechanisms to control the environment. The development of cities and the territory concerns several collectives and generally it derives mainly from political decisions. But it should not be forgotten that the ultimate technicians responsible for the physical development are architects, urban designers and engineers. For this reason, it is essential that these people have some environmental training that allows them to develop their work from a sustainable focus. This article proposes the introduction of environmental aspects as the very essence of the concept of architecture; it seeks to explain how these aspects are introduced from an understanding of the relationship man–environment that cannot be detached from the concept of habitability and therefore from architecture itself. In this sense, the importance of education is a key factor in the formation of the values that influence the professional activity. The introduction of these aspects must be carried out from the teaching of architecture itself, as it from here that new professionals will arise. Therefore, the introduction of an environmental thinking in the teaching of technical, scientific or humanistic issues is necessary. The lecturer is the key figure in terms of teaching and ideological approach, so that the effort for change needs to be focused upon their own training. In order to achieve this, a series of environmental records are proposed which will help the lecturer to reinterpret the teaching of the topics taught until now, refocusing them towards an environmental approach related to the new paradigm of sustainability.