Sustainability: Aesthetic, but Not Necesarily Practical in Ultra-modern Architecture - Term Paper Example

But a closer analysis of the trends of architecture reveals that these are not actually the forces that are driving growing sustainability within architecture, especially in large scale projects. Though there could be significant changes and advances in sustainable architecture, that would actually improve the energy efficiency of buildings, or lead to them being constructed in more sustainable ways or with more sustainable materials, this is not the trend that is occurring. Rather, sustainability is being used aesthetically, often tacked on to buildings and projects in the most ostentatious way possible, in able to demonstrate sustainability in an aesthetically pleasing and visible way, regardless of the actual sustainability benefits involved.

This is not to argue that necessarily that these initiatives are not sustainable or do not generate results, but that these results are less important in building design than their aesthetic. We find the aesthetics of sustainability appealing, and this is the major force behind growing sustainability, not the actual benefits of the sustainable architecture. . These walls are common across university campuses and many other places, and have been for centuries. A modern green wall, however, is quite a different thing.

These usually have complex structures of water and soil that are made to allow a wide variety of plants to survive and thrive.2 These walls are said to have a wide variety of benefits to the area that they are integrated to. The most obvious of these is that they produce oxygen, which is supposed to add to air quality as well as helping productivity, because people are able to think better in more oxygenated environments (as well as being more wakeful in environments with low amounts of carbon dioxide).

3 Furthermore, they have been demonstrated to help control temperature, which can have a benefit on energy cost in warmer areas.4 Beyond all of these benefits, they also have the obvious sustainability benefit of helping to reduce the carbon dioxide, slowing global warming and adding to sustainability in a world-wide, ecologically conscious and long-term way. The issue is, however, that the benefits of these walls in terms of sustainability might not be that significant as compared to their cost.

Though they save on electricity via the savings of cooling cost in warmer climes through a reduction in temperature, they also have significant electricity costs. A proper living wall requires pumps for water to keep the plants hydrated, along with constant light, usually from artificial sources such as incandescent lighting. Few studies have been done on these cost-benefit of electricity usage in this wall, but the fact remains that it could not have been significantly beneficial, given all of those costs.

This begs the question of why to put these walls in place. The biggest advantage of them is