An Urban Precedent of Green Architecture - Essay Example

Conceived and designed by Hannah Chalmer-Stevens, the objective of the project is to build a sustainable and environmentally friendly wave and wind farm.

The central theme of the Cliff City project is ‘green’ architecture, meaning that it firmly lays emphasis on sustainability and preservation of surrounding ecology.  Apart from the usual urban provisions for a library, pub, and café, the project features such innovations as roof-top gardens and has equipment installed for tapping wind and solar energy.  Examples such as these not only point to the future direction of urban architecture but also expose the deficiencies of conventional methods of design and construction that were insensitive to the demands of the environment.  For example, urban planners throughout the twentieth century paid very little attention to how their constructions will interact with the enveloping environment.  The design of the Cliff City project near Portland, Dorset breaks away from this tradition, in that it sees architecture as an organic enterprise.  It is also informed by the drawbacks of traditional styles of architecture, as it attempts to incorporate remedial measures toward the preservation of the organic world.  In this respect, Cliff City stands as a near-perfect model for the perusal of urban planners. 

Planet Earth is already being damaged by industrial effluents, over-exploitation of water resources, alarming levels of toxic pollutants like carbon monoxide, and the phenomenon of Global Warming.  In the backdrop of humanity’s appalling record at preserving the natural environment, projects such as the Cliff City, serve as ideal examples of how urban architecture should be approached in the future.  Cliff City’s more relevant today than at any time in the past, as planet earth is confronted with problems of over-population, increased urbanization, genetically modified seeds in agriculture, rising sea levels, etc.  A good starting point for mitigating this precarious situation would be the adoption of a sustainable city and Cliff City provides a good example of this concept.