Role of Climatic and Environmental Laboratory in Teaching Architecture
Architecture is said to be the art and science of creating shelters. Creation of shelters, however, initiated long before architecture appeared as a subject of learning. To the mere contrivance for survival, what architecture added to shelter was ‘Beauty’. At this stage the professionals who profusely contributed to Architecture were the artists and skilled craftsmen. During this period the kings and affluent people used luxurious houses and the common people, whatever they could afford. Immediately after this, Mathematicians and Geometricians got wide entry in it and Architecture turned to a measurement-dependent discipline. With the advent of democracy, however, Architecture achieved new dimensions in which providing habitation for the common people, safe habitations, builtforms to highlight the concerned country’s prestige and heritage, means to make the builders responsible for their works, means to make the designers responsible towards the greater welfare of the society etc. also got inclusion in the domain of Architecture. The appearances of new building materials, construction technology, machine-made building components, gadgets for moderating the built environment etc. started playing crucial roles in Architecture. Architecture necessarily is the game of the architects, even though during the span of history it could never be free from others’ influences. If someone is asked to mention the major factors having influence on Architecture, it may be, the rulers, starting from the dictators to the democratic governments. Then, if the question is find out the influencing professionals on Architecture, earlier the answer could have been, “the Artists”, at present it is, “the Engineers and Technicians”.
When the facilitator-governments like the democratic and welfare governments achieved control over the territories, among many others they had to prepare rules and regulations applicable to the designers for making safe, comfortable and befitting builtforms. At this juncture the architects had to redefine architecture. From mere subjective comments like “it looks nice, I like it” etc., they had to work suitable for evaluation. In such evaluation they were in need of satisfying some “qualities” as the essential preconditions of acceptable and good architecture. For the users of builtforms, these qualities are : (i) Visual, (ii) Climatic, (iii) Olfactory (iv) Acoustic and (v) Socio-cultural.
Climatic qualities are contributions of Temperature, Humidity and Air flow. The success of an architect in designing builtform depends how efficiently he can ensure the climatic qualities. Naturally, climate has been included as an important subject in Architecture. In this article we shall have a brief look at the present system in which the subject Climate is studied in Architecture course in the universities of Bangladesh and endeavor to find out the possibility of modifications, if any.
Please click on attached pdf to read the full article.
