A dimensão humana da sustentabilidade

Abstract

Progress at any cost has neglected the human being, causing damage to physical, emotional and environmental health. Sustainable architecture, seeking to avoid climate change, is the new trend that pushes architects, engineers and builders who pay attention to the phenomenon of global warming and the economic benefits brought by energy certificates. However, these contemporary practices rely on the same misconception as the second half of the nineteenth century, when the cities were designed for machines ignoring the human scale. If architecture is capable of producing delight, amazement and relevance; as well as being able to shape the culture, frame the welfare, and contribute to health and happiness, it plays a big role in the most ordinary of routines. However, sustainability solutions have been limited analytically to the adoption of new technologies that can't provide well-being by themselves, in many cases not even for fresh air. Sociological, psychological and holistic reflection is necessary in order to reach sustainability on the planet and full-fill human needs. The city of the future must seduce and provide delight. Focusing ahead on resource scarcity, sustainable architecture should target the psychological misery in which we are currently immersed. We must reconcile Man with nature and, in turn, Architecture and humanity.