December 8th, 2015: Dr. Brian R. Sinclair, an award-winning Professor of Architecture and Environmental Design, and former Dean of the University of Calgary’s Faculty of Environmental Design, has been speaking about the future challenges for the design industry during a public lecture hosted by Canadian University Dubai (CUD).
In his talk entitled, ‘Aptness, Plasticity and Design: Necessitating Agility in Environments’, Dr. Sinclair said that the ever-changing world is bringing about new challenges that require architects to relinquish control in the design process and allow users greater opportunity to experiment with and adapt their environment.
Dr. Sinclair cited the need to converge art, science, humanity and spirituality to ensure that people are at the core of building design, and revealed that the meaning of ‘place’ would be an important component in the future of design, as local cultures and values are integrated with modern architectural techniques.
Advances in technology and the need for greater plasticity and agility in building design would change the way architects see, think and act, he said, as users are given increasing control, with the ability to alter space according to their changing needs.
Dr. Sinclair went on to showcase some examples of agile buildings, including the Japanese Muji Houses, a set of pre-fabricated, compact homes with no internal walls, designed to meet the challenges of high-density living.
Concluding that sustainability will be integral to the future of architecture, Dr. Sinclair said that design for disassembly will be one of the key solutions, as buildings need to be constructed for a world in which things can be recycled, redeployed, or even disappear, without a negative environmental impact.
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