Adaptation is not imitation
Since there was no electricity then, homes were equipped with high ceilings, ventilators, verandas, courtyards, all shaded by trees. Pakistan inherited many of these old buildings, buildings of grace and beauty built on the principle of adaptation to the environment.
Not much has changed for Pakistan today in that we still have little or no electricity. Yet, our present architecture is slavishly copied from cooler environments. Our homes have low ceilings, sloping roofs tiled with dark shingles, large glass windows that invite the sun, and there is an unnecessary use of concrete everywhere. It is a manifestation of our overall loss of identity.
Land is being deforested at an alarming rate, resulting in more floods and landslides and a rise in average temperatures. Urban areas which contain fewer trees and more metal and concrete structures are now considerably warmer than rural areas which are greener and where people use materials such as mud to build their homes.
All over the world, mud as a material for construction is attracting interest because mud homes are warmer in winter and cooler in summer. They are cheaper to construct, and while they require more maintenance, this is something that can be minimised with better technology. Unfortunately, mud and earth construction is looked upon with contempt here as material meant only for the poor.
Due to the rising cost of land and materials, individual plots of land are smaller and cannot sustain verandas and courtyards. Ceilings have been lowered by several feet to accommodate air conditioning. In a misguided attempt to make these smaller homes look more spacious, massive windows have replaced smaller ones.
The result is that hot sunlight, manna for the sun starved English but poison for those fighting off heat stroke now pours in through huge panes of glass facing straight into the midday sun. Clearly, what works in England does not work for us. This heat enters the house without first being forced to wipe its feet and cool off in a veranda, and once inside it has no egress, since remember, hot air rises... but ventilators have disappeared altogether.
Our traditional communal life has also been eroded with the disappearance of these architectural features. Houses once looked inward into courtyards, the centre of every home where the family congregated in a private, pleasantly shaded environment. Individuals now spend more time isolated in separate rooms with their electronic screens.
Narrow lanes between homes, protected from the sun by buildings on either side, were an area where children and residents tended to socialise. The absence of these meeting grounds has contributed to the isolation of individuals and families and to the increase of violence in communities where the values of neighbourliness and co-existence have been lost.
Given the power shortage in this country, sponsoring alternative energy ought to be a priority for the government, but this expectation is a lost cause. It is instead up to private enterprise to encourage research and technology in this field. In the long run, this will benefit everyone.
Solar and other renewable energy options and eco friendly and alternative methods of construction that minimise the use of expensive cooling and heating must be adapted to available resources. Information and materials regarding these options should be made available to all involved in building, and schools of architecture and design must stress environmentally friendly methods of construction and provide practical training in the field.
Solar technology is available, but is too expensive for most persons. Instead diesel or gas is being used, which is expensive and wasteful of natural resources, and also releases huge amounts of heat into the environment.
Adaptability, as Gandhi pointed out, must not be confused with imitation. If even a single aspect of society is ignored, changed, destroyed or foolishly implemented, it impacts on the entire structure of society as a whole. A government that frankly does not give a damn, designers that neither innovate nor adapt, and a people that wish to copy slavishly: all these factors have served to destroy an environment that once boasted a proud identity, and a grace and beauty all its own.
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