Genius Loci

Architecture is a thing of art, a phenomenon of the emotions,

lying outside questions of construction and beyond them. The
purpose of construction is to make things hold together; of
architecture to move us. Architectural emotion exists when the
work rings within us in tune with a universe whose laws we
obey, recognize and respect. When certain harmonies have
been attained, the work captures us. Architecture is a matter of
harmonies, it is a pure creation of the spirit.

Le Corbusier, Vers une

architecture

In all cultures, places have had a deeply mythological meaning. The foundation of a
house, a settlement or a town has been a religious act, which is still reminiscence
today. Architecture has an eminent role as a key interface and definition of our
being-in-the-world. Where natural environment is more and more lost, architecture
takes a key role in creating places and in the best case a genius loci. In Roman
mythology a genius loci was the protective spirit of a place. With the dawn of
rationalism, this spiritual meaning of a place has been more and more negated. The
modern movement in architecture tried to analyse the site based on scientific
parameters and their optimization like sun angles and circulation distances. The fast
growth of cities in the last century, which is still continuing today, and the application
of the modern formula quickly resulted in sterile and faceless neighbourhoods.

The city consists of two spheres, the physical city of roads, buildings, parks, and
related infrastructure where we carry on our daily routine. It is the world of planners,
politicians and developers. The second sphere constitutes the contextual city. It is
the realm of people: citizens, residents and visitors. It is what gives cities their life
and directly shapes our urban experience.

Each city has a unique spirit or a distinctive atmosphere, that goes beyond the built
environment. It is this distinctive atmosphere that gives us an insight about how a
city functions in real time as people move through time and space. Viewed through
this lens, the architecture and physical infrastructure of a city give way to the rhythms

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of the passing of the day and transition of the seasons. This provides the temporal
spectacles that define a city. This distinct ambience that is a characteristic to every
city or place is what is formally known as genius loci, or the genetic footprint of a
place.

Genius loci derives from Latin term meaning the genius of the place, referring to
the presiding deity or spirit. . This phrase refers to classical Roman concept of the
protective spirit of a place. Every place has its own unique qualities, not only in terms
of its physical makeup, but of how it is perceived. It takes all the elements that go to
create the environment: buildings, trees, nature, water, traffic, advertisements and so
on, and to weave them together in such a way that drama is released. For a city is a
dramatic event in the environment. This evokes emotional experience of, and
reaction to, places.

In contemporary usage, 'genius loci', refers to a location's distinctive character, that is

its past, current and future essence. In place making, the intention of creating place is
embedded in evoking a deeper and more intuitive relationship between people and
the places they inhabit.

Genius loci is also sometimes mistaken as the historical past of a place because of
which when it was re-introduced in the modern context their attempts to
reintroduce it into built architecture, did not go beyond a naive an formalistic
repetition of long surpassed historic concepts. This happens when one fails to
understand that history can never be revived, it can only be understood and be
taken as a base of knowledge for future developments. This is to say that when we
are charmed by the specific atmosphere of a place, it is not necessarily because of
the strong reference the place has with its past, but because of the unique essence
which has developed over centuries or has been very well planned and seem to
convey a unity, a rightness and an atmosphere. This unique essence of the place is
basically the collective identity of its past which creates a sense of place or genius
loci. A harmony with Human culture and nature.

An important part of the 'spirits' of a place are the environmental energies. In space
habitats the 'Life Support System' becomes an intrinsic part of the 'atmosphere' of
the habitat. . Buildings are essentially enclosures to protect us from the impact of
weather and allow specific activities like residential, office, manufacturing, etc. to take

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place. Ecologically, a building is a high concentration of materials, manufactured
often using non-renewable energy resources, from some distant place and
transported to a particular location and assembled into a built form or an
infrastructure whose subsequent operations create further environmental
consequences. Environmental energies have actively or passively been used through
all the building history. Technology today offers a range of energy converters such as
solar collectors, photovoltaic cells, wind generators, biological recycling systems and
more. . The building should be one system within the natural environment, a Genius
Loci.

Whereas on the other hand, designs with limited resources in extreme environments
leads to a much higher respect of nature and the human being and thus helps in
generating a strong drive to improve life on Earth.

Escapism
Architectural Escapism can be interpreted in two different ways. It can either be a
mental diversion by means of entertainment or recreation, as an "escape"
or dissociation from the perceived unpleasant, boring, arduous, scary, or banal
aspects of daily life or it can also refer to the design approach seldom chosen-
sustainable architecture.

Many activities that are normal parts of a healthy existence can also become avenues
of escapism when taken to extremes or out of proper context; and as a result the
word "escapism" often carries a negative notion, suggesting that escapists are
unhappy, with an inability or unwillingness to connect meaningfully with the world
and to take necessary action, but on the contrary the word 'escapism' can have a
positive connotation to it.

We must understand that there exists two forms of escapism with different affective
outcomes dependent on the motivational focus that lies behind the immersion in the
activity.

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 Escapism in the form of self-suppression stems from motives to run away
from unpleasant thoughts, self-perceptions, and emotions,
whereas self-expansion stems from motives to gain positive experiences
through the activity and to discover new aspects of self.
In architecture, in terms of escapism a space can be defined as an escape from the
mundane where students can detach themselves from their daily academic routine to
refresh themselves. It also helps in creating a calm environment for their research
work away from the chaos of classrooms and lecture halls. These spaces can either be
within the building and have a character of its own or could outside and act as a
visual link between the interior and exterior.

Sustainable architecture - "The road not taken"

Sustainability means 'to hold' up or 'to support from below'. It refers to the ability of
a society, ecosystem or any such ongoing system, to continue functioning into the
indefinite.

Sustainable architecture involves a combination of values: aesthetic, environmental,

social, political and moral. It's about one's perception and technical knowledge to
engage in a central aspect of the practice i.e. to design and build in harmony with the
environment. The complexity involved in combining issues like sustainability,
durability, longevity, appropriate materials and sense of place is what makes
sustainable architecture the lesser trodden path .

There are five basic areas of an environmentally oriented design.

Healthy Interior Environment: It has to be well insured that building materials

and systems used do not emit toxic unhealthy gases and substances in the
built spaces. Further extra cars and measures are to be taken to provide
maximum levels of fresh air and adequate ventilation to the interior
environment.
Energy Efficiency: It has to be well ensured that the building's use of energy
is minimized. The various HVAC systems and methods of construction etc.
should be so designed that energy consumption is minimal.
Ecological Building Materials: As far as possible the use of building materials
should be from renewable sources having relatively safe sources of
production.

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 Building Form: The building form should respond to the site, region, climate
and the materials available thereby generating a harmony between the
inhabitants and the surroundings.
Good Design: Structure & Material and Aesthetics are the basic parameters
of defining design. They should be so integrated that the final outcome is a
well built, convenient and a beautiful living space.

Architects should use their creativity and perception to correlate these

principles to generate locally appropriate strategies, materials and methods
keeping in mind that every region should employ different green strategies.

Considering the ecological crisis today, architecture presents a unique

challenge in the field of sustainability. Construction projects typically consume
large amounts of materials, produce tons of waste, and often involve weighing
the preservation of buildings that have historical significance against the
desire for the development of newer, more modern designs. Sustainable
development is one such measure, which presents an approach that can
largely contribute to environmental protection. Striking a balance between
Environmental protection and Sustainable development is a difficult and
delicate task.