‘With Climate Change, Nature Will Command Us — Sustainable Architects Must Respect That'

Rahul Mehrotra teaches urban design and planning at Harvard University. Speaking to Srijana Mitra Das at Times Evoke, he discusses how climate change will impact architecture and sustainable planning:

- Srijana Mitra Das

Is climate change reshaping architecture?

Absolutely. Today, even the most advanced countries are not being spared by nature. It’s like the pandemic — it doesn’t know political boundaries. Climate change will also not recognise rich nations from poor. And it will alter architecture globally. Until now, architecture operated as an autonomous subject. It’s often been disrespectful of context. In many situations, it’s been the problem, not the solution. Architectural solutions have become easily universalised, forgetting context. But with climate change, context is critical.

Will architecture have to renegotiate its relationship with nature now?

Architecture will have to completely flip its imagination. As architects, we privilege the built environment. Nature finds its place in the interstices. This will have to be reversed — nature will now command strongly. We will have to learn to not disrupt nature and instead privilege its systemic integrity. What drives the built environment should not determine how we make settlements. Instead, this should be determined by how we safeguard our natural systems.

What changes do you foresee with climate-resilient architecture emerging?