Implication of Architectural Education for Promoting Sustainable Built Environment in Bangladesh:...

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15 December 2011 Paper ID_ F-01 To Md. Nawrose Fatemi Lecturer, Department of Architecture University of Asia Pacific, Bangladesh E-mail: [email protected] Nabanita Islam Lecturer, Department of Architecture University of Asia Pacific, Bangladesh E-mail: [email protected] Ref: Paper ID_F-01 (Long Paper) Dear Authors On behalf of the Technical Sub-committee of the International Seminar on Architecture: Education, Practice and Research, I would like to inform you that your paper titled ‘Implication of Architectural Education for Promoting Sustainable Built Environment in Bangladesh : Present Trends and Future Potentials’ has been finally selected for the Seminar under the sub theme: Architectural Education. The Technical Committee feels that this endeavour is praise worthy and befitting to the seminar issue. Thank you for your patience during the long refereeing process. We, therefore, invite you to present the paper at the Seminar during 2-4 February 2012. Please ensure your participation in the Seminar at an early date. The programme of the Technical Sessions will be announced soon. We hope you will extend your cordial support to this endeavour undertaken by the Department of Architecture, BUET. Yours Sincerely, Prof. Dr. Farida Nilufar Convenor, Technical Sub-committee International Seminar on Architecture: Education, Practice and Research Department of Architecture, BEUT Email: [email protected]/ [email protected]/ Contact: 0088-9665650-80 (7153), 0088- 01819430517, Please visit our official website for further updates. www.buet.ac.bd/arch/seminar

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Resolving Geometries in Complex Curtain Walls: Shanghai Natural History Museum Cell Wall as a Case Study

Implication of Architectural Education for Promoting

Sustainable Built Environment in Bangladesh:

Present Trends and Future Potentials

Md. Nawrose Fatemi

Lecturer, Department of Architecture

University of Asia Paciic, BangladeshE-mail: [email protected]

Nabanita Islam

Lecturer, Department of Architecture

University of Asia Paciic, BangladeshE-mail: [email protected]

Abstract

Bangladesh is one of many such countries that are in immediate need to imply concepts of sustainability to

deal with crises like water, energy security, poverty, climate change and so on. The concept of sustainability

is interdisciplinary in nature, which demands participation from every level of the community, aiming at

maintaining a balanced ecological, social and economic system. As built environment is one of the indicators

of socio-economic and ecological conditions, architects are implicitly connected to maintain the sustainability

process. Architects form an integral part in visualizing and implying this concept since they play a vital role in

the creation of built environment. So it is very crucial for the architects of Bangladesh to be made aware of their

responsibilities by incorporating the concepts of sustainability from a very elementary level of architectural

pedagogy. In Bangladesh, a signiicant number of institutes are offering architectural education and the number of students and graduating architects is increasing remarkably. Although most schools recognize the

need to implement sustainable design, environmental (both social and ecological) agenda still continue to

be insigniicant. The focus of this paper is to evaluate the reasons why there is necessity to achieve the long

term sustainability goals and the critical issues involved in reformation of architectural curriculum to build the

awareness.

Keywords: Sustainability, Sustainable Built Environment, Architectural Education, Curriculum

1. Introduction

In recent times, the concept of sustainability has drawn wide attention and continues to become more popular

within society, though it has existed in the design practice of common people for centuries. As the concept is

interdisciplinary in nature, different professionals are required to support the movement. For this, sustainable

development becomes one of the great challenges of 21st century for different professionals including

architects and planners. The building and construction professionals are responsible for creating the built

environment that governs the way we live and behave. So, it is imperative that students, who are our future

architects and planners, be aware of how their attitudes, behaviors and actions will impact our future natural

environment and the health of people (Shari & Jaafar, 2006). Therefore, many schools in Europe, USA and

even in Asia (Singapore and Malaysia) have begun to introduce and review their syllabus content to include

technical issues and sustainable design approaches (Ibrahim, 2008).

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The year 2005 marks the commencement of the United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable

Development, which is an opportunity as well as a challenge for educators of all stripes to reorient their

teaching, research, and community outreach towards sustainability. It has been 18 years since UIA released

the ‘Declaration of Interdependence for a Sustainable Future’ (UNESCO/UIA 1993) suggesting that the

architectural profession should seek ‘to achieve ecological sustainability within the limited time that is likely

to be available’. And it has been 15 years after the release of UIA / UNESCO ‘Charter for Architectural

Education’ (UIA/UNESCO 1996) that registers among educational goals ‘an ecologically balanced and

sustainable development of the built environment’. This asserts that incorporation of sustainability elements

in the architectural education is inevitable. In response to this spirit, the role of higher education as a means

of comprehensively introducing new generations of architects to the principles and practices of sustainable

environmental design is becoming highly signiicant.

According to United Nations 2008 and UIA 2005, the magnitude of urban population per architect is signiicantly high in Bangladesh (33320:1) which is higher than some other countries like- China, India, Singapore, USA, UK,

Australia and Japan (Manu et al, 2010). For this, to meet the current demand, a signiicant number of Institutes (4 public and 11 private) are offering architectural education and the number of students and graduating

architects is increasing remarkably. But most Institutes in Bangladesh are yet to incorporate the concept of

sustainability meaningfully, whereby most efforts appear sporadic. For this, a new pedagogical methodology

consequently needs to be developed in order to overcome existing educational and professional barriers.

This should act as a communication platform that facilitates the transfer of knowledge between sustainability-

related building sciences and creative design in the architectural curriculum in the same platform. The focus of

this paper is to evaluate the reasons why there is necessity to achieve the long term sustainability goals and

the critical issues involved in reformation of architectural curriculum to build the awareness.

2. Concept of Sustainability and Role of Education

The World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED) became seriously concerned about the

deterioration of the environment and natural resources and demanded that goals of economic and social

development must be deined in terms of sustainability (WCED, 1987). The UN thus adopted sustainable development, which aims to meet the needs and aspirations of the present without compromising the ability

to meet those of the future as a guiding principle (UNGAR, 1987). Sustainable development or sustainability

is not a new idea; it is deeply embedded into the cultures of this region under different forms and names.

But the word ‘sustainable development’ got its international prominence by Lester Brown (Thompson, 2001;

cited by Bhandari et al, 2003) for the irst time, used by ICUN-The World Conservation Union, in its famous document ‘The World Conservation Strategy’ in the 1980’s. At the early 1990’s, the term began to form part of

the vocabulary of education (Fien & Tilbury 2002).

It was a quarter of a century ago, that education was described by Schumacher (1973) as the ‘greatest

resource’ for achieving a just and ecological society. Universities and other equivalent institutions play a

leading role in promoting environmental ethics and the principles of sustainable development (Delakowitz &

Hoffmann 2000). According to Filho (2000), ‘…universities must give future generations education and training

that will teach them, and through them, others to respect the great harmonies of their natural environment and

of life itself’. According to Agenda 21, ‘Education should be recognized as a process by which human beings

and societies can reach their fullest potential. Education is critical for promoting sustainable development and

improving the capacity of the people to address environment and development issues’ (UNPA, 1992). The

Brundtland Report (WCED, 1987) argued that teachers had ‘a crucial role to play in helping to bring about the

extensive social changes’ necessary for sustainable development. Thus, education is the primary agent of

transformation towards sustainable development, increasing people’s capacities to transform their visions for

society into reality. Education not only provides scientiic and technical skills, it also provides the motivation, justiication, and social support for pursuing and applying them.


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According to Ashford (2004), ‘New science education programs, research institutions, and scientiic journals centered on the concept of sustainability have emerged. University curricula focused on sustainability, as well

as programs that integrate sustainability into existing scientiic, engineering, industrial design, economics, social science, and other curricula have been developed’. In response to Ashford, it can be stated that the

curricula of architecture education in Bangladesh needs to be developed focused on sustainability.

3. Visions Regarding Sustainable Future in Bangladesh

To cope with the environmental threats in view with the sustainable future of Bangladesh, Department of

Environment (D0E), Bangladesh has prepared the National Sustainable Development Strategy (NSDS) 2011.

The vision of NSDS, 2011 is to ‘ensure sustained economic growth, environmental protection and social

justice which implies improvement of livelihood options of the people, reduction of poverty; ensuring wise

use of natural resources, good governance and people’s participation’. In order to bring about sustainable

development the general strategies set out in NSDS are:

• Creating an economy that will have continued growth and beneit will penetrate at all level to ensure sustainable development;

• Enhance institutional capacity and bring necessary changes at institutional at institutional level as

appropriate for sustainable development;

• Creating a policy and regulatory framework to create an enabling condition and support sustainable

development; and

• Creating a knowledge base for sustainable development.

In view with the second strategy mentioned above, NSDS, 2011 has emphasized on ensuring sustainable

development education in all its developmental programs. The thrust of the plan includes infusing formal

environmental education in the curriculum. On the other hand, regarding sustainable built environment, the

strategies set out in NSDS, 2011 are shown in table 1:

Table 1: Strategy for sustainable built environment according to NSDS, 2011

Strategy For Environmental Sustainability Sustainable Parameters

Conservation of natural water bodies

Water Conservation Provide support for construction of rain water harvesting plants in both rural and

Urban areas

Develop environment friendly fuel consumption mechanism (i.e. improved stove, solar

cooker, solar energy etc.)

Energy Conservation

Natural gas must be used for producing electricity to keep lower emissions from

energy industry

Promotion of renewable energy (solar energy, biogas. wind energy etc)

Supply Soft loan for housing to medium to poor people in both rural and urban areas

Social Sustainability & Public

Participation

Budget allocation for housing of the poor

Construction and repair of multipurpose community based shelters for disaster

mitigation

Installation or construction of waste water treatment plants in all urban areas Waste management

But these strategies are not suficient to grasp the concept of sustainability to promote sustainable built environment. For this, the Ministry of Environment, Bangladesh has to accommodate speciic agenda for ecologically sustainable built environment. It is deinite that these generalized sustainable agenda should be taken on board to further detail out by architects and planners to make sustainable built environment parameters.

Implication of Architectural Education for Promoting Sustainable Built Environment in Bangladesh: Present Trends and Future Potentials


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4. Architects’ Role in Achieving Sustainability Goals

The need for sustainable development has, in fact, to concurrently embrace many different aspects of human

activity, which include economic, socio-cultural, ethical and aesthetic values in addition to the environmental

and technical issues surrounding energy consumption, management of resources and reduction of CO2

emissions that can ensure that future generations will be able to satisfy their needs at the same level of today

(WCED, 1987). To effectively promote sustainability in the design of the built environment, it is essential that

technical principles and environmental targets are embraced within an adequate and creative design process,

which is, without doubt, a privilege of the architectural profession (Orr, 2002; cited by Altomonte, 2009). To

adopt the sustainable design process is a challenge for an architect as the current paradigm of thought treats

building as an economic process, rather than an ecological, social and cultural phenomenon. A social and

cultural concern as well as the environment is dominated by deeply entrenched economic thought and this

poses an obstacle to achieve the objective of sustainable design.

According to Franz (1998), though many architects acknowledge the importance of sustainability, sustainable

practices amongst architects are still a few. Despite a focus on energy eficiency, waste management and resource conservation for building and urban design, very few sustainable features have been incorporated

into building products and practice (Thomas et al 1996). Altomonte (2009) stated that the need to initiate a

change in the formation of building practitioners that supports the successful implementation of environmental

considerations in the practice of architecture (including issues of climatic design, choice of materials,

construction techniques, passive and hybrid strategies, resource eficiency, reduction of impacts and so on) is mainly triggered by three factors:

• The current building practice has been slow to consistently respond to the demands of enhancing

sustainable environmental design within a creative architectural discourse;

• Existing accreditation and qualiication criteria established by professional bodies do not succeed in contributing towards the systematic promotion and diffusion of environmental sustainability in the

design of buildings;

• University curricula have shown to be relatively ineffective in methodically integrating sustainable

environmental design in the education of students of architecture.

5. Importance of Sustainable Issues in Architectural Education and Current

Trends in Bangladesh

Architecture curriculum is developed and monitored by national organizations in different countries such as

National Council of Architectural Registration Boards (USA), Royal Institute of British Architects (UK), COA

(India) etc. to train architects as per the needs of the construction industry in the country. International Union

of Architecture (UIA) and UNESCO framed a charter for architectural education (UIA, 1996) to be used for

developing a curriculum for architectural studies worldwide. It states that architectural education should

also involve acquisition of knowledge in the ields like sustainable and low energy design along with the knowledge of core subjects like Architectural Design, Construction Techniques and Building Services etc.

Later, UIA (2008) proposed architectural education with the following characteristics: ‘Architectural education

that prepares architects for a professional life should therefore, be seen, at least in the following contexts

and the speciic objectives pertaining to them: Social, cultural, political contexts; Professional, technological,

industrial contexts; The World: local, global, ecological contexts and Academic contexts including science and

knowledge in general’.

In the USA, the conference - ‘How Can the Architect Contribute to a Sustainable World?’ was held in August

2001 that brought together architectural schools from across the country with the overriding purpose of charting

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a three to ive year plan for a comprehensive transformation of architectural curriculum so as to address the sustainability agenda (Second Nature, 2001). The conference recognizes that there is no single strategy

towards adoption of ideas and content of the sustainability agenda due to the diversity of schools in terms of

their philosophy, pedagogical approaches and ability to adopt innovation. There is also a need to inculcate

sustainability awareness at foundation level of architectural education. Acknowledging this need, the Royal

Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has initiated ‘Criteria for Validation’ which speciied the need to develop basic sustainability knowledge and skills as early as its Part 1 curricula (Shari & Jaafar, 2006) and several

Schools of Architecture in UK are already working towards achieving this. Some of these schools even plan

to go beyond the point of simply ‘making the students aware’. Starting at undergraduate level, they plan to

introduce more sophisticated sustainability issues such as sustainability benchmarking, indicators and other

tools as a ‘measuring process’ during design stages (Fowles et al., 2003).

So it can be illustrated that efforts are being taken to integrate sustainability in architectural education in

many universities in the world. This part of the paper explores the current state of architectural education and

issues of sustainability in teaching in Bangladesh. Because, now there is a time to ask how appropriate is our

education to deal with the present state of architectural practice and need for architecture in future. One of the

pertaining issues in architectural education is to strike a balance between humanistic issues (social, cultural,

economic and spiritual) along with environmental and technological issues (Shari & Jaafar, 2006). This is also

relected by Edward (2002), ‘The Challenge is how to incorporate these (sustainable) requirements into the

methods and content of architectural education, and more importantly how to do this across the curriculum, in

theory, history, technologies, humanities etc, and in the design project, so that sustainability knowledge and

skills become natural component of the architect’s mindset and underpin their value system’.

5.1. Present Curricula and Requirements for Changes

In Bangladesh the ive years degree program is divided into ten to ifteen semesters or terms with two or three in each year. Architectural curriculum is organized around studio based teaching method and theories as a

supporting aid of design studios. The main intention of the theoretical courses is to form a knowledge base

in understanding and solving architectural design problems. As architectural education is multi-disciplinary

and multi-dimensional, the theoretical courses involve a wide range of disciplines in the ields of arts, science and engineering. However, mainly two divisions, theory and sessional courses can categorize curriculum.

Among the sessional courses there are design studios (I to X/XV), supporting sessionals (e.g. Architectural

Graphics, Working Drawings, Computer Aided Design, Field surveys and so on) that act as fundamental

tools to support studio courses and additional skills like Photography, Art, Sculpture and Graphic Arts where

aesthetic and artistic qualities are nurtured among the students. To give emphasis on design, the ratio of

credits between sessional and theory Courses is progressively increased in higher levels. On an average the

sessional courses takes up 55% and theory courses 45% of total credit hours, shown in table 2.

Table 2: Different courses offered from the 9 Institutes of Bangladesh with credit points (Begum et al,

2011; modiied by author)

BUET KU AUST UAP BRAC SUB NSU STU AIUB

Sessionals courses

Design studio 81 76.5 76.5 81 93 79.5 64.5 79.5 65.5

Graphics 6 6 6 6 4.5 6 6 6 6

Working drawing 3 3 4.5 3 3 6 3 9 3

Computer 3 3 4.5 6.5 4.5 6 3 4.5 1.5

Field study & Others 10.5 36 10.5 13 7 11.5 2 13.5 11



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Theory courses

Design theory 4 9 6 4 - 3 4.5 6 4+2

Language 2 - 2 6 3.5 6 6 6+1.5 6

History 10+2 17 8 14 12 15 11 18 12

Climate & design 4+2 4 8+2 4+8 6 3 9 3 4+2

Building material 10+2 4 10 4 6 3 6 6 4

Planning 2+4 4 8 2+4 4 - 3 3 2+2

Humanities 8+10 12 14 4+4 10 9 6 12 13+2

Science 7 8 6 3 6 - 6 6 6

Mathematics 14 12 13 14 12 9 9 9 10+2

Special courses 6+20 12+2 10 16+12 12 6 3.5 - 8+6

Prof. practice 2 2 2 1 3 1.5 - - 2

In the curriculum, sustainability related subjects are included as theoretical knowledge in the section ‘climate

and design’ and types of these subjects are mostly like Climate and Design; Visual and Sonic Environment;

Ecology; Environmental Psychology; Design in the Tropical Area; Bioclimatic Design; and Environment

Responsive Design and so on. These sustainability related subjects normally involved the teaching of building

physics or building sciences, but the way they were taught as a separate entity had little to do with the design

process (Hagan, 2008). For this, to practice sustainability in built environment, the projects of the design studio

should be connected with these sustainability related subjects. According to Rahman (2010), ‘Throughout

the year several design projects were given by the lecturers for the students’ progress and to assess them

on two basic categories of skills (i.e. their design philosophy and the ability to portray their ideas via the

required methods of visualization). Design philosophy will present rational and intelligent way of providing

space requirements, whether vertical or horizontal and as common to all schools of architecture all over the

world, the need for plans, elevations, sections, and perspectives by mode of manual hand sketches or with the

aid of computer-aided-design software’. But this studio format should be enriched with ‘Environmental Issues’

as an added component to assess the studio projects. The proposed added criteria in design studio for the

Sustainable Architecture Program are shown in table 3:

Table 3: The proposed added criteria for the Sustainable Architecture Program

Course synopsis Existing criteria Proposed added criteria

First Year Fundamental principles

of design

Principles of basic composition

should be studied.

The basics of design should be

emphasized along with Design philosophy

and 3d visualization.

Second

Year

Functional aspects and

ergonomics

The human perception of space and

built form should be understood.

The process of the design projects should

be emphasized. Case studies of energy-

eficient projects should be introduced.

Third

Year

Interplay of three-

dimensional form with

structure, function and

environmental qualities

The problems of dealing with multiple

functions with emphasis on form-

space relationship; the structural

integrity and the environmental

impact should be studied.

Computer-aided design software and

computer simulations should be introduced

for realistic rendering and to add value to

the design.

Fourth

Year

Complex urban issues Complex socio-economic and

cultural forces and their architectural

manifestations should be

emphasized. Urban issues and scale

should be introduced.

Other sustainability issues apart from

the speciic design for energy eficiency, such as life-cycle analysis of construction

materials, recycling programs, rainwater

harvesting, industrialized building system

etc. should be introduced.

Fifth Year Design of a

comprehensive whole

project

Professional issues in architecture

should be introduced. Independent

decisions based on real life situation

should be realized.

Inclination and emphasis on being

sustainable is required.

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5.2. Identiication of Barriers

In Bangladesh, there is still a long way to go until sustainable design is irmly rooted in architectural learning. Although most schools here recognize the need to implement sustainable design, environmental agenda still

continue to be regarded as a marginal issue. There are a number of reasons for this, within the academic

perimeter. This section summarizes issues of importance and areas of improvement in integrating sustainability

in Bangladeshi architectural education.

Educator Factor

Flynn (2007) claimed that ‘the demand for sustainable design is relatively recent and still growing; many

people do not have the experience with the processes, methods, and ideas that sustainability requires’. ‘Many

educators have not received any training in eco design or sustainable design because the ield either did not exist or was not emphasized during their education and that therefore there is a need to disseminate sound

and concise curricula’(Bergman & Doering, 2007). Stasinopoulos (2005) also added that ‘Sustainable design

is a rather recent theme, not very familiar to the old guard that administers schools. Most tutors have had

limited or even nonexistent training in their past, and practical experience is even more rare’. Consequently,

‘a lack of importance placed on sustainable design by many architectural educators’ (Kim et al, 1998) is no

surprise.

The speciied barriers, under this category are lack of exposure or knowledge; absence of training or education in sustainable design and construction; lack of awareness, ignorance and negative attitude towards

sustainability and interest and enthusiasm. Here, Shari and Jaafar (2006) argued that these barriers are

caused by poor dialogue and co-ordinations, leading to a lack of commitment from everyone in developing

a sustainable agenda. As a result, it is dificult to introduce ‘uninteresting’ or ‘useless’ new topics to the curriculum, especially in view of the fact that sustainable design challenges the predominantly artistic stance

of architecture.

Curriculum Factor

The toughest barrier seems to be under the category of ‘Curriculum factors’. In the previous section, it is

discussed and the added criteria for sustainable architecture program have been proposed. In Bangladesh

architectural curriculum is organized around studio based teaching method and theories as an aid to support

design studios. This framework was irst introduced to the Department of Architecture in Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) and later on adopted by the other universities (KU, AUST, UAP, BRAC

etc.). But according to the previous discussion in section 5.1, if the sustainability related subjects are taught

as a separate entity, it has less relevance to the design process. Moreover, in most schools here that show

environmental concern, related issues are usually conined to elective classes such as Ecology; Environmental Psychology; Bioclimatic Design; and Environment Responsive Design etc., a very few in design studios. As

a result, a very little practical experience is gained in the methods of introducing sustainable qualities in the

‘core’ design agenda. Again, sustainable design is a complex architectural approach, encompassing diverse

ields of knowledge and requiring multi-disciplinary teamwork. Similar concern is expressed by Kim et al

(2005) who insist that: ‘sustainable architecture is a complex subject that should be covered throughout the

curriculum’, not just in infrequent and random projects. For this, the proposed added criteria (discussed in

previous section) have to be incorporated to the whole academic program.

For instance, in Malaysia, Shari and Jaafar (2006) found (through a survey at 7 public and 2 private universities

that offered undergraduate diploma and degrees programs in architecture) that in studio teaching the top

four strategies are ‘Exploitation of natural ventilation’, ‘Emphasis on passive solar design e.g. orientation,

exploitation of daylight and shading’, ‘Preservation of natural elements on site (trees, slopes)’ and ‘Emphasis



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on Low Energy Design e.g. energy-saving lighting, insulation and glazing type’. Meanwhile, the bottom three

strategies are ‘Community Building’, ‘Low Maintenance Materials’ and ‘Waste Recycling’. This inding indicates that sustainable design strategies implemented in Malaysian design studio are more concerned with energy

and environmental issues, while an apparent lack of attention to the social (i.e. human health, comfort and

convenience, safety and security, culture and heritage etc.) and economic dimensions (i.e. functionality and

eficiency, lexibility and adaptability, affordability, access to resources etc.) are observed. The same scenario can be evident in the context of Bangladesh where social and economic issues, in a much marginalized

aspect, are addressed only during the fourth year urban design and housing studios. Fowles et al. (2003) also

found that 22 out of 36 architecture schools in the UK have detailed courses on sustainability but little attention

is paid to social and economic sustainability and the major emphasis has been on energy conservation in

buildings. So, Edward (2002) claimed that this can be a problem since it needs to encompass other aspects

of sustainability such as philosophy, economy, ecology, culture and social issues in order for sustainability to

be successfully integrated into the curriculum.

Resource Factor

‘Resource Factor’ is the second most cited category of barriers identiied by Shari and Jaafar (2006). The shortage of literature and effective textbooks covering the subject matter in local libraries and the scarcity of

successful sustainable building examples in Bangladesh are marked as main barriers. Very recently there

has been some attempts (some projects at HBRI premises, Rudrapur School, Dinajpur) to come up with eco-

friendly and sustainable architecture. But even those are not well documented to act as a strong reference

for the students as well as for the practicing architects. There have been some very recent attempts for

introducing LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certiication for Factory Building Design. But that is also not widely circulated among students. Some globally recognized green building tools such

as, the British Rating Energy Eficiency Assessment Method (BREEAM) of the United Kingdom, the Green Star of Australia and New Zealand, the Green Mark of Singapore, the Comprehensive Assessment System

for Building Energy Eficiency (CASBEE) of Japan, are also not being introduced in curriculum and practice.

Subject Factor

According to Stasinopoulos (2005), ‘sustainable design has yet to ind a clear identity: Is it a building technique, a blend of architecture and engineering that can be applied on any architectural variety just like,

say, ire safety or seismic prooing? Is it just one more architectural fashion, perhaps with extra consideration to the environment than the rest, with its own stylistic trademarks like solar collectors, conservatories, or green

labels? Or is it a novel design mindset, where nature & society, today & tomorrow are equal partners in the

design framework?’ This is one of the major reasons behind the existing attitude of students and educators

towards sustainability issues. Another problem expressed by the respondents in the study by Shari and

Jaafar (2006) is that the breadth and complexity of sustainability issues is beyond their understanding. Some

respondents even considered that sustainability is ‘trendy’ while others regarded it as ‘special’ and ‘multi-

layered’, requiring expert knowledge to make good decisions. Again, the variations like ‘energy conscious

design’, ‘bioclimatic’, ‘ecological’, or ‘green’, any of which could be applied in a non-sustainable manner. For

instance, an energy-saving scheme could employ non-ecological materials or bioclimatic skyscrapers use

more resources than low rise.

Student Factor

Students are the last to blame; given the predominant aesthetic values, there are not too many sustainable

examples that would stimulate enough to stir the understanding of sustainable parameters into their design

exercise. It is clear that sustainable design in full scale is a complex endeavor that requires a holistic alertness

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on a broad array of subjects, technical as much as social. Posada (2004) stated that ‘although there is much

interest and curiosity about the subject, no one would say it’s easy to learn or apply in practice’.

6. Recommendations and Conclusion

Since the recognition of architectural education as a crucial tool for promoting sustainable environment, many

researchers have been conducted to identify the laws in the existing educational system and the ways to move forward. This section has discussed some of the possible recommendations to promote sustainability

in the Bangladeshi architectural education. The references have been drawn from various studies done in

the context of other countries that are suitably applicable in our local context. Based on the indings from the conference held in August 2001 in the USA (Second Nature, 2001) and the study by Shari & Jaafar (2006),

some relevant guidelines can be summarized –

• The national agendas and strategies need to be reviewed and oriented more towards sustainable

development. On the regulatory aspect, explicitly embedding sustainability requirements in long

term plans, strategies and by-laws would govern more practicing architects and educators to inspire

sustainability in their projects and teachings. Government’s step to develop more real life sustainable

projects can also act as an effective move towards enhancing public’s awareness on the importance

of sustainability in the built environment.

• Revise and transform the existing curriculum to fully embrace the construct of sustainable design as

well as to inculcate sustainability awareness among lower year students by introducing strategies

to integrate sustainable design concepts in all areas, History & Theory, Technology, Studio and

Professional Practice, especially for non-technological courses—such as philosophy, economy,

ecology, culture and social issues, creating symposia at architectural schools to address the cutting

edge ideas and developments.

• Transform studio teaching by inding workable methods to breakdown the usual differentiation of the studio and the lecture, working on real life problems at different scales either on the campus itself or

in the community at large, developing ecological footprint exercises and faculty training, developing

layered drawings to include Geographic Information System (GIS) information; and bridging the

major disciplinary division in design training, using a three-dimensional approach solving problems,

addressing the issues of beauty, performance and ecological simultaneously.

• Faculty from inside and outside of the department (practicing architects, professionals with particular

specialization) should be engaged to offer multiple viewpoints of cultural, social, and ecological

sustainability along a continuum of the built environment which includes art, interior design,

architecture, engineering, landscape architecture, urban design and city and regional planning.

• More training programs have to be organized to increase the sustainable literacy among younger

generation of architectural educators and increase the level of sustainability awareness among

educators with irst-degree qualiications.

• Funding by universities and research funding agencies has to be emphasized for researches which

address sustainability issues.

• Public awareness towards environmental sustainability has to be generated by educate the clients

and other stake holders through the media.

In conclusion, it is believed that sustainable building design has the potential to become a standard practice

if the education industry continues to ind ways to incorporate some of the recommendations outlined in this paper. It is hoped that the relevant agencies and parties could implement these recommendations as a guide



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in promoting sustainability in architectural education and indirectly in the building industry in general. So far it

has been dificult to modify the architectural curriculum effectively due to academic inertia, but schools have to acknowledge forthcoming realities in order to adjust teaching subjects and methods, and to encourage

sustainable spirit in the design attitude of future architects.

Reference

Altomonte, S (2009), Environmental Education for Sustainable Architecture, Review of European Studies,

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