An Analytical study of the attitudes of Sri Lankan architects towards green architecture

Abstract

In the span of time it is only yesterday that the built-environment departed from ancient tradition. For thousand of years, our ancestors respected and honored the primeval forces. Every where, buildings strove to express a harmony between people, land and cosmos. The dawning of modern age, so called "age of reason "radically upturned this ancient almost unbroken paradigm of the world. This was due to invention of materials, mass-scale production process, technologies, building densities and practices. Due to this the building has become a major contribution to present environment degradation. For the purpose of finding solutions for these. The concept "Green Architecture" has emerged. Simply defined this is not a new concept, it is a re-emergence and interpretation of traditional concepts to address the modem environment movement based on the built-environment. It can also state that this is an "attitude": in congruence with "natural" and "built" environments. This study aims to examine the attitudes of Sri Lankan architects towards Green Architecture, as they are the main contributors of the building industry. The study initially identifies the modern interpretation of green 'principles', afterwards the evolution of green attitudes and interpretations are revealed according to them from the vernacular traditional architecture to present day. Next through a questionnaire based research it is searched for the attitudes and interpretations of present day architects towards Green Architecture. This study finds that the attitudes of present as well as the earlier architects comply well with the 'green' attitudes the cause behind the built-environment that still contributing positively towards the modem environmental crisis is revealed.