Charting New Territories

“We are producing urban places which are disjointed and disconnected and not worthy of our civilization” — Israeli architect Moshe Safdie, at the World Architecture Festival.

Context

Our lives today are dictated by our fast-spun surroundings. Thousands of people throng urban metropolitan cities, hoping to get in on the promise of a better lifestyle in all spheres of life. The other side of this coin, however, is overpopulation in small concentrated areas which is leading to the destruction of land and resources. The current state of the natural sphere is well-documented, and it is clear that the way forward has to be different from the path we are on right now.

History of Civilization

The quest for complete modernization has been underway since the first permanent civilization was set up. Our ancestors used materials available to them, using nature to fashion tools for surviving. The better part of historic civilizations is that they lived alongside nature, instead of overpowering it. Today’s scenario is pretty much the opposite of it. Now when we talk about sustainable living, we reference the way our ancestors lived. But today, we have at our disposal, great advancements in technology that have revolutionized the way we live. The future promises more inventions in terms of mobility, communication, and infrastructure. Cities are closer than they have ever been, and instead of looking at the cons of today’s society, we can find a complete solution in learning from the past, observing the present, and charting the future. The way forward has to be a combination of advanced technologies and natural techniques and traditions, to be incorporated seamlessly into our habitats.

 

 

The present scenario of the civilization

The increasingly fast development of infrastructure and mobility is causing urbanization to expand to areas earlier unexplored and untouched by modern technologies; areas that still have their historic culture and heritage preserved. What if we considered a clean slate — an area devoid of rich history, yet with great potential for future settlements? Keeping in mind the blend of nature and technology in our day-to-day lives, we can completely revolutionize the way cities are planned and grow. The colony will belong to the future, considering the technology of today and built for the specific environment. The ideas are limitless—there is no end to revolutionizing a new habitat, being designed from scratch. Transport innovations, like the HyperLoop (the fastest mode of land-bound transit), can make the idea of new cities belonging to otherwise barren lands a physical reality, in that the transport and communication network stays alive throughout the world.

Conclusion:

The Extreme Habitat Challenge focuses on awareness in design, incorporating the past, present, and future wisdom, while not compensating on the Live-Work-Play dialect of the modern human civilization. The challenge aims to think out of the box — to accommodate growing populations in the space available to us, without stamping deep footprints on nature.

It is time to use our knowledge and technologies to chart a new structure for future development.

It is time to become citizens of the world.

To apply, visit Extreme Habitat Challenge