Barefoot Social Architecture: Towards a Sustainable Urban Future | Yasmeen Lari | TEDxLCWU
The speaker argues that modern, resource-intensive architecture must revert to traditional, low-carbon, and community-driven methods to combat climate change and urban inequality. This necessity is demonstrated by Pakistan's post-earthquake rebuilding using structures like earthen bamboo houses, which serve as both shelters and models for sustainable development. The speaker concludes by urging a shift from high-density skyscrapers to low-rise, mixed-use, and humanistic "eco-enclaves."
## Speakers & Context
- Speaker: Architectural professional from Pakistan.
- Context: Transitioning from a career designing for the wealthy elite to advocating for sustainable, equitable building practices.
- Shift in focus: From designs using "exotic and expensive materials" to building for the "bottom of the pyramid" (BOP) while addressing climate change and poverty.
## Theses & Positions
- Modern architectural practices, even three decades later, continue to exploit Earth's resources without sufficient regard for sustainability, reminiscent of the *Prima Donna* era.
- The global building industry contributes significantly to resource depletion (40% of energy, 60% of water, 3 billion tons of raw material) and greenhouse gas emissions (65-70% of total).
- The path forward requires a conscious rejection of "contemporary industrialized materials" in favor of traditional, sustainable, and green materials to lower the carbon footprint.
- There is a synergy between *social well-being and ecological justice* when construction utilizes traditional sustainable materials.
- The ideal urban model is the "eco-city" or "eco-enclave"—low-rise, medium-density, mixed-use developments, moving away from "skyscrapers."
- The overall goal is to create a "humanistic and inclusive" urban environment based on principles of low-cost, zero-carbon footprint, and zero waste.
## Concepts & Definitions
- **Star architecture:** Design focused on creating aesthetically elaborate, high-end structures for the wealthy elite.
- **Eco-enclaves:** Proposed urban areas designed to minimize environmental impact and promote sustainability.
- **Humanistic architecture:** Architecture designed to prioritize human needs, social equity, and dignity over pure aesthetics or profit.
- **Bottom of the Pyramid (BOP):** Design focus geared towards the poorest populations.
- **Basa:** An architectural and development framework comprising four interconnected tenets designed to achieve social and ecological justice.
- **Zero Carbon/Carbon Negative:** Aiming for buildings and systems that do not emit or actively remove greenhouse gases.
## Mechanisms & Processes
- **Basa Mechanism:** A framework for social engineering leading to transformation from dependency to self-reliance, encompassing:
1. **Maximizing the potential of barefoot ecosystem:** Creating a parallel, inclusive, and informal economy distinct from the profit-driven market economy.
2. **Zero carbon humanistic architecture:** Encouraging participatory co-building using age-old techniques and sustainable materials, fostering ownership.
3. **Delivery of unmet needs through biscuits:** Using training centers (incubators) where the poor fabricate goods (soap, compost, etc.) for local communities.
4. **Non-engineered structures for shrinking the ecological footprint:** Utilizing modular, low-impact construction techniques for rapid deployment (e.g., bamboo).
- **Passive Climate Control Techniques:**
- **Zero carbon wind cooling:** Using unidirectional wind catchers (e.g., Tata model) for natural thermal control and air movement.
- **Zero energy thermal comfort:** Utilizing passive solar design and thermal mass, such as courtyards, to cool interiors naturally.
- **Water Cooling:** Employing natural water features in urban design (e.g., Shalimar Gardens, Lahore Fort) to create cool microclimates.
## Timeline & Sequence
- **Before 1987:** Practices involved using exotic and expensive materials (concrete, steel, imported granite, aluminum glazing) for the wealthy.
- **1987:** The *Bruntland Commission Report* emphasized sustainable development and meeting the needs of the poor.
- **2005:** The devastating 7.6 vector scale earthquake in Northern Pakistan, causing 80,000 casualties and displacing 400,000 families, fundamentally changing the speaker's perception.
- **Post-2005:** Transition to designing for necessity, disaster resilience, and low-carbon solutions.
## Named Entities
- **Thomas Piketty:** French economist whose definition of wealth was referenced.
- **Bruntland Commission:** Commission whose 1987 report emphasized sustainable development.
- **Pakistan:** The location of the speaker's practice and the region affected by the 2005 earthquake.
- **Mukhley:** Location where the speaker’s work is being demonstrated, featuring dome structures.
- **Nad University, Karachi:** Institution where a structural test was performed.
- **Tata:** Company cited for an example of wind cooling technology.
- **Shalimar Gardens / Shishmahal enclosure, Lahore Fort:** World Heritage sites cited for traditional water management and cooling.
- **Oslo:** City cited as an example of a modern city emulating desirable attributes.
## Numbers & Data
- Timeframe of early practice: **1980s and 90s**.
- Material cost focus: Serving the **one percent** of wealth.
- Earthquake magnitude: **7.6 vector scale**.
- Casualties from 2005 quake: **80,000**.
- Displaced families from 2005 quake: **400,000**.
- Global building industry contribution: **40%** of energy use, **60%** of water use, **3 billion tons** of raw material.
- Greenhouse Gas Emission contribution: **65 to 70%**.
- Basa reach: **0.84 million people** or over **100,000 persons per year** provided basic needs.
- SDG goals addressed: **12 out of 17**.
- Shelter program scale: Served **1750 villages** and housed **300,000 persons**.
- Earthquake test applied loads: From **25 to 100** and **125 to 275** (event scale levels), and **670** (stress test).
## Examples & Cases
- **Early Work:** Designing for the elite using concrete, steel, imported granite cladding, and aluminum glazing.
- **Disaster Resilience:** A two-story structure demonstrated to withstand annual inundation since **2011**. The ground floor acts as a shaded area during floods, while the upper floor serves as refuge.
- **Prefabrication:** Modular construction using prefabricated bamboo panels; **8 panels** build a 12 ft by 12 ft room; **12 panels** build a 12x18 classroom; **12 panels + 2 more** creates an 18x18 village center.
- **Structural Testing:** A demonstration of a structure built with earth walls and bamboo interlacements that withstood simulated ground motions up to **670** (earthquake level).
- **Zero-Carbon Demonstration:** A comparison showing that the structure withstood simulation levels while the Vice Chancellor suggested breaking it, implying vulnerability in high-tech buildings compared to earth/bamboo.
- **Tropical/Historical Models:** The use of courtyards and water features in traditional Islamic architecture (e.g., Lahore Fort) to maintain comfortable microclimates.
## Tools, Tech & Products
- **Bamboo:** Used as a primary, sustainable, and structural material.
- **Earth lime:** Recommended sustainable building material.
- **Modern Industrial Materials:** Concrete, steel, imported granite cladding, aluminum glazing.
- **Prefabricated bamboo panels:** Modular component for quick, low-carbon housing.
- **Dome/Domical form:** Structural element learned from Mukhley's architecture.
- **Zero Carbon Shelter Program:** The overall architectural methodology demonstrated.
- **Shaking Table:** Used to test structural resilience against simulated seismic activity.
## References Cited
- **Thomas Piketty:** French economist defining wealth for the elite context.
- **Bruntland Commission Report:** Reference emphasizing sustainable development needs in 1987.
- **COP21 Paris Agreement of 2015:** International agreement setting the goal of limiting global temperature rise.
## Trade-offs & Alternatives
- **Traditional vs. Industrial:** Switching from high-carbon, industrial materials (steel, cement) to low-carbon, traditional materials (earth, bamboo).
- **Skyscrapers vs. Low-Rise:** Trading high-density, energy-intensive towers for low-rise, medium-density formations with open-to-sky terraces.
- **Consumption Model:** Shifting from a "market economy... aim for personal profit" to an inclusive, collective benefit model.
- **Western Models vs. Local Wisdom:** Moving away from Western "popular" models (Transition Design, Degrowth) toward locally appropriate solutions derived from pre-industrial wisdom.
## Methodology
- **Architectural Diagnosis:** Critiquing previous practices based on resource wastefulness and elitism.
- **Site Assessment:** Using post-disaster rebuilding (Pakistan 2005) as the immediate necessity driver for change.
- **Development Model:** Implementing the *Basa* framework to ensure development is holistic, covering social, environmental, and cultural dimensions.
- **Structural Testing:** Subjecting modular bamboo structures to rigorous shaking table tests up to 670 movement levels to prove resilience.
- **Urban Planning Approach:** Advocating for a mix of natural climate engineering (wind/water cooling) with low-impact building techniques.
## Conclusions & Recommendations
- Urges an urgent transformation of present wasteful urban centers into low-carbon eco-enclaves.
- Calls for adopting humanistic approaches, prioritizing community ownership and local resource use.
- Advocates for sustainable models like the speaker's *Basa* framework to achieve SDG goals and support vulnerable populations.
- Final call: Determining if the audience is "ready to play a role in mending the imbalances in this world."
## Implications & Consequences
- Continuing industrial building practices risk exacerbating climate change and exacerbating social disparities, trapping humanity in a cycle of dependency.
- Successful adoption of low-carbon methods can create climate-resilient communities that maintain cultural connection to nature (open-sky terraces).
- failure to act endangers the planet and compromises human ability to sustain life in the current environmental trajectory.
## Verbatim Moments
- *"I had been among the most wasteful architects in pakistan."*
- *"Prima donna architects driven by the desire to create star architecture for the select few unthinkingly continue to exploit earth's resources..."*
- *"We know that worldwide building industry is responsible for at least 40 percent of energy uses 60 percentage of water usage or 3 billion tons of raw material and 15 to 20 percent of waste stream."*
- *"it has become imperative to discontinue the use of contemporary industrialized materials building materials and revert to traditional sustainable green materials"*
- *"My fellow travelers are those that walk barefoot"*
- *"The dictum i follow is low cost zero carbon footprint and zero waste"*
- *"basa is akin to social engineering for bringing about social change incorporating environmental cultural and technical dimensions"*
- *"The barefoot ecosystem consists of barefoot economy barefoot market barefoot enterprises barefoot entrepreneurs barefoot skills and barefoot products"*
- *"When a pandemic strikes with pedestrian enclaves and local around the corner shopping without being disrupted by vehicular traffic"*
- *"are we ready to play a role in mending the imbalances in this world"*