THOUGHTS ON URBANISM:History defines who we are, just as much as who we are to be

The identity of a place and its relationship to the community matters since it is an intrinsic part of a community’s sense of belonging. Hence, when industry leaders bring about change in an environment, they should be considering the community’s needs in the equation. But do they really? ?This is an individualistic precept that globalization is creating an undesirable uniformity in cities around the world. Architects are heralding it as the era of ‘modernization’. However, an interesting conundrum emerges from that concept. Should we, as a country that prides itself to be the face of leadership and innovation in the African World, adhere to such an ideology? We claim the banner of leadership and yet, paradoxically, exhibit all the scars of a victim of globalization. We not only bear the wounds to show for it but sadly verge on the brink of a free fall as we are embracing the deconstruction of the unique identity of places that marvel and enrapture through their distinctiveness. By promoting the embracement of foreign cultures, we are denying our own roots. We forget all too quickly that a colorful, historic Mauritius, a cradle of laughter and fulfillment to one and all, appeals far more that an island that is a mere notch on the belt of globalization.?Our leading professionals tend to forget that architecture is not prescriptive. It does not state that all buildings should be of the same mould nor that they should be carved from the same materials. Glass, shiny titanium surfaces and other such bearings of the said ‘avant garde’ movement are not the embodiment of architectural promise and achievement. They are ultimately expressions of a visual ideology encapsulated in architectural mantras of modernity. What we are experiencing and creating is far from being intelligent Architecture.?We are more or less accustomed to out rich colonization history by the Dutch, French and English but our cities do not reflect that fact. Our infrastructure or planning do not tell a story and our style can no longer be perceived as an adaptation or evolution of our past. What we left to be seen if historical buildings are left to slowly crumble or are, sadly, being used for wrongful endeavors linked to destructive and unsustainable purposes. The prestige that was once linked to such places seeps in history, is slowly fading away as we are witnesses to the demolition of historical fragments. Our history is being erased…our memories soiled.?The identity of any architectural piece is fundamentally related to its emergent locality, the spirit endowed by the place and its symbolism. However, we tend to belie these very principles by deconstructing our history and instead giving life to structures without contextual identity. Instead of constructing around our cultural attributes and unique society, our architects, urban designers and engineers are instead creating a multitude of styles that reflect westernized culture without projecting the spirit and essence of the place. This unfortunately leads to not only a lack of harmony among the merging architectural trends but also deconstructs the context, value and story of the community involved. Since any city has a strong impact on the community it houses, we can only imagine the consequences of such a haphazard planning on our future.?Multiple issues are bound to arise from such a trend, varying from project to project, but ultimately in its ensemble; there will be increasing concerns about the equitable access to services and resources by the local residents as well as a questionable impact on their health and well-being, as social well-being is invariably strongly entwined with physical well-being. Ecological repercussions are also to be considered. The urbanization process often creates controversy in terms of energy efficiency since it relies on a huge consumption of resources. Moreover, development alters the biodiversity of habitats, a fact which needs to be carefully weighed in the equation. We also need to factor in the governance issues relating to the judicial and ethical aspect of settlement patterns involved in urban development. Specifically Les Salines, provides a prime portion of development, but what is development without local acceptance? Development should grow organically and not forced upon. As of Fort Georges, instead of using this magnificent architecturally rich monument for unsustainable uses, it should be open to the public, and its space activated. ?It is crucial to find a proper balance between those aspects in order to celebrate our diversity and promote a good standard of living while protecting and preserving our cultural and architectural identity. Strong emphasis should be placed on proper planning since the continuation of our present haphazard construction puts our future generations at risk of inheriting a place that lacks not only design but also an embodied cultural identity. Our cities and our buildings would face a slow decay our history forgotten to all, hanging on to sheer survival in wizened history books that scream to be read.
At present, the only widely known exotic architectural pieces that embrace the colloquialisms of colonial style and philosophies are hotels. The sad irony is that our economy thrives on tourism and hence numerous structures have been set up to accommodate our visitors in good fashion. While it is still questionable as to how much some of those buildings really relate to our country’s identity, we must nevertheless acknowledge the attempted efforts at projecting a semi-historical image to our guests. However, one must not forget that the tourist experience is not confined to hotels. Most people like to immerse themselves in the culture of a place and tend to travel and interact with the local populace. The overall and most lasting impact would hence be their experience in our different cities & villages and their impression of our local architecture and its relation to our people and our cultural identity. Should we take time to ponder on that experience, we come to notice that we are actually highlighting the very real dichotomy in our infrastructure: The luxurious, well designed hotels versus our crumbling cities and villages. Instead why don’t us revamp our current fabric to accommodate a true sense of belonging to its inhabitants and in parallel encourage tourism and its unique experience? Our fabric relates a history of hundreds of years, we must use it to our advantage and create a living, walkable & sustainable fabric, acting as a museum to visitors.
We cannot be blinded to the fact that the architectural emphasis placed on the tourism sector is sorely lacking in our public sector. We tend to forget that our cultural identity is a matter of being as well as becoming and hence, it belongs to our future as much as to our past. Thus, our cultural heritage should not be confined within the walls of hotels but extended to encompass our streets. The cultural ethos needs to be shared so that a common, true experienced can be shared by our tourists and our people. This, by no means, promotes a radical shift towards the architectural style of centuries gone by but instead advocates for an evolution based on our architectural roots while enriching our landscape diaspora by clever designing and construction. There is a need for a new urbanism which will not be based on uncertainty or irrationality. It should not be primarily concerned with the notion of permanence but instead elaborate on territories of potential and value. It should not aim for the erection of stable configurations alone but instead aim to create a co-habitation between history and structure, between our past and present. We need to redefine how we want to visualize our future and as such, make provision for it.?We also need to provide an intelligent yet cohesive architecture that is responsive to human needs and sensibilities. This can be achieved by constant re-adaptation to existing buildings, nature and culture. We need to connect to our buildings just as we connect to the world as ultimately our structures are the visual narrators of our history. We need to use our imagination to create post-traditional relationships that are both new and meaningful.?Over the years, we have been favoring our economic stability to the detriment of our heritage and identity. We should now pause and reflect upon our current position. Our city reflects who we are and should we encourage the developing, so called modern trend, we should inevitably question the image we are projecting of ourselves. In our blind rush for economical pursuits, we are unfortunately promoting an instrument of undoing towards the magnificent expressions of ancient cultures as and negate the identity and values of people. In effect, we are cutting the ties that bind them and their sense of belonging in the world. Human architecture is shaped by its material presence, not by image, and yet our technological focus seems intent on replacing civilization through images.?It is the era of change and excitement for us to advocate personally, academically, and professionally a different kind of architecture. One that is clear in precedence, of form and material appropriate to the particular task at hand, focused in purpose on the reconstruction of the city and the regeneration of culture, and dedicated equally to the service of status and wealth as it is to social equity. It is high time for us to promote our culture, not only on foreign ground but to our own people and within our own community so that we can create a place not only rich in history but also in culture.

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