What is a building?

A building can be thought of as an assembly of structural system or systems put together to form a
permanent enclosure of space. Through architecture, a building can be made to perform a number of
functions like providing shelter, security, protection from weather and natural calamities or even simply
a place to live for people. The concept of a building has been explored since the early settler moved out
of natural caves in search for new grounds for hunting and staying. An early form of building can be
thought of as a simple post and lintel construction method, which further went on to explore more
complex methods. Over the years, the functionality of buildings has developed, from simple enclosures
for living, to dedicating them for worship(Konark Sun Temple), to being used for burying ancestors, like
in the case of The great pyramids of giza. The materials used for constructing buildings have also
developed as the needs changed, from stone to brick and mortar, concrete. Also, a lot of secondary
materials found their way into buildings because of their nature of use, like glass, acting like a barrier
but bringing in light into buildings. Even steel, with it’s malleable properties and high strength to weight
ratio.
In the modern context the meaning of a building has different notions then what they used to be,
according to flw,
A good building is not one that hurts the landscape, but one which makes the
landscape more beautiful than it was before the building was built.

What is sustainability?

One can define, as the ability of anything to be maintained at a certain rate or level. There can be many
ways the term can be defined; other definition is “something that meets the needs of the present
without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”. The term itself can
have different meanings when used with other school of thoughts. For example, economical
sustainability would mean to a practice that supports long-term economic growth without negatively
impacting social, environmental, and cultural aspects of the community that it is being practiced in.
Social Sustainability would be a process or framework that promotes wellbeing within an society's own
members while also supporting the ability of future generations to maintain a healthy community.
Another important aspect is environmental sustainability, which is the rate of renewable resource
harvest, pollution creation, and non-renewable resource depletion that can be continued indefinitely. If
they cannot be continued indefinitely then they are not sustainable.

The term sustainability itself goes with sustainable development, as, if the latter is not achieved,
sustainability would not make much sense in the first place. In other words, sustainable development is
a means to achieve sustainability.

There are many ways to achieve sustainability, the one, most relevant to architects is through the
thoughtful use of design. Architectural design is a means to achieve SD of our built environment.
what is a design process