October 5 – World Habitat and Architecture Days

nPostednon October 5, 2015

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nWhennI think of “habitat,” I think of the formal definition of thenword: the natural home or environment of a particular animal, plant,nor other organism…You know: n

nthenhabitat of the orangutan is the tropical rainforests of Sumatra andnBorneo; the preferred habitat of the polar bear is the edge of packnice in the Arctic; and so on and on and on. (By the way, in both of these cases, the orangutan and the polar bear, the animals’ habitats arenshrinking. Remember, habitat means the naturalnhome of a creature—it doesn’t include zoos.)

nThenname “Habitat for Humanity” used to refer to simple, affordable homesnis awesome – and it is an informal use of the word habitat. Today’s World Habitat Day goes along with that same informal meaning. It’s all about humann“habitats,” specifically towns and cities. This United Nationsnholiday is intended to remind the world that adequate shelter shouldnbe a human right.

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nWorldnArchitecture Day fits right in with that! Of course, architecture isnabout more than just homes—it’s malls and cathedrals, publicnbuildings and museums, skyscrapers and bridges and all sorts of human-made structures.

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nThenInternational Union of Architects started this day in 2005 to remindnthe world of our collective responsibility for the “future of the human habitat.”

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nGreatnarchitecture can inspire us. What do you think about thesenstate-of-the-art designs?

Zaha Hadid’s curvy design for apartments,
shops, and office spaces in Belgrade, Serbia.

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Thom Mayen’s design for this
skyscraper in Paris, France.

Santiago Calatrava’s drawing of the World Trade Center transportation hub in New York City, above—and, below, this photo of the transportation hub being constructed (notice that the engineers realized that there must be a curving stabilizing strut incorporated in the design).