Understanding the environment
The definition of the word environment is:
- Environment refers to a complex of surrounding circumstances, conditions, or influences in which a thing is situated or is developed.
- Environment is the external forces affecting living things.
- Environment is the surroundings of, and influences on, a particular item of interest.
- Environment is the natural world or ecosystem.
- Environment is all the elements over which a designer has no control and that affect a system or its inputs and outputs.
- Environment is a particular political or social setting, arena or condition.
- In architecture environment is the different variables that should be taken into consideration & effect the design. There is natural environment that consists of earth, sun, water, wind, & life. There is man made environments such as Political, religious, social, economical, & physical changes that could affect the design.
The natural environment has a constant range of change within a particular area, and has mostly direct impact on the design. The more these are understood and taken into consideration the more the design will be appreciated.
The man made environment has a changing range and is not so stable it could change with the change of man him or her self. Sometimes the impact is so high on the design that it could mean that a certain design is good in one environment and a failure in another. Here we have to take into consideration and have the flexibility to change. This will allow the design to live longer.