ARCHITECT A. NENISKIS: CONTEXT IS HUMAN

“Human life barely keeps up with innovations. Architecture also changes people’s lives. So how do innovations change architecture?” asked Ruta Leitanaite, chairman of the Lithuanian Union of Architects, who moderated the conference “Modern Building Models and Their Architecture” held today, on 7 February.

The speakers of the conference emphasized that not only the boundaries of urban areas are expanding, but the cities themselves are rising up. Rimantas Staknevicius, Head of Baltic States of the company “Hydro Building Systems”, noted that over 500 high-rise buildings will be built in London in the next five years, completely changing the current city panorama. The same trends can be seen in other cities.

Context is human

Architecture is part of the environment, and structures are inevitably changing as the environment changes. They are formed according to human needs, desires, routine of everyday life. Architect Algimantas Neniskis lectured about the fact that a human being remains in the context of these changes.

“Not much is changing. We are still dealing with the same issues,” the rapporteur said. “There are technologies and we can use them. We have all the tools and the same environment as the Dutch people. We are no different. I live in Trakai. I can ride a bicycle to the train station, then go to the train and come to Vilnius,” said A. Neniskis and added that in order to change the environment we must start dreaming.

Influence of smart lighting

According to “Biownlight” Business Development Manager Egle Mikstaviciene, no one wants to dream, think of ways of realizing themselves and even eat in the dark. The sun has ruled the rhythm of human’s day for many years. Two million years ago, when a man found a fire, a man began to create his own rules. And only 200 years ago, with an electric light bulb in his hand, a man began to change the rhythm of the day.

“People will always be governed by the main elements. Nobody even raises the question that water, food, earth, air must be clean, but how about light? The light for us seems self-evident, the basic need. No one cares in the dark whether we are full or not. We do not want anything more than being able to understand and control the situation. One part of the brain controls the energy consumption, the need for food, the sugar balance. And this part of the brain gets all the information from the eye. The change in the light spectrum initiates the production of the sleep hormone in the evening, in contrary in the morning. Unfortunately, today we spend most of the day indoors and this rhythm is disturbed,” says Mikstaviciene.

And a desk standing at the window in no way means a solution. Then there are other issues – cooling, indoor heating. Thus, the solution must be provided by innovation. Integrating healthy and human-friendly biorhythmic lighting into buildings allows us to increase human efficiency and productivity. And, of course, this is a change in architecture.

Architects Gintaras Caikauskas, and Marco Ingrassia, architect of the Catalan Institute of Advanced Architecture, Asta Kriksciukiene, head of “Gaja Decor group” were also rapporteurs at the conference.

Article in lithuanian language: https://bit.ly/2EBeDUJ