IJARP International Journal of Architecture and Planning 2788-5046 SvedbergOpen ijarp-2-1-002 10.51483/IJARP.2.1.2022.9-14 Research Paper Do We Understand Sustainability? An Architectural Insight Into the Origin of the Concept MondalTushar 1 * 1Teaching Faculty, Periyar School of Architecture, Periyar Centre, FC-33, Institutional Area, Jasola, New Delhi 110025, India E-mail: tushar.mondal.19@alumni.ucl.ac.uk *Corresponding author: Tushar Mondal, Teaching Faculty, Periyar School of Architecture, Periyar Centre, FC 33, Institutional Area, Jasola, New Delhi 110025, India. E-mail: tushar.mondal.19@alumni.ucl.ac.uk 03 2022 2 1 9 14 Abstract

Sustainability is a concept shrouded in abstraction. While we have definitions in existence, it is often difficult to explain the concept itself. The current definition of ‘sustainable development’ was given by the Brundtland Commission’s report in 1987. The Earth Summit at Rio in 1992 gave us Agenda 21, an action plan to achieve sustainable development. Now in the 21st century, philosophers, academicians, and researchers across the globe are paving the way for a new understanding of the term ‘sustainability’, its contextual nature, and its relation to humans, politics, and ecology. This paper investigates the origins of the term ‘sustainability’, its derivatives, and the concept of sustainable development. A semantical analysis is carried out to understand the differences between ‘sustainability’ and ‘sustainable development’. Next, the development of the three pillars of sustainability and the application of these concepts in the field of architecture and design is also investigated.

 Keywords Architecture Sustainability Sustainable development Sustainable design References ArantesP.F. (2018). The Rent of Form. (A. Kauffmann, Trans.) Minneapolis: University of Minnesota. AsheimG.B. and World Bank. (1994). Sustainability: Ethical Foundations and Economic Properties. World Bank, Washington D.C. BarbierE.B. (1987). The Concept of Sustainable Economic Development. Environmental Conservation, 14(2), 101–110. BrownJ.B.HansonE.M.LivermanM.D.Merideth Jr., W.R. (1987). Global sustainability: Toward definition. Environmental Management, 11(5), 713–719. ChoiE. (2019). Sustainability’s Image Problem. Library Stack, New York City. DemosT. (2016). Decolonizing Nature: Contemporary Art and the Politics of Ecology. Sternberg Press, Berlin. GiddingsB.HopwoodB.O’BrienG. (2002). Environment, Economy and Society: Fitting them Together into Sustainable Development. Sustainable Development, 10(4), 187–196. IUCN, UNEP, WWF, FAO,& UNESCO. (1980). World Conservation Strategy: Living Resource Conservation for Sustainable Development. IUCN, Gland, Switzerland. LatourB. (2017). Facing Gaia: Eight Lectures on the New Climate Regime. (C. Porter, Trans.), Polity, Cambridge. Oxford English Dictionary.(n.d.). sustain, v Retrieved from OED: www.oed.com/view/Entry/195209 Oxford English Dictionary.(n.d.). sustainability, n. Retrieved from OED: www.oed.com/view/Entry/299890 Oxford English Dictionary.(n.d.). sustainable, adj. Retrieved from OED: www.oed.com/view/Entry/195210 PurdyJ. (2015). After Nature: A Politics for the Anthropocene. Cambridge, Harvard University Press, Massachusetts. PurvisB.MaoY.RobinsonD. (2019). Three Pillars of Sustainability: In Search of Conceptual Origins. Sustainability Science, 14(3), 681–695. United Nation’s Education, Scientific and Cultural Organisation. (n.d.). Sustainable Development. Retrieved from https://en.unesco.org/themes/educationsustainabledevelopment/ United Nations. (1997). Overall Progress Achieved Since The United Nations Conference on Environment and Development. United Nations. United Nations. (2002). Draft Plan of Implementation of the World Summit. United Nations, Johannesburg. United Nations. (2012). The Future We Want. United Nations, Rio de Janeiro. United Nations Conference on Environment and Development. (1992). Agenda 21, Rio Declaration, Forest Principles. United Nations, New York. United Nations General Assembly. (1972). Report of The United Nations Conference on The Human Environment. UN General Assembly. WardeP. (2011). The Invention of Sustainability, Modern Intellectual History, 8(1), 153–170. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. World Commission on Environment and Development. (1987). Our Common Future. Oxford University Press, Oxford.