Can Critical Regionalism Counteract The Impact Of...

Can Critical Regionalism counteract the impact of Globalisation on our cities? In the era of constant networking and relaying of information, the world has become a much smaller place. The shrinking world has somewhat become a familiar spectacle of identical fads and lifestyles. At least in the developed countries, globalisation has given birth to homogenous consumer culture. Demonstrated not only by the expansion of multi-national cooperations such as Apple and Starbucks but also by the indistinct architecture. It is a common sighting in urban cities today to see the identical steel, concrete and glass structures. This occurrence might be innate due to the easy exportation of concepts and architects, however not obligatory. Whilst advancing towards a modern society, architects have adapted this â€Å"universal style† of architecture that fails to represent the unique topography of different cities. Architects have the choice to either â€Å"repeat the same building everywhere or to push ourselves forward, to create an encounter between ourselves and th e local culture† (Koolhaas, 2012). If the notion of Critical Regionalism were to be practiced by architects through the integration of the local culture with modern techniques, it could potentially return the missing identities of these cities. Critical Regionalism was devised during the early 20th century, as an attempt to reject the monotony developed by the International Style and the purposeless ornamentation utilised by