Aoi Light - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Aoi Light

Research paper thumbnail of RECONNECTING WITH NATURE

The relationship between man and nature has evolved greatly in different periods of history and a... more The relationship between man and nature has evolved greatly in different periods of history and across diverse cultures and regions. In the past, generally most indigenous tribes had a special connection with nature and many different communities had in common their respect of "mother earth". The sun, moon, trees and animals were usually revered as gods, weather and natural disasters were understood as the manifestations of supreme beings, and the life of the community was closely related to the cycles in nature which defined the timings of hunting and agriculture. However, it seems that contemporary civilisations opted to work against nature, rather than with it, leading to the creation of the contemporary man-made and "artificial" environment. What originally was a relationship of reverence and respect became a relationship of use and exploitation, and from an anthropocentric perspective, Man decided that nature was at his service and that all resources were his property by right. In the realm of the built environment natural shelters such as caves or temporary shelters made with leaves and branches turned into more sophisticated expressions of vernacular architecture in wood or stone, finally evolving to some of today's cold and sterile cubicles of glass and concrete. Within the logic of mass production set by the industrial revolution, the labour specialisation that this new type of production generated and the consequent migration of people from rural environments to megacities, our relationship with nature seemed to be ever more distant. The process of urbanisation drastically modified the environment and today new generations of "urban" children grow in small apartments of high-rise buildings playing digital games through the internet and experiencing nature, if any, through cable TV documentaries. However, we seem to be in a turning point in history and current awareness of environmental problems and their direct consequences to human beings are making us day by day become more conscious of the importance of natural conservation, and our relationship with nature seems to be changing again, from a relationship of exploitation and domination, to a relationship of learning from nature and new efforts to reconnect our buildings with the natural environment.

Research paper thumbnail of RECONNECTING WITH NATURE

The relationship between man and nature has evolved greatly in different periods of history and a... more The relationship between man and nature has evolved greatly in different periods of history and across diverse cultures and regions. In the past, generally most indigenous tribes had a special connection with nature and many different communities had in common their respect of "mother earth". The sun, moon, trees and animals were usually revered as gods, weather and natural disasters were understood as the manifestations of supreme beings, and the life of the community was closely related to the cycles in nature which defined the timings of hunting and agriculture. However, it seems that contemporary civilisations opted to work against nature, rather than with it, leading to the creation of the contemporary man-made and "artificial" environment. What originally was a relationship of reverence and respect became a relationship of use and exploitation, and from an anthropocentric perspective, Man decided that nature was at his service and that all resources were his property by right. In the realm of the built environment natural shelters such as caves or temporary shelters made with leaves and branches turned into more sophisticated expressions of vernacular architecture in wood or stone, finally evolving to some of today's cold and sterile cubicles of glass and concrete. Within the logic of mass production set by the industrial revolution, the labour specialisation that this new type of production generated and the consequent migration of people from rural environments to megacities, our relationship with nature seemed to be ever more distant. The process of urbanisation drastically modified the environment and today new generations of "urban" children grow in small apartments of high-rise buildings playing digital games through the internet and experiencing nature, if any, through cable TV documentaries. However, we seem to be in a turning point in history and current awareness of environmental problems and their direct consequences to human beings are making us day by day become more conscious of the importance of natural conservation, and our relationship with nature seems to be changing again, from a relationship of exploitation and domination, to a relationship of learning from nature and new efforts to reconnect our buildings with the natural environment.