Uploaded on 2014-10-21 by Paulo_G

[1]: https://edxuploads.s3.amazonaws.com/14139163174833053.jpg As an introductory note, construction used to be a localized activity. The technical solutions provided used to be endemic to the place and its surroundings, this intimate relation with the place also was also explicit in nature, for example in the relationship between the ground floor and the terrain, the lack of heavy machinery to move ground, forced a more criterious understanding of the construction site topology. On the architectural approach, buildings also reflected solutions and geometries adapted to the bio-climatic context. From the social side the activity relied deeply in localized knowledge and more regional cultural trends. The technological and social processes that spawn from the industrial revolution, had a deep impact in the industrialization of the construction activity, providing not only new materials that opened a world of technical possibilities, as new construction approaches based in the logic of the serialization and assembly line. These factors promoted profound changes in the urban fabric. To a certain extent We can say that, this process that started in England in about 1760 and on, and impacted deeply the so called "continental world" was the beginning of a "new age" of technical globalization. Along with this context, the architectural movements that took advantage of this new possibilities, and took the architectural language into the modern movement, taking globalization to the realm of the intellectual and cultural homogenization. The globalised economy, is in good reason the consequence of this world scale transformations. The construction industry adapted in accordance with a architectural standardizing of a sort, promoting the so called international style. In the end, the endemic nature of the building was somewhat lost between the modern approach. The photograph, was taken in Portugal, in Alfragide part of the Lisbon metropolitan area. It pictures one of the big malls of the area, the Alegro shopping mall. In good true, We can perceive that the picture could have been taken in any other part of the so called continental world. As the materials are not endemic to the region, nor the building not even the commercial concept. The steel beams originates in Spanish steel industry, as the Portuguese steel industry collapsed some decades ago, the laminated facade glass originates in France. In actuality the handwork is Portuguese, but just a few years ago building personal had to come from abroad in order to work with the steel. The building also includes (not visible in the picture), concrete block masonry work when the most common modern Portuguese masonry is brickwork, and gypsum interior walls and ceilings. We can find these exact materials, and technology practically in every part of the modern world. The traditional Portuguese systems report to stonework, adobe, rammed earth and (anti-seismic) wood structures. These clearly use materials endemic to the regions, and even in a small country like Portugal they widely vary in application in consequence of geographical and topological areas. Regarding sustainability. To a certain extent, sustainability is a "dangerous word", as an example certain materials (as glass), or embankments (San Francisco) in spite of being produced or formed with natural and renewed materials need great amounts of energy to be produced or formed. All this energy derives necessarily from other resources, some perhaps not as sustainable. This relation is a quite interesting aspect that Information architecture may include in the building/material lifecycle sustainability. As a final note, We can ultimately perceive that actual status quo of building material mobility is a result of a greater scale global economy. This model doesn't really relate to emerging economies, regarding economical and social context, and with certain it's not the most sustainable way of managing construction resources locally. Although Globalization is a growing phenomenon, it's important to appraise how to enforce good sustainable practices in local emerging economies, regarding yet delicate issues as inequity. In developed countries, there are different issues, namely the ones regarding ecological balance or broader sustainability problems, some yet to be assessed.