Uploaded on 2016-06-27 by Victor Molina
Due to the trends in contemporary architecture, modern building in Quito are designed in the less sustainable way. For example the second building from the right in the picture has a facade conformed mainly by glass and aluminium. Neither aluminium nor glass is produced in Ecuador and for instance they are imported from other countries such as Venezuela and Brazil. Once the design has been decided and approved, the economic impact of imported materials on the cost -per square meter- of the office units in the building as well as in the whole economy of the country is irreversible. Global trends in architecture do definitely drive a market of building materials and technologies, and those markets benefit the countries that produces and exports those goods. However, for the end consumers, there is nothing left besides high cost of building construction and negative impact on the economy of the nation.