In this conversation, the Bangalore-based architecture studio ShoulderTap reflects on sustainability by questioning the label itself. Aware that the act of building itself is unsustainable, they argue that sustainability cannot be reduced to the choice of materials alone, especially when those materials may depend on unsustainable sourcing or transport. Instead, they locate it in restraint: using less materials, when an aesthetic gesture can be resolved structurally, and how architecture can respond more intelligently to climate and context. What matters, in their view, is not the claim of sustainability, but an architecture that works with its environment—thermally aware, materially measured, and attentive to air, heat, and light through devices such as perforated brick walls, double heights, and openings that allow hot air to escape.
