SUSTAINABILITY
Some points to consider:
Oftentimes, the act of 'greening' is nothing more than a corporate endorsed, media publicity stunt that has short term financial benefit and an attached political agenda. For it to be functional, it must be justifiable.
Consider the embodied energy of architectures. Monumental buildings like Crystal Palace, which may have provided optimal solutions in terms of a modern programme or adaptable use, are now (if still standing) essentially rotting frames of steel, unusable and invariable within the context of sustainability.
A sustainable life cycle is essential in the search for the needs of the built. It has to be made worth it so that people don't give up on green strategies.
Some strategies:
DISASSEMBLY!
CRADLE-2-GRAVE/CRADLE-2-CRADLE (_Incorporate to disassembly above_)
"Closed Loop life cycle" ---> REPAIR, UPGRADE, RECYCLE
It is inefficient for repeat use of the same technology BUT it can be made sustainable through the consideration of resources and new appropriation of used resources and technology.
ephemeral (re)existence
Some points to consider:
Oftentimes, the act of 'greening' is nothing more than a corporate endorsed, media publicity stunt that has short term financial benefit and an attached political agenda. For it to be functional, it must be justifiable.
Consider the embodied energy of architectures. Monumental buildings like Crystal Palace, which may have provided optimal solutions in terms of a modern programme or adaptable use, are now (if still standing) essentially rotting frames of steel, unusable and invariable within the context of sustainability.
A sustainable life cycle is essential in the search for the needs of the built. It has to be made worth it so that people don't give up on green strategies.
Some strategies:
DISASSEMBLY!
CRADLE-2-GRAVE/CRADLE-2-CRADLE (_Incorporate to disassembly above_)
It is inefficient for repeat use of the same technology BUT it can be made sustainable through the consideration of resources and new appropriation of used resources and technology.
ephemeral (re)existence
CASE STUDIES
WIKI HOUSE:
An open source construction set. It's aim is to allow anyone to design, download and 'print' CNC-milled houses and components, which can be assembled with minimal formal skill or training. A neo-modular process for construction with outstanding credibility: local sourced, re-used, recycled, all plywood materials; DIY construction; open-source development tool (spread-the-knowledge, share-the-love); excellent application for temporary structures - an answer to providing an adaptable scheme for architectural intervention. Perhaps this sort of construction is one part of a building which is in flux to provide a capable and 100% flexible 'skin' of programme.
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| source: Wiki House - http://www.wikihouse.cc/ |
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| source: Wiki House - http://www.wikihouse.cc/ |
TESCO HOMEPLUS:
I think that while this idea is seeded with a positive technology input, it removes important human interactions and the result is a society reinforcing the contemporary quandary of an instant, disconnected, media and entertainment driven culture which is overall detrimental to community values.
QUINTA MONROY - ELEMENTAL (Chile)
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| source: http://www.moma.org/interactives/exhibitions/2010/smallscalebigchange/projects/quinta_monroy_housing |
This project aimed to provide a just shell of a residential building with middle class ambitions to lower class citizens in Chile. The existing community existed in precarious living circumstances (Not too dissimilar to the previously discussed Kowloon Walled City). A maze with no security; about 100 families fitting into 5000 square feet.
So the architects aimed to provide: density without over-crowding, a porous enough building so that families could adapt suitably, and an arrangement with heterogenous social units of comparable ambition to engender the aspiring middle class community values so that there was a motivation to contribute to the 'community shell' provided.
This project shares common ground with previously discussed projects such as the Crystal Palace and works by Frei Otto. However, it adds a unique juncture from such projects in the form of a rather ambitious social engineering. I particularly like how the previously discussed alternatives of adaptability (Chapter 06_Environmental Adaptability_Reading) are used in a symbiotic, flexible and plastic manner that is progressive for the users, not just the sustainable factors.
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