Green Walls Patrick Blanc

Our last class lecture on green roof's inspired me to search for other ways of integrating the natural world onto our buildings. It didn't take me long before I came across the work of Patrick Blanc. A botanist and designer, Patrick Blanc has created the most stunning vertical gardens I have ever seen. Inspired by plants that grew on surfaces such as rock and needing little soil, he used the same principles of these plants and applied them to our wall surfaces. His vertical gardens turn the city from an urban jungle to an actual jungle. This is another great example of learning from nature and how we can use observed ecological principles to better the overall quality of life aesthetically and environmentally. An aspect which makes vertical gardens more appealing to me than a green roof is that it isn't hidden up on top of a building. Gardens on walls allows for more direct and interactive design.

Class Reflection, November 27, 2008

The presentation on green roofs by Anna, (a professor from the landscape department) really helped clear my mind of some biases that may have altered some of my own thoughts on green roofs. I am intrigued to discover the cultural history and folklore behind the conception of green roofs, having always retained this idea that green roofs were quite modern and a only a recent response to a lack of green space in our urban centers. I especially loved Anna’s own landscape project entitled Five Courtyards, which demonstrated a kind of natural containment, where the vegetation kept within certain boundaries while maintaining it’s natural state and growth patterns. The challenge is in choosing the right species for the right space, and avoiding the possibility of placing restrictions on things that do change and grow. This surrendering to the natural environment and allowance to take it’s own pace is what I find so refreshing about environmental design.

Life is Much Better Under the Sea?

Well, it only is for the incredibly rich and probably only for a few weeks. Currently under construction in Dubai is Hydropolis, one of the world's few luxury underwater hotel. The new underwater wonder contains the land tunnel, connecting station and finally the submarine leisure complex. Architect Joachim Hauser is leading the project located 20m below the surface of the Arabian Gulf.  He takes the building of Hydropolis further than just a project, but a passion. His general plan is to create a living space in the sea and also believes the future of architecture and city planning lies within it. By creating this 260 hectare hotel underwater, Hauser believes this will bring attention to the problems marine ecosystems face such as the destruction of coral reef's. 

I'm not exactly sure how sustainable the practice of building and maintaining an underwater hotel is, but it would be an interesting alternative to our land use practices. Underwater architecture could be a possibility for coast settlements to adapt to rising sea levels. A positive aspect I foresee in being completely submerged in water is that we wouldn't have to worry about flooding anymore.

 The subject of underwater architecture is one with little known about it and there are even more aspects about the ocean that are unknown. I definitely have some reservations about the idea of building in marine ecosystems: whether if humans can adapt to being underwater for long periods of time or if expanding our cities into the ocean will only cause more damage to Earth's ecosystems. There has definitely been in a trend for human settlements to wreck havoc on nearby ecosystems. Perhaps Hauser could have chosen a more appropriate gesture to save the coral reefs, I feel that a 260 hectare underwater hotel would do more damage than good to marine life. 

Biomimicry: Oyster Shell Seawalls

When I think about water and architecture paired together, a part of me thinks about cool houseboats or living cities on the water, marrying water with the design as a cohesive unit. The other part of me thinks of protection from water, disaster relief, working with nature, not working to combat it, but to preserve and protect it and us from ever harming one another. Coastal erosion caused by hurricanes and sea storms can cause serious damage to shorelines supported by man made structures such as bulkheads, beams or sea walls. As a new way to contain the erosion, the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources and the Dauphin Island Sea lab have turned to nature for inspiration rather than resorting to the conventional barrier technique. Oyster shells are dumped all along the shoreline to create a sort of barrier reef that functions further as a thriving habitat for sea life, standing against strong storms, even hurricanes. The project encompasses the direction of thought that should be taken when confronted with any sort of environmental issue. This is yet another example where the processes inherent in the natural world can lead us in a right direction for much more sustainable change.
http://www.inhabitat.com/2008/11/19/protecting-eroded-coastlines-with-oyster-seawalls/#more-16506

Sink or Schwimm!

Both the last studio project, where my group built a water metropolis, and Eduard Epp's lecture last week have led me to consider alternative dwellings to cope with floods. The Schwimmhaus by Confused Direction is one possibility of after-flood architecture. This modern, sustainable houseboat is constructed from reclaimed wood and it has a green roof!
As Epp mentioned last class we need to consider new ways of living for the future, and a future with water seems likely. These houseboats help me envision exciting new inhabitations. Like in Amsterdam and Venice, perhaps most of the world's city streets will one day become water and people will reside along canals, sipping lattes on the patios of these cool little structures.

Class Refection, November 20th, 2008

Professor Shauna Mallory-Hill joined us once again, this time to speak about sound and its involvement of sound in architecture. I found listening to Daniel Levitin’s insights on music and the human psyche especially valuable. He expressed that humans are innately musical creatures and that so many aspects of our cultural development have been shaped by music. It is evident that not a single culture lacks it; even animals use vocalizations and songs etc… all of which are antecedents of music. We were encouraged to think of the emotional centers triggered when sound enters a space and how it can be used to enhance or influence a structure’s design. The surrounding geometry of a space affects the quality of sound within it, as represented in early religious architecture to modern day concert halls, all spaces built to house and shape voices and instruments.
I thought it would be quite compelling if architecture could create sound, not simply support the sounds created by those who use the space. There are already so many sounds that one associates with their homes, like how it settles at night or the creeks from wooden floor boards. These sounds can also provoke certain feelings of comfort or discomfort. However, I have yet to discover a piece of architecture that demonstrates this in its original design.

The second portion of the class focused on flood architecture, though not entirely relevant to the first presentation, it had much relevance to some people as relating to their studio projects. I found this lecture especially moving, specifically because of Edward Epp’s more humanistic focus concerning water and floods. I appreciated him showing the different ways people identify and deal with the water around them, whether it is in a positive way or not. Different societies and cultures react to water in various ways and this was so apparent in his examples of The Ganges River in India and the towering, water dams and cement walls in China. The way structures are built can reflect so much human emotion, for example, the desperation with which the cement support walls were constructed is blatant. This is so interesting to me and a part of me feels that I cannot blame anyone for bad design or planning or anything. I feel more so a sense of compassion for the people who are experiencing these difficulties in the face of the forces of water.

Reflections for November 20 Class

Dr. Mallory Hill was back this week to continue about architecture and our senses. Hearing was the major sense she focused on, giving a very interactive lecture by incorporating music, interviews and other types of sounds. It has been hypothesized that humans are musical creatures. Since the beginning of human culture, we have had some form of music. It is a stimulus which can activate different pleasure centers in our brain and often has an emotional affecst on us. Similar to how we like diversity in our urban landscapes, our brain also seeks for diversity when it comes to sound. We tend to want to dance more to more syncopated beats versus steady beats. Our brains our constantly seeking challenges in the sounds and sights we experience. "Architecture is Frozen Sound" was a quote that really resonated with me. I realized we often use musical terms to speak about architecture. For example, we can say the row of windows creates a sense of rhythm or all the visual elements work to form a composition. All the examples shown of Architecture and Sound were built with not only with aesthetics in mind, but also the function. Music Halls took into account, what type of sound they wanted to achieve, and even factored in the audience as sound absorbers. Architecture also influenced types of music like the Gregorian Chant because the Cathedrals were built so large and reverberant, people had to sing a specific way. 

The second half of the class dealt with Flood Architecture taught by our program head, Ed Epp. Living in Winnipeg makes this lecture one with important context. Flooding is an issue our city desperately struggles with. All the information and examples were provided on the website International Centre for Flood Architecture. Once again Scandinavian Countries such as the Netherlands were far ahead the rest of North America in their innovations in dealing with flooding. Many of the examples shown in the Netherlands had human settlements work with and co exist with nature. They City of Delft brought the water in to became part of the cityscape and the community of Grindgaten X used the floating properties of concrete to keep the community afloat. Although the Centre for Flood Architecture is quite new, I predict this centre and the research it's doing will gain momentum in the years to come, where flooding will be a problem many cities will need to face with climate change.

Class Reflection November 20, 2008

The discussion that we had last class on our interaction with sound and architecture was one that I found to be quite fascinating. It triggered my memory of something that I had read what felt like ten years ago (and ended up actually being a year and a half ago) about a company called muzak, who create an environment through glorified elevator music. The article which you can still read here was well worth the hour that it took me to track down. Basically my good cyber friends over at BLDGBLOG discus the notion of cities operating on a soundtrack, and how through implementing something like this an entire city could change. Of course the logistics of the whole scenario are too political to ever make it happen I think it would be a very cool idea to experiment with as I progress with my designs.

Music has the ability to dramatically shift and shape any environment. It has no boundaries and much like color can communicate the same message to a broad spectrum of individuals. Perhaps acoustic urban design will be something in the future, much like how gothic churches were designed to maximize their acoustic impact, public spaces will be designed to work with a certain sound. The above article gave the example of a street in London that played the sounds of a busy market in Amsterdam, or a city which played the sounds of the day before. It all may seem somewhat abstract and unpractical but in a world that is begin to become more and more chaotic, maybe constant background noise would add some aspect of control.

The second section of our class that focused on flood architecture, a seemingly hip subject of discussion these days. Ed Epp came to speak about his own research into designing for water and introduced us to the International Center for Flood Architecture. What I valued most was his emphasis on understanding the pre-existing conditions and tailoring your designs to adapt to these rather than the other way around, a resounding point that we have been hearing time and time again.

Class Reflection: November 20th

Professor Malory-Hill returned for a second lecture for the first half of this class. Her lecture focused on sound in architecture. I was really into learning about this, since it is a design subject I was mildly aware of but knew nothing specific. The aspect of the lecture that stuck with me was definatley the evolution of music being so influenced by the architecture it was created in. It is so interesting to explore the minor details in life that have influenced the major parts of out history. It really brings home the fact that we are a part of interconnected SYSTEMS that govern the flow of our lives.

Ed Epp took over in the second section, and shared his research into flood architecture. He has had so much hands on exposure on the subject, which I think is fantastic. I thought of Edward Burtynsky's photography exhibit Manufactured Landscapes when seeing Ed's images of the Chinese floodway. Very indutrial, and intense. I think Ed's passion on the subject is a realistic course to take considering the frequency of natural disasters plaguing the planet in recent years. The approach in China does not seem to be an effective solution, and it brings me back to professor McLaughlin's lecture on letting nature control it's own foces by working with, and not against it.

Class Reflection November 20

Last class' lecture was our second from Dr. Mallory-Hill. The topic of the first portion of this class was sound and architecture. Like Vaike's lecture on colour taught me, everything is relevant in architecture. While I have always been an avid music listener, and general sound enthusiast, and while I was aware that acoustics are an important consideration in design, I was unaware of the major impact of sound in our built environments. Dr. Mallory-Hill's initial description of how sound affects the human brain was so interesting, and I found her presentation of how architecture has been designed to achieve certain sounds to be fascinating. I have visited several of the spaces she presented, and when she described, for example, the way that sound resonates in St. Mark's, I was brought back to that place and realized that sound is part of what makes the space memorable.

During the second portion of the lecture Eduard Epp presented on the topic of flood architecture. This presentation was particularly relevant to me as my studio project focused on redesigning a city after a flood. Like Epp mentioned, our studio group also decided to design structures to work with and on the water, instead of in opposition to it. For these reasons, I appreciated his insights for designing structures on water. As our climate continues to change it is important that we address flooding, and I share Epp's belief that is in our interest to adapt our urban environments to accommodate water. Epp's demonstration of his travels as an attempt to understand flood architecture were very interesting, and he made an important point, stating that depending on our culture water may be seen as a healing and life giving, or as destructive. In the years to come I believe we as North American's should shift our beliefs to the former in order move forward and evolve from future floods.

lilypad

Using my previous post as a starting point, I wanted to also introduce the idea of creating not just structures capable of functioning on water, but entire communities. As I mentioned, global warming and climate change are on everyone's mind, and some designers are creating feasible, beautiful designs to accommodate the uncertain changes that are certainly eminent. Vincent Callebaut Architects have developed their lilypad refugee camp in response to the shocking reality that as Ocean levels continue to rise more and more people will be displaced, and eventually, entire nations will be underwater.

Lilypad, a prototype of auto-sufficient amphibious city was created to house 50,000 inhabitants and is in itself a self sufficient eco-system, operating on solar, wind, tidal and bimass, the community will harmoniously integrate human and natural environments all the while floating atop of water.

Although this prototype is not going to be built any time soon, it may be needed sooner than we think.

living on water

Our last studio project forced us to examine design on a city scale. We were asked to design based on different conditions and many of my fellow classmates, including my fellow bloggers, chose incorporate the idea of flood into their designs. A relevant condition to discuss considering that in the last few years we have seen, on a global scale, many area’s ravished by flooding.
Coincidentally Ed Epp came to speak with our class on Thursday about his own research into flood architecture and touched on a few interesting projects that have been done.

Although my studio assignment did not touch on floods I think that the ideas behind flood architecture are quite logical. Designing based on the preexisting natural environment is something that is rarely implemented. More often than not we find ways to change the natural environment to accommodate our designs rather than the other way around.
Koen Olthuis of waterstudio is one of the most highly regarded experts on flood design. His design firm focuses exclusively on projects that are built on water instead of land and his work is both aesthetically pleasing and functional. His passion stems from growing up in the Netherlands where 1/3 of the country is actually below sea level, and complicated “levy” and pump systems have been implemented to keep the water out. Olthuis argues that instead of taking on the huge undertaking of keeping the water out, instead we should “make friends with the water”.

Many of waterstudio’s designs that have been realized are modern houseboats, but with commissions in Dubai and across Europe Olthuis’s concepts are certainly gaining ground, and rightfully so. With all this talk of global warming and climate change our landscapes are undoubtedly going to continue morphing. I feel like the time has come to stop fighting with what we already have and begin embracing it. As Olthuis has shown the technology and creativity is there, we just need to start using it.

degrees of remove

A exhibit that focusing on the changing landscape and how technology has allowed us to experience the landscape in a disconnect facet.

The sony bravia commerical that I am sure almost everyone has heard about by now acts a central focus for his work, he exmines how one site can create three very different scenarios and how one action can be represented in different ways. The site that is examined throughout the Sony Bravia commercial is a building being geared up for deomolition
http://www.inhabitat.com/2008/11/15/degrees-of-remove-landscape-and-affect/#more-16324
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6X_vAzixa6s&feature=related, the exhibit shows three different views of the same structure.

What is interesting is how the use of color changes the bleak landscape into something interesting and uplifting, when only days after the commercial was shot the building was demolished.

Class Reflection: November 13th

I found the lectures from this class very inspiring. I was extremely interested in what professor McLaughlin spoke of. In fact it has inspired the city my group will create for studio.
The story of the 35 year study by David Nash with a wooden boulder is incredible. I am always inspired by stories of such dedication. We rely so much on technology to answer our questions and wonders quickly. However, Nash's experiment shows the effects of water shaping the land at the rate it is actually experienced IN nature. Discovering areas of deposit and seasonality cannot be described as wholesomely through satelite images.
I also found it totally insane that such similar landscapes have been affected so differently as a result of political policies. I can not remember the actual law behind it, but the area just south of the border at Alberta is extremely erroded due to over cultivation. The policy that influenced this gave some sort of incentive to the farmers in the states, whereas due also to policy on the Canadian side it is mostly prairie grass cattle ranges, resulting in very little erosion.

The second presenter was from Germany, and unfortunately his name escapes me. I thought his garden designs were fantastic. Also I liked that he showed us very successful designs on a variety of budgets.

Garden all year long

Last weeks lecturers were both from the faculty of Landscape Architecture and all their discussion about the preservation of natural landscapes and German garden's has had me wondering how we can enjoy the benefits of landscapes in spite of our cold winters and our urban context. Amin Taha Architects have come up with a solution. Their vertical gardens bring 'outdoor' landscapes into the urban setting with their community garden towers. We have had a lot of discussion within this blog group about vertical farming so I was pleased to stumble on this article about vertical gardens. I like the idea of bringing the natural environment indoors not necessarily to farm, but merely for people to enjoy. Within these towers the benefits of a garden can be enjoyed year round. How refreshing it would be to stroll through a sky garden, to see plants growing and flowers blooming in the heart of the winter chill (as Madi would say).

Class Reflection November 13

McLaughlan's first portion of last week's lecture again inspired me by deepening my interest in landscape ecology. I found Nash's "Wooden Boulder" to be a beautiful study. The way that Nash placed the boulder in the river bed demonstrated the way that natural forms are shaped by water. McLaughlan also discussed the effect of climate change on landscapes, of how dry areas are become wet, and wet dry, and he, like Jae often has, seemed to encourage the class to really become sustainable. His juxtaposition of massive California sewers and bioswales made the later seem the only alternative. He also discussed more subtle features in our environments which need to be considered. He asked why an eaves trough would run off onto concrete pad when it could instead fall into a pond? These are solutions which seem obvious, but which often go overlooked. McLaughlan's presentation of case studies, and especially that of UBC's sustainable street gave me a vision of what a more sustainable future could look like. By incorporating native plants into a street-scape we can reduce storm water retention, but we will also give a new culture and identity to the community, who will be able to see themselves reflected in their native vegetation.

The second speaker was also from the Landscape Faculty, but his presentation of Garden's differed significantly from the first speaker. His presentation was equally engaging but it presented landscape architecture within the urban context, something we have not seen a lot of. I really enjoyed the narratives he and his colleagues created around gardens. Their abstraction of the context, in particular in Snow White and the Seven Gardens, created innovative gardens based on narrative themes, like Social Climbers and Jealous Neighbours. I also responded to his comment that garden's should contain things that are rare and precious, but that our notion of what are garden is can be expanded, even to include an entire landscape. The speakers projects succeeded at adapting landscapes in the urban setting by considering the cultural and social contexts of the environments.

Class Reflection November 13, 2008

I really enjoyed the presentation that Mr. MchLaughlan highlighted that showed the boulder moving down the stream and through time. What I thought was quite poignant was how nicely it exemplified the force of the natural environment, and it’s ability to constantly change and re-arrange the landscape.

Our second speaker, I too missed his name, really inspired me! I loved the way that his landscape design projects incorporated a level of humor, fun and intrigue (ie: snow white and the seven gardens). I also really enjoyed how that particular project seemed to acknowledge different people’s preferences and worked within their design parameters to create beautiful spaces. By giving people options and levels of intensity for their personal gardens they will in turn appreciate and learn from their environment that much more willingly rather than say if they moved into a home with a sprawling garden that they weren’t able to care for.

Like Kaleigh I also was inspired by the notion of garden existing for a moment in time, something that happens only for a moment, that allows you to experience something that can never be re-created.

Class Reflections, November 13th, 2008

The presentation on landscape form and processes proved to be very informative and quite inspiring as well. Dr. Ted McLaughlan spoke of the continuous processes that shape the land and the cycles of growth, death and decay inherent in our natural environment. He expressed the significance of human interaction with the landscape and the notable role we play in the way landscapes have evolved. One thing I found particularly interesting, was the concept of scale pertaining to landscapes. People usually view the land from a generalized perspective, rarely extremely close up and rarely from very far away. However, when looking at and thinking about a broad range of scales, from macro to micro, there is so much evidence in that landscape telling us about its history as well as its future. Knowing the processes occurring and that have occurred on a landscape at every scale is essential in making intelligent, sustainable choices. Humans have made very clear their imprint on this earth in their ability to alter and destroy natural landscapes. The extent to which we have reshaped the earth is so large that natural processes that were once sustainable are now completely destroyed. Our dependence on infrastructure has created huge a disconnect with the earth and in turn transformed the way we understand and respect the land. A return to allowing natural processes take their course is one way we can reshape how value the planet. Before any human intervention, nature regulated the environment intuitively. The solution is simply to rediscover these functions and embrace what is naturally there instead of creating engineered solutions to problems that can be solved much more organically.
The second half of the class centered around gardens, focusing more on an abstract definition of one. The idea of a garden conjuring up experiences, existing as a moment in time, was something I found so beautiful. The example of a floating garden, a triangle of flowers placed on the water, allowed to float freely and be transformed by the natural environment instilled a sense of hope within me. Perhaps it is this same idea of allowing nature to take it's course and acknowledging the beauty and usefulness in this process.

Slow Design

Recently, the idea of time has provoked much thought and discussion between myself and other students in my classes, specifically the concept of slowness and how it can be adapted to our cities and to our overall way of living. Our lives are driven by speed and the need to fulfill as much as we possibly can in a small amount of time, which makes me question the value society places on such fastness. Is it healthy for our physical, emotional and spiritual well being to exist at such a fast pace? How can we bring aspects of slowness and the opportunity for full experience back into our lives at a personal and global scale, and how can the integration of design help refocus our off-centered perception of time? As my interest in this subject grew, I realized that a movement towards slow design had already been in the works for quite some time now.
The concept of slow design is one that has already evolved in the design world. It is a design philosophy and process that integrates slowness into our current understanding of modernity and speed. The term “continuous present”, coined by the architect Bruce Goff back in the 1950s, emphasizes living in the present and allowing the future to unfold as a result of being involved, focused and reflective in the present moment. This, I think is so profound. Read more on this here.

Ur an 8

The crafty folks at NASA have once again out done themselves. Although they haven't been able to turn water into wine (which I'm sure it's just because they haven't tried) they're pretty close: NASA has the technology to turn pee into drinking water. According to NASA, the new Water Recovery System will be able to support more people in the International Space Station with "water so pure it rivals the cleanest on Earth". The emergence of this technology is so important to the current water crisis. Imagine the possibilities, this machine could hydrate millions who walk miles for a few buckets of water that is often unclean. We already try to recycle as much as possible, why not add pee to the list?

I understand that most people are opposed to drinking urine, but we must admit it seems like a very sustainable idea. In a world quenched for every drop of potable water, shouldn't we be keeping our options open? I mean I'd rather drink purified pee than nothing at all. I'm sure most of the people who live in countries that don't have drinking water wouldn't mind drinking clean, safe water even if it is purified from urine. Anyways, the point isn't about who would drink pee and who wouldn't, but more so that we are currently facing a HUGE water crisis. With a resource so necessary for us to live approaching dangerously low levels, it is imperative we seek new, sometimes unconventional solutions.

Reflections for November 13 Class

This week was another split class. Our first guest speaker was Dr. Ted McLaughlan from the Landscape department. I found this lecture to be so useful for our current studio project of creating a city.  He started off the lecture with an example from the artist David Nash. By creating a wooden boulder, Nash was able to see how water would change the boulder over time. He kept track of this boulder for 35 years!!! This example really illustrated how everything we design is put in a state of flux as soon as it's made. Definitely a thought we need to keep in mind when designing something as large as a city. 

An urgent issue Dr. McLaughlan brought up was the depletion of our fresh water resources. He really put the situation into perspective by showing a diagram of the entire water supply of earth as a large water jug and only one table spoon of it was potable water. It wasn't all doom and gloom though,  we were introduced different methods where nature can be used to do the tasks of water retention and water purification. It seems to me that most of the solutions to the problems we have today can be found in natural ecosystems. The most uplifting story Dr. McLauglan shared with us was the return of pickerel to Sturgeon Creek. Watching the pickerel spawn will definitely be on my list of things "to do" when I have a bit more time... I also enjoyed this lecture because he pointed out something that seemed so obvious that I never realized: the progression of a stream system looks like a growing tree!

Our next speaker was also from the Landscape department. I had seen this (almost) exact lecture last year in Intro to Environmental design, but nonetheless it was a good refresher. The images of former projects he showed us were very beautiful. I was especially drawn to Snow White and the Seven Gardens because of it's cleverness. Our speaker (I missed his name) brought to light the things a garden is/could be: a place of cultivation, a moment in time. All the projects shown were so clean in their design, really demonstrating that anything superfluous should be left out.  

the "cabin"

As my fellow bloggers, and anyone else that has talked to me for more than three minutes, can attest to, I really don't enjoy "the cabin". I'm not interested in kitschy fridge magnets and the thought of 'showering' in the lake makes me feel ill. That being said whilst cruising the internet I stumbled upon the above cabin, placed smack dab in the middle of the Wis. wild. When I saw this image it really brought me back to the presentation that we had during our November 6 class. Even without reading the accompanying New York Times article I felt that whoever designed this space did so with the intention of preserving the integrity of the natural environment. Although after perusing the article it doesn't seem as though much attention was paid to designing the actual structure with ecological principals in mind, it does touch on a neo-renaissance for rough and tumble lake life, in a more functional and less uncomfortable facet.

Since I am not the biggest fan of nature I do find this whole phenomena to be quite interesting, I think that it's a positive sign of a future that will integrate the natural and built environment.

"Discovering" what we once already knew?

Kaleigh has mentionned the idea of the built environment itself being out of sync with nature simply in it's very existence. This is absolutely true, and I believe that it is up to us to learn how to encorporate our designs into the existing ecosystems around us, just as we make the effort to encorporate surrounding buildings into the one we may be designing. One thing that struck me recently was something I read in a fiction novel, oddly enough. One Hundred Years of Solitude, by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, is a novel set hundreds of years ago in South America. Long story short, a family rebuilds their home, and it speaks of their use of certain trees and bushes planted for insulation and protection from wind, along the most exposed side of their home. They weren't fighting nature, so much as working with it.I think that we have lost some instinctive knowledge in using what is around us to enhance our way of life. How many homes incorporate their landscape into the efficiency of their home? Provided there is some accuracy in the depiction of this family's method, I think that this way of thinking is valuable. In our cold/windy climate it is obvious that trees as windbreaks are a natural "insulator". In fact Madi and I recently commented on how the Wolseley area is warmer than other parts of the city. I truly believe it is all about the shelter from the trees. So instead of turning to new technologies, maybe we need to encorpoate what we naturally already have. Why cant we employ this "Wolseley" logic on a smaller scale (our homes!) and enhance not only our way of life, but give back to the natural environment while we're at it?

Paris: City of Bikes

As many people know, Paris has implemented a bike rental system servicing the majority of the city. I had heard of it, but until now had not investigated it in detail. What I found is that Velib, the name of the system, is fantastic! The stations are spread out 300m apart, so they are extremely accessible. You buy daily, weekly or yearly passes, and this grants you access to the system. From there, if you have a day or week pass you punch in a code at the station meter to access the bikes, a yearly pass holder gains access by a single swipe at the rack itself! A credit card number is required when purchasing your pass, and this card number is charged for any fees accrued. So, after you get your bike the first 30 minutes are free. After that, fees are added after the next half hour, and every consecutive hour after that. It gets quite expensive after a couple of hours, and this is to encourage short term use, freeing up more bikes for a higher turnover of users. This system has been highly effective, and is being used frequently by Paris's 2 million residents and 30 million yearly tourists. Paris now has 20,000 rental bikes available. This is 20,000 less people participating in the carbon emission system. Think of the impact this could make if major cities around the world did the same; we all know the impact our own lives have from doing the metabolism journals. Every little change counts. This type of change what we need to see more of to create cleaner, healthier societies!

Check out this video for a better idea

Translating Typologies Indoors

Watch this video on the art of Maya Lin.

Her work communicates the transition of exterior landscapes into interior environments, in order to examine the human relationship to natural systems. Interestingly, this relationship changes when the landscape is installed indoors. Lin examines the patterns and forms of natural typologies, translating and abstracting them which encourages our own responses. As we imagine future landscapes for cities and beyond, Lin's investigations may be considered as a means of incorporating the landscape indoors. They may also be referenced as a way of examining how natural and built forms engage and communicate with one another, as well as with those who interact with them. Lin describes how even lines in nature communicate a language, much like that of text, though it is non verbal. Her art examines the ways that nature and the built form may collaborate, creating narratives which communicate with the viewer.

Class Reflection: November 6th

This week's class was lectured by Jean Trottier, a professor of landscape architecture. His presentation guided the class through the site planning process. It is always very helpful to have a thoughough presntation of these processes. I really appreciate the techniques used from the very beginning of the design. To be honest it made me wish we had had more direction in this regard in terms of our last mapping project. I think that his way of breaking down the analysis of a site really helped to understand topography in a visual and 2D way. I like the technique of layering several base maps portraying ecological factors, and I wish that developers of suburban areas would consider using these sorts of systems to better plot their sites. When exploring the exurban site that my studio group studied, there was a blatant disrespect of the natural environment. The concept is so simple: when layering all of the factors you have mapped (flood area, wetland, zoning etc) you end up with differing densities of overlap. The lightest areas are ideal building sites, as they are affected by the least amount of obstacles. Why not at least consider theses pathches created as a guidline for the site?

Other topics discussed were the effect of slope and soil type/quality. I fell in love with the home he showed us by Patkau Architects. They opted to preserve the most beautiful location of thier site and build around it. The result is the upper floor flowing continuously with that desirable plane, leaving it to be enjoyed in it's true state... untouched. Stunning!

Class Reflection November 6, 2008

I found that class class taught a useful lesson about the importance of respecting the land that we build on rather than expecting the land to conform to our design wishes. In the past few years, more than ever before, mother nature has demonstrated her power. Floods, tsunami's and earth quakes are her way of throwing temper tantrums, giving us no choice but to stop ignoring her, and start recognizing the harm our way of living is causing her.

If there was one thing that I took away from today's lecture it was not to build on the most beautiful point of your site. Upon first thought it seems like something you would never do, an obvious statement. However, as I thought about the anxiety and excitement that comes with the design process I realized that making this mistake is something that I could potentially be faulted for doing. I feel that learning key lessons such as these are so integral to our foundation learning and by being able to see designs, such as the beautiful Barnes house Dr. Papenek showed us, it really drives it home (for lack of a better expression).

Dr. Papanek's emphasis on utilizing slope and the importance of understanding the concept was also something that I found to be quite valuable. I find that design so far for me has been a constant struggle of balancing creativity with feasibility. In today's world it seems that almost all designs are possible, but as Dr. Papenek showed with the houses in the mountains, ignoring the natural slope of the earth results in structures that look awkwardly juxtaposed against the landscape, and not in a cool way.

All in all last class really put the importance of understanding the environment into context for me, I really felt that I gained a broader perspective of what the landscape is telling us.

Class Reflection November 6

During this lecture, the speaker emphasized the importance of the site planning process. Through his lecture I learned that site analysis, documentation, and inventory are critical before building, but even before designing for the site. I enjoyed the speaker's interactive demonstration of slope as well. Before this lecture I did not realize that there are so many important ways a designer must record and understand their site before building. This seems almost like an extension of the relationship I envision between the designer and the client, another point the speaker touched on.
The case studies presented gave important context to the site analysis described by the lecturer. His description of the comfort zone and case study of Zion and Breen's NY park was particularly interesting. All the factors that architecture must consider continue to inspire me, and designing for the comfort of humans, but also of wildlife and the natural landscapes seems essential. Perhaps the key points I took from the lecture was not to build on the best part of a site, and that the built environment should morph and adapt to fit into the context of the natural landscape. These principles are ones that architects like Frank Lloyd Wright were concerned with and I think that they greatly improve the quality the built environment, and those who inhabit them.

Reflections for November 6 Class

I felt that this week's lecture would have been quite useful last week as it touched on the subject of mapping. But nonetheless, Dr. Jean Trottier provided a very useful lecture on design process. He gave us a quirky analogy of how eating a lobster is similar to design, if you don't understand how the components fit together, it can get pretty messy. He also made a good point that scales are irrelevant, and that the functions of spatial elements can be applied anywhere. It's very important to understand spatial hierarchies and how they relate no matter what discipline of design we may choose. Dr. Trottier went through the steps of development program, site documentation and inventory, and finally analysis. The GIS mapping system was also introduced to us, a program that all designers now use to understand the land on which they build on. It's so important to understand what is going on in the soil and hydrology to prevent disastrous accidents ie. building on places prone to mudslides.  Slopes also are a big part of consideration when building a structure. Using a simple trigonometry equation you can figure out the slope of any site, finally an application of grade 10 math. A strong message Dr. Trottier left with us is that we shouldn't build on the most interesting part of a site, instead we should use it! An observation that seems so logical and simple, but not often practiced.  The example used was the Barnes House, by Patkau Architects. Instead of building on the top of the mountain, the house was designed to work with the slope. The entrance of the house is the lowest point and you worked your way up to the common area where the beautiful view was the climax. This way the view became a very powerful experience, indeed a very successful way to design.

Experiment in the desert

Masdar, a new ambitious city plan funded by an oil rich Abu Dhabi government is currently underway in the UAE. Their goal is to build a city ground up that will house ~47 000 people, have no carbon emissions, no cars, and no waste by 2015. Combining the brightest researchers, scientists and technology they have planned what the sustainable city of the future should be.

The ideas in the initiative a refreshing way to re-create the cityscape. I would love to live in a place with no cars. Just think  the decrease in stress and accidents if no one had to drive. As great as this new Carbon Zero city sounds, we have to remember things work differently in reality. This environmentally utopian city really isn't dealing with our current problems of existing infrastructure. It's ignoring a massive problem our generation needs to face: the millions of people already living in suburbs. 

Masdar initiative has an immense budget to work with. By building everything from scratch with a virtually unlimited budget (so it seems) relieves the designers of a huge restriction. It gives them freedom to implement all the ideas they have. Rarely does this ever happen in reality. Masdar may be environmentally sustainable, but is it sustainable socially and economically? I mean how many countries can build a city ground up when they aren't happy with they existing ones? So many new materials are being used to create this city, are they ALL made from recycled materials? When they say Carbon Zero do they take into consideration all the energy and resources needed to build Masdar in the first place? In a bigger sense this reminds me of the disposable mentality we have today, that when we don't like something or get bored of it we just buy a new one.  Building a city from ground up isn't solving the problems of current infrastructure. By building a walled city where only those who can afford it is gentrification and creating large social divides. The situation to me seems like rich people get to enjoy clean air and the freedom from environmental guilt, while the poor remain in the polluted, decaying cities.  

Land is such a precious resource, the answer is not to use more of it. I think we need to work with what we already have. Instead using more land we should stop building and figure out ways to maximize land with boundaries already set. 

Masdar is a great and interesting experiment. It's also great that people are trying to be new and innovate about the ways we go about building our cities. But I feel (for now) this is all it ever will be, an experiment that includes 47 000 wealthy people. We've already invested so much in our current cities, how can we afford to build new cities? I think Masdar should be taken as an incredible experiment from which we can learn from, but to create all new cities like this seems somewhat unrealistic.

Class Reflection: November 6th, 2008

Professor Jean Trottier from the landscape dept. spoke of the details involved in site planning. I found his presentation particularly interesting not only because of an interest in landscape form and its pertinence to the design process, but because it opened my eyes to the pressures and reality of failure that a designer must deal with. Knowing how the land beneath the ground we walk on functions is just as important as the way the structure will appear above the landscape it rests on. Utilizing slope concepts and other ways of building that can predict the way the land will move with the structure are useful, but never definite. This is something that must be realized when approaching any design endeavor, that the earth is a much more powerful place than we perceive it to be. His examples of homes distorted by the natural processes occurring beneath the soil and some completely destroyed as a result of our own neglect of the landscape, such as the effects of erosion on a hillside that has been clearcut of trees to make space for the structure. There are certain things we cannot control in nature and then there are choices we can make that are informed and thoughtful in respect to the natural landscape.

All I Want for Christmas is a KitHAUS!

Imagine retreating to a studio oasis. A place where your drafting board would face windows, windows that would allow your view to extend over a setting of your choice. Where glass doors could be slid open to allow a fresh breeze. An environment where clear glass walls could open you up to the landscape, but also where wooden blinds could be closed to insulate you from the noise of the outside world. Instead of the stale, warm air, and the incessant chatter of your current studio environment, this place would be under your control, it would be of your own design.

The prefab units KitHaus by Design Within Reach create these kind of environments. The 'houses' can be situated on any landscape, as a studio or as a guest house. Their footprint is small and they are built using green design principles. When purchasing a Kithaus you have the opportunity to DIY by choosing from an array of material esthetics. While a price tag of $29 500 to $44 900 limits our opportunity to test the KitHAUS, I like the way Design within Reach has made a structure which can be integrated into several environments. Also I like the way the prefab units incorporate the landscape into their interior environments. KitHAUS makes the inside of the structure more about the outside environment then about its own interior composition. The fluidity between the interior and exterior environments in this little Haus make it an appealing space, and one that is different from traditional built structures. This difference creates a space in the KitHaus which seems separate from the work place. The differentiated environment creates a space I would like to work in, and they are just so cute!

Looking To Nature For Design Solutions

Imagine looking to nature for design inspiration beyond application of form, but for our application of technologies too. Think about using the naturally built world as a model for the human built world so to create a more sustainable, healthy way of living and solving problems. It is apparent that nature has already solved most of the problems that humans still struggle to find solutions to, and manages to do it in the most efficient and strategic way possible. “Biomimicry” is essentially this, the process of emulating nature’s natural strategies and patterns in our own design technologies, therefore enabling them to adapt much more sustainably to our environments. This, I feel is crucial in reversing the way we approach the design process, by shifting our energy towards finding solutions and learning from existing organisms instead of focusing on implementing completely artificial solutions that work against the earth's systems.

Jane Benyus, the biologist who coined the term, shares amazing insight on innovative, sustainable design ideas drawn directly from nature in this inspiring presentation on Biomimicry.

The Artificial Landscape

Landscape has taken on many forms and degrees of change over time and our notion of a natural landscape is now one that has transformed significantly. The alterations that our needs have imposed on the instinctive forms of a landscape are shocking and unrecognizable. Sculpture Center’s group exhibition, Degrees of Remove: Landscape and Affect, curated by Sarina Basta with Fionn Meade addresses exactly this; how perceptions of landscape take on new meaning and identity to those who had never before known what these places looked like in their natural state. Technology has enabled us to view and engage in the landscape in an entirely different way. The piece poses the question of whether we truly do engage in landscapes at all, which to me is such a strong commentary on what landscapes will mean to us in the future.

Class Reflection October 30

During the first half of this class, Carmine Militano revealed his secrets for success. He shared that getting ahead and staying on top in the business world requires sound decision making, a knowledge of first principles, and an acceptance of the new era of sustainability. In my view, his outline of a structured decision making processes, as a way of making defensible decisions, was especially useful. However, while I appreciate Miltano's expertise and success in his field, I found his delivery to be overly aggressive. His dog eat dog attitude, and in particular his implication that academia and many of the concepts it studies are often irrelevant in the real world of business, was shortsighted. In order for us to become truly sustainable, we require a multi-disciplinary approach. This approach should involve knowledge and action sharing between Universities, the business community, government, and beyond. If this mutually shared approach is to be successful, each discipline must demonstrate a high level of respect for the value of the others.

While Mr. Militano was no doubt knowledgeable and confident in his delivery, I found the discussion of the second speaker, Dr. van Vliet to be more engaging. His presentation of case studies throughout Europe demonstrated projects which were multifaceted, and which looked to the future of sustainable design. I feel that these projects were largely successful because they were grassroots in nature, from the early planning stages of development. I was impressed to learn the projects had gone beyond sustainability, instead they continue to improve over time. Dockside Green was presented as a North American adaption of these multi-use, grassroots, environmentally conscious projects. The success of Dockside Green has yet to be determined, and while Dr. van Vliet questions the financial motivations of the project, only time will tell whether Victoria will be able to adapt these European models to Canada.

Class Reflection October 30, 2008

As Judith mentioned, today’s classes were definitely a lesson in the dichotomy of design, if nothing else. Thanks in part to my business background I enjoyed Mr. Milatano’s presentation very much. I often voice my regret concern for having spent so many years in business school, as opposed to sketching and beefing up my photosopping capabilities and am consistently re-assured by people more experienced than myself that it will all be worth something in the end, and today’s presentation definitely re-enforced that notion. Designing is all fun and games (and sometimes tears) when we are doing it in a theoretical hypothetical sense in studio but when we are out in the field real world obstacles are going to present us with an entirely new set of hurdles to tackle. Being able assess the risks associated with our designs will undoubtedly help us immensely in the long run.

For what Dr. Van Vliet’s presentation lacked in energy it made up for with information. We were introduced to many sustainable design practices that are occurring in other countries. Dr. Van Vilet’s presence (or lack thereof) in many ways was a lesson in and of itself especially in comparison to the dichotomy of his presence with that of Mr. Miliatano’s. I think that most students are much more interested in the sustainability of designs over the business side but thanks to Mr. Milatano’s ability to engage the crowd, today, his proposal stole the show. Going forward when our presentations will be more highly scrutinized I think we will be able to take this knowledge and run with it, creating presentations that are captivating.

Class Reflection, October 30th, 2008

We’ve had our share of presenter personalities in class, but I think the polarity of the two in today’s lecture made for an especially dynamic experience. Carmine Milatano shared with us a very logical and business oriented side of design, one that I’ve been hesitant to think about, but felt surprisingly comfortable with after listening. I found his approach forward and concise, although quite aggressive,

The second lecturer, Dr. David van Vilet, from the dept. of city planning, guided us through a presentation on the typology of land-use planning and sustainable settlement practices. Although his disposition was more of one that I myself would naturally gravitate to, his method of presenting information was a little bit difficult to follow. His own knowledge on the issue was well versed, however and thoughtfully considered. His mentioning of innovative European green cities was quite fascinating not only in their ecological initiatives, but on everything that makes for a strong urban fabric. These cities intrigue me in that they are conceived as one single unit and do not undergo any sort of major growth. They account for expansion, but that too is calculated to an extent. City planners have always designed cities based on a certain typology or pattern, but the cities that we perceive for the future seem to come ready-made and decided. I am not suggesting this is a bad way to progress, I am simply noting how much we learn from the past and apply to the future and how much we abandon for what ever reason it may be.

Reflections for October 30 Class

The two guest speakers that came to speak in this week's class brought to the table a wide spectrum of knowledge about the design world. Our first speaker was a hard hitting, to-the-point engineering consultant from Stantec Architects. Through a riveting 100+ slides he walked us through various skills like excel and public engagement that is crucial to our future professions, many of these skills not taught in our current schooling. There was also mention about the triple bottom line, and how to mitigate risks when dealing with the uncertainties of the real world. A six step sure fire procedure to maximize success and minimize risk was shown to us, a procedure that can translate into anything you work at in life. 

The second speaker came to our class with a entire different set of information. Dr. David van Vliet provided several case studies of successful planning projects in different Scandinavian countries. These countries seemed to be far ahead of North America in terms of the amount of thought put into the layout of their cities. There are also exhibitions held throughout different cities to promote good design practices in dealing with city growth, something Winnipeg could definitely learn from.

Both speakers had presented very interesting information to the class, but what really stands out in my mind of this week's class is the delivery of information. The contrast between Mr. Carmine Militano's presentation and Dr. David van Vliet was like day and night. Mr. Militano was much more engaging as a speaker and even though I'm not as interested in the business side of architecture (yet), I felt more interested in what he had to say versus Dr. Vliet. Now I'm not sure if Jae co-ordinated that deliberately, but asides from learning about the business side of design and planning, I learned what a difference the delivery of information can make. If we are to really implement our innovative ideas into the real world, we'll have to acquire the ability to convince businesses, developers, government and the public.  

Renewable Energy: Are our leaders stopping the change?

Last night, as I combined homework with television, I watched a Fifth Estate episode on renewable energy, "The Gospel of Green". The program focused on Hermann Sheer, the man who has been leading Germany down its path to total reliance on renewable energy. It is a lengthy show, an hour long. I did link it above, and to find the section that really hit me begins at about 16 minutes. The issue in this section deals with Canada's efforts (or lack there-of) in advancements in renewable energy. It discusses Canada's extreme potential in resources related to renewable energy. Wind power is extremely feasible in Ontario and beyond. The large amount of agriculture in Canada makes production of bio fuels (power generated by animal wastes)extremely realistic. However, it is suggested that Canada and the Ontario government are reluctant to adopting renewable energy sources, seemingly due to their loss of control of the resource, in comparison to say nuclear plant energy. They argue that nuclear power is the way of the future, as it is carbon-emission free. However, nuclear power has a large array of its own risks, the most substantial being storing of nuclear waste after it exceeds use. Also, eventually every plant must retire, and then we have the added issue of what to do with these environments in the future. I am very disappointed that we are still in a position in Canada where we are unable to think ahead, and make decisions based on their future benefit, rather than their immediate benefit or level of control. It is very sad that the issue of global warming is considered a 'crisis', when the more I investigate the subject the more it seems we have everything we need to reverse it at our finger tips, and the government with industry leaders alike are the ones stopping it.
Keep watching,and the video turns to electric vehicles, and how they were on the rise in the USA, until General Motors (the producers of the EV1 electric car) changed their minds and returned to focusing on gas powered vehicles, where they were at the time making money. The electric cars we crushed and dumped in a desert in California. We live in a society that blatantly wastes money, pollutes the environment and works solely for the well being of industry! Today, the electric car is seeing a slow but promising comeback in Canada. What's stopping it? The Canadian Government. ZENN (Zero Emissions No Noise) vehicles are ready and waiting a change in regulation from Transport Canada so that they may hit the road. Not surprisingly, with the decline of gas vehicle sales, GM has re-introduced an electric model- The Volt. They are legal in the US. What are we waiting for here? Canada consumes the highest amount of energy per capita than any other country in the world. Despite the endless resources and opportunity, we are also very behind on the road to sustainability. However I believe we are fully capable of morphing into the same type of locally renewable settlements such as those Professor Dav Vilet mentionned in his lecture, given we are permitted!