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.

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.

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.

Sustainable the New Postmodern?

In conclusion to a recent class, Jae shared his vision for the future of design. He stated that while previous stages of design included modernism and postmodernism, the next phase of design would be 'sustainable'. Jae warned us that as designers we would have to negotiate, and possibly even abandon our esthetic and creative desires in favor of sustainability. To really become sustainable, Jae insisted that we must relinquished some control of our designs to sustainable materials.

These insights enlightened me and made me aware that I struggle with these issues. In particular, when I designed my garment for our last studio project my greatest challenge was to let go of my desire to create a beautiful esthetic, and to instead allow ecological fabrics and the garment's function to dictate its form. Jae's comments inspired me to remove some of my own esthetic taste and become more sustainable. Since reflecting on these ideas, I have also become more aware of how my own preferences can limit my design choices.

As we move forward into a new era of sustainable design our greatest challenge will be to rethink our notions of beauty, or the artistic whims that Jae described. However, once we negotiate the use of sustainable materials and our own vision as designers, we will be free to create exciting new esthetics.

An example of this forward thinking design comes from 5468796 who in their redesign of EQ3 have:

"identified a large surplus of glass water bottles from restaurants in [Vancouver] as a material resource that typically ends up in the landfill. Instead, the bottles will be used to clad the existing facade to create a visually engaging and environmentally friendly feature - filtering daylight and protecting interior furnishings. The project’s innovation lies in its ability to combine opportunities for branding, community involvement and a new, greener direction for EQ3." (http://www.5468796.ca/)

Here the firm has merged its creative vision with sustainability. 5468796's innovation creates an interesting, fresh, and beautiful environment, exemplifying the sustainable phase design is moving towards. -Katie