Green Building and Modern Sustainable Problem Solving



According to Wikipedia, Sustainability is the capacity to endure. In ecology the word describes how biological systems remain diverse and productive over time. For humans it is the potential for long-term maintenance of wellbeing, which in turn depends on the well-being of the natural world and the responsible use of natural resources.

An architect can act sustainably or "green" in many ways, utilizing both passive and active technologies to conserve our natural resources and in turn improve well-being. Our goal is to encourage smaller "carbon footprints".

Why aren't we all acting "green" all the time?

Thinking "green" involves a balance of three major concerns
1) Your Environment
2) Your Economic Situation
3) Your Social Situation

So, acting "green" to solve any given problem is a balance of these concerns, put to action, but not always a perfect balance. Take for example recycling. You may live in a home that is located in a community that has organized a recycling program with the local recycler. But, for reasons beyond your control, the local recycler is only set up to recycle paper goods. This leaves you with no viable solution for recycling your plastics other than to stockpile them and drive them to the next nearest facility 150 miles away. This is a bearable solution, but illustrates how our environment, social situation and economics have an impact on our "green" decision making process. By the way, it may not be worth your time and energy consumption to make that 300 mile round trip drive every month to the recyler. It may also not be a reasonable use of your home's space, to stockpile plastics for extended periods of time.

In short, we should do what we can to try to act as good stewards of our environment. Think globally and act locally and over time, our communities will act together toward more "green" solutions. Then, as an architect, my job isn't only to encourage clients to use waterless urinals or collect runoff to water their gardens, but rather to pioneer inventive ways to see their environment from a more sustainable perspective.

Follow the link below to see some of the work of Shigeru Ban. He has merged "green" thinking and inventive solution making with a unique artfulness.

www.nytimes.com/packages/html/magazine/20070520_BAN_FEATURE/index.html

Class Theme 001- Learning

Guiding Question: What is the "ideal" learning environment? Let's define our starting point.
Here we are>


Consider the fact that we will act here as both user and designer. If we are to set out to create a classroom to suit our needs, first we must identify those needs. The list we come up with is our "program" and typically helps an architect in developing an appropriate design for his client. As the design develops, the designer will utilize concepts like "scale", "proportion" and "order" to create a space that meets the user's functional requirements.

Precedents can then be utilized to identify solutions for the "classroom concept" that have been successful in other circumstances. Using this type of resource proves how much of what a user requires is universal. For example, the height of a school desk and chair are driven by a typical student's size and are generally consistent across cultures. These standards are good starting points, but responsible, creative architecture should constantly question these standards. Along with trends in new material technologies or studies in human behavior, the design for a school desk may force us to radically reconsider those standards.
Why not conduct a class where your students sit in a circle, each on a small pillow or stand at tall counters at the perimeter of a room working on laptops. These are both clear options for specific successful learning environments that challenge accepted traditions.

Below is a selection of images that illustrate a wide variety of successful learning environments all across the globe:


Chengdu Hualin Elementary School, Sichuan China, 2008
By Shigeru Ban ,BANLAB













This is a temporary classroom in Japan that has a paper tube structure and was built without any heavy machinery in a short period of time after a devastating earthquake.





Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA, 1963
By Louis Kahn















This is the courtyard of the Salk Institute that overlooks the Pacific Ocean. The buildings serve as laboratories for scientific research and common spaces in the building facilitate the exchange of ideas between researchers.


Crown Hall at IIT, Chicago, IL, 1956
By Mies van der Rohe
















Mies van der Rohe designed Crown Hall at IIT with a very large, single interior space. The space has no interior columns and few walls. It serves as a first year design studio for college level architecture students.


Class under a tree.













Or...
Class in a busy city on a rooftop.