Sustainable Design Final Paper ~ Michael Reynolds

It's kind of a long one...

Michael Reynolds ~ Radically Sustainable Earthship Biotect

Theory

I chose to look into the career of Michael Reynolds after first hearing about the Sundance Channel’s April 2008 airing of “Garbage Warrior,” Oliver Hodge’s award-winning documentary following Reynolds’s work (Open Eye Media, UK, 2007). This recent “green” media spotlight has given an increased value to the concept of eco-conscious living something that I have long wanted to know more about from a functional standpoint. The documentary followed years of Reynolds career building his dwellings around the world, with or without government zoning approval.

Owning a home in the Southwestern United States, I find his style very colorful and intriguing as well as a hope for methods that could be borrowed to make existing structures such as my home more sustainable. Coupling this with my lifelong interest in recycled and second use materials, reducing domestic gridded energy use, and my desire to know more about home water conservation and filtration, his designs came to be what I feel are a very raw definition of Sustainable Design.

Biographic Background

Michael Reynolds graduated from the University of Cincinnati in 1969 with a Bachelor’s Degree in Architecture and a thesis that examined architecture’s need for “design that would reduce the stress level of the planet.” Directly after graduation, Reynolds relocated to Taos, New Mexico, after falling in love with the architecture and ambiance of the American Southwest. He also noted that he was seeking greater meaning as a child of the 1960s counterculture, as well as attempting to avoid the Vietnam draft.

Reynolds began designing and constructing structures utilizing recycled materials such as wire hangers and beer bottles as early as late 1969. His thesis was then published in the Architectural Record in 1971. He completed his first conceptual dwelling, which he called the Thumb House in 1972, using beer cans wired together into “bricks,” plaster, and mortar. In 1973, Reynolds was granted a U.S. patent for the Thumb House design.

Much like Reynolds’s use of items “as is,” he employs a trial and error method to his design and construction. This way, he is able to identify, examine, and fix and design or construction flaws. He has lived in each of his experimental homes all while developing his overall Earthship design core. This core element came to Reynolds as he discovered that through packing container items with dirt they could become insulated building materials. This allowed for designs to really become off the grid structures providing geothermal heating and cooling aspects.

Despite the breakthroughs in sustainability and building, Reynolds experienced defeat at the hands of the legal system several times through lawsuits concerning faulty zoning and construction. The complaints eventually led to his New Mexico architecture license being challenged. In 2000 Reynolds voluntarily surrendered his New Mexico credentials and licenses. This did not hinder his work to make his designs accessible to those who needed them, traveling globally with a team of builders to do so, often at great financial cost to himself. After his work became celebrated for the use of sustainable concepts in dire areas, he decided to begin working within the design and zoning parameters again in New Mexico, regaining his license.

Reynolds began to travel with his team of converted builders to countries where this low cost off-the-grid type of design was necessary, including disaster relief locations such as the Andaman Island tsunami (India, 2005), Honduras, and New Orleans during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina (2006). Earthships are by design hurricane and earthquake-proof. Their near lack of wood in structure creation leaves them with little to no pest problems, although there can be warping if the door and window frames are not installed correctly. The water filtration features are very necessary in places where sanitation has become a problem due to extreme weather.

Michael Reynolds is the author of five books defining his design goals and illustrating how to build Earthships, allowing the concept to be achievable and available to the public. Also, Earthship Biotecture, a Taos, NM, company now sells sustainable construction building packages, provides educational seminars, and runs a hotel for interested parties. A community of Earthship homes has been erected outside Taos, NM, and it has come to be known as the Greater World Community. Disaster relief seminars are set globally as the need arises or different groups request Reynolds’s teaching services.

Earthships ~ Biophilic Structures

“Earthships demonstrate a way to live in harmony with the planet by encountering natural resources without depleting them. An Earthship is a passive solar home made or natural and recyclable materials.” ~ Michael Reynolds

Reynolds defines the terms “Earthship” and “biotecture” as the following:

“Earthship n. 1. Passive solar home made of natural and recycled materials 2. Thermal mass construction for temperature stabilization 3. Renewable energy & integrated water systems make the Earthship an off-grid home with little to no utility bills.
Biotecture n. 1. the profession of designing buildings and environments with consideration for their sustainability 2. A combination of biology and architecture.” (http://www.garbagewarrior.com)

Reynolds unveiled his radical design in 1986 after many years of refining. He attempted to join the modern technology available to he and his builders with the ancient building techniques of such groups as the Anasazi Indians. Their designs harnessed the power of the sun and earth while conserving all the natural resources they needed to live, such as water and heat energy. For example, Earthships are embanked into hillsides, using land to create the rear, side, and interiors walls for insulation purposes, ideally facing south to southeast to capture the best solar rays.

At that time of his original unveiling, Earthship construction incorporated materials such as discarded tires, bottles, and beer cans. Currently, designs have been extended to use items such as landfilled cardboard, plastics, glass, aluminum and steel cans, as well as the panels from discarded refrigerators, cooking ranges, and washing machines. Aside from these materials, the structures utilize all natural building materials such as wood, rock, and mud plaster. Occasionally a manufactured item is used in building, such as glass or solar panels, however, all attempts are made to use these as secondary use items whenever possible.

Other design points include a long hallway on the front of the structure allowing sunlight to be trapped as well as heat to be conducted into the attached rooms. Photovoltaic cells are now mounted on the roof allowing the conversion of sunlight into electricity in order to power lights, appliances, and computers. Some of the homes designed feature propane tanks, which are then used to power the water heater and stove. Often vegetable gardens are utilized in the hallway fed by water recycled after domestic use.

Heat & Energy Elements

Earthship walls are constructed to be thick stacked with earth-packed items mortared together and plastered over. This structure creates a heat sink in which solar energy is captured and radiated using a geothermal heating effect. During summer months, the windows in the front of the structure are opened, as are those in the rear ceiling, allowing for the air to flow through, and creating a cooling effect.

Many of the items being used in this process would otherwise be nonrecyclable (tires) or would take commensurate fossil fuels in their renewal (aluminum cans, plastic bottle, and glass). The geothermal nature of the dwellings mean energy is not needed for heating or cooling. The solar panels provide the energy needed for other functions. Dependent upon the size of the dwelling or the location, wind turbines may also be utilized. These different techniques may all be used in differing climates, allowing self-sufficiency concepts to translate to any given climate extreme.

Water Features

Water conservation is another core concept of the Earthship design. Reynolds believes that water collection should be central to the design as well as a biophilic filtration system to utilize the water to the highest degree and as many times as possible. Water is funneled or collected from rain or snowfall from the roof or other structural methods. It is then channeled to a large underground cistern. This cistern water is filtered, pumped, and pressurized for domestic uses.

The first use is for washing and bathing. This water is then recycled through a grease and particle filter into graywater for edible vegetative plant irrigation. This cleaned graywater then is utilized for toilet flushing prior to being piped to a conventional septic tank. The blackwater separated in the septic tank is then taken out of that internal system and treated for use in outside inedible vegetative irrigation. Toilets may also be optioned as composting toilets if so desired by dwellers.

Interiors

Michael Reynolds does not provide interior design work, however, many of the aspects of his building design can be translated into an interiors finish with little effort. Opting to have the interior walls plastered to create a smooth surface allows for many options including low VOC paints or plaster dyes. Choosing different colors and configurations of glass bottles in the interior and exterior walls can give a stained glass effect to the home. Creative choices in vegetation inside the structure give latitude and greenery as well as serving as air filtration and a sink for water features. Bathroom and kitchen designs can harness the Southwestern flair using other recycled objects in the making of mosaic walls, tubs, shower stalls, and countertops.

In summary

Due to the current state of the planet and the moral and ethical push for increased visibility and accessibility of sustainable design, Michael Reynolds has risen to the surface as a forward thinker and pioneer in designing low cost, self-sustainable structures. His use of items that would otherwise lay dormant in landfills for hundreds and thousands of years leeching into the earth should be an inspiration to all architects and designers illustrating that innovation can come even the most everyday of concepts, like dirt and garbage. While it is true that Reynolds does not design with aesthetics at the top of his list of goals, his structures can range form million dollar celebrity mansions to nearly costless emergency housing. That flexibility and high quality of function is the part that is truly astounding and sustainable about the evolution of his designs.

“I think with the Earthship concept we have just scratched the surface of what is possible in terms of using the materials that are discarded by modern society. There are many things out there and once people start seeing that as a resource, looking at municipal dumps as a resource, the human mind is going to go crazy with it. I think the potential of it is off the wall.” ~ Michael Richards

Bibliography

Earthship Biotecture Official Website http://www.earthship.net/ [Accessed November 27, 2008]

“Garbage Warrior” Official Website (2007), Oliver Hodge, Open eye Media, UK, http://www.garbagewarrior.com [Accessed Nov-26-2008]

“Greater World Communities,” http://directory.ic.org/records/?action=view&page=view&record_id=2553 [Accessed November 30, 2008]

Green Home Building Website http://www.greenhomebuilding.com/earthship.htm [Accessed Dec-2-2008]

Irvine, Dan. (September 3, 2007) “Earthships: Future-proof buildings,” CNN.com, http://edition.cnn.com/2007/BUSINESS/08/29/skewed.earthships/index.html#cnnSTCText

“1973: Sorry, Out of Gas,” http://www.sorryoutofgas.org/ [Accessed December 2, 2008]

Reed, Susan and Michael Haederle. “Want An Ecologically Correct House? Architect Michael Reynolds Builds Earthships Out of Beer Cans and Tires,” People Magazine. Vol. 35, No. 1. January 14, 1991.

Skurka, Norma and John Naar. Design for a Limited Planet: Living with Natural Energy, University of Michigan: McGraw-Hill: 1971, page 149.

YouTube Channel for Earthship Biotecture, a Taos, NM, company, http://www.youtube.com/user/earthship [Accessed December 1, 2008]

Wikipedia. “Michael Reynolds” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Reynolds_(architect) [Accessed Dec-1-2008] [Accessed December 1, 2008]

Sustainable Design Final Presentation ~ Michael Reynolds

This was my PowerPoint final presentation for my Sustainable Design class. I kind of have a jones for Michael Reynolds's architectural forays and want to build one on the land I own in Ohio. I also want to go to one of his seminars, not necessarily in the United States.

Please to enjoy....

LMS Post Response to Venice Flooding Told Through Photos

This was my response to the photo link for the recent floods in Venice, the worst the city had experienced in 22 years (5 ft deep). What they don't show is all the feces and dead pets floating around...:

I was last in Venice for New Year's 2004 and it flooded then, however, it was only about 8 inches in St. Mark's. The photos are really depressing, but this has been a city slowly sinking for decades and also flooding regularly often just due to the tide (like when I was there). It is a beautiful city and a genuine catastrophe however it should serve as a lesson to different countries/cities to start preparing for such problems now rather than waiting for them to happen and be dealt with in the clean up stages.

Fortunately, it happened to a place that is considered high on the list of cultural preservation where there is money. It really begs the question of how many places are going to be hit with flooding and degradation that are not going to merit the same attention or preservation? (Answer: Likely, too many, and all of them poor.)

Now I am going to have to go back and try to dig up some of my photos from when I was there...but I think that was before I switched to digital ;(

Here are some of the photos provided from that link:

LMS Post ~ Recycled Subway Cars Turned into Studios in London

This article was originally posted on Inhabitat's webpage. Anyone who is into container architecture, here is another version using subway cars in London. I doubt I would want to use a hollowed out F train for shelter or studio space, but you get the reuse idea. The photos are quite good, showing the cars mounted on rooftops and transformed.

Recycled Subway Cars Turned into Studios in London by Jorge Chapa

Enterprising young artists in the London scene are usually presented with the dilemma of having to rent extremely expensive studio space in order to be able to work. This led furniture designer Auro Foxcroft to a rather ingenious and environmentally conscious solution. What was it? Take old subway cars, mount them on a rooftop, and use them for office space! A bit sparse? Sure! But these recycled subway cars are sure to inspire other green-minded, socially conscious artistic efforts.

Located on top of an old brick warehouse in Shoreditch, London, Village Underground provides affordable studio space for young artists (around 15 pounds per week). The subway cars act as working spaces for the artists, while a lower-level restored warehouse is used to host events and exhibit the artists’ works.

The four subway vehicles that make up the village were purchased for a grand total of 200 pounds each. They were then moved on top of the warehouse, and retrofitted to create a working space. The seats inside the carriages were removed, but everything else remains as is (one can even go into the cabin to play around with all the buttons and levers).

The best bit? There are plans to expand this concept to Berlin, Lisbon, and Toronto. Needless to say, we love it.

LMS Post ~ Council Limits Developers from Towering Over East Village and LES

Some word on zoning changes for the LES... I like this change. I used to live down here and played rugby at the East River Park for a number of seasons and despite the nasty hipster infestation they have going on, I like the low rise ambiance that would lose it's identity forever if built out.

Council Limits Developers from Towering Over East Village and LES
By Billy Parker, November 19, 2008

This afternoon, City Council has approved a measure that will place height limits on new buildings in the East Village and the Lower East Side. The plan will rezone over 111 blocks from Delancey Street to East 13th Street, and east of the Bowery to Avenue D. Developers, who were previously only limited by how high they could build the front wall of new buildings (taking advantages of setbacks that let them build higher in the backs of lots), will now see a cap of 120 feet, no matter how far their lots go back (There's also a restriction of 80 foot heights on smaller streets.)

The plan may significantly curb the rampant development in the trendy downtown neighborhoods. Had it been effect just a few years ago, it would have made a significant dent into the plans of new buildings, like the Blue Condos on Norfolk which tower over the area at 181 feet. Buildings under construction with completed foundations can skirt the new regulations, while those that have permits and have just put down a substantial foundation merely have the right to apply for extension from Board of Standards and Appeals.

The mayor's office says that the plan will pave the way for more housing on wider blocks like Houston and Delancey with as many as "1,670 additional housing units over the next ten years, including 560 units permanently affordable to low- and middle-income families." The City Planning Commission will now turn their attention to Chinatown, where some had protested the proposal for fear that it would simply shift the burden of development onto them.

LMS Post ~ 21st Century Street Designers Reimagine 4th Ave & 9th

This article shows an intersection in Brooklyn in need of a facelift. Many of the designs remind me of the Hayes Valley remodel in San Francisco.

I have about zero creativity in rethinking existing cityspaces for some reason, but some of these (photos can be seen at link), are really quite interesting.

21st Century Street Designers Reimagine 4th Ave & 9th

Transportation Alternatives announced three winners today in their "Designing the 21st Century Street," competition, which sought new visions for the heavily-trafficked intersection of 4th Avenue and 9th Street in Park Slope. The intersection is notoriously dreary and annoying, with pedestrians coming from the east forced to cross several lanes of traffic to get to the shabby elevated F station, which will be renovated someday maybe, the MTA swears.

According to Transportation Alternatives, more than 100 submissions from 13 countries tried to tackle the intersection, "a crossing that exemplifies car-first design by encouraging speeding and reckless driving while all but ignoring the walking and biking environment. Submissions ranged from the esoteric (a giant mirror placed in the center of the intersection, slowing cars with the illusion of a head-on collision) to the fine-tuned weaving of dedicated bike, car and transit lanes."

The jury included artists, architects, and local residents, as well as Commissioner David Burney of the Department of Design and Construction and Alex Washburn, Chief Urban Designer for NYC. Each winner got a $4,000 cash prize and bragging rights, but the competition was not part of any official city plan, and the goal of turning Fourth Avenue into "a grand boulevard of the 21st Century" to rival Park Avenue is still just a pipe dream.

"Streets Come Alive" by team LEVON, Philadelphia, PA.

Procrastination Via Webcrawl

I am tormenting my brain trying to make it focus to write a paper. However, I have always been a deadline-driven worker, even since childhood. I literally cannot even force myself to do anything substantial until I am within hours of a deadline. When I wrote online, this was great, it was all short bursts and deadlines.... Now, not so much. Regardless, this will be a webcrawl of sustainable science, green topics, technology, Sunday headlines, etc. while I force myself to sit at my computer despite my lack of actual work on my paper. Grrr.

Manhattan churches draw more guns off street with "Cash for guns" program ~ I think this is a brilliant program for 2 main reasons: Not only does it empower people to get rid of their guns in a safe "no questions asked" setting, but it also gives cash to people who in this economic decline very badly need it for basic living expenses. I know that it began in Brooklyn, then moved to Manhattan after the original success, but I think that this should be a program financed for all burroughs at incrementally scheduled times. As a taxpayer I would much rather shell out towards guns coming off the streets for people in need than potentially get mugged for that money. I know this in no way fixes the gun problem or poverty in New York, but it is a good start.

Happy Howloween ~ This is just good. I don't care what anyone says, especially at tough times like these, there should be more animals in costume. It just makes good sense.

Eco-Pioneer Builds Artificial Island, Lives There for 7 Years ~ I love this stuff, when people decide to go off the grid and prove that life outside the norm is totally possible and just fine. This vaguely reminds me of my father's attempt to do this when we were kids out in the middle of rural Ohio. I personally would have relished staying in the northwest suburbs of Philly at the time, but moving out to the middle of nowhere and making a go at it is certainly enticing right about now. However, this was before the interwebs, so I'm not sure how long I could go without that...a few hours? Ouch. I should go read some John McPhee books and chill out.

Crate Expectations: 12 Shipping Container Housing Ideas ~ Now this idea I can get down with, as mentioned before. I really want to find out why more people don't embrace the concept of shipping container homes. Especially considering their possibilities! I know it is the American dream to be in a sprawling spacious McMansion, however, I hope this catches on because it is so much cooler and once you see the prototypes, they are just better than any McMansion I can think of (including my own, geez.). I will be focusing more and more on this concept as I would like to design and build one that I could live in in the next 5 to 10 years. For serious.

Some of the following are my favourites:

And here is a link to a container condo development in Detroit. I travel to play rugby with ladies of the Detroit WRFC on occassion, so I have to say this is a great development for their real estate and will hopefully catch on there.

World's Dirtiest BMW M6 Spotted in Dubai ~ I told them they were on notice! Otherwise, I am not even sure why this is news.... Suspect, indeed.



We Can Solve It.org ~ They seem to have a ton of dollars for advertising which makes me suspicious. However, never suspicious enough to get off the couch and go check it out. It's about time I did that. That way, if it is indeed a meritable thing I can make everyone I know go check it out. So, lesson learned, it is a good thing. Largely it starts as a petition process, but they also organize energy events: all in the spirit of forcing alternative energy notices towards government and sparking awareness in said alternatives. What I did really like as that there was a function allowing you to put in your zip code and get all of the events within miles of you to participate in. So there, it is a good thing, you should all go sign up ASAP. I know it is essentially one of the many offshoots from Al Gore's work, but is that really a bad thing as long as it is making an effort or for that matter, a dent in the problem? I think not.

My professor Carol Crawford (INT 525P) is right, the internet is literally endless.

LMS Post ~ Landmarks Commission Considers Proposal for New South Street Seaport

This article discusses a move to redevelop South Street Seaport....

There currently is a move to, in my opinion, overdevelop South Street Seaport and it is currently being argued by the Landmarks Preservation Commission that this will overwhelm the current historic content of the neighborhood, etc. This seems to me to be another chance for chain shops and boutiques and luxury condos, none of which seems terribly sustainable in turning yet another portion of Manhattan into crappy shopping and unnecessary condoland....


October 22, 2008
Landmarks Commission Considers Proposal for New South Street Seaport

Never mind that mall owner General Growth Properties—the current leaseholder of the South Street Seaport, as well other retail outlets nationwide—has been scrambling recently to refinance massive debt by selling off $2 billion in rapidly devaluing stock. The company is still pushing forward with an ambitious plan (rendered above) to turn the underwhelming Seaport tourist trap into a more vibrant destination, by razing the existing Pier 17 mall, relocating the landmark Tin Building, and throwing up a 42-story waterfront condo/hotel tower, as well as a wood-based boutique hotel and two-story retail structures designed by SHoP Architects.

But first there's the little matter of the Landmarks Preservation Commission, the Community Board, local residents and the formidable Municipal Art Society, which is urging the Commission to reject the proposal because "the proposed tower overwhelms the historic buildings of the district, further severs the Seaport from its history and disrupts the views from and of the Brooklyn Bridge." (MAS provided this graphic, below, showing relative heights of the proposed hotel and other structures in the area)

Curbed sat in on the Commission meeting last night, and reports "the three-hour discussion had plenty of fireworks." During the public testimony, representatives from the Municipal Arts Society strongly objected to relocating the Tin Building because that "would set a troublesome precedent for the preservation movement."

Others called for the preservation of the Pier 17 building—which houses the shopping mall—because it was designed by Ben Thompson, co-founder of The Architects Collaborative. "The quote of the night, however, went to a woman who curtly stated in reference to the mixed-use tower, 'The pseudo-fishnet brings kitsch to a new level.'" Supporters of the project included documentary filmmaker Ric Burns; a woman read his testimony hailing the proposal's "impressive level of imagination and integrity." The Commission will hear more on the plan at a date T.B.D. For now, at least, Pizzeria Uno is safe.

LMS Post Response to Food Fights Comments ~ "Farmer in Chief"

A few of the students in my class know that I am an R.D. and will direct food or health related questions towards me. It's nice that someone thinks I am worth some sort of point of view in these discussions, as I really don't get that impression in class in the slightest. But I digress...in the form of an answer to someone's post concerning the amount and quality of fat in school lunches and it's direct weight on performance.

Posted comments stemming from the link to the article "Farmer in Chief" from the NY Times Magazine. Here is the first paragraph of this article, an open letter:

Dear Mr. President-Elect,

It may surprise you to learn that among the issues that will occupy much of your time in the coming years is one you barely mentioned during the campaign: food. Food policy is not something American presidents have had to give much thought to, at least since the Nixon administration — the last time high food prices presented a serious political peril. Since then, federal policies to promote maximum production of the commodity crops (corn, soybeans, wheat and rice) from which most of our supermarket foods are derived have succeeded impressively in keeping prices low and food more or less off the national political agenda. But with a suddenness that has taken us all by surprise, the era of cheap and abundant food appears to be drawing to a close. What this means is that you, like so many other leaders through history, will find yourself confronting the fact — so easy to overlook these past few years — that the health of a nation’s food system is a critical issue of national security. Food is about to demand your attention. ...

My answers as posted:

Amanda, I certainly want to answer you on the concepts of fresh ingredients in promoting health and performance. And while a leaner and more clean fat approach is certainly a start and shows results, it merits mention that the techniques of farming and regionality that Pollan refers to are often with less antibiotic use and food served with the aid of fewer preservatives which is another factor being studied in the diet changes in elementary and high school children. Due to a very very busy work day, I will find you a few studies on it tomorrow and post them. Also, I will be happy to direct you to some information on the burgeoning problem of the "certified organic" standard v. local foods.

However, if you have not read Michael Pollan's books: The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural history of Four Meals, In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto, The Botany of Desire: A Plant's Eye View of the World, or his earlier works, you should pick one up at the library and read it. His name will most definitely come up repeatedly in the media as a purveyor of a more sustainable move of the human diet. With the growing importance of water conservation, carbon neutrality, and self accountability in areas like personal consumption choices, hubris and ignorance about livestock and agricultural is really going to come to the forefront. Unfortunately, the food lobbying in this country as well as the strong farm-state coalition will assuage these issues as much as possible (as evidenced in this past summer's farm $300 billion bail outs). It really will come down to personal choices and localized food movements to get these concepts like that have been recently addressed by the UN on lessening meat consumption. Regardless of anyone's enjoyment of meat, there is literally no argument that it is, as the industry is today, sustainable. And frankly, there is no medical need for humans to eat meat so that will never be an issue in this argument.

While I often recommend to my patients that they lessen the meat and change the type of meat in their diets, those are usually health or weight management issues. Frankly, for all other healthy people, it needs to be a choice based on logic that the industry is pushing out fossil fuels, eating up land, and wasting a disgusting amount of potable water and a meat-reliant diet is at this point, selfish and unnecessary. So yes, Meryl, I think that this should be a political issue of regulation and that if people want to eat meat, they should have to really pay the actual cost of it. Eating meat at each meal or everyday is kind of like driving a Hummer to run your errands; It's wasteful and just because you are "allowed" doesn't mean you should. Eating less meat and researching what you're eating is going to begin to look like the seafood industry where people check their Monterrey Bay Aquarium fish lists to determine whether they should order something from a menu.

If anyone has any questions re: the nutritional need of meat in your diet, feel free to email me. Apologies that I have to answer clients first, but I will try to answer your questions as quickly as possible with supporting evidence.

Meat Contributes to Climate Change
UN on Livestock production of fossil fuels being worse than automobiles
FAO Information on Meat and the Climate
Livestock Creating too Much Nitrogen
Livestock Use of Water Statistics

INT 525P ~ Field Trip to the Queens Botanical Garden

The field trip to the Queens Botanical Garden was to look over their LEED certified building from a design perspective. Unfortunately, it was a terribly blustery day so the photos were not as well lit as I would like them to be. Also, I did minor in Botany/Microbiology in undergrad so I have a tendency towards being obsessed with symmetrical flora. Please to enjoy....

MoMa ~ Home Delivery: Fabricating the Modern Dwelling

This morning I went to catch the tail end of the Dali exhibit which is closing today only to find a far more interesting exhibition on the opposite side of the floor! Home Delivery: Fabricating the Modern Dwelling will be shown until October 20, 2008.


The architecture floors are also filled with designs using materials and ideas like those we discussed in class last week. And a fact I did not know but am really excited about now: PRATT STUDENTS GET IN FREE! You just have to show your Pratt student ID at the desk closest to the 54th Street entrance to the building. Nothing I like more than finding my heavy tuition bills have hidden perks...which I would like to be informed about rather than stumbling blindly upon them. But I digress. I have decided this could be made a reality now...granted the shipping containers would make it classier.


The description is below (taken from official MOMA website):

Home Delivery: Fabricating the Modern Dwelling comprises a selective survey of prefabrication in architecture (represented by the Timeline) and a building project of contemporary prefabricated homes on the Museum's west lot (as chronicled in the Installation Journal Archive).

The Timeline begins in the opening decades of the nineteenth century, when factory-produced buildings and building components were integral to the development of the American heartland and to the settling of far-flung colonies by Britain and France. From there, the Timeline spans almost two hundred years of architectural history, focusing on the European and American avant-gardes of the 1920s and 1930s, movements whose explorations have returned to the forefront in every new dialogue about architecture's relationship with serial production: in the golden decade after World War II, with its economic prosperity and baby boom and corresponding housing shortage; in the 1960s, with the introduction of new materials; and again in the past decade, as the computer has dramatically changed the conditions of production.

The Installation Journal Archive is a record of the weekly journal postings by the architects of the five contemporary prefabricated houses erected on the lot to the west of the Museum. The Installation Journal offers a "behind the scenes" look into the entire process of creating and erecting prefabricated architecture. The firms and individuals chosen to participate contributed weekly progress updates, beginning several months in advance of the exhibition, demonstrating how the processes of design, fabrication, shipping, and assembly unfolded to create five finished homes in time for the exhibition's public opening. The architects of each of the five houses were assigned a day of the week: KieranTimberlake Associates of Philadelphia (Mondays); Jeremy Edmiston and Douglas Gauthier of New York (Tuesdays); Oskar Leo Kaufmann and Albert Rüf of Dornbirn, Austria (Wednesdays); Massachusetts Institute of Technology School of Architecture and Planning / Associate Professor Lawrence Sass (Thursdays); and Richard Horden, Horden Cherry Lee Architects in London and Lydia Haack and John Höpfner of Haack + Höpfner Architects in Munich (Fridays). In addition, members of the MoMA curatorial team submitted commentary each Saturday.