11. Sustainable Environments Book - Response to Place part 3

Contemporary Design in Detail - Sustainable Environments Yenna Chan  (pp 14-36).

Response to Place Part 3

-Preferably using land that has already been developed rather than UN-built/ agricultural land.

-Examples of built land include tree plantation for the forest to regain its natural balance.

-The buildings also guard against site's natural hazards.

-Building downward to replace one green space with another on same urban site.

-Maintains public open space by strict requirements and in the process provides a new habitat for local birds.

-Chan also explains how land that was once occupied by heavy industry may contain some form of contamination. The book explains how it is in the designer's interest to consider this in their designs.

-Site remediation techniques end to be expensive so designers come up with solutions to resolve the problem.

-Conservation of a site is the first step to approach a new design to have minimal impact on the environment. The idea shows strategies throughout the deisgn, building, and occupancy to reduce effects of architecture on land, from house footprint to altered site conditions from use of site resources to production of wastage. 

10. Sustainable Environments Book - Response to Place part 2

Contemporary Design in Detail - Sustainable Environments Yenna Chan  (pp 14-36).

Response to Place Part 2



-The houses featured in the book are all located in the wilderness, suburban areas.

-Houses create response through sympathetic materials like wood and copper.

-Examples of what is being done is featured; like the use of green roofs that are planted with native vegetation that virtually blend in the environment.

-Apart from the fact that it blends in, its harvested ground-clover allows it to be part of the agricultural economy.

-Other examples include existing trees that used as a reference point for houses' relationship with the site.

-The architects of all the residences challenge the usual ideology of what construction is; disturbing the landscape and ecosystem. They present and address how a building in a conservative site is built in the least damaging way to build and minimize the excavation and eliminate tree removal. 

-The architects' designs also impact the site very little once they're built.

-In their designs, they show respect to the land with their strategies and ways of architecturally adapting to maintain ecological habitats.

9. Sustainable Environments Book - Response to Place part 1

Contemporary Design in Detail - Sustainable Environments Yenna Chan  (pp 14-36).

Response to Place Part 1


-The land and its characteristics are used as a starting point and inspiration to the houses featured. 

-Focus on how the buildings are connected to the ground by being built into the earth.

-Buildings blend into and become part of the landscape, at the same time preventing changes to ecological & topological conditions throughout building site.

-The landscape (vegetation and the surrounding view) determines the design of the houses.  This may lead to specific profiles or materials used for the building.

-For every case featured in the book, different structures and forms are adapted according to the conditions of the unique site.

-Yenna Chan also talks about the visual impact the buildings have on the landscape and how the designers worked around it.

-When a building does not impose on the site, it aspires the inhabitants to appreciate, and have a deeper understanding and greater connection with the environment.

8. Tubo Armchair

Domus Green September 2014 (pp 68-69).

Tubo Armchair

-Ecological chair designed by Sam Hecht and Kim Colin for new Brazilian Brand TOG

-It's felt- looking finish is in fact made out of recycled materials using a process that was developed by a company for the use of automobile industry.

-The fuzzy appearance is achieved with a process of needle-punching and combing made out of first class plastic polymer.

-It's supplied in rolls; sheets of different thicknesses, cut and laid flat in electric heated metal molds to activate the polymerization process. 

-The process mentioned above has the advantage of enabling a waste material to be recycled which has greater tactile appeal than injection molded plastic and also lower production costs due to the materials used.

-The shell is fully exposed and can also be customized. 

7. Ecolorsystem by Rimadesio Collection

Domus Green September 2014 (pp 66-67).

Ecolorsystem by Rimadesio Collection

- Rimadesio collection consists of ecologically sustainable materials, the two main raw ones being glass and aluminium.

-Company specializes in production of subdividing rooms systems and also interior architecture definition; doors, sliding doors, bookcases, modular furniture systems etc.

-The production is sustainable by the ultra-modern process the company offers exclusively, called 'Ecolorsystem' which offers over 40 ecological colours that are produced with new generation water-based and non polluting paints that are fired at 110 Degrees Celsius

-This process is cutting-edge with mechanized indoor machinery that ensures a production process with minimal environmental impact.

-Due to this process, the colours remain stable as they are applied to the inner surface of the glass, which protects it from stains, dust and also moisture.

6. Su Collection

Su Collection

Domus Green September 2014 (pp 62-63).

-Designer Oki Sato collaborated with manufacturer to produce a versatile stool, suitable for both indoor as well as outdoor. (public)

-Inspired from the iconic 1006 navy chair (produced for the first time in 1944 for US marines). 

-From the Navy Chair he re-used the seat and made us of recycled aluminium for the legs of the chair. 

-The seat is made out of a range of different materials; cork, oak wood that he got from demolitions of old buildings, recycled PET and Eco-friendly concrete.

-He did not want to mix up too many materials and also removed every superfluous element from the design because he wanted to keep the stool as simple as possible, hence the name 'Su', meaning simple/plain in Japanese.

-The seat is one whole piece that can be replaced by a simple coin to unscrew the support as seen in the first picture above.

-The legs were specially design to make the stool stack-able.

5. SMARTh FUrniTURE

Domus Green September 2014 (pp 60-61).

SMARTh FUrnitUre






-Innovative furniture range that increases comfort and saves energy by accumulating heat by inserting a material in the structures. (It works like charging batteries.)

-When temperatures get colder, like at night time, the heat is released constantly and additional heating appliances won't be needed; making the furniture energy sufficient.

-This strategy suggests 30 per cent savings in summer and 8 per cent in winter, and also provides an additional function to furniture, and not just for aesthetics and storage.

-They are mostly practical for climates with large temperature differences between day and night and also for buildings constructed with material with low thermal mass (offices, hotels, schools etc.) glazed areas and greenhouses.

4. The Metamorphosis Collection EXD '13

Domus Green September 2014 (pp 56-59).

The Metamorphosis Collection EXD '13

-The metamorphosis collection was presented at the Lisbon Experimenta Design 2013.

-Designed and produced by 7 architects and 3 designers.

-Collection of contemporary design that is made up of cork - a raw material and 100% sustainable.

-The group research and experimented with new fields, materials, forms and functions to bring out the characteristics of cork. 

-Produced 2 contemporary shaped stools
-'Cork kit" that consists of 2 modular objects that can be combined to be used for different functions; stools, steps, space-divider.
-Door handles
-Cork Tiles
-Wall/ floor modules that can be used as natural appearance as well as sound absorption.

3. Origin and progress

http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/15693430600688831

Sustainable development – historical roots of the concept

-Explaining the progress of sustainability

-Sustainability has always existed, but has progress over the years. It wasn't referred to as the term we use today because people didn't realize they're thinking green.

-The term "sustainability" emerged for the first time in the Oxford dictionary in mid 20th century, but it was documented way back in Roman times.

-The Romans built their structures facing the sun for maximum natural light and also as a heat source in cold weather and a shelter in warmer days. In modern times, these strategies are known as sustainable design.

-Scientific and technological development led to the unfair distribution of economical benefits, which was a major factor in sustainability development throughout the years.

2. Essay Introduction

Sustainable Design in Domestic Environment

Over the years, the growth and development in building, construction and manufacturing of products made a huge impact on the natural environment. The human race was blamed for this irresponsible consumption of the earth's natural resources, therefore it has the duty to act up on it. 

The aim of this essay is to find ways how one can live comfortably whilst respecting the environment, rather then pointing out how we are ruining it.

Multiple sustainable design strategies that are mainly addressed to designers will be discussed and analyzed.  If lifestyles and how the approach one takes to the planet are re-thought, one would come to realize that there are multiple design strategies and ways that allow individuals to live comfortably by what is produced naturally and offered by the planet.
These approaches towards sustainability will not include discomfort or using methods that applied before fossil fuels, or the invention of the car because it will not work for most people. Most of the world's population have grown in the idea of comfort and technology, therefore the objective of this essay is to find and prove how to use the profession of a designer to create new designs for the built environment while conserving the environment and preserving and enhancing the lives of everyone. 

1. Introduction

I will be making use of this blog to post the research I find and further investigate the area study I chose to discuss in my essay.

My Area of Study
I decided to base my essay on Sustainable Design. Being an extreme vast subject, I came up with a mind map to help me decided on a title and also what areas I want to base the essay on.

I divided it in sections;

SUSTAINABLE DESIGN 

-interiors

-architectural

-residential space

The reason why I chose sustainable design is because it's a subject that should be in the interest of everyone, both financial and environment wise. If no-one takes an action our world continues to become more toxic for future generations. This is why designers should consider sustainability in everything they design. 


Aim
My aim in this assay is to prove that sustainable interior spaces can work and be as captivating and appealing as the ones that aren't, and that in the near future we could start designing and producing everything sustainable for a cleaner environment. 


Title

Looking back at the mind map above, I tried to choose something which interests me and has to do with what I want to do in the future. After this year I'm aiming to graduate in interior design, so I worked out the title to be;

Sustainable Design in Domestic Environment.

The reason why I chose this title is because I want to focus on home interiors; how the user can live in a space that was environment-considered throughout the whole design process. The title or the subject needs to be altered in the future because it's very general, and I'm still deciding whether to include architectural aspects as well. For the moment I am researching both subjects, see what I find and decide with the help of my tutor.