Outward Thinking

At times, everyone must be placed within an ideological box, given a set of rules or laws in which it is their duty to follow. But, other times, the box’s boundaries are meant to be crossed. If no one took the chance to cross those lines and do the unexpected, there would be no exploration of the unknown, no new inventions, universe’s left undiscovered, cures unfound.etc. As an architecture student we ,at times, are placed within a box by our assignments, class hours and multiple other reasons, but when presented with an opportunities to function “outside the box� with no set guidelines to follow, I guarantee all would jump at the opportunity. If I personally was given the chance to be unconfined by the “architecture school� program, I believe I would still employ my design knowledge to impact my environment.
While I was fueling up my car an epiphany struck me about what I would explore, with no guidelines, no rules and no constraints. It seems that everything in our world is run by oil either the companies or what is produced from it. But, what if it wasn’t? Thinking even further I began to think of what if our homes were left uncontrolled by production, oil, and anything else unnatural. I began to get excited because I knew that within myself I possessed the ability and potential knowledge to design a perfectly “green� home; one completely free of anything manmade or made from petroleum. As I thought about it further I concluded it would be best if I were to look to the past to plan this imaginary, or quite possibly real, future idea. A perfect inspiration would be the grass home constructed on the plains of America by pioneers in the 1800s and 1900s. These homes worked with the natural not against it. Not only were they constructed of natural elements (sod, dirty, wood beams etc) they would not produce the large amounts of unrecyclable scrap that now comes from construction. To make the home even more ecological, the sod acts as a natural temperature regulator. In the summer the home stays naturally cool and in the winter it remains warm. This will cut down on heating bills and pollution. The most difficult aspect of the entire project would be discovering how to implement modern elements within the dwelling. However, after exploration on the matter, I truly believe a solution will be found that will not only function superbly but be just as ecologically friendly as the rest of the home.