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If I were completely released from the constraints of the architecture school program I think I would become more active in the movement toward sustainability. I would love to explore new ideas in sustainability through architecture and move towards a better tomorrow. To do this, I would probably begin by building myself my dream home: a treehouse.





This is my favorite treehouse, the Redmond Treehouse in Redmond, Washington. It is featured on the cover of Pete Nelson’s book, “Treehouses of the World.” It is so organic and has grown in such a random, seemingly un-designed fashion. Being in this place would give one so much inspiration and a great sense of being at one with nature. I would love to have this is my home/studio, where I could focus my energy on creating imaginative and sustainable designs. I may add a few things to this almost-perfect creation. Possible a fire pole and a slide, but that’s not important.


Exercise releases the mind and gets me thinking, so I would make sure to be in an area where I could do the things I love: snowboard, rollerblade, cross-country ski, and ride my horses. These are not hobbies; they are necessities.


I also plan on farming. I grew up on a farm and I think this has defined how I see the world. It has shown me how much we take from the world and how little we give back. I think it is absolutely necessary that every human being on earth experience this wonder, the wonder of the growth of food and the processes which bring these products to the supermarkets. I think farming is the single most misunderstood thing in our country, and I hope to change that.





I would not become an activist. I would not try to step out and change the world in a day. I only hope that someday I will live my life in harmony with nature and show others how possible (and rewarding) it is to do so.


To me success means effectiveness in the world, that I am able to carry my ideas and values into the world-that I am able to change it in positive ways.
Maxine Hong Kingston

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Reading 9 The Image By Kenneth E. Boulding

Key Words:

1. image: Boulding dissects the definition of imaging, proposing things that will define the image and things that the image will define.

2. value: Value defines how we choose to interpret our current image. We value certain things more highly, for instance, things which are of repeated or come with authority. We value other things less and these things are less able to penetrate out image.

Discussion Questions:

1. How has your image changed since beginning college? Has it at all?

2. Do you think you really need to experience something, say, a place, in order to have it be a solid part of your image?

Reading 10 Mr. Palmer By Italo Calvino

Key Words:

1. focus: Palmer’s intense concentration on the wave required a tremendous amount of focus. This is one of the points I took from this reading- in order to see things wholly, it’s important to have the patience to really learn to understand them.

2. observance: The things which Palmer notices encourage me to be more observant. He sees beauty in the little things, such as the sun’s reflection upon the waves.

Discussion Questions:

1. Did Mr. Palmer get what he was looking for?

2. Is there anything you find as intriguing as Mr. Palmer finds waves?

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"We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children."
~Native American Proverb







"I have no doubt that we will be successful in harnessing the sun's energy.... If sunbeams were weapons of war, we would have had solar energy centuries ago."
~Sir George Porter, The Observer, 26 August 1973


"The use of solar energy has not been opened up because the oil industry does not own the sun."
~Ralph Nader, quoted in Linda Botts,ed., Loose Talk, 1980







"The activist is not the man who says the river is dirty. The activist is the man who cleans up the river."
~Ross Perot







"Suburbia is where the developer bulldozes out the trees, then names the streets after them."
~Bill Vaughn







"Your grandchildren will likely find it incredible - or even sinful - that you burned up a gallon of gasoline to fetch a pack of cigarettes!"
~Dr. Paul MacCready, Jr







"Achieving sustainable development is perhaps one of the most difficult and one of the most pressing goals we face. It requires on the part of all of us commitment, action, partnerships and, sometimes, sacrifices of our traditional life patterns and personal interests".

~ Mostafa Tolba, Chairman of the Commission on Sustainable Development




The above pictures and quotes show the broad scope of what is sustainability. Sustainability is not one certain thing; it is not switching to energy-efficient lightbulbs; it is not carpooling to work instead of driving alone; it is not recycling your pop cans. Sustainability is a much larger issue than most of us realize. You could call it a way of life. This is what I hope to iterate through thse moving photographs and quotes.


Sustainability, to me, is not having a negative impact on the world through your life, whether it be through contributing immense amount of trash or just never giving back the resources that you consume. I believe that it is everyone's duty to take on the responsibility of "paying" for what they have done. Plant a tree. Ride your bike to work. These small changes are not much to ask after what the world has given to you. Be grateful!

Quote Source:


http://www.drury.edu/multinl/story.cfm?ID=11595&NLID=259




Photograph Sources:


http://www.eskayarchitects.co.uk/images/sustain-clouds.gif


http://www.aerialphotography.ca/images/gallery/SCENIC-CAN/suburbia.jpg


http://ceer.alfred.edu/images/fulldome.jpg


http://www.tropicalisland.de/SGN%20Saigon%20rush%20hour%20with%20bicycles2_b.jpg


http://www.glooskapandthefrog.org/Upper%20taunton%20scum.JPG


http://alternative--energy.com/images/alternative_energy/alternative_energy_250x251.jpg


http://reviews.carreview.com/files/2007/10/hybrid-car-illustration.jpg

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Reading 7 The Profession and Discipline of Architecture: Practice and Education By Stanford Anderson

Key Words:

1. Discipline: According to the text, the discipline of architecture is “A collective body of knowledge that is unique to architecture and, though it grows over time, is not delimited in time or space.”
2. Profession: “The profession is centrally concerned with the current structure of practice in order that it may fulfill commissions to the highest standards.”

Discussion Questions:

1. Are new theories in architecture just as important as completed works?
2. Do you think advanced degrees or internship experience are more important to a successful career?


Reading 8 All You Ever Needed to Know You Learned in… 1000 words for design students By Allan Chochinov

Key Words:

1. Self-Motivation: I feel like all the advice comes down to one point: Be self-motivated and work for what you want.
2. Experience: Try to get all the experience you can and take any chance you can get
to learn new things.

Discussion Questions:

1. Which piece of advice do you think is most helpful?

2. Have you already been doing these things, or were they new bits of advice?

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Reading 4 Is Design Political? By Jennie Winhall

Key Words:

1. Improvement- The act of making something better than what it was. I think it pertains to this reading a lot because this is what both politics and design aim for.

2. Ideology- This seems to be something every designer and politician has in their head- how a “perfect” world could be.

Discussion Questions:

1. Although clearly stated in the reading, I though the question, “Are designers responsible for their designs?” was very interesting and wondered what peoples’ thoughts were.

2. Do you think designers and politicians need to work more closely to improve things, or do you think the current system is best?


Reading 5 Design in a World of Flows By Thomas R. Fischer

Key Words:

1. Collaboration- Professionals of different fields all realizing and contributing to design.

2. Flow- Flow is the transfer of information, work, or people through the world.

Discussion Questions:

1. What could designers do to make clients want to come directly to them, rather than turning to project managers, construction managers, etc.?

2. In the second paragraph of this reading, Fisher claims there has been a transformation from mass production to mass customization. How do you think the designer has been involved in this change?


Reading 6 The Redesign of Practice By Thomas Fisher

Key Words:

1. Compartmentalization- The separation of design courses, leaving the practice “support” courses to the end of the curriculum.

2. Globalism

Discussion Questions:

1. Could architects benefit from the recent move toward an increased involvement of program managers, construction managers, and project managers?

2. Do you think there will be a move toward firms that have redesigned themselves by expanding the services they offer? (p. 97)

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Minneapolis Solid Waste & Recycling disposed over 160,000 tons of garbage and recyclables in 2006, yet, none of this waste seems to be from chewing gum. Instead of making its way with the rest of the trash from the city, it manages to find itself sticking to various public surfaces: the undersides of desks, benches, and most often, sidewalks.


This issue is something we have learned to look over after decades of dodging sticky lumps on the sidewalk, but it is time for CHANGE! Though it is not well documented how much chewing gum litters the streets of Minneapolis (and I didn't find counting clumps of chewing gum my top priority over the weekend), I'm sure it's comparable to a 2004 litter audit in Toronto, Canada which revealed that a 350 m2 stretch of sidewalk had as many as 2,000 chewing gum stains. (gross!)

Solutions?

1. Well, first, everyone in Minneapolis could decide to start chewing only Revolymer's environmentally-friendly nonstick chewing gum, called "Clean Gum" which can, "Be easily removed from shoes, clothes, pavements, and hair. Preliminary results also indicate that the gum will degrade naturally in water." (Well, can you imagine what it would do in you MOUTH?)

2. We could...RECYCLE it?! How does that work? Well, a recent company, Envyrobubble, has the answer.


From envyrobubble.com:

It all began with a casual stroll, shopping downtown. We weren't trying to change the world, we were just two moms with a weakness for beautiful shoes. But then: splat! We stopped in our tracks only to discover the bottoms of our Manolo Blahniks covered in gooey gum.

That got us thinking. Why were people throwing gum on the sidewalk? And why wasn't there a place to dispose of it in an environmentally responsible way?

We did our homework and realized a public gum container would have to be designed specifically for gum, so we gave it a unique shape. It had to get attention and raise awareness of responsible gum disposal, so we covered it with a fun, eye-catching spiral design and made it scream bubble gum pink. Then we joined forces with a leading recycler to ensure that the gum collected became something useful: fertilizer.

Okay. That makes sense, but does it work?
The brightly colored "gum drop-offs" have been installed in a few cities, and all have gotten many attention. Bright colors and quirky patterns get attention and help to advertise the new product's purpose. The biodegradable bags hold 1,000 pieces of gum, and once filled, can be sent off to be converted into fertilizer. Oval-shaped holes in the drop-offs are specially designed so that cups and other garbage items won't fit inside. Seems like a good idea to me. Maybe Minneapolis could use this as a tactic to clean up our sidewalks..

http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/solid-waste/aboutus-statistics.asp


http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/82495.php


http://www.envyrobubble.com/

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Earth has not anything to show more fair:
Dull would he be of soul who could pass by
A sight so touching in its majesty:





This City now doth, like a garment, wear
The beauty of the morning; silent, bare,
Ships, towers, domes, theatres, and temples lie
Open unto the fields, and to the sky;
All bright and glittering in the smokeless air.
Never did sun more beautifully steep
In his first splendour, valley, rock, or hill;

Ne'er saw I, never felt, a calm so deep!
The river glideth at his own sweet will:
Dear God! the very houses seem asleep;
And all that mighty heart is lying still!


-William Wordsworth

The second photograph represents so well the ideas of the energy, flow, and transformation through the city. Just like in Goldsworthy's works, the beauty created by these ideas is temporary, but yet seems more solid that the concrete objects which surround it. The first photograph shows the flow of people through a city, like an aerial view of a river would show its flow. Wordsworth's poem personifies the city and makes us see it as more a part of nature, thus, allowing us to understand the natural energy and flow it has in common with Goldsworthy's mediums.

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