Bill Dunster wrote the article “Which side are you on? Today’s buildings have all the hallmarks of being designed by a profession happier to serve its paymasters than the environment or the public” for the Riba Journal.
It is now possible to plot the increased numbers of deaths and people made homeless by extreme weather events attributable to climate change each year (excluding tsunamis). These can be set against the rising levels of atmospheric CO2 attributable to the human economy, making profligate energy use an ethical as well as an economic concern. The public of 2050 will inherit a legacy of ‘killer buildings’ whose construction and operation over a 40-year period will have caused the loss of thousands of lives in the contributions they have made to climate change.
He goes on to identify how we as architects…as well as other guilty parties…contribute to the problem.
I know this is probably common sense to you, but Bill Dunster gives us some advice:
How refreshing it would be to see urban typologies designed to incorporate many functions, placing offices in shade, and siting housing to optimise both passive solar gain and summer passive cooling. Massing could be shaped by aerodynamic analysis to maximise roof-mounted wind-driven ventilation and summer cross-ventilation – alleviating the urban heat island.
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What is Phase One of VERB? It's a collaborative pedagogy model. That means that architects, interns, designers, builders, students, professors, people considering architecture, and yes, even bored housewives can and should participate.
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Know of some others I can add here? Let me know. Have you already visited some of these places...or planning on it? Let me know and I will feature your story and your photos here!
I am starting a new kind of architecture school. Unlike most architecture schools, you wouldn't have to submit GRE scores or good grades or letters of recommendation. You wouldn't have to put the rest of your life on hold for 3 to 5 years. You wouldn't have to accrue tens of thousands of dollars in debt. At my architecture school, anyone could come for a few weeks and learn how to build a house with their own two hands. My teachers would take skills and concepts from some of these other workshops I've listed above... except classes would be held year-round to make it easy to fit into your schedule. I would have a number of different campuses around the country that would teach building designs appropriate to the local climate. And I need your help. Can you donate land for a campus? Can you dotate books for a library? Can you teach a workshop? Can you provide start-up capital? Let me know.
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