Redesigning architectural artefacts: a buildings´ learning process (original) (raw)

Architecture and Sustainability

A photograph of our studio at Riverside, taken shortly after we occupied it in 1990, shows only a handful of computers on the desks; today every single workstation has one. Computer screens have already replaced the traditional drawing board and some of the most fundamental aspects of our profession are changing as a result of this technology -in terms of working patterns, social relations, and our responses to environmental challenges. For example, many of the 'green' ideas that we explored in early projects are only now becoming a reality because of the new technologies at our disposal. This book is a survey of almost 40 years of work, a period of huge social and technological transformation. The rate of change is increasing rather than diminishing, and that can be seen reflected in the buildings and projects illustrated here. However, it is also possible to trace consistent themes and concerns throughout our work.

Updating the ideas that shape our buildings: teaching design with sustainability in mind

Ideas that shaped buildings were based on principles and specific design processes. Traditional architectural education focuses on the process across the design studio sequences, whilst engineering training usually concentrates on applied sciences principles. Synthesis of these two approaches is both the major goal and challenge. The ideas that shaped architecture were mainly formal aesthetic, functional, technical and economic aspects of buildings. Since the 1970s, the desire to apply scientific methods and concerns for users, have sought to improve both architectural design and education. Engineering education, on the other hand, has greatly benefited from the development of IT instruments, equipment and software, that indeed facilitate calculations but introduce new variables and risks connected to the so called "black box syndrome". New ideas have come to the forefront, such as: 1) innovation, 2) environmental comfort; 3) psychology; 4) urban impacts, 5) larger insertion of computer aided design tools and foremost 6) sustainability. This paper addresses some related questions: Has the accumulated knowledge on the creative process been applied in architecture and engineering formal education? Does user comfort deeply permeate design proposals? Must designers be made more accountable for their action? Can computers participate more effectively in the design process and its teaching? What kind of changes is needed in design education? Is the concept of sustainability clear in its application to building design? Reflexion on these questions indicates that the implementation of "green building design" cannot be simply prescriptive or based on a traditional design process with its distinct phases of: analysis, synthesis, evaluation and definition. There is a need to deepen the conceptual knowledge of designers of the first principles of sustainability. New team compositions are necessary to share the same knowledge and achieve what is termed collective intelligence. The information transfer rate must be rapid. Education should focus on the strategic, tactical and operational management of a sustainable building design process. Productivity and a recognized quality of sustainable solutions are among the questions that remain and should be studied in professional practice and in formal design education. Index Terms  design and engineering education, sustainability, building design.

Architectural Design: Sustainability in the Decision-Making Process

Buildings

This article discusses the potential of introducing sustainability in the architectural design method so that building solutions can contribute to sustainable development. Sustainability has introduced a new pattern to the architecture practice, which involves important modifications in the teaching of architecture in what regards to the design methods to students but also practitioners, in order to provide more comfort for present and future generations. In the design phases of the architectural design, the subject of the three pillars of sustainability—economic, social and environmental factors—are not always considered by the architect in the decision-making process. The topic involves actions that will influence the overall performance of the building throughout its lifecycle. Sustainability has not been a priority in the training of the architect. The existing tools, Sustainability Assessment and Certification Systems, although adequate to evaluate the sustainability component ...

Design for the Ecological Age: Rethinking the Role of Sustainability in Architectural Education

Journal of Architectural Education, 2013

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Architectural design and/or sustainable building: A question of language?

2018

Achieving peer acknowledged excellence in architectural design is widely considered to be the pinnacle of achievement for any practicing Architect. Indeed, at the heart of the learning outcomes of any architectural education is an emerging notion of what Architectural excellence is and indeed, notably, this includes knowing how to speak about it. Thus, conveying the professional skill of understanding and knowledge of architectural design language. Living alongside this is the widely acknowledged need for the built environment broadly - and buildings specifically - to respond to the environmental, economic and social requirements of sustainability. This apparent dichotomy of approach has brought about a schism in design practices, whereby sustainable buildings are largely perceived as worthy, pragmatic; but perhaps soulless, while outstanding architecture remains something ‘other’. This paper aims to explore the languages involved in describing and discussing excellence in these two...

From Differentiation to Concretisation: Integrative Experiments in Sustainable Architecture

Societies

It is widely recognised that the achievement of a sustainable built environment requires holistic design practices and approaches that are capable of balancing the varied, and often conflicting, demands of environmental, social and economic concerns. However, academics and practitioners have recently highlighted, and expressed concerns about the knowledge gap that currently exists within environmental policy, research and practice between understandings of the technical performance of buildings and their social meaning and relevance. This paper acknowledges these concerns and is developed from the author's own direct experiences of practice-led research and active participation in design-build projects. It argues for a theoretically-informed and socially-engaged approach to built environment research, pedagogy and practice that seeks to encourage an integrative understanding of the design, realisation and use of sustainable architecture. The paper draws on the Philosophy of Technology and in particular the work of Andrew Feenberg to analyse the buildings and to propose an integrated and inclusive framework for understanding sustainable design that acknowledges not just what the built environment does, but also what it means. It also suggests that what a building means also informs what it can do, and for whom. Although the technical and social dimensions of design can be interpreted as distinct practices and are often institutionally separated, this paper argues that the realisation of sustainable design must seek a conscious interaction and interchange between these two differentiated dimensions.

Share This Book: Critical perspectives and dialogues about design and sustainability

2013

This is a critical time in design. Concepts and practices of design are changing in response to historical developments in the modes of industrial design production and consumption. Indeed, the imperative of more sustainable development requires profound reconsideration of design today. Theoretical foundations and professional definitions are at stake, with consequences for institutions such as museums and universities as well as for future practitioners. This is ‘critical’ on many levels, from the urgent need to address societal and environmental issues to the reflexivity required to think and do design differently.

Sustainable Architecture in Context

Science & Technology Studies

There has been little emphasis in STS scholarship to date on the design of the built environment. This paper attempts to address this oversight by examining alternative design practices in the growing field of sustainable architecture. We propose a geohistorical framework that includes three design dispositions?"context-bound, context-free, and context-rich?"and illustrate each with a prominent sustainable building practice. The principal argument of the paper is that each of these dispositions embodies distinct assumptions and attitudes about how to improve social and material conditions of the built environment, and as such, offers unique opportunities for STS scholars to shape the sociotechnical aspects of cities through intervention in design activities.