sustAin ouR Globe - How to educate the masses
As a Game Development major specializing in Game Design, I took this Urban Design class in order to get a better perspective on how urban settings are designed and implemented. Over the course of this class, I have learned a lot especially about sustainability in architectural design, which was a subject I new little about when I first walked into Eichberg Hall. For my final post, I wished to relate this knowledge more personally with myself and what I do. I began to design a game which would educate the public, focused on the high school age group and above, on sustainability in urban design. I want to teach people about the different kinds of energy and materials that can be used, how and why they work, and what they can do to help push the world to become sustainable.
For the past few weeks, I have been racking my brain trying to think of a solution for how to teach something, which can be quite complicated and technical, in a way that is easy to understand, without it being boring or too simple. I didn’t want to simply make some kind of simulation where people could learn through building virtual sustainable cities. I wanted something that would get people thinking, and excited. I also wanted to create a game which would be accessible to, and involve people from around the world. I came up with a game titled “sustAin ouR Globe”.
New Zealand : An Urban Design Protocol and the Public’s Suggestions
It is one thing for a government to say hey this is what we are going to do to manage urban planning in the area, and to create rules by which urban designers much abide by. This is great and all, but it blocks out the public’s interation which should be there. The people who live and work in an urban area should be able to have input in how that area should be re-developed. In New Zealand, the government did just that. First in 2005, the government published the New Zealand Urban Design Protocol recognizing that to create successful towns and cities, a structured overall urban design plan is incredibly important.
Their idea was this:
To make our towns and cities more successful by using quality urban design to help them become:
- Competitive places that thrive economically and facilitate creativity and innovation
- Liveable places that provide a choice of housing, work and lifestyle options
- A healthy environment that sustains people and nature
- Inclusive places that offer opportunities for all citizens
- Distinctive places that have a strong identity and sense of place
- Well-governed places that have a shared vision and sense of direction
Identify seven essential design qualities:
- Context: Seeing that buildings, places and spaces are part of the whole town or city
- Character: Reflecting and enhancing the distinctive character, heritage and identity of our urban environment
- Choice: Ensuring diversity and choice for people
- Connections: Enhancing how different networks link together for people
- Creativity: Encouraging innovative and imaginative solutions
- Custodianship: Ensuring design is environmentally sustainable, safe and healthy
- Collaboration: Communicating and sharing knowledge across sectors, professions and with communities.
–Ministry for the Environment, New Zealand
The government encourages various organizations, educational institutions, and professionals to voluntarily sign up for the protocol, agreeing to abide by it, and help it develop. They also asked the public for suggestions, which I though was really interesting, and reading a basic overview of them, found out a lot about what the public feels the government should be responsible for.
First the people wanted more discussion about healthy planning, meaning incorporating designs which encourage people to be more active and help to create a safe area to live in; sustainable building; fixing the problems with urban sprawl; protecting and emphasizing NZ’s heritige; and effective communication between the government and the local communities.
There were also a good amount of suggestions about the role of the government and what they have in their power to accomplish. Mainly, there was a lot of talk about Education and Funding. People wanted to see more Urban Design classes offered not only in Universities, but in secondary schools as well, to teach the younger generations about proper urban planning. They also wanted to see government officials and other influential people in the urban design plan to be required to take informative training classes on the subject. Funding-wise, people wanted to know what exactly the government was going to do to help keep this plan and those that sign it, funded.
This Plan has been encouraging other governments around the world to adopt something similar as well, with Australia having a draft already written up.
New Zealand Urban Design Protocol
They have been doing some interesting stuff, both design-wise, and in informing the public how they can help.
Smarter Homes tells the public what you can do to make a home you are building/renovating to be more sustainable. From information on passive heat and cooling, home orientation, proper insulation, and thermal mass, to making your home adaptable to your needs, exterior designs which reduce building costs, and even safety and security, they provide a ton of information. They tell people all about different kinds of energy and water solutions, and even materials to use which helps with cost and sustainability.
Homework 6 : Urban Planning for Global Warming
Architecture 2030 is an organization urging the public to build in a way that stops the use of fossil fuels and helps to both prevent further global warming, and help reduce it. There are many different kinds of things architects around the world are doing to help the situation. Some may be on a large scale, with new eco-city designs, or new energy solutions the world can adapt to. And some are on a smaller scale, finding new ways to power or light single buildings.
In the Netherlands, the Natuurcafé La Port intalled a generator in thier revolving door at the entrance to the cafe. This generator collects the kinetic energy created as people walk through, which is a perfect way for a busy cafe or restaurant to power thier building. The idea was designed and built by the architecture firl RAU and Boon Edam.
What can you do with large crowds of people? Why not use them to collect energy.
The contraption may only produce 4600 kwh of energy per year, but think about if every mall in the world had these installed as doors for each of the stores. You could collect a good amount of energy if you add it all up. Every little bit counts, have enough of these small projects, which are not only easy to implement but generally are also relatively cheap, and it becomes more of a large scale solution.
The device can been seen through a glass covering, allowing people to see how it all works as they walk through.
Article: The World’s First Energy-Generating Revolving Door
Natuurcafe La Porte Website (in Dutch)
Homework V - Not Your Average Sustainable City Designs
“A sustainable city, or eco-city is a city designed with consideration of environmental impact, inhabited by people dedicated to minimisation of required inputs of energy, water and food, and waste output of heat, air pollution - CO2, methane, and water pollution.” - wikipedia/sustainable city
People have come up for some real sci-fi looking ideas for building sustainable cities. The two I will be talking about are projects that have been proposed for building in Moscow and the Ocean respectively, and are in no way simple to create, nor will both of them necessarily be built within the next few years. They are however some spectacular and genius ideas for a world that not only needs help with fixing the energy and pollution issues, but also the issue of having too much population and not enough space for them to live on.
Architects have built out and up to create more space for people. Cities are being built higher and higher, and more compact with new buildings being built right up alongside another’s wall. Still, there is not enough room. Foster + Partner’s was given preliminary approval for development in 2007 to build an entire city within the confines of what will be, the world’s single largest building. The Crystal Island, as it has been named, is scheduled to be built over the next 5 years or so, as long as they get full approval, on the Nagatino Peninsula in Moscow, Russia.
Model of the Crystal Island
Homework IV - Microhydro in Borneo
Continuing a bit from my last post, people seem to always pay the most attention to larger-scale projects. As we are trying to find new sources of energy to lower costs and help the environment, many have concentrated on large city-wide or country-wide projects which may cost millions of dollars. What about the smaller-scale projects? What about those who can not afford thier current living, not to mention afford to pay for any kind of large scale solution.
“Hydropower is a power that is derived from the force or energy of moving water” - wikipedia/hydropower
People have used this kind of power for years through the use of waterwheels and dams, but it can also be used in a much simpler way, all you need is a river or stream. Microhydro harnesses the power of water on the smaller end, producing generally up to about 100kW of power, which is perfect for small communities and remote villages, that are too far from any main power grid.
The Island of Borneo
The indigenous people living in the rainforests on the island of Borneo in Southeast Asia were the perfect match for microhydro systems. This system is not just for the people however, it is also part of a plan to help save and protect the rainforests and the animals and people that live there. Industry has been taking over, and more and more of the rainforests are disappearing, and the indigenous people who have been living there are being kicked out. Rivers are becoming polluted, and the the forest ecosystem is dying. The population of fish and mammals is dwindling as the forest they rely on to survive is falling apart. Continue reading this entry »
Homework III - Recycle Your Home
In class, we watched a video talking about an architect in Boston, Mass who is using old building materials to create housing. This reminded me of when I was in high school, going to the town dump to this little building they had where people would drop off used building materials, furniture, plumbing, kitchenware, and well just about anything you could imagine. My dad even found a gorgeous standing piano in almost perfect condition for free…we just had to pay the movers. I would go all the time to find stuff to use around the house and for sculptures. This all inspired me to find out more about what people around the world are doing using recycled materials to build green housing. Being that I am graduating soon and am looking for a place to live that I could actually afford and still have money left over, I was also interested in finding more about residential houseing, and more cost effective.
My searches first brought me to a man named Dan Philips in Huntsville, Texas and his Phoenix Commotion project.
His mission is this: “The Phoenix Commotion is committed to reducing the landfill waste-stream by diverting usable building materials into the construction of low-income housing, with an unskilled, minimum-wage labor force.” Continue reading this entry »
Homework II - Public Transit and Ridesharing
Ridesharing! The New Public Transport
A demonstration of the difference public transportation can make.
With the rise in expense for cars and oil, and the recent push for energy conservation in transportation, people have been using more and more public transports rather than personal vehicles. Along with local buses and train systems, larger country-wide systems, and country to country systems have been popping up all over the world. From the Greyhound buses, to Amtrak, to the Euro train system, public transportation is becoming not simply for use by those who cannot afford a car. Continue reading this entry »
Homework 1 - Floating Islands
“A floating island is a mass of floating aquatic plants, mud, and peat ranging in thickness from a few inches to several feet.” - wikipedia.com
Out of the various topics, floating islands caught my eye. Through my research I found that there are really two different types of floating islands found today. The first forms naturally in marshlands and lakes, the second are artificially created, and used for more commercial purposes. I have found several interesting natural occurances, and artifical projects relating to the idea of a floating island.
The Peruvian Floating Islands
On the Lake Titicaca in Peru, one may see around 42 islands floating along or anchored in place. Built my the Uros people around the time if the Incas and Mayans, these islands are still maintained and protected by their descendants. They are created using the natural growth of the totora plant, and humanly kept up by the Uros who live on them. These islands protected them for many year from various threats, because of the ability to simply move them out of the threatening area. This has allow the Uros people to pass down much of thier culture for the past 20,000 years, although thier original language was lost. Also, although thier people were taken over by the Incas, thier way of living kept them from being completely destroyed.
Uros Islands
Living on Floating Islands
Welcome Inside My Head
Welcome
This blog was created for my Urban Design class, and will discuss various issues in the development of urban areas. It will also showcase any work I complete during the course of this class, using the knowledge I have learned from Professor Ming Tang.
Enjoy your stay
-Leana