How do we want to live? What is a good life? These are fundamental questions that should underpin any design investigation into sustainable architecture. Architecture responds to human needs but can also provide a framework for living that facilitates and encourages specific behaviours and lifestyles. Architects and other built environment professionals therefore have opportunities and indeed a responsibility to create environments for sustainable living. This paper argues that to achieve a sustainable built environment that supports a sustainable future, professionals have to go beyond technical solutions and consider what drives human behaviour, and furthermore that effective sustainable solutions can only result from a deep evidence-based understanding of the fundamental needs and desires of stakeholders and the design and technical solutions. - written by Paola Sassi
Sustainability is like happiness. On the one hand, it is necessary for the continued thriving of humanity and, as such, something that we have always sought. On the other hand, it has come to mean anything and everything to anyone and everyone. It is one of the most popular buzzwords of architectural discourse, sometimes being reduced to a marketing ploy. How have we come to this paradoxical situation? Why is sustainability important especially today, and what role does architecture play? An overview of recent projects shows the various ways in which architects approach this issue. These include the preservation of a building’s natural surroundings, considerations relating to flexibility and building re-use, using sustainable materials, and passive design for energy efficiency. The role of architecture extends beyond energy and material optimization, however; it encompasses the much broader aim of human wellbeing. - written by Isabel Potworowski
CONTENT:
YB House_MASA Architects
Bedales School of Art and Design_Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios
A’tolan House_Creat + Think Design Studio
Dave & Bella’s Headquarters_LYCS Architecture
The SIX Veterans Housing_Brooks + Scarpa
Nature & Environment Learning Centre_Bureau SLA
Tumble Creek Cabin_Coates Design Architects
Green Heart Marina One Singapore_Ingenhoven Architects
Bloomberg’s New European Headquarters_Foster + Partners
Rijnstraat 8_Ellen van Loon / OMA
Visual Arts Building, University of Iowa_Steven Holl Architects
Campus Hall, University of Southern Denmark_C.F. Møller Architects
University of British Columbia’s AMS Student Nest_DIALOG + B+H Architects
Benjamin P. Grogan and Jerry L. Dove Federal Building_Krueck + Sexton Architects
How do we want to live? What is a good life? These are fundamental questions that should underpin any design investigation into sustainable architecture. Architecture responds to human needs but can also provide a framework for living that facilitates and encourages specific behaviours and lifestyles. Architects and other built environment professionals therefore have opportunities and indeed a responsibility to create environments for sustainable living. This paper argues that to achieve a sustainable built environment that supports a sustainable future, professionals have to go beyond technical solutions and consider what drives human behaviour, and furthermore that effective sustainable solutions can only result from a deep evidence-based understanding of the fundamental needs and desires of stakeholders and the design and technical solutions. - written by Paola Sassi
Sustainability is like happiness. On the one hand, it is necessary for the continued thriving of humanity and, as such, something that we have always sought. On the other hand, it has come to mean anything and everything to anyone and everyone. It is one of the most popular buzzwords of architectural discourse, sometimes being reduced to a marketing ploy. How have we come to this paradoxical situation? Why is sustainability important especially today, and what role does architecture play? An overview of recent projects shows the various ways in which architects approach this issue. These include the preservation of a building’s natural surroundings, considerations relating to flexibility and building re-use, using sustainable materials, and passive design for energy efficiency. The role of architecture extends beyond energy and material optimization, however; it encompasses the much broader aim of human wellbeing. - written by Isabel Potworowski
CONTENT:
YB House_MASA Architects
Bedales School of Art and Design_Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios
A’tolan House_Creat + Think Design Studio
Dave & Bella’s Headquarters_LYCS Architecture
The SIX Veterans Housing_Brooks + Scarpa
Nature & Environment Learning Centre_Bureau SLA
Tumble Creek Cabin_Coates Design Architects
Green Heart Marina One Singapore_Ingenhoven Architects
Bloomberg’s New European Headquarters_Foster + Partners
Rijnstraat 8_Ellen van Loon / OMA
Visual Arts Building, University of Iowa_Steven Holl Architects
Campus Hall, University of Southern Denmark_C.F. Møller Architects
University of British Columbia’s AMS Student Nest_DIALOG + B+H Architects
Benjamin P. Grogan and Jerry L. Dove Federal Building_Krueck + Sexton Architects
