The radical increase in the accessibility of technology is fostering new forms of social norms, and consequently buildings practices as well. The impact of the automobile is so prevalent that it is difficult to imagine life in North America without it. The computer age and information superhighway now allows an individual to work and obtain information from anywhere on the globe. Thus, the workplace can remain at an office building, or in a tent on the beach or a room in a home. This last is becoming a more prevalent choice as time becomes an increasingly valued commodity. The designer faces a period when new responses must be developed to confront, understand, embrace and respond to these new conditions.
The standardization and modularization of homes across the continent is a contemporary indication that building designs must be, and remain, cost efficient. This does not preclude the site specific design of buildings in any way, but rather demands a greater responsibility by the designer for innovative and resource efficient solutions. The public must be shown that there are reasonable, cost-effective, energy and resource efficient alternatives available from design professionals. Both must also be educated to understand that buildings should be built with a design life of one hundred years, not one dozen.
Environmental consciousness is also helping to evolve a new standard. Buildable land that is easily developable is diminishing; yet the demand for housing continues to increase. This is leading not only to increasing density in urban areas, but also to the continuation of suburban sprawl. Densification, coupled with an ever increasing knowledge-base concerning the actual behavior of each of the components of our buildings, has resulted in significantly stricter building codes in most parts of the country. These life-safety codes often constrain the application of emerging technologies in a prohibitive manner, and yet they are the guidelines within which we must work.
The public has also turned its interest and concern to other realms that greatly influence design. Hazardous and non-renewable materials effect the immediate environment of everyone. They can pollute the soil and ground water, effect the potential growth of vegetation and inflict strain on every natural cycle. Many clients have recognized this threat and are forcing change to occur in the selection of materials for their buildings. They are looking to diminish negative impacts to their well being; creating a healthier personal environment. This developing concern has led to a slow, but steady, expanding familiarity with alternative materials of construction that are environmentally responsible.
I also believe that one must also have an awareness of the historical context within which one designs. There has been a very rich development of the specific uses of building materials. Examine for a moment one material: wood. Trees were once considered the homes of dangerous spirits that only in times of great need were to be disturbed. This fear of the forest greatly influenced the amount of wood that was cut on the British Islands and thus limited the material's utilization in building. Forests are no longer dark places of great mystery in most parts of the world. They became familiar and eventually resources for generations of builders. Methods of converting raw materials into building materials plays a critical role in the design of a structure. Logs were hewn by hand (often painfully) to erect the earliest homes of the European settlers on the North American continent; each one-room cabin a celebrated, often temporary, shelter. Saw mills provided cheap and available lumber for a vast number of buildings; each epoch's architecture reflected the availability of it's specific building products. Understanding this prolific, consumptive past provides the base upon which future innovation must stand.
Contemporary design should emphasize the use of resource-responsible products to create a stronger, healthier, innovative, cost efficient, and environmentally conscious building. The realization of this lies in effective and appropriate utilization of all of the resources of our planet. This requires not only an in-depth knowledge of a material's properties, components, and potential, but also the ability to project how these factors can be used to their fullest potential. A deep understanding of basic principles is the only way that knowledge can become the building blocks from which an expanded design repertoire is created. An intimate understanding of the basic principles of architectonics and architectural design, coupled with an awareness of the historical development of construction materials and methods and an appreciation of the human condition will allow the designer the freedom to create into the 21st century.
However, it must also be recognized that each of the faculty have special interests and talents. This should be seen in a positive light and be reflected in the types of studios that are offered. In order to create accountability for the content of the studios they should be organized into three categories; P, O and C.
Planning Studios would address issues at the regional and urban scale. (The context)A Student would be required to take at least one studio in each category. They could then "specialize" according to their interests and studio offerings.Object Studios would focus on issues from an urban or neighborhood scale to the building scale. (The building in its context)
Construction Studios would focus on issues from the building design to construction details and the construction process. (The Building)
Fall 1995