The Life Cycle

"We must use a good deal of economy in our wood, never cutting down new, where we can make the old do." -Thomas Jefferson


      Each and every building has a life cycle. It's conceived, it's built, it works and then it dies. It's a sad thing to think about because it reminds us of our own mortality. However, at least we can give back. We can take advantage of our time and use it to make the world a better place. A building- just is. An object does not perceive time or emotion, we assign our feelings onto the spaces around us. Does this not make our spaces extensions of ourselves?

      We desire to change the landscape- to create something that is better and more comfortable for us. We plan, think and come up with designs that would be up and running in a matter of months. However, once the project is up, I have always found that construction is very invasive. Yes, you end up with a small area that is an "ideal", but the remainder of the space is left to lie in ruin. We leave with a promise to just grow something else or build up the rest of the site. We promise to finish our project later. We promise to clean up after ourselves.

      Yet waste is hard to remove altogether. It's mostly just moved around from one place to the next and the mess we left behind is often nothing more than out of sight. Very few of our current mainstream building materials biodegrade completely or even add something to the environment they are placed in. We put these up- and then try and lose the scrap.

      The study of construction is often considered brutal and a bore to the common architect or student. I am of the firm belief that construction should be more like surgery. We should not seek to tear apart bones (like the trees and old materials of an original site) and then simply promise our patient some new bones and we should take care to be as non invasive as possible. The land will "feel" better as a result. This will help with the preservation of the environment and help with the preservation of ourselves.

                             

Architecture Memes We Love and Why We Love Them

      Architecture is full of quirks- and inside jokes. These jokes have, in our age of social media, made their way into being immortalized into memes. Here are a few of these gems:

1.

Why we love it: Everyone in architecture school says this. All the time. Whether they mean it or not.

2.

Why we love it: I actually had this one up in my dorm room last year and maybe around 10 people have asked me what it meant.

3.

Why we love it: Because like aliens, architectural concepts are everywhere. And they are EVERYTHING.

4.

Why we love it: Zoolander explains in a few sentences the difficulty of architect-client communication.

5.

Why we love it: There is never an acceptable reason to use comic sans.

6.

Why we love it: Two things non architects usually say to you- "I have always wanted to be an architect" and "Fallingwater is totally my favorite building"

7.

Why we love it: The aggressive natures of critics are accurately portrayed here.

Sustainable Living: Choice or Fate?

      A few weeks ago, my sustainability class was shown Al Gore's movie "An Inconvenient Truth". After that, the political divide was quite apparent. Conservatives where turned off to the idea sustainable living and liberals where singing praises to Gore. Whether or not Gore was trying to simply gain publicity or honestly help the planet, I do not know. The movie did nothing to reach out to those who where already skeptical about the importance of helping the environment.
      When me and my husband got married and moved from our comfortable households into a small apartment last summer, we learned fast to conserve and budget everything. Its not that I was running after him telling him about all the trees being killed every time he used a paper towel. We needed to learn these things. We need to continue to keep track of everything and turn the lights on only when they need to be on.
      The approach we are seeing today regarding education about conservation and sustainability can be effective, but it is not as effective as possible. We are presented with politically contaminated, gloom and doom information. What we are not shown that living a sustainable lifestyle is rewarding, healthy, and far more affordable. Numbers need to be part of the equation and health of people and the planet should be at the core of it too.
      Creating a healthier planet and populous doesn't need to be violent and political. It should be fun. It should be practical because everyone deserves to live on a planet they can feel good about and live in a way that they can feel good about themselves. We must accept that change will not be too drastic no matter how fiery the sermons are or how many bills congress decides to pass. The road to a sustainable life starts with individuals realizing the benefits of conserving resources.

 
     
     

Spacial Concepts

      In the complex weave of urban fabric in Washington DC, it is fascinating to watch the movement of people. Take for instance a sculpture standing by the sidewalk, crafted by a deconstructivist and severely underrated by the public. A man in a blue suit walks past it and a woman in business pants strides into a cafe nearby. Two girls with heavy backpacks surround it, circle it again....and again.....and again.....
      The public stops to stare. What's going on? They pull out a camera and begin to film. They shoot it once, they shoot it twice......they stand there and talk about it for about ten more minutes. They are a prime example of a specimen called "architecture students" and are out and about to try out film as an additional media. They are also known as "spacial crazies", investigating corners, pacing around buildings and sitting in odd places.
      Twice a week, you will be presented with architectural concepts, green ideas, and an exclusive look into the world of the architecture student complete with pictures, research and cool facts! Tune in every Monday and Tuesday to get a look at super architecture news, fun and facts!