Systems for an Ecological Society

The United States is at a point in its culture’s history where it needs to replace the social constructs that drive it to desire new material possessions that have a lifespan of inevitable failure. Consumer culture has been so thoroughly engrained into lifestyles that our built environments are now being valued in the same way as consumable disposable products. At a time when new technologies are constantly changing our outlook toward the future, we need to question how we build. Is it possible to create buildings with a timeless presence that can also adapt to meet the needs of an ever-changing social, cultural, and physical environment? Can we build sustainably without creating physical burdens for future generations?

The timelessness of our built environments is based on perceived culturally acceptable spatial and material values. Unfortunately, in the United States, most buildings are not designed or built with materials that last indefinitely. Once a building loses its perceived value, it is abandoned or demolished. The physical debt of a “valueless” building is typically added to a landfill and continues as environmental debt. America’s ever-increasing environmental debt also forces a questioning of how we design and build. To make sure future generations have the chance to use their value systems to determine the usefulness of their built environment, we should develop design strategies that script the ecological feasibility of building materials.

With these design strategies and systems, culturally, we can take on the social responsibility required to facilitate sustainable environments. To promote these strategies, I plan to develop an architectural practice that focuses on the conservation, adaptability, and reuse of existing structures while also developing systems for creating sustainable built environments. Through focusing on materialistic value systems, I aim to create architecture that defines our obligations in a sustainable society, challenges us to minimize our ecological footprint, and restructures our materialistic relationships with time.

Enjoyable References:
︎ On Dialouge, David Bohm
︎ Atmospheres: Architectural Environments.
      Surrounding Objects, Peter Zumthor
︎ Chromophobia, David Batchelor
︎ Cradle to Cradle, William McDonough
︎ For an Architecture of Reality, 
      Michael Benedikt
︎ Silent Spring, Rachel Carson
︎ Ettore Sottsass: metaphors,
      Ettore Sottsass
︎ Urban ecology: Detroit and beyond
      Kyŏng Park