Sustainable Design

If we think about the tree as a design, it's something that makes oxygen, sequesters carbon, fixes nitrogen, distills water, provides a habitat for hundreds of species, accrues solar energy, makes complex sugars and food, creates micro-climates, self-replicates. So, what would it be like to design a building like a tree? What would it be like to design a city like a forest? So what would a building be like if it were photosynthetic? What if it took solar energy and converted it to productive and delightful use?

—William McDonough

The quote is from a documentary, The Next Industrial Revolution, focusing on the very articulate Mr. McDonough and his colleague Dr. Michael Braungart. 

These two are working to reinvent the way we look at things like architecture from the ground up. Being out here in the desert, working for a company that is geared to think green, and where all things green are encouraged and nurtured... I'm working up an entire mental library for think space on the many interconnected subjects that make up sustainable design.

Most of what I end up writing about won't land here.  I might start up a new page for it.

Something to think about, and a thread of the connectedness of everything.... Is the internet culture sustainable?  Sure we could power our computers with fields of solar panels, generators harnessed to the ebb and flow of the tides, turbines beating in long rows of mesmeric rhythm in the winds...  but what about the plastic of our monitors and caseworks?  What about the metals, both precious and toxic, bound up on the circuit boards and battery systems within?

Yes, Sony is starting up an electronic recycling program, an initiative they want to carry across the fabric of the states... but is their 'recycling' going to help or harm our planet? It's all very frustrating, trying to walk a path in the modern world while leaving some world for the next generation to enjoy. 

Comments

[Kim]

Very very true. If you do start up a new page for these green living thoughts, I really hope that you post a link to it here so I can find it. It IS very confusing, and sometimes you find that things you thought were helpful are either worthless or, worse, have negative ramifications that you didn't even consider in the first place.

p.s. I LOVE the idea that you have to think of buildings like trees, and a city like a forest...

[lily]

I think there's lots of potential here...

[Brenda from Flatbush]

Gosh, last time I checked in you were in Michigan--what an exciting adventure to be gardening in AZ!!! I've always wondered what it'd be like (as a gardener) to change climates.
Funny, thinking about trees as if they were buildings...this morning, walking down an allee of locust trees at the border of Brooklyn's Prospect Park, I was thinking how I now see them as outdoor sculptures, (and this allee as a "site-specific installation" of them), and how this has spoiled all manmade outdoor sculptures for me 'cause they never ever measure up to trees! (which also do all that other stuff you mentioned)
Good luck in the desert!

[jenn]

Thanks, Brenda.

Boy it was a quick decision and an equally quick move. We are both fully employed for the first time in our 12+ year relationship. Feels weird.

We still have the trailer and property in Michigan. We are going back up this weekend to clear out the garage in preparation of selling it.

Whatever am I going to do with my Grandfather's 13 foot hand built mahogany canoe?

I've got lots of photos of Arizona, but have been busy, busy, busy... one of these days I will get them posted.

[Paul]

Hey thanks for visiting my site, and what a wonderful analogy your quote puts forth.

I had no idea that you are such an avid gardener!

[Billy Goodnick]

Very thought provoking post. Thanks for the stimulus to my synapses.

As for changing garden venues, after working my way from Los Angeles to San Francisco, to Santa Barbara, I was hired for a weekend design slam in northern New Jersey a few summers ago. Talk about having to be a quick study! The same folks then hired me for a project in Palm Springs.

For me, the design principles never change - good design is good design. The complexity comes from creating a vision that works with materials that will provide the aesthetic and functional features we need, and also guaranteeing sustainability and assuring everything will thrive with minimal care.

PS: I'll be adding your link to my site. Gotta share the wealth!