| July 08 - Blog Articles - Page 3 |
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| Monday, 31 March 2008 19:00 |
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Page 3 of 4 Rest in Green Peace: Green Burials for Sustainability After Death Justin Van Kleeck in Green Options Today, 8:00 AM Sustainability, it seems, can be practiced in all aspects of one’s life–including DEATH! As I discovered recently, traditional methods of handling dead humans are surprisingly serious sources of pollution and resource consumption. For example, burials require a dangerous toxin, formaldehyde, to embalm the body, and those pollutants remain in the corpse as it decays and then goes back into the Earth. Caskets, too, can be problematic in terms of using wood (usually not sustainably harvested), and then the graveyards where they all end up take up lots of land. What about cremation? Well, stoking those fires requires tremendous amounts of power–i.e., electricity, which of course usually comes from coal-fired power plants. The secret life of Robin Hood Gardens. kosmograd in Kosmograd Robin Hood Gardens, like Euston Arch before it, will take its secret to its grave. Last week, 'architecture minister' Margaret Hodge sounded the death knell for Robin Hood Gardens when she decided not to list the building, following the advice of English Heritage (described as a "beleagured quango" by the Twentieth Century Society) but ignoring the protestations of many within the architectural profession, including Richard Rogers, Norman Foster and Zaha Hadid, and an ongoing campaign by Building Design magazine. Is the End of Suburbia Approaching? Ariel Schwartz in Green Options For the past several years, a motley crew of Americans ranging from novelists to energy investors to senators have warned that rising gas prices will end the suburban way of life and force hordes of people back into cities. As driving even small amounts becomes painfully expensive, it is becoming easy to accept this prediction. But will it hold up? According to The Los Angeles Times, maybe not. Statistics show that despite gas prices approaching $5/gallon, many suburbs are doing better than cities in terms of population growth and job creation. According to the 2000-2006 census, 90% of all metropolitan growth is occurring in suburban communities. g & Interior Designer Rides the Green Wave Delia Montgomery in Green Options In the green market, the interior design world is about healthy settings with visual appeal. The goal is to create rooms for physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual benefits. That means avoiding things like VOCs, chemicals, and clutter. You can see that earth and human-friendly designers and decorators are increasingly riding the green wave. And we now know that natural wool, hemp, silk, seagrass, bamboo, cork, and other organic fibers are here for us. Ancient craft techniques are reviving and some know how to blend it all so well into the present. Recycling is one method that seems to create new artistic magic. What's the Point? Lynn Becker in ArchitectureChicago PLUS The first photo is of the lakefront south of Diversey. The second is from a series of handsome photos of Promontory Point by Lee Bey that he's recently posted on his great Urban Observer blog. The Diversey style has become of standard for renovation of Chicago's lakefront revetment, and it was what the city and Army Corp of Engineers had proposed for Promontory Point a decade ago. When, for some unfathomable reasons, South side residents rose up in rebellion at that plan, the city presented a "compromise" that entailed reproducing the limestone rocks in concrete. Same, same, no? There have been further redesigns that would now retain some of the rocks, coupled to universal access to the Point, but the changes remain so radical that community opposition remains unabated. The Point was on Landmarks Illinois 2004 "Most Endangered" list and Preservation Chicago's 2006 "Chicago Seven" Kate Orff Studio Review at GSAPP Mitchell Joachim, Ph.D. in Mitchell Joachim: Archinode Studio On jury for Kate Orff, Principal of Scape, Adv. Arch. mid-review, July 09 at Columbia, entitled CarboNYC. Students are looking at 3 sites and programs as a way to critique, participate in and visualize the Mayor's PLANYC 2030 initiative to reduce carbon emissions by 30%. --Looks Great! Between Earth and Heaven Floats Work of John Lautner mediabistro.com: UnBeige A few years ago, some jottings of the architect John Lautner (1911-94) were discovered, tucked away in a cupboard in his California vacation home since the late 1960s. One thought in the bunch nicely sums up Lautner's ambition and sheds light on much of his output (including the Jetsonian "Chemosphere," created in 1960 and pictured above): "The space age is progressing because it is right from scratch with no precedents," wrote Lautner. "The idea 'Go to the moon'...We should do this with Architecture." And so, starting this Sunday and through October 12, the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles offers up "Between Earth and Heaven: The Architecture of John Lautner," the first major exhibition survey of his work. Chicago Win Shows Focus on Green Architecture Joshua S Hill in Green Options As the environment continues to gain more and more attention, so does the need to stay green and environmentally friendly. We’re seeing these qualities become more and more relevant and important in a variety of fields; from automotive to architecture. The latter has long been a focus of the green development. One need only look at the mass of stories coming out of the Middle East and Asia to see that a green focus on design and architecture is now more important than ever.
Seattle Shopping Mall Evolves into a Mixed-Use Village
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| Last Updated on Thursday, 04 September 2008 00:19 |
