CEE113: Patterns of Sustainability

John Kunz

Agenda

• Class introduction – Content

• Goals and methods

Week 1: 3 April 2

Patterns of Sustainability Big Ideas

• We look at patterns we see in the natural and built environments we inherit from our predecessors

• We will identify patterns that nourish and inspire over time, those that do not

Week 1: 3 April 3

• There are Analytical perspectives on sustainability: – PPP/EEE triple bottom line: – PPP: Profit, People, Planet – EEE: Ecology, Equity, Economy – Sustainable development:” Bruntland Report,

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triple_bottom_line

Patterns of Sustainability Big Ideas

Week 1: 3 April 4

Patterns of Sustainability Big Ideas

• There are Analytical perspectives on sustainability: – PPP/EEE triple bottom line, Bruntland, …

• And emotional - how built architecture: • Gives us memory and a sense of place • Balances practicality and art • Gives physical representation of a culture

• But the analytical and emotional seem disparate • Therefore, let’s look at and develop personal “patterns

of sustainability” – Fundamental ethical issue: what and how you

choose to create the environments for your generation and your descendants

Week 1: 3 April 5

Roots of sustainability

• Ancient history: preserve; develop slowly: – American Indian culture; Beijing/ Florence? – My grandparents: very thrifty farmers

• > Industrial revolution – develop quickly & deplete

6

“black dragons” from the Lasengmiao Power Plant , China, 2005, http://wattsupwiththat.com/2009/11/14/unbelievable-pollution-in-china-yet-the-us-is-the-baddie-at-copenhagen/

Wiping smog tears, Los Angeles, 1953. http://www.aqmd.gov/news1/Archives/History/50th_photos.htm

Week 1: 3 April

Steele: roots of sustainability

• 1970s “Zero growth” – Population Bomb, Ehrlich – 1968 – First Earth day – 1970 – Limits to Growth - 1972

• 1980s Sustainability – Brandt commission North – South – 1980 – Bruntland report Our Common Future promise of

environment and economic development - 1987 • Discussion of values, standard of living

– “Triple bottom line” – equity, ecology, economy Week 1: 3 April 7

Sustainability

• Sustainability now links economic development with ecological (and now cultural) preservation – both economic development and ecology must

and have started to redefine their values more broadly

– To develop either indefinitely over time requires the other

• Fundamentally an ethical question: how do we want to care for those who are yet unborn? – Has analytical and emotional facets

Week 1: 3 April 8

Week 1: 3 April 9

Class Agenda

Week 1: 3 April 10

Big Idea

We will (Course goals are) • See the "built environment" of these

places where we now are privileged to live, Stanford, Beijing, Florence

• Interpret patterns of sustainability from – Theory – Individual and group self-perceptions

Week 1: 3 April 11

Environments

• Natural: created by nature, over time Built: physical, created by people, over time

– Symbolic buildings, e.g., palaces, churches – Public spaces e.g., parks – Economic, e.g., dams, roads, ports, mines – Private buildings and spaces, e.g., the

home, study area • Intangible: non-physical, created by people,

over time – Food, religion, customs, myths, arts

Week 1: 3 April 12

Query-1: Patterns

1. (Joint or Individual) Photo 2. (Individual) Sketch 3. (joint) Formal summary 4. (joint or personal) Personal vignette 5. (joint) Patterns

– What patterns do you see – What patterns are missing or interpreted

oddly? 6. (joint) Analytical Interpretation:

comment on EEE

Week 1: 3 April 13

1. photo: Puerta de Europa

• These two leaning towers form a modern triumphal arch in Northern Madrid, open to the city, and symbolically reference such buildings in Paris and Pisa.

Week 1: 3 April 14

2. - sketch

• Window within window within window in the Museo de Picasso, a view into an intimate space within and an invitation to go within.

Week 1: 3 April 15

3. – Formal framework Example: Barcelona museum

Function (design intent):

Form (designed and built physical

elements)

Behaviors (predicted/ observed

performance) Show ancient and new forms of the museum

Ancient columns & walls, modern windows

View opens to 3 viewed and a hidden space

Beauty (Classic) multiple arches and columns

Contrast of old and new; accessible human scale

Classical forms Arches, columns, rectangles, spaces

Grand in concept, accessible in scale

Week 1: 3 April 16

4. – Personal vignette

• We visited the Gaudi Sagrada Familia. Standing at the front of the building, students looked captivated by the sight -- a personal example of the power of architecture to inspire

Week 1: 3 April 17

5. (joint) Patterns: Example - MACBA

• Pattern 61. Small public squares: – A town needs public squares. If too large, they

look deserted – Make public squares 45-60 feet across (any length

ok)

Week 1: 3 April 18

Example - Puerta de Europa

• Pattern 62. High places: – Build occasional high places as landmarks

throughout the city • Natural or built towers • Should require a physical climb

Week 1: 3 April 19

Example - Madrid

• Pattern 64. Pools and Streams: – We came from water; we need constant access to

water – Preserve natural pools and streams – Create fountains in places without natural running

water

Week 1: 3 April 20

Example – Museo Picasso

• Pattern 66. Holy Ground: – In each community, identify some sacred site as

consecrated; form a series of nested precincts, each more private and more sacred, each marked by a gateway

– Whatever is holy will be felt as holy only if it is hard to reach, if it requires layers of access, waiting, approach, passage through a series of gates

Week 1: 3 April 21

Example – Madrid boulevard

• EEE: – Equity: good - open to all – Ecology: good that there is nature; people walk.

Bad (?) that there are lots of cars on street – Economy: good that enables recreation and

commerce; bad that has low asset utilization – Summary: helpful addition to community

Week 1: 3 April 22

Goals and non-goals

Yes • Open eyes and

discussion • See multiple

examples of the built environment

• 1 unit * 4 hours/unit/week = ~4 hours/week, for class + viewing + reading + homework

No • Blinders • Narrow focus • Slacking (< 4

hours/week) • Excessive work (> 4

hours/week)

Week 1: 3 April 23

Organization

• Instructor: John Kunz (kunz@stanford.edu)

• Units: 1-2 (normally) • Schedule:

– Class (Stanford), Thursday 2:00 – 3:00 pm • Site visits: normally, weekly • Deliverable: on the web • Stanford honor code

Week 1: 3 April 24

Evaluation

• Sketch and photo (One per week, required, 0% of class grade).

• Assessment of your understanding of reading (25% of class grade). – Take as often as you like; only best grade counts; no late excuses

• Weekly short-essay queries on the theoretical and conceptual content of the class (95% of class grade) – All queries are group (x2) assignments

• Class project (2 unit option): you propose; • Grading: check for precise, succinct responses

– Easy "B" by addressing all questions. • Instructor discretion (5% of class grade).

Week 1: 3 April 25

Theoretical POD: Alexander et al.: Patterns

1. Independent regions 2. Distribution of towns 3. City country fingers 4. Agricultural valleys 5. Lace of country streets 6. Country towns 7. The Countryside 8. Mosaic of subcultures 9. Scattered work

Week 1: 3 April 26

Theoretical POD: Alexander et al.: Patterns

11. Local transit areas 12. Community of 7000 13. Subculture boundary 14. Identifiable neighborhood 15. Neighborhood boundary 16. Web of public transportation 17. Ring roads 18. Network of learning 19. Web of shopping 20. Mini-buses

About 5 each week

Patterns of Sustainability Big Ideas

• There are Analytical perspectives on sustainability: – PPP/EEE triple bottom line, Bruntland, …

• And emotional - how built architecture: • Gives us memory and a sense of place • Balances practicality and art • Gives physical representation of a culture

• But the analytical and emotional seem disparate • Therefore, let’s look at and develop personal “patterns

of sustainability” – Fundamental ethical issue: what and how you

choose to create the environments for your generation and your descendants

Week 1: 3 April 27