AIA Architecture and the City Festival
Architecture of ConsequenceSeptember 1, 2011
Edward ChurchInstitute for
Environmental EntrepreneurshipBerkeley, California, USA
Design Premises• Trends – things are as now, but more so
• Disruption – things will change dramatically due to external forces
• Disruptive Trends – climate change and population shifts will change what is now, so we project the “trends of disruption”
• Desired Future – where do we WANT the trends of disruption to lead us?
Designing Cities for a Resource-Impinged World
• Value-neutral approach• Iwamoto-Scott: city re-built around energy
and water technologies• Van Bergen Kolpa: farm/park built around
culturally-diverse food production
Illustration
• Van Bergen Kolpa Proposal
• 170 nationalities’ desires for culturally-appropriate food, locally produced
• What does one eat?
• “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.” – Michael Pollan
• Rates of obesity and diabetes high in U.S. and growing worldwide
For one type of consumer
“But with 170 nationalities the contemporary urban consumer became
more diverse.”
And so did its choice of food.
What are the wants and needs of consumers?
“We’ve been instructed to conduct a separate set of tests
for American passengers.”
Illustration
Iwamoto-Scott Proposal
Design for technologicalimprovements
100 years in the future
Architectural Design Competition1808
• Where do we put the horses?• Futuristic Design for 1908
4 story horse stable, Buffalo, NY built c. 1893;
London tenant c. 1930
Horses vs. Cars
• Public health• Effluent on the ground produced by one mode
of transportation, horses vs. effluent dispersed into the infinite ocean
of air by the newer, cleaner mode, cars
Architectural Design Competition2008
• Futuristic Design for 2108
• Where do we put the (hydrogen-powered) cars?
• Underground. Or…
They fly…
But they do things we are accustomed to.
Walk-up Mc D’s, Monmartre, Paris
Framework for Analysis Now and in the Future:
Production
• Everything that is produced, whether it is buildings, cars, farms, or green house gas, is an interaction of
–Capital Investment–Natural Resources–Human Labor
Framework for Analysis Now and in the Future:Consumption
• Wants vs. needs• Both are delimited by what is available• Both are conditioned by culture
Designing Cities for aResource-Impinged World
• What is the role of Architecture?• Which other disciplines must it work with?• How does it relate to social values: follow,
extend, or lead?• How can it avoid being out-dated?
Architects on a trans-disciplinary Team
Thanks!
• www.enviroinstitute.org• [email protected]