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Don Stephens
Joined: 10 Sep 2004
Posts: 11
Location: Spokane, Washington, USA
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 Posted: Fri Sep 10, 2004 10:34 am Post subject: Article on "Chambers of the Villa Nautilus" |
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This article was a SO-TWENTIETH-CENTURTY review of a so-twentieth-century design.
No mention was made of how (or if) it addressed such environmental issues as minimizing over-heating, natural ventilation and the need for air conditioning, with those huge window areas and flat roofs (or heat-loss during cool periods.) Green roofs would have been a nice touch, to these help respond to these issues, provide increased roof life and counteract heat-island effects, while capturing/moderating run-off.
Nor was there any mention of it's apearing lack of provision for periodic need for huricane protection, an issue particularly timely today and which will be of even greater importance in years to come, with the increasing frequency of extreme weather which we are seeing with the onset of global warming.
Since no depth of detail was provided about construction materials, one is left to presume that this structure continues the prevailing regional trend of relying heavily on cement-based concrete for footings and retainment, and on cementacious stucco for finishes. With the great negative impact of the production and use of cement on the environment due to the greenhouse gas produced/released in the process, one could be left to assume that this design is blindly contributing to the problem, rather than offering solutions or presenting better example.
(It would have been a delight to hear that the architects had convinced the clients to utilize cement-free rubble-trench foundations, tire-bale or gabion retainment, lime/earth-based stuccoes, high-R natural-fiber insulation, energy-conserving windows and imaginative pasive ventilation, were that the case. Or bring them a bit to task, were it not.)
And then there is the question of size and cost, in an era when downsizing and reduced resource consumption are eco-timely and in a country where the contrasts between wealth and poverty are at least as glaring as in the US. In the future, one could hope to see more insightful twenty-first-century-relevant reviews in this publication from Mr. Crosbie... : )
- Don Stephens,
Environmental Design Consultant and Alternative-construction Innovator
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Principal - Terratech Residential Eco-design Team, Exploring site-appropriate passive solar and earth-integrated design since 1960...formal architectural training, U of Idaho 1959-64, VP/founding member, Inland Chapter, Northwest EcoBuilding Guild |
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Kurt Menhart
Joined: 15 Sep 2004
Posts: 1
Location: Detroit, MI
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| Posted: Wed Sep 15, 2004 10:50 am Post subject: |
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Don,
I read the article on the "Villa Nautilus" and found it to be inspiring in its layout.
The issues you bring to the discussion are valid, I'd further the point that neither need be sacrificed to achieve both goals.
With ecological responsibility being a relative condition, perhaps there have been practices put in place at the villa that the scope of the article simply could not cover.
I believe you are likely correct in your assumptions.
I would like to know more about what makes this project a success beyond the visibly obvious.
Your comments do however bring up one common stumbling block, "...to hear that the architects had convinced the clients..." Perhaps there's the rub.
Respectfully
Kurt Menhart |
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Don Stephens
Joined: 10 Sep 2004
Posts: 11
Location: Spokane, Washington, USA
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| Posted: Wed Sep 15, 2004 1:49 pm Post subject: nautilus house review |
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Kurt,
I appreciate your most even-handed comments.
What I was getting at, in regard to "the architects convincing the clients", is that it seems that, all too often, it's the other way around. I feel we, as design professionals, should make it a point to be knowledgable of the best of what's possible and encouraging our clients to build sustainably, small and low-impact and have the courage to share those possibilities with out clients, just as a doctor is expected to share with his patients the best and least-invasive treatment options for their condition.
Instead, its often the client who has to set that agenda, with design teams resisting such risk-taking or expending any effort at "continuing-education" on greening techniques and materials, unless their learning-curve time is paid for by a client, OR they realize it's the only way to get the job.
It would just have been good to for the reviewer to give credit for more than "last-century white-on-white aesthetics", were it due... : ) - Don Stehens
_________________
Principal - Terratech Residential Eco-design Team, Exploring site-appropriate passive solar and earth-integrated design since 1960...formal architectural training, U of Idaho 1959-64, VP/founding member, Inland Chapter, Northwest EcoBuilding Guild |
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