Our Why: Architecture and Real Sustainability

There is no reason at all why we, the wealthiest people in the world, should use resources as if they are infinitely available and have no cost to the environment from which we remove them. So, at Archinia, when we are working on a design, we go back to the lessons we learn from simple architecture around the world. We try to provide shelter from the heat in the hot season, and bring in the warmth of the sun when it is needed. We study the local architecture built before the industrial revolution to see how the people who had no mechanical systems to control their comfort responded to their environment. In Florida, they raise houses to get access to the fresh air flowing as breezes through the trees, and to protect the house from becoming flooded during the rainy season. This same protection minimizes pests. In Canada, they have big breadths of open windows on the south, to gather as much sun as possible to heat the home during the day. Their huge fireplaces are made with true masonry, so they hold the heat longer and don’t need to be stoked through the night. In our practice, we take those lessons, and apply them to our modern designs. This just makes sense. It is the right thing to do. They put fancy labels on it like “passive solar” and “sustainable” but really… it is just logical…. and it is WHOLE. We use nature where we can because sometimes… the power goes out… and we want our buildings to still work when it does… and we want to minimize the impact we make on the environment.

All of this – what we do as individuals, as communities, and as citizens of the world… matters. We have a choice, every day when we wake up, to see injustice and accept it “as things are” or to get back to the place of courage and insight and stand up for our selves and our communities. At Archinia, we have committed to try and make a difference. Today.

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Greenwashing: Don't let it happen to you.

We are always a little suspicious when someone starts talking smack about how green their building is... especially when its over 2,000sf. These homeowners though, got totally hosed. Don't let it happen to you. LEED does not guarantee ANYTHING in actual performance - it only says you had good intentions.

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House of Corks

Well, how about that? I knew all that wine I drink would come in handy someday. If you happen to enjoy a bottle of wine now and then, you could perhaps save the corks and build your own Casa de Corchos (House of Corks) from La Bioguia FB page. Very creative and visually intriguing.

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Natural Homes of the USA

 

From our pal Oliver at Natural Homes: 
A collection of natural homes across the USA using timber, stone, straw bale, cob (that's clay, sand and straw) and earth bags (often called super adobe). Find out more about each home here.

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Sustainable Living

An evolution Archinia is proud to support!!! Self-sustainability is the best kind of sustainability! Integrating lifestyle and environment is one of our CORE VALUES!

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#Sustainable Inspiration on @Netflix TV: Chef's Table: Season 1 Episode 2: Dan Barber

I want to encourage sustainability-minded people to watch the second episode of Chef's Table. It's available on Netflix streaming. It may well change the way you look at sustainability.

It seemed like such a great idea.. sustainable food. What Chef Barber discovered is what all people who want to live truly sustainably discover: you have to approach every aspect of the ecosystem in order to get to true Sustainability. In architecture, that means you look at the land, the air, the water, the sun... even the plants you surround your space with. This episode continues the rich tradition of sotrytelling that @netflix started with this series. The visuals, food, and story are intriguing. What we can learn from this about achieving real (maybe even radical) sustainability is powerful.

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UNM-Taos #Sustainability Institute Humanitarian #Design Seminar Highlights @SustainTaos

This past week was the BEST time! UNM-Taos brought in visionaries from around the world, including Bryan Bell - the founder of both SEED Network and Design Corps, Michael Reynolds of Earthship Biotecture, and Illac Diaz of Liters of Light. It was an opportunity for sustainability designers and advocates from around the world to come together with the express intent of sharing ideas and helping each other grow. I think it's an incredible step that UNM-Taos is making towards putting New Mexico on the map as a leading place in the world for Sustainability! We are, and we have been for more than 1000 years!

I got to host the event, and it was an amazing experience!

Here are some of my favorite moments~!

At +Taos Pueblo 

 At the Institute @SustainTaos

Michael Reynolds of Earthship Biotecture

now THATS a mushroom! Go Mica!

Peter Walker documenting it all

Thanks to Enrico and the tech crew for making it happen!

Around Town

 

Learning to make adobes at the Habitat Build +BuildTaos 

  Love my new and old Friends!

 

 

And check out these links to see all the earthships we toured !!!
http://rachelprestonprinz.blogspot.com/2014/08/earthship-biotecture-tour-at-unm-taos.html
http://rachelprestonprinz.blogspot.com/2014/08/earthships-phoenix.html

 

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Things that make me go hmmmmm. #Architecture #Sustainability #Design

I think you might be onto something here Jessica…

“…dualistic, conceptual assumptions can mask important material attributes that have physical consequences for environmental, economic, and social health. 

As a result of discounting material options without proper investigation, designers may implement solutions that are less beneficial for a given context than other available alternatives. In the field of sustainable design, many professionals ideologically favor either “high-performance” or “low-impact” approaches. As high-performance designers gravitate toward materials deemed highly technological, globally renowned, and symbolically modern, they may overlook selections that do not meet their common criteria.

Likewise, low-impact designers favor materials they consider to be lower technology, locally cultivated, and historically embedded, and they can alienate innovations that arise beyond their area of focus. While designers’ patterns of thinking are based on experience, which is applied to ease decision making, sustainability is a complex challenge that requires decision makers to rethink their conventions through more thorough inquiries.”

From

ECOLOGICALDUALISMS UNDONE:  EXPLORING THE ROLES OF IDEOLOGIES,ZERO WASTE, AND QUALITATIVE LIFE-CYCLE ANALYSIS IN PUNTA CANA’S BUILDINGMATERIAL CULTURE

Thesis By 
Jessica Anne Ekblaw

Graduate School of Cornell University

January 2012

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Building a Cob Cottage

Cob Homebuild

 - From Archinia's friend Fay Cronin from England

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