here is my statement of intent:
The title for my project is ‘Sustainable Architecture’. In this project I will be working towards producing a sustainable home that uses recycled materials and renewable energy sources. By the end of the project my final outcome will be a large model of my final design showing the workings of each specialist part. This work relates to the work I did during the pathway stage because I will use the materials and building techniques that I found then, and incorporate them with the new technologies and energy sources that I am now going to explore. This is extending my knowledge and understanding of sustainability because I am looking at different ways of making things sustainable. I am now also much more aware of the environmental impact that modern architecture has on the earth. This project will also improve and test my creative ability because I need to find a way of using as many sustainable techniques but have a design that looks as though it has been made using modern and conventional building methods.
My main influences for the pathway stage were ‘Earth Ships’ and ‘Bio-Structures’ because of their radical ways of building using different materials. My main influences for this project will be scientific discoveries and break through in energy so I can use them in my design. I will also be looking at existing buildings that use similar methods and techniques. This information will come from many different sources such as the web (www.architecture.com and www.sustainableabc.com), books/magazines including: Energy manual: sustainable architecture by Manfred Hegger, Matthias Fuchs, Thomas Stark, Martin Zeumer – Birkhäuser. I will also be going and visiting buildings that have already incorporated sustainable ideas such as 30 St Mary’s axe (the gherkin)
Throughout this project, I am going to be using a variety of different materials. But the main ones will be wood, acrylic, rubber and possibly water. And with all these different materials come different techniques and skills such as mould making and polishing. I will also be using CAD to generate 3 dimensional digital models which can then be manipulated. The overall time scale for this project is eight weeks which I will break down into three stages. One for research, one for design development and the last stage for making and evaluating my model. The first two stages will be two weeks each and the final stage will be for four weeks as I believe it is the most important part of the project.
My method of reviewing and analysing my own work takes form as an online blog with three entries a week. I will also be taking part in ‘group critiques’ where other class mated discuss and evaluate each other’s work as the projects develop. The feedback from these group discussions will also be posted on my blog. To evaluate the success of my project and final outcome, I would like to conduct a survey asking viewers how sustainable they believe my final design is.
