Cm Owen

Outside the square: Integrating wind into urban environments

Abstract To consider sustainability in the built environment necessitates an integrated and systems-based approach to design. Current building procurement methods, however, are structured on limiting innovation to within the boundaries of subject sites. David Oppenheim, Ceridwen Owen and Graham White examine the opportunity of thinking ‘outside the square’ through a case study example of wind energy production in an urban environment. The site in question is located on the Bolte Bridge in Melbourne, Australia.

Fields of sustainable architecture

Using the theoretical framework of Bourdieus sociology, this paper explores the ‘field’ of architecture through the eyes of architects engaged in the quest for sustainable architecture. The practice of sustainable architecture is often described as one of trying to serve two masters within the fields of art and science respectively. In Bourdieus terms, these are overlapping fields where the practice of sustainable architecture is like playing two games on the same field. To play it effectively requires a feel for both games and the integrated ideal is to score both goals simultaneously. However, the desire for integration is not easily realised and part of the struggle is over definitions of architecture and sustainability. The green elite are wary of co-option, yet unless they play the aesthetic game they will be excluded from the field. The art elite are secure at the core of the field, although unsettled by the realisation that if the game does not turn green then the field will turn brown. The paper concludes that while the continual interplay between integration and separation is a condition of this field of practice, the most productive territory for reconciliation lies in positioning both sustainability and architecture as social practice.

Environmental assessment of rammed earth construction systems

Present concerns for sustainable development have led to a revival of traditional building practices using natural or recycled resources. There is a perception that buildings constructed from such materials are environmentally benign. This perception is questionable, as often no evaluation is undertaken to assess the associated environmental impacts. Rammed earth is one such construction technology that has seen renewed interest in recent years. The energy required to manufacture materials (i.e. embodied energy) is a significant component of the life cycle energy associated with buildings. This paper assesses the embodied energy of rammed earth construction relative to brick veneer and cavity brick construction. Rammed earth was found to have significantly less embodied energy than cavity brick construction (to which it is closer in thermal performance), but was approximately equivalent to brick veneer construction. Topics of further research identified include thermal performance and strategies for reducing the embodied energy of cement used for earth stabilisation.

Teaching Informal Urbanism: Simulating Informal Settlement Practices in the Design Studio

Informal settlements have become dominant forms and processes of urban development in many cities, yet the task of helping students engage with design issues in such contexts is fraught with difficulties of access, safety, and complexity. Drawing on detailed fieldwork, this article explores ways in which informal settlement formation can be taught in design studio through the use of games that simulate incremental practices of room-by-room accretion and prospects for transformation. The pedagogical goals are to effect a blurring of authorship and authority, to undermine top-down thinking, and to nourish forms of design imagination that unite process and form.

Transforming Home: parents’ experiences of caring for children on the autism spectrum in Tasmania, Australia

Abstract As the private dwelling becomes the preferred site of care for individuals with a variety of complex needs, there has been a burgeoning interest in housing adaptations and the impact on experiences of home. The majority of studies are situated within the contexts of ageing, the disabled body and chronic medical conditions. In this paper, we present the results of a self-directed photography pilot study exploring the experience of carers of children on the autism spectrum in Tasmania, Australia. The findings highlight the multifarious and exacting negotiations required to meet the complex and idiosyncratic needs of children with autism and those of other family members. A key theme is a heightened need for containment enacted through micro-scale modifications to the physical fabric and spatial organization of the dwelling and through less tangible but pervasive practices and routines. The multiple constraints and extensive impact on families emphasize an urgent need for targeted research, policy development and support for this population.

A critical approach to ecological urbanism in Hong Kong

This paper uses a process of ecological reasoning to challenge normative concepts of sustainable urbanism. Ecological metaphor is often applied in a normative manner, with the assumption that ecologically derived design concepts are wholly positive and ‘sustainable’; however, this is not necessarily the case. Through a detailed case study of Hong Kong, we reveal that the interpretive nature of ecological urbanism can produce a variety of outcomes to either contribute to, by explicating and imagining, or undermine sustainability endeavours, by misleading or obscuring. Employing a situated narrative technique we challenge established ecological design concepts, such as ‘self-sufficiency’ and ‘eco-efficiency’, with their cultural residuals of individualistic, mechanistic values. In their place, the notion of autopoiesis is proposed, reconceptualising Hong Kong as an interactive network of agents working to regain sovereignty over production, distribution and consumption patterns. The implications of this research demonstrate the importance of criticality, reflexivity and situated engagement in conceiving, communicating and transforming sustainability concepts. We argue that it is this process, rather than the concepts themselves, that underpins the vitality of ecological urbanism.