First thoughts are that any such program would be relatively long term...
Thinking of architecture of decay/entropy but made of wood or tamped minerals/earth....
lots of common building materials are biodgradable in an aerobic environment (that's why we spend so much on preservatives and sealants). most landfills are anaerobic with less active breaking down of materials since there isn't enough moisture to keep the methane and leachate flowing.
straw bales are great for mulch (but the cementious coating isnt).
gypsum is a common agricultural soil amendment, so if the paint isn't toxic, you can grind the drywall and spread it around - will make heavy clay soils more 'fluffy'.
this subject isn't very challenging - more interesting is deconstructable and re-usable materials/systems like pliny fisk has been playing with.
the interesting question would be how the use of the spaces have to change as it decomposes. A timeline of how the program shifts or decomposes alongside the material decomposition might be useful. For example, an adobe enclosure might work well as a sleeping space at first, but as the adobe dissolves and holes open up or sections collapse, it may no longer be secure or weatherproof enough for sleeping - perhaps it becomes a garden, or pig-shed on the way to becoming fertiliser?
the house my mom grew up in is almost entirely dissolved, sitting abandoned on the canadian prairie. it was made of wood and nails and stuff. we used it to shoot at when da taught us how to use our rifles as kids. permanence of architecture, city, and other human constructs is pretty much an illusion.
actually, while it is an interesting approach, i think dissolving architecture is more a decorative idea, not a real or useful form of sustainable practice...bit it would make for nice poetry.
Perhaps nomadic peoples, who go to specific different places over the changing seasons to find food, would have structures that biodegrade but remain usable enough to reinhabit, with some repairs, the next year?
There was a beautiful project - I *think* it is on the open architecture network, I'm sure Cameron Sinclair showed it when I saw him speak or at TED - in which a temporary clinic is built with grass. Some type of grass that grows 12" per day is planted in a circle in advance of the visiting medical team, then when they arrive they mow out the center of the circle and pitch a tent roof over it. The tall grass prvides privacy "walls", then when the clinic moves on, the locals mow down the rest of the grass (maybe it's corn) and eats it. Beautiful.
anyway, this idea is basically what this semester's studio work is about for me (along with site-specific needs and a particular program, all of which has been decided by myself). I think this is a very open-ended topic.
As jump said, I think it can make great poetry. I just have to be able to convince my crits that leaving a bunch of people stranded on a man-made island in the middle of a river is a good idea!
if you are interested in biodegradebale buildings ie buildings that don't last that dissolve whatever. why bother going into the profession. why not just not design buildings? then they won't need to biodegrade because they never existed. problem solved. you can remove your joseph beuys hat now.
Have you never heard of ephemeral architecture? Its not about the bio-degrading on a "sustainable" level, its about a piece of structure that only exists long enough to fufill its desired purpose, and eventually degrades and becomes part of the site it once inhabited.
If there's ever a time to be silly and dream a little, this is it. The more outlandish the better!
In all seriousness, the issue was spawned for me because the building on our site is derelict and neglected. It's decaying - just like every single other building that exists on the planet right now. Architects seem only to be concerned with their work up until the point that it's occuped (with some notions of maintenance at some further point down the road that's not really their responsibility anyway). Buildings start deteriorating the moment they're finished - maybe even sooner. To deny that this happens is only fooling ourselves.
My proposal is that we account for the inevitable - and maybe even design how a structure returns to nature over time. Not as a romantic notion about ruins, but because, as with everything else in the entire universe, death is a part of life.
jamchar- vado is the sarcastic sage of archinect. he has forgotten more then you will ever know. so enjoy his words and don't take yourself too seriously.
would the intent be to provide a biodegradable structure just to do it as an experiment? or is it serving some other purpose, what would the function of the building be? or is it not important what goes on in the building. Who owns it? What kind of property does it sit on, soil composition/solar orientation if uv degradation is an issue, local precipitation levels, wind direction, factors that affect weathering? If its not functional as a occupiable building is is a condemned building in its decomposition, can someone build on it eventually. Who makes the components of the building? from the foundation to the roof. examine all the parts and their sourcing, the product components and assemblies must biodegrade as well, are the biodegradable components structurally compatible with your loading? How much does a biodegradable building cost versus a non-biodegradable building, in a life cyle sense? Is it cheaper to demolish/salvage versus waiting out the biodegradation cycle, thinking development costs for a future owner, property transitioning during a purchase for an existing owner. Gosh, lots of real world practical questions here that might strengthen and help to determine the projects criteria a little firmer. by posing more questions to yourself prior to looking at other solutions, you might come up with some unique ones on your end as well as some research on precedent.
no; yes; it's not a building; yes; the public; floodway; clay; east-west; prairie climate; eastward; mostly water on-site; serves as gateway and viewing platform on river; has been previously; yes; irrelevant; everything's biodegradable over a long enough time period; components can be reused at any point in lifecycle - the more, the better; probably,but that's not the point; fuck development costs for a future owner; normal construction costs.
In that order.
lb, I've got that book from the library, but thanks for the tip. It opened up a couple of questions that I hadn't contemplated directly.
I had a dream last night that I was offered a teaching position for next year at school. Weird. Must have something to do with some crazy ideas in my head that nobody outside of academia would ever listen to.
so whats up with the floodway? what is the intensity of the flooding at the location, can the water physically degrade the structure over time? where it would dissolve away?
i wasnt being sarcastic at all. buildings last a long time go look around see that foundation for that old garage that fell down? its still there? when do the building ephemerate? when do the floor joists collapse and reenter mother earth? am i still sitting at my cubicle when this happens or do i get a warning?
I dont want to go too much deeper into my current project, but I do understand your point, of how troublesome living in a building that is eroding around you can be. Since this is such a conceptual project I am trying to find ways to solve/circumvent that particular issue.
you can make a house out of shit... horse shit or cow shit is the best.. you the human shit for the garden..
i know some of you think i'm being ridiculous.. but hey, for the sake of radical architecture.. why not?.. it can definitely shape quite an experience for someone occupying it?.. uses? perhaps a prison inmate was being disobedient and his punishment was to live in a shit cell for a day as punishment.. hey.. you may never see it in the U.S. of A.. but don't tell me crazier shit isn't happening around the world...
Mar 5, 08 7:40 pm ·
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Bio-degradable Architecture?
Are there any projects current/past that have experiemented with or utilized bio-degradable materials, especially in order to enhance soil quality?
First thoughts are that any such program would be relatively long term...
Thinking of architecture of decay/entropy but made of wood or tamped minerals/earth....
lots of common building materials are biodgradable in an aerobic environment (that's why we spend so much on preservatives and sealants). most landfills are anaerobic with less active breaking down of materials since there isn't enough moisture to keep the methane and leachate flowing.
straw bales are great for mulch (but the cementious coating isnt).
gypsum is a common agricultural soil amendment, so if the paint isn't toxic, you can grind the drywall and spread it around - will make heavy clay soils more 'fluffy'.
this subject isn't very challenging - more interesting is deconstructable and re-usable materials/systems like pliny fisk has been playing with.
I am not asking about the materials only I mean a complete structure that decomposes in place over time intentionally
unfired adobe - there are some african cultures that construct intionally disolving structures each year...
the interesting question would be how the use of the spaces have to change as it decomposes. A timeline of how the program shifts or decomposes alongside the material decomposition might be useful. For example, an adobe enclosure might work well as a sleeping space at first, but as the adobe dissolves and holes open up or sections collapse, it may no longer be secure or weatherproof enough for sleeping - perhaps it becomes a garden, or pig-shed on the way to becoming fertiliser?
agfa- that design process is called 'landscape urbanism'...
the house my mom grew up in is almost entirely dissolved, sitting abandoned on the canadian prairie. it was made of wood and nails and stuff. we used it to shoot at when da taught us how to use our rifles as kids. permanence of architecture, city, and other human constructs is pretty much an illusion.
actually, while it is an interesting approach, i think dissolving architecture is more a decorative idea, not a real or useful form of sustainable practice...bit it would make for nice poetry.
Perhaps nomadic peoples, who go to specific different places over the changing seasons to find food, would have structures that biodegrade but remain usable enough to reinhabit, with some repairs, the next year?
There was a beautiful project - I *think* it is on the open architecture network, I'm sure Cameron Sinclair showed it when I saw him speak or at TED - in which a temporary clinic is built with grass. Some type of grass that grows 12" per day is planted in a circle in advance of the visiting medical team, then when they arrive they mow out the center of the circle and pitch a tent roof over it. The tall grass prvides privacy "walls", then when the clinic moves on, the locals mow down the rest of the grass (maybe it's corn) and eats it. Beautiful.
Sounds like bamboo.
anyway, this idea is basically what this semester's studio work is about for me (along with site-specific needs and a particular program, all of which has been decided by myself). I think this is a very open-ended topic.
As jump said, I think it can make great poetry. I just have to be able to convince my crits that leaving a bunch of people stranded on a man-made island in the middle of a river is a good idea!
if you are interested in biodegradebale buildings ie buildings that don't last that dissolve whatever. why bother going into the profession. why not just not design buildings? then they won't need to biodegrade because they never existed. problem solved. you can remove your joseph beuys hat now.
vado retro:
Have you never heard of ephemeral architecture? Its not about the bio-degrading on a "sustainable" level, its about a piece of structure that only exists long enough to fufill its desired purpose, and eventually degrades and becomes part of the site it once inhabited.
If there's ever a time to be silly and dream a little, this is it. The more outlandish the better!
In all seriousness, the issue was spawned for me because the building on our site is derelict and neglected. It's decaying - just like every single other building that exists on the planet right now. Architects seem only to be concerned with their work up until the point that it's occuped (with some notions of maintenance at some further point down the road that's not really their responsibility anyway). Buildings start deteriorating the moment they're finished - maybe even sooner. To deny that this happens is only fooling ourselves.
My proposal is that we account for the inevitable - and maybe even design how a structure returns to nature over time. Not as a romantic notion about ruins, but because, as with everything else in the entire universe, death is a part of life.
slantsix: On Weathering
I have more to say on that topic but have to go pack my kid's lunch....
anybody interested in edible architecture? maybe something like ginger bread houses
On a more facile level....
There is this more facade like approach to the whole weathering/entropy thang.
http://archinect.com/news/article.php?id=72099_0_24_15_M
jamchar- vado is the sarcastic sage of archinect. he has forgotten more then you will ever know. so enjoy his words and don't take yourself too seriously.
would the intent be to provide a biodegradable structure just to do it as an experiment? or is it serving some other purpose, what would the function of the building be? or is it not important what goes on in the building. Who owns it? What kind of property does it sit on, soil composition/solar orientation if uv degradation is an issue, local precipitation levels, wind direction, factors that affect weathering? If its not functional as a occupiable building is is a condemned building in its decomposition, can someone build on it eventually. Who makes the components of the building? from the foundation to the roof. examine all the parts and their sourcing, the product components and assemblies must biodegrade as well, are the biodegradable components structurally compatible with your loading? How much does a biodegradable building cost versus a non-biodegradable building, in a life cyle sense? Is it cheaper to demolish/salvage versus waiting out the biodegradation cycle, thinking development costs for a future owner, property transitioning during a purchase for an existing owner. Gosh, lots of real world practical questions here that might strengthen and help to determine the projects criteria a little firmer. by posing more questions to yourself prior to looking at other solutions, you might come up with some unique ones on your end as well as some research on precedent.
no; yes; it's not a building; yes; the public; floodway; clay; east-west; prairie climate; eastward; mostly water on-site; serves as gateway and viewing platform on river; has been previously; yes; irrelevant; everything's biodegradable over a long enough time period; components can be reused at any point in lifecycle - the more, the better; probably,but that's not the point; fuck development costs for a future owner; normal construction costs.
In that order.
lb, I've got that book from the library, but thanks for the tip. It opened up a couple of questions that I hadn't contemplated directly.
I had a dream last night that I was offered a teaching position for next year at school. Weird. Must have something to do with some crazy ideas in my head that nobody outside of academia would ever listen to.
so whats up with the floodway? what is the intensity of the flooding at the location, can the water physically degrade the structure over time? where it would dissolve away?
maybe something water soluble biodegradable polymers?
http://www.azom.com/details.asp?ArticleID=1607
build out of that is, oops
don't mind the mold on the walls my house is mulching... haha
i wasnt being sarcastic at all. buildings last a long time go look around see that foundation for that old garage that fell down? its still there? when do the building ephemerate? when do the floor joists collapse and reenter mother earth? am i still sitting at my cubicle when this happens or do i get a warning?
vado retro
I dont want to go too much deeper into my current project, but I do understand your point, of how troublesome living in a building that is eroding around you can be. Since this is such a conceptual project I am trying to find ways to solve/circumvent that particular issue.
you can make a house out of shit... horse shit or cow shit is the best.. you the human shit for the garden..
i know some of you think i'm being ridiculous.. but hey, for the sake of radical architecture.. why not?.. it can definitely shape quite an experience for someone occupying it?.. uses? perhaps a prison inmate was being disobedient and his punishment was to live in a shit cell for a day as punishment.. hey.. you may never see it in the U.S. of A.. but don't tell me crazier shit isn't happening around the world...
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