Living Light: Part 2

In response to the challenge of living within 75 cubic metres, the following proposed dwelling includes all the basic recognizable implements of "home", just on a different scale and with required lifestyle modifications. We can't continue to live the way we live now, surrounded by so much STUFF if we want to be able to live lightly. This is probably the single greatest lifestyle modification required to inhabit this little manifesto of minimum existence dwelling. The following images are sketches and photos of a model which could be placed individually within existing suburban neighbourhoods or in clusters as a site provided.

At the core of the project is a hearth, with an integral fireplace, oven, and stove top. I also imagine that a hot water tank could be included in the radiant chimney portion to benefit from the warm exhaust air. All of the living spaces are off of the chimney core to be heated only by the stove in the winter months. The bedrooms are situated on the second floor, giving them the warmest spaces when the heat rises during the coldest nights. All this would be for naught if it were not for the highly insulated walls and minimal window openings. Heat loss through the building envelope (walls, roof, and floor included) must be kept to a minimum if an internal fireplace is going to keep a space warm for any length of time. Structurally insulated panels (SIPs) are therefore proposed, not only for their great insulative quality, but also because of their ability to be pre-fabricated for accuracy and easy and fast installation on site. Windows have been limited in size and would be triple-glazed argon-filled units to have the greatest R-value, but they will still be the greatest source of heat-loss in the envelope.

A few space-saving techniques have been employed in the little residence which include pneumatic drop-down cupboards in the kitchen (which are hidden in the base of a shelving unit in the bedroom above) to allow for full visibility and light-penetration when stored up in the ceiling. On the second level, a sliding partition can be hidden between the shelves if the spare room is to be used as an office, or, if a visitor is over, it can be pulled shut for privacy. The bathroom does not have a sink simply because there is a perfectly fine sink in the kitchen right across from the bathroom. Stairs are a luxury when considering net cubic space, and thus, to get the most living space out of the residence, ladders were employed. Unfortunately that makes this dwelling exclusive to able-bodied residents, but surely another similarly designed small unit could be adequately barrier-free for such persons. Another feature of the home is a garden balcony which would allow the residents to grow their own fruits or vegetables without taking up any property beyond the footprint of their home. This balcony also provides shelter for the front entrance, but also a side of the house which would be ideal for storing and keeping firewood dry since wood is a requirement as the main source of fuel for the household.

The manifesto project is capable of being a stand alone unit or being combined into blocks, depending on what a site would allow. The intended site or sites for these small residential units is within existing suburban neighbourhoods which have large front yards and low population density. This would allow for the manifesto resident to be independent from the owner of the house (unlike a back yard unit) and have an address on the street. Due to the small scale, most suburban lots have more than adequate space to hold a single unit on the front yard without hindering light access to the house behind. As a smaller building closer to the street, not only would these facilitate a higher population density, but they would also introduce a more pedestrian scale to neighbourhoods filled with enormous homes set far back from the street.

Sketches of the units installed on an existing suburban street

Second Floor and Ground Floor Plans not to scale,
but approximately 4m wide by 4.5m long

Cross-sections across the length of the residence.
The ceiling height on the ground floor is 2.4m and 2.2m on the second floor.

Cross-section across the width of the residence

Model Photo with two walls removed

Model Photo with wall pulled back
to expose interior view to hearth

Model Photo with kitchen
cupboards retracted

Model Photo with kitchen
cupboards lowered

Model Photo showing wall-ladder
integration to spare bedroom

Model photo showing ladder
to main bedroom and hearth

Model Photo from above.

Living Light: Part 1

Sometimes while traveling through the suburbs I feel like pulling into a driveway and confronting the owner of a cookie-cutter monstrosity. I could never actually do it, but I still formulate the hypothetical conversation in my mind since there is little else to do while passing through the suburban territories. I imagine that it would involve me asking the owner why he felt that he deserved such a large portion of what has been given to us, the inhabitants of the earth. Of course he has no answer, and neither do I, but this question begins the further debate which I like even more than calling out mansion-dwellers: What is enough?

What would be enough of a home for the average suburban bachelor or couple to live in comfortably? What does it have to look like? How many square metres of floor area would it have? How much of our material possessions would we have to find shelves and closets for? What can we safely throw out and not miss? What kinds of daily conveniences could we part with in order to live a lighter lifestyle?

I'm currently working with 75 cubic metres and trying to wrestle with all of these questions. I believe that this is a completely reasonable dwelling size for every day use. Of course I could make it a temporarily inhabited space, or a home in a temperate climate, or argue that the owners are so committed to this mode of living that they will use an outhouse or cook small meals on a hot plate. But I find none of these to be at all helpful within the reality that we need to find solutions for affluent North Americans who have high expectations of the value of their residences. This is the challenge which I am taking up. Small residences do not have to compromise their familiarity to average people nor their quality of envelope. They should be inexpensive to operate by definition. They should be simple to construct and durable enough to withstand our temperamental Canadian climate. Most of all they should be comfortable during all manner of uses.

The last thing we need is more modernist residences for artists and architects to photograph and objectify in magazines

Recycling: Part 1

I expect that in the coming months I will be doing a very in-depth study of the way that we recycle things. We, meaning most of urban North America, recycle so many different materials with such a variety of procedures that such a study is simply too much to take on at once. Trying to figure out exactly how to quantify the "goodness" or "badness" of the processes will likely be a complicated task in itself, let alone the collection of data and the subsequent analysis and conclusions. Therefore, I'm going to do a smaller, more manageable study of what we recycle in our every-day blue bins. By excluding the complexities of recycling industrial materials and focusing more on the typical residential materials, the process of analysis will hopefully be more clear and easy to take to the next level.

So, what's in your bin? Probably a number of aluminum cans, some newsprint, a few plastic bottles from water or pop, glass jars, empty cereal boxes, maybe a milk carton or a tetra pack. Even with such a small selection of items, we instantly are dealing with several different materials, all of which require a different type of recycling facility to break them down into their basic parts and make them usable again as a raw material. How much energy is expended in this process? How much of the material is unable to be recycled? Which, of all these typical products uses the least amount of energy to be recycled? Which results in the most usable raw material? Are any of these recycling processes worse than the production of the initial material? I am afraid of what some of this research might uncover.

How many of these recycled items will be made into products or packaging of equivalent value as their pre-recycled form? Unfortunately it is common practise that many materials work through a downward cycle of recycling only to end up in the landfill when they can no longer be used. So we have extended the life of the thing, but not really saved it from its inevitable demise in a heap of garbage on the outskirts of a city. So this is recycling? William McDonough and Michael Braungart call this “downcycling” in their book Cradle to Cradle. I tend to agree: if recycling is supposed to be “closing the loop” (the word cycle is in the word after all) of the lifecycle of materials, then we are not yet entirely sucessful. It might make us all feel better about ourselves, but we really should not be calling this downwardly linear progression cyclic.

Introduction: Thesis Aspirations

I am pursuing a graduate degree in architecture to further investigate the ideas to which I was introduced during my years of undergraduate study. I was most intrigued by the material concerning sustainable design and the future of ecologically-friendly or 'green' architecture. This popular topic is discussed today by academics as well as the public; the difference between the knowledge of the professional and the naivety of the public is the gap which I hope to bridge in my research and production of a thesis.

Daily the public is being bombarded with tales of the evils of fossil fuels and carbon emissions from vehicles while they remain relatively ignorant of the load that their homes are putting on the environment. People need to be educated about how the choices that they make can effect waste-reduction and global warming, beyond their transportation decisions. Even for the concerned citizen, the fascination with 'green' materials and renewable energies can blind onlookers to the big picture of sustainability. The consumer wants to make the right choice for the environment so he chooses the material with a special tag or logo, and feels good about himself without really understanding what he has purchased. Not only logos, catch phrases, and bright green tags are attracting attention, but popular advertising and biased data will support a wide range of claims made by 'green' design initiatives. The public wants to know more about how to be environmentally conscious and reduce their ecological footprint, but I am afraid that some of the big-picture first-step choices of sustainability are overlooked in the mad rush to buy the newest high-tech gadget which boasts environmental benefit. This desire to be more sustainable, combined with a better understanding of the available technologies, systems, and materials could shift the market for building supplies, change the sought-after features of a house, and even alter what is perceived to be a "good building" to the average citizen. This is why the public needs to be educated about sustainable building technologies, because without a shift in the public consciousness, society will continue to be unaware of whether materials and products are or are not environmentally sound and no steps will be taken to improve our buildings.

For my thesis I intend to create a film which will educate not only designers, but also the public in matters of sustainable strategies for buildings and development. By researching the advantages and disadvantages of a number of products, materials, or systems, I hope to bring to light some unbiased data including factors such as embodied energy and emissions. This more technical research would be combined with a number of straight forward passive methods for reducing the ecological impact of a building, so as to cover both the first-steps as well as the finer details of environmental initiatives available to the public. This information must be compiled in a physically and intellectually accessible medium, and thus I propose a documentary, or a number of themed short films which would reach a greater audience than could a book today.