Culturele Woensdag - Missed

Unfortunately, I missed a cultural Wednesday because I was in Venice for the Biennale.  To make up for the lesson, I want to show you some of the amazing work I saw at the biennale.  I also did some research on Venice, particularly in reference to sustainability, rising water levels and the environment.


First for some pretty pictures:

A detailed model showing an architectural response to the environment, consideration of aspect, sunlight etc.

'Underwater scraper' - take a look at this example.  A self-sufficient city at sea - harvests its own energy and produces its own food.  Perhaps this is the way of the future? 

The Australian Pavilion - Explores current issues of sustainability, urban sprawl and density and immigration.

The Dutch Pavilion 'vacant NL'- This installation shows all the potential of inspiring, temporarily vacant buildings from the 17th, 18th, 19th, 20th and 21st centuries.  Think about the possibilities!

I loved this exhibition.  It showed old, abused, worn and torn materials  in a new context.  They become beautiful works of art rather than rubbish - all the textures, the history.  I thought this was a beautiful context, and so simple.  Lovely.

Now, Venice.


For centuries Venice has been in a struggle with mother nature.  In the 15th century the problem was a build up of silt in the lagoon from nearby rivers.  This problem was eventually solved by diverting the rivers.


The current problem is a combination of sinking foundations and rising water levels -

"The city itself is to blame. Built on soft, compactible sediments, Venice is slowly sinking under its own weight. What's more, an industrial complex across the Venetian lagoon extracted groundwater from the 1930s to the 1970s, increasing the rate at which Venice subsided. Compounding these changes, Earth's seas have been gradually swelling over the past several millennia." Against the Tide

Apparently the Adriatic Sea's standard water level is now about 6 feet higher than it was 1600 years ago when Venice was founded.  For the past few centuries Venice has had regular flooding, but its steadily getting worse - more frequent and higher water levels. Conservative estimates of greenhouse warming suggest that global sea levels will climb between 38 and 55 cm by the end of the next century.

The people of Venice have responded by building temporary walk ways during the floods.  Sometimes the water levels get so high that the boats don't even fit under the bridges.  The water levels are now also getting above the impermeable foundation stones, and the saltwater is now slowly bringing down buildings.


A proposed solution is to build a series of gates which will be raised at high tide to minimise water damage.  Some argue that this is just a temporary solution and may have a negative environmental impact - eg. aquatic life.


It seems like there are a lot of people in many different industries discussing Venice's current state.  It might be a problem many other cities will face if we don't act on global warming now.


Venice - Weighing the Solutions
Sustainable architecture featured at the Venice Biennale

Culturele Woensdag - Catchup Exercise

Out and about

So, for out catch up project the idea was to find a relevant place for a day excursion, visit, and write about it.

I really wanted to do something with vertical farms and sustainable farming methods, especially seeing as agriculture is such an important aspect of the Dutch economy.   Unfortunately there is not much in the area of vertical farming yet, as most examples are still conceptual.  So its hard to find something to visit. I did find the following examples and blogs really interesting.


The Vertical Farm
- An entire blog dedicated to vertical farms!  Really worth a look.

"By the year 2050, nearly 80% of the earth's population will reside in urban centers. Applying the most conservative estimates to current demographic trends, the human population will increase by about 3 billion people during the interim. An estimated 10⁹hectares of new land (about 20% more land than is represented by the country of Brazil) will be needed to grow enough food to feed them, if traditional farming practices continue as they are practiced today. At present, throughout the world, over 80% of the land that is suitable for raising crops is in use (sources: FAO and NASA). Historically, some 15% of that has been laid waste by poor management practices. What can be done to avoid this impending disaster?"

Vertical Farm Eco-city
- A towering agricultural amusement park designed by Studio Tjep.  It takes the structure of a typical Dutch farm building, and is a self-sustaining amusement park/farm/hotel.  Interesting concept!

Vertical Farm and Green Gateway

- The Chicago Gateway. Urban farming, green roofs and sky bridges.  Food can be produced on site and distributed throughout the city via the sky bridges.

My uncle lives in the 'Achterhoek' and has a farm and a vineyard.  So I've visited a few times but at the moment there isn't much to see with all the snow! So a bit of poor timing.

I think it might be interesting to be able to visit farms with a sustainable practice.  At the vineyard for example, they avoid the use pesticides when possible. Before planting, they had developed special bases for the vines that were resistant to rot and pests etc. 

I think an excursion which involves visiting a farm with sustainable practice, and seeing it in action would be very valuable. 

Culturele Woensdag - VIBA expo

24 November
's-Hertogenbosch

This week we visited the VIBA expo in the Gruyterfabriek in 's-Hertogenbosch.  The expo was focused on sustainable building with an emphasis on 'innovatief groen'.

Well, it was horrible trying to get to.  The walk from the station took us a good 40 min. So not a good way to start the day, but I must say it improved somewhat.  I didn't find the tour as interesting as the guest speakers - who were fantastic.

I was particularly interested in the concept of the 'groene slinger'. Thinking about the journey water takes and how we can make the most of it. How to collect, store etc.

I also liked the comments made about green roofs - we aren't limited anymore, we have the abilities to create entire forests on top of buildings! Exciting isn't it.

Anyway, here are a few photos.

Culturele Woensdag - AVR

17 November
AVR Duiven

So this week we visited the AVR (Afvalverwerking) in Duiven.  It was a long trip getting there, but definitely an interesting visit.  Sorry the photos aren't that clear, I had to use my phone.

So, this week's discussion was about the processing of rubbish. There was a particular focus on the way we can make this process as efficient as possible.  For example burning rubbish to produce electricity as well as 'stadsverwarming'.
What can we do with the left over waste? Is there a way that different industries can work together to create a closed cycle?

For some interesting factoids from Ikea, take a look at this link : The Never Ending List or De Non Stop Actielijst

Embodied Energy

Culturele Woensdag - Our Films

1 December
HKU, Grift Park and my room

So our task today was to make our short film.  I can tell you that nobody had really looking forward to this task - most of us had never made a film before, let alone in 3 or 4 hours!  And we hadn't had the time to work on it throughout the week because of all our major projects.  But anyway, not much to do about it!

So we split into groups and discussed our options and opinions.  What did we want to show about sustainability?  How on earth were we going to achieve it?

I'd been thinking about 'Embodied Energy'.  I'm not sure about the dutch terminology, but it literally translates as 'opgenomen energie'.  Embodied energy is the amount of commercial energy (fossil fuels, nuclear etc) that was used in the work to make any product, bring it to market and dispose of it.  Another similar issue is 'Embodied Water', the amount of water used to make any product, bring it to market and dispose of it.

I don't think many people are aware of these issues - it's not something stated on a product label.  But I believe its an important issue to be aware of, everything we consume/use has embodied qualities.

One of the best ways to reduce the embodied energy of products, is to buy locally produced products.  Not only does this support the local community, but greatly reduces the amount of energy used in long distance transportation.

Anyway, our little film tries to illustrate the concept of 'Embodied Energy'.  Enjoy.

Culturele Woensdag - Film

10 November
Some confusion about the location...

So the week before this, I was in Venezia for the biennale.  It was an amazing experience, and as always a beautiful city to be in.  I'll write something about the trip soon!

This week, the initial plan was to visit the AVVN Landelijke Organisatie van Hobbytuinders.  You can visit their website by visiting the avvn website.  Of course...I didn't get the email saying that the trip was cancelled! So I trekked it out in the cold.  Soon after I arrived, Wim and a few other unfortunate students who hadn't gotten the news joined me.

It was still very interesting to see, and the building itself was quite beautiful - simple but effective.  The idea behind the organisation is also fantastic.

Since the excursion had been cancelled, it was time for us to head back to school!

Once back in class, we spent some time watching tv/film segments about sustainability and the consequences of humankind's actions over the past few hundred years on the world today.  There was some very fascinating footage, including snippets from BBC's 'Earth', and Edward Burtynsky's 'Manufactured Landscapes' (Directed by Jennifer Baichwal).  Both definitely worth looking up if you haven't seen them before.

Here are some stills from 'Manufactured Landscapes', Edward Burtinsky's photos.

So, our latest task is to make a short film about our position/perspective on sustainability.  What do we find important?  What is our statement?

Its hard to pick a definite standpoint, I personally think all aspects are important.  But our task is to focus on a few points.  In our group, we found the following points important (and I've added some notes of my own to help myself narrow it down to a statement):



Nature

• The obvious - the effect on nature, and how can we minimise this
• Look to processes in nature for inspiration - the life cycle, no waste

Process

• How we do things/produce etc.  This has a huge influence on the product as well as its effect on the environment.
• Embodied energy - defined by wikipedia as "the commercial energy (fossil fuels, nuclear, etc) that was used in the work to make any product, bring it to market, and dispose of it."
• Think about he entire process/life cycle - design to decomposition
• Look carefully at the manufacturing/design process to ensure a product can be reused/recycled/reassembled and upscaled throughout its life cycle. 

Energy + Materials

• From the standpoint of a designer, looking at how we use materials, what materials we use and if they're the most efficient materials to use.
• Embodied energy of materials
• Recycling, reusing, reassembling
• Reducing our energy consumption
• Reducing our material consumption
• Sourcing on a local scale - food, materials etc.  This reduces the embodied energy of a product and supports local/community businesses. 

Large Scale

• Looking at the bigger picture.  We need to think about the future, and what our effect our actions will have in 10 years...or 100.  Long term.
• I believe changes need to be made in all aspects of our life.  They might only be small changes, but little act has an effect.

Anyway, just some quick ideas.  

And here follow a few links to relevant blogs and films.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dXzYoKtRqPg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZiKBKnesnU