#built environment

[semioticapocalypse]

George Rinhart. A view of the London Tower Bridge. 1900

I Am Collective Memories   •    Follow me, — says Visual Ratatosk

[hitherzones]

[zadokthepriest]

by Junya Watanabe

[cognitivejustice]

What is Upcycling in Architecture?

DB Schenker Upcycling Hub / AIRLAB © Fabian Ong

Upcycling is a process of transforming waste and unwanted materials into new materials of higher value to reuse in designs. It offers a fundamental change in approaching sustainability, abandoning the traditional linear model in favor of a more circular and regenerative approach. Through upcycling, we can reuse existing buildings and materials, revitalizing them while maintaining their originality.

Recycling and Upcycling

S’Winter Station – Ryerson University – Department of Architectural Science

Recycling is a process of transforming materials determined to be waste into their raw components to create new usable products. This makes recycling a process that requires energy and expense, both too valuable to be wasted if provided with another opportunity, making recycling potentially not the best concept for reducing waste material. Alternatively, upcycling is far more beneficial because it takes and transforms waste materials through their original form, essentially undercutting the need for the energy and expense of breaking them down into raw components that recycling requires. This makes upcycling a much more compelling alternative for sustainable architecture compared to recycling.

Upcycling in architecture offers limitless potential to create sustainable designs while reducing waste and cost, as well as promoting resource efficiency. However, it is necessary to recognize that recycling is still a much-needed approach in sustainable architecture because upcycling, so far, is not the solution to every problem. Rather, upcycling is recycling’s extension, both approaches complement each other. Embracing both approaches’ principles and utilizing them optimally for each arising problem should prove effective in paving the way for a greener and more sustainable future.

[sdog1ablog]

PH: Sleeping Dog

[coulsonlives]

Pretty much.

[nonsmokinghotelroom]

The eyes.

[f0restpunk]

[visualratatosk]

[inscriptions]

[rae-redacted]

Okay, so your building is LEED and WELL certified. But can I, a mostly able bodied person, open/close your bathroom stall doors (including the disabled stall) with one hand? No? Then THEY AREN'T ACCESSIBLE!!!!

[semioticapocalypse]

Ralph Steiner. Untitled (Clotheslines. Manhattan, New York. 1925

I Am Collective Memories   •    Follow me, — says Visual Ratatosk

[that-gay-jedi]

FUN ARCHITECTURAL FACT:

Hospitals are not built! If you leave a labyrinth sitting around for too long without a minotaur, it will gradually sink into the earth and a hospital will grow in its place. The hospital keeps the original shape of the labyrinth that created it, but adds on new sections and dimensions of space as it grows. This is why it's so fucking hard to find your way around inside a hospital.

[manifoldblog]

Nostrand Ave & Linden Blvd, Brooklyn, Nov. 2024, photo: Manifold

[ladybird-scribbles]

tradition & the vernacular in architecture

It is naïve to assume that simply by using the materials local to an area one will create a development that positively reflects its context.

What we now consider tradition was once the height of innovation. It is important to remember that history and tradition are different concepts - history does not necessarily repeat itself, but each era focuses on something different, and so we can constantly learn from our past. Tradition is simply the past living through us and therefore there is a responsibility for keeping that tradition alive.

In the United Kingdom, conservation drives are mostly centred around individual buildings. Unlike country houses (many of which are run by the National Trust and similar organisations), there is no singular co-ordinated national effort to maintain vernacular housing. Conservation areas are widespread across Britain and Ireland, but the areas that are part of them are highly varied.

In Ireland, there is a drive for the creation of Architectural Conservation Areas (ACAs) - places, or groups of structures, of special architectural interest. For example, in County Cavan there are currently 4 ACAs, each with specific reasons for conservation such as their development pattern, important buildings, or historical significance to the area. ACAs come with conservation guidelines and legal frameworks in place to protect the area. These guidelines are different to policies on listed buildings, for example: property owners are encouraged to reinstate lost original features, and proposed developments are encouraged to use sympathetic design to stay in keeping with the area's character. Demolition requires both planning permission and justification. The core idea behind these guidelines is that any changes should complement the area's character - protecting and enhancing the setting.

Tradition itself is a subjective thing, which has vastly different meanings depending on personal tastes. Drawing on tradition is equally subjective – where is the line between imitation and parody? Is it cost-effective to sensitively replicate a place’s traditional architecture, 300 or more years after it was first built, and how does one do this while also catering to the comforts of 21st century domestic life and needs?

[robertmatejcek]

Borough Bloom  - mixed media - robert matejcek - 2023

“The city seen from the Queensboro Bridge is always the city seen for the first time, in its first wild promise of all the mystery and the beauty in the world.” - F. Scott Fitzgerald - The Great Gatsby

tags:

[sdog1ablog]

Ph: Sleeping Dog