Kickstarter

Hello esteemed Kickstarter backers. I hoped to get an update on my research a bit earlier but time seems to fly when am playing connect-the-dots between Melbourne, Canberra and Sydney. Catch up with the discoveries on my twitter feed using #hyperlocalarch.

I'm now on a plane to Tokyo for leg two of hyperlocal sustainable architecture with a vast Australian outback hiding below me under a haze. Of course their are plenty of stories about the great Australian cites and I was very fortunate to sit down and chat with 10 firms who are populating them with the cutting edge in low impact design. I also visited quite a few of the sites to video and photograph too. Australia's great buildings do indeed "unfold" and in many unexpected ways. It is a pleasure to see so much design based on solving complex issues of use, materials, energy and water. The one thing all the architects have in common is a need to make their buildings work exceptionally well and challenge themselves as well as the status quo.  

For example Sean Godsell maybe well known for his small scale highly refined work but when he took me on a tour of his first tower all I could think of was he is a master of scale. The RMIT Design Hub, just adjacent to downtown Melbourne, is studded with thousands of glass disks which move when the sun needs to be diffused or let light straight into the classrooms and galleries. But he was playing some much subtler games inside. Certainly each space had a distinct use but his making them taller, longer or finished in a relentless  grid makes transversing the spaces an actual experience. And being a design school his intent is to wake the occupants up, keeping them from feeling too comfortable with a predictable passage. 

A dozen more ways [Australia Unfolds] has been explored and documented. Next stop Tokyo where [Japan Condenses] into little jewels of four dimensional living spaces. I have four interviews on the calendar and will make a swing to Kyoto to bow to the most profound buildings I have ever come across in glossy pages of books. 

Architecture is at very real crossroads where the impact of design sets the model for replacing a form that contributes the most to climate change include making places that add to the human experience without stealing from other places or the future. I want more!

Also almost forgot to mention I was interviewed for a podcast by architecture photographer and recovering architect Nic Granleese, so I'll send a shout out when its up.

Rooftop Penthouse by MPRDG Architects in Bondi, Sydney from the future.

RMIT Design Hub by Sean Godsell in Melbourne.

That’s the goal for my trip to Australia and Japan coming up from April 16th to May 7th. The response from almost all the firms has been warm, welcoming and often enthusiastic. Perhaps the strangest was about a site visit request to the massive ANZ Bank Headquarters in Melbourne’s reclaimed docklands district. After a bit of back and forth with the architects about the fact ANZ no longer receives media, an email suddenly appears that the bank is more than happy to give me full access. The architect’s representative was a bit surprised at this turn of events and could only guess it was the content of the book that inspired them.

That is in fact the whole point of a book on sustainable design. Designing brilliant, informative buildings is critical, but not complete until the lessons and inspiration can be cast to a world in critical need of the information. You are also a core part of this process as well and my thanks for helping me gather, sort and disseminate these works.

Here are some of the other firm doors I will cross in the coming month: Hassell Architects, Andrew Maynard, Sean Godsell, Design Inc, Studio 505, Kavellaris Urban Design, Phooey Architects, Atelier Tekuto, Schemata Architects, Durbach Block Jaggers among many more. Each one has a powerful story to tell about hyper-localization in sustainable design. One of my first lessons for the trip- Australians call calendars ‘diaries’. At first I thought the interviews would be a bit more personal than I anticipated. 

After visiting the “greenest office building in the world” Bullitt Center, talking with Edward Mazria the founder of Architecture 2030, and Peter Busby, the environmental agent of change at Perkins + Will, I think we are off to a good start. An excerpt of my interview with Mazria will be published on Inhabitat.com soon. 

A big thanks to Tara and Sam from the Institute of the Built Environment for their unending brain power and support and another dozen friends and (former) strangers and my wife Jennie and family for helping make these projects and creators come to light. I will update on the road so stay tuned. If you know any good noodle stands in Tokyo send me word. 

-Andrew

Photo Bullitt Center, Capital Hill, Seattle

Hello everyone,

So another update on what we are up to. We have finally selected all of our projects to cover in the book and are sending out email requests to the firms right now. I also have an opportunity to visit the newly finished Bullitt Center, a Living Building Challenge project with the lead architect in a month. It will be the basis for [Cascadia Harvests] because of the project's 6 stories four supported exclusively by wood sourced within 300 miles of Seattle. Thanks to the folks at WoodWorks for helping arrange this.

The big news though is I have just confirmed interviews with Ed Mazria, founder of Architecture 2030 Challenge and William McDonough, founder of Cradle to Cradle. These are two of the instrumental founders of what we think of as 'green' architecture. There influence is global and since we are thinking globally while designing locally I'd like the conversations to provide the fundamental framework of what the sustainable design process is. They are extraordinarily busy right now so I'm very grateful to steal a bit of their time.

For those who pledged at the $111, your in for a real treat.