Construction Countdown: Plaza Centro Garage, Tucson, AZ

Just a quick update from our Plaza Centro Construction Site: The Garage is nearing completion, steel for the Arcade and the two big GreenScreens / Art installations is now going in. The screen on the southwest corner is going to be transformed by a large scale public art installation by local Tucson artist Daniel Martin Diaz - the piece will stand as a widely visible focus point and frame the historic downtown entertainment district at the north end of Congress street. 

Check back next week for a sneak preview of Daniel’s work when the pieces go up!

Wearable Architecture?

Our favorite Museum has just announced their next foray beyond the boundaries of architecture: 

A+D Museum’s 2011 Fundraising Gala will be themed “The Wearable” and will be a “runway event featuring wearable creations by the best and the brightest in our creative community. Designers are invited to interpret “wearable” in the broadest sense. There are no limits to design or materials; the possibilities are exponential.”

We want to know: where do we sign up?


www.aplusd.org

The path to Zero Net Energy – Part One: Seeing the whole system

The first step in our green masterplan for St Elmo was one we take very deliberately in all our projects:

It is to carefully analyze the existing conditions and identify ALL opportunities for improvement - making it a point to look beyond the requests immediately put in front of us by the client.

In this case, we knew there was more to this project than the call for a solar system. The underlying, far more complex desire of the Village was to become a model for a sustainable community.

Consequently, our analysis included all the ways in which we humans affect our environment, and determine how sustainable our existence really is:

• Water Use  (domestic and landscaping),
• Energy Use  (for machinery and daily use),
• Material Use  (resources),
• Climate  (heating+cooling), 
• Food  (production and surplus), 
• Waste  (treated as a resource), 
• Community Dynamics  (teaching, learning and sharing)

“You can’t just look at one aspect of anything and really get a true understanding of it. You need to look at all aspects.”

Scott Pittman, Founder of the Permaculture Institute

[ to be continued ]

The path to Zero Net Energy – Introduction: It takes a village

St Elmo Village has long been a very special project to us - ever since Aleks joined their board of directors over 15 years ago. This inspiring artist community in mid-city Los Angeles has been a catalyst for positive change in the surrounding communities since 1969, teaching by example creativity, respect, and responsibility for oneself and one’s environment:

“The philosophy of St. Elmo Village is that all people are creative and powerful in their own way. Through sharing the creative process, we encourage self-confidence and self-esteem through the arts. St. Elmo Village has been providing art workshops, festivals and numerous enhancement programs in the surrounding neighborhood and the Los Angeles community at large. The Village emphasizes pride in self as well as in our environment, which instills a desire to build up...”

It was only natural then, that Jackie and Roderick approached us last fall with the desire that St Elmo should should also become an example of sustainability – as they put it: “The Village wants to get off the grid!”

We at AI Architects were thrilled about this possibility to apply the sustainable design experience and connections that we have been building over the past few years.

We developed a master plan for the “Greening of the Village” and assembled a team of experts to help implement it.

We are especially excited that Jeffrey Richardson of Imani Energy and Leigh Jerrard from the Greywater Corps will be working with us to bring solar power and greywater systems to St Elmo.

Both company’s community-oriented approach gelled perfectly with St Elmo’s desire to have the community be part of the “greening”. As much as possible, the installation of the various sustainable measures will be hosted as community events – like Greywater Corps’ popular hands-on workshops and Imani’s Solar parties.

There will also be plenty of opportunity for the community to bring their own creativity to the table: Rainwater harvesting barrels and permeable paving will become canvases for art projects, and gardening days will invite anyone in the community to come out and help to grow the village greener.

In the coming weeks we will talk more about some of the sustainable measures and ideas for The Village – so check back soon for updates!

Smart Growth vs. The American Dream

1200 Sweetzer, which we mentioned in our last blog entry, is a product of our ongoing quest to design spaces that meet both the human desires for individualized, expansive-feeling living spaces and the conservative use of resources dictated by sustainibility concerns.

As Aleks writes in his article: “From custom Homes to Multi-Unit Housing” (published in Architectural West Magazine):

The architect’s challenge [...] is to convince the American family - by now used to the advantages of single-family homes on individual plots - that they can preserve the feel and functionality of the single family home lifestyle, which presents serious sustainability challenges, while they partake in the advantage of sustainable urban communities. 

In other words: how can design help to bridge the divide between the expectations raised by our familiarity with single-family homes and a “dwelling unit” in a multi-family complex? 

And how can we do this without loosing quality of life?”

Read the full article here...