Uffelen

Do you find his historical examples and attention to materials and use convincing?

I have mixed views.  I do think the historical examples presented make a good underlay for explaining the history of ecological architecture.  I’m unsure if I think that Ufflen is making a good argument for the use of materials in the past.  Like Haley mentioned in her post below, historically people used natural materials because of convenience and today we use natural materials to reinforce this ideal of ecological architecture.  Is it global warming that is the driving factor in sustainable architecture?  Or is it the fad that has been notarized in the past 10-20 years?  I feel like we’re going backwards.  We should be designing for convenience, as historic builders did…but there are many factors, (social, political, economic, the list goes on) in the way of letting us.

Since global warming has been recognized and accepted, ” A change in paradigm took place in architecture, setting sustainability as a priority above style or structural function.” Do you think this has happened in the United States?

Not quite yet.  I think that America..judging as a whole, is still in the ‘glorifying’ stage.  In this I mean that America is still using ecological design as a stylistic function, rather than considering it as the driving factor.  Though, we are making giant leaps in the right direction.  For instance, LEED has good intentions, but personally I think it is more of a moneymaking scheme that contributes to the ‘fashion’ of sustainable design.  The design parameters of LEED need to be automatically used, rather than a building/firm/designer being glorified for ‘taking a step in the right direction’.