Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Global PechaKucha Night for Haiti 2/20/10

Below is part of a press release for a Global PechaKucha Night to benefit Haiti

Global PechaKucha Night for Haiti 2/20/10

Saturday, 20th February
130+ locations around the globe

In a matter of seconds, thousands of lives and dreams were destroyed in Haiti.

Following the tragedy, aid came from many quarters, in all shapes and forms. The global PechaKucha community is coming together with Architecture for Humanity to lend a hand in rebuilding Haiti and establish long-term solutions. Please help us spread the word about our global event in February: 20 images x 20 seconds, 200 cities, 2,000 presentations, 200,000 people. Rebuilding a nation 20 seconds at a time.

This is a true, last minute, we‐can‐do‐it fundraiser, mobilized less than a 20 days ago, spreading today to over 130 cities globally with 100% of proceeds destined for ready‐to‐go reconstruction projects in earthquake‐ravaged Haiti. Why this matters:

“The fact is more people died in Haiti than in the 12 countries affected by the ‘04 Tsunami. Oh, and rainy season begins in a week. So this natural disaster IS a big deal and it’s going to get rough.”

Cameron Sinclair, Founder and eternal optimist @ Architecture for Humanity.



Global PechaKucha Night for Haiti - 2/20/10

On 20th February many of the 280 cities that host PechaKucha events worldwide will converge to present one continuous 24-hour edition of PechaKucha Night. Beginning in Tokyo 2003 as an online networking and exhibition event, PechaKucha has become a massive global event inspiring creative communities from Uganda to Norway. Kicking off at SuperDeluxe in Tokyo, where PechaKucha Night first started seven years to the day (20th Feb 2003), the a presentation 'wave' will travel westward, with cities presenting one after the other. Crossing all times zones and cultures, the 'wavecast' will be streamed live online on Ustream and will be viewable not only on computers, but also on any iPhone or Android handset.


Some presentations intend to offer hope and encouragement through stories of past disaster relief projects, others simply inspire by showing the power of creative thinking.

All of the 2,000 presentations generated from the one-day event – in what could be the world's biggest single-day globally distributed conference – will be posted on the PechaKucha website, where visitors will also be able to make monetary donations to each presentation.

100% of proceeds will go to Architecture For Humanity which operates globally, and was instrumental in getting projects built after the Indian Ocean tsunami and Hurricane Katrina.

"We are not the first responders, we’re the last responders and we’re in for the long haul. We estimate having teams in Haiti for 4 years but we will only do that with the financial support of others."

Cameron Sinclair, Founder and eternal optimist @ Architecture for Humanity.

In organizing this event PechaKucha intends to not only raise funds through pledges from host cities and contributions from individuals but also illustrate the power of innovative minds, creative passion and, most of all, sharing ideas for change and sustainability.

More information about the project and cities which are holding events
http://www.pecha-kucha.org/pechakucha-for-haiti

Saturday, February 13, 2010

Community Development

Every Friday we have "Tea time" to bond as a studio and reward ourselves on another week of hard work. Thanks to Lauren, who this week brought these fantastic apricot/carrot cupcakes with cream cheese frosting!

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Project 1.0

So far this semester, we have been primarily working on analyzing precedent projects, all recently constructed and many serving as prototypes or “tests” for emerging technologies. For this analysis we are producing original drawings and models as a way of “unmaking” these buildings in order to understand how they are put together. We reviewed these projects on Monday, so now the challenge will be deciding how to best incorporate this research into our design process for the rest of the semester.

Below is a list of what were identified as the "take aways" from each project. The things that we could or should try to use in our projects going forward.


triPOD House (Carnegie Mellon 2007 Solar Decathlon House)

1. modularity

2. efficient use of space (small footprint)

3. circulation outside is important (how you move into the house)


EcoMOD 3 (University of Virginia)

1. usable outdoor living space - indoor/outdoor transitions

2. customizability. . . to a certain extent - might get messy

3.various living scenarios as far as who can utilize the modules


R House (ARO and Della Valle Bernheimer)

1. Lots of insulation is good for preventing heat energy from passing through the walls of the house in winter and summer.

2. The small house is made to seem larger through several techniques: Incorporating large vertical windows that span floors; Light colored interior walls and ceilings; Double-height interior spaces, a dynamic interior with various simple planes that overlap and allow the passage of light through translucent walls and from around corners.

3. Connection to the out-of-doors is provided by the large viewing windows and smaller windows that welcome the natural rhythm of daylight and views to the sky, trees, and ground outside as well as patio stones that appear to be the same level of the interior concrete floor surfacing over the low set viewing windows viewing out to the private back yard.

4. Local typologies are integrated into the form of the home in an abstracted, modern sense at a scale smaller than the surrounding buildings to give the home a humble presence that respects its neighbors while accomplishing a cool modern look.


ZeRow House (Rice University 2009 Solar Decathlon)

1. The idea of a system of "cores" which attempt to locate the higher cost elements (electrical/plumbing) into one localized zone - perhaps as a way of incorporating prefabricated modules into the generally simple stick-frame construction.

2. The use of traditional/common building methods as well as the inclusion of simple design moves (as opposed to relying on hi-tech, hi-cost methods) that accomplish high performance operations. This includes the use and adaptation of a row house typological model for the given climate.

3.The extension of the interior physical space, which is small, to expand into exterior spaces. The blurring of the lines between exterior and interior.


Design Build Texas (University of Texas at Austin, Professor Louise Harpman)

1. Utilization of water, wind, and sun

2. Large roof to shade smaller enclosure


Team Germany (Technische Universitat Darmstadt 2007 Solar Decathlon)

1. Jacket concept: adaptable and could be made low tech

2. Modularity

3. Repetition and variation: does a lot with one thing

4. Flexibility

5. Interactivity