I began this process with absolutely no idea what I wanted to spend the next year pursuing – and I am still very unsure - but I think I have a start: my hometown.
Living in Miami is a missed opportunity. I lived in Miami my entire life - until college - and I have no desire to move back. Why? Because people don’t appreciate living in Miami – the sun, the warmth, the ocean – people rarely go outside on a day to day basis, they jump from their air conditioned houses to their air conditioned cars to their air conditioned offices. And it is impossible not to – that is the way the entire city has been designed. Before we graduate and get on with our lives, I think Miami might deserve a second chance – a chance to understand why I dislike it and what can be done about it.
I think that life in Miami is a missed opportunity that can be explored through the built environment. Before the advent of air conditioning, people used to look at other means of making living in a sub tropical climate bearable. I would like to look back at what these strategies were, and how to apply them to new construction in order to make buildings more sustainable, more appropriate, and more livable. As of yet I don’t know what building type I would like to look at, I am considering things ranging from affordable housing to hotels to public buildings, like schools and libraries.
I think that is a great reason to choose Miami. I was wondering if air conditioners were everywhere, in older houses as well as newer ones... as in I know when I've been down there for training trip we drove through poorer neighborhoods and the architecture definitely looked environmentally appropriate (although maybe that was just the colors, fairly low lying houses and tiled roofs). Also is there a growing 'green movement' in Miami yet and if so, how is it influencing design/buildings?
ReplyDeleteI'm glad to see you are choosing Miami. Perhaps the work you did the previous summer, on the prototype Miami "green" house, could be of relevance - sort of mixing it together with precedents of traditional, responsible architecture of the past?
ReplyDeleteAlso, I really like the composition of the concept you have - inadvertently or not, the image splits in two, and one can get a sense of the environment, the ecology very well, as it is affected by the built landscape - perhaps this is another area of interest - the ecological aesthetic of a new Miami.
Like Don and Jon, I think Miami is a really good choice for your project because you obviously care about it, and I think that will help give you an extra edge when it comes to both finalizing your thesis and drawing insight into what actually needs to be changed. Have you ever considered dealing with the problem at a much larger scale though? INstead of devoting your time to fixing a specific building type, have you considered how the larger city layout could be manipulated to aid your cause? It may be too big to tackle, but it also may inform your decision on which buildings could best help the overall community.
ReplyDeleteI think that choosing to work in Miami is a great choice for, especially since you have such strong feelings about your hometown. You say that people don't appreciate living in Miami since they are constantly inside going from one air-conditioned place to another. Maybe you shouldn't just focus on inside conditions or bringing the outside indoors, but also play with ideas that could possibly bring the indoor occupants outside. Miami is already a beautiful place, but what else could you do with the outdoor layout and landscape to welcome more people into occupying outdoor spaces for various uses.
ReplyDeleteThink about why the existing building code in Miami is the way it is. Natural disaster prevention and mitigation? A limestone rockbed? I've always wondered why Miami couldn't get its sh*t together when it comes to being sustainable, maybe its all the cubans, but think about what we've done to the landscape in Miami. Could one really regenerate the Everglades as Dade and Broward keep encroaching more on its territory. I think Stiltsville (an old mining community in the water next to Cape Florida) could be an interesting case study for you to start.
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