Four Environmentalisms︎︎︎
Type: Experiment
Location: N/A
Size: X SF
Year: 2020
An ongoing project of articulating and hybridizing architecture’s various environmental agencies.
A proposal for a city hall which builds multiple environmental ideologies side by side for public debate. By questioning the assumption of what a “sustainable” building is, this thesis contends that the proliferation and co-mingling of multiple approaches can lead to positive and novel outcomes. Rather than a singular idea of how to address climate change at a local scale, this city hall opens up a variety of
possibilities
to the public.
︎︎︎The environmental prosthetic: architecture performs as an active infrastructure within local and regional ecological contexts.
︎︎︎The environmental machine: architecture focuses internally, via high performance envelopes, efficient use of structure and control of autonomous climates.
︎︎︎The environmental index: rather than attempting to alter the environment, architecture works to make it visible and understandable.
︎︎︎The environmental aesthetic: architecture questions its own definition and boundary through the production of heuristic, aesthetic experiences.
These otherwise “complete” agencies of architecture are forced into entangled adjacencies with one another which results in the production of hybrids: novel agencies beyond the original four.
︎︎︎The machine + the aesthetic
︎︎︎The aesthetic + the prosthetic
︎︎︎The prosthetic + the index
© 2021
Daniel
William
Garcia
Smith
Daniel
William
Garcia
Smith