Time is the essence of
a real design problem – Francis Duffy.
I found this reading extremely
useful; it’s simplicity of content and potential implications on future
planning, particularly in relation to resource scarcity, embodied energy and
sustainable retrofitting, gave a practical design methodology that one can
apply immediately to any design project – old or new.
One aspect I found myself questioning was the statement that
‘Site’ was eternal. First of all, I believe this requires a definition of what
exactly site includes; is it purely land, is it ecosystems, is it social
fabrics, is it town planning zones, property boundaries, waterways etc.? I
would argue that regardless of which of these you include, site is never
‘eternal’, at least not in a static sense. Site is ever-changing, however, most
often on a time scale which far exceeds that of the building structure and
other components discussed in this reading.
Examples of significant site changes include:
Natural: Slow onset flooding, with the potential to turn 'site' into a lake/waterway for months/years. Erosion of sea side 'sites'. Sea level rises in future are also a real threat to long term changes in 'site'.
Human Made: The Highline in NY showed how new development, improved ammenity and town planning codes can create a significant change in site. When you consider the change in what a designer might initially note in site analysis these 'uneternal' aspects of site can play a huge impact in the type of development proposals clients and designers would consider.
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