Light in Space, how to beat climate change with shade.
#15 Slightly theoretical talk about how light reaches
From the Curator 😎
Yo, What's up! Joseph here
SORRRY I guess I keep messing up here but I forgot to link to the article about skyscrapers when it was sent out. I updated it an hour after it went live so if you go back now you’ll be able to read it.. 😅 In other news, this week has been slightly productive lol As the creator of #Archtober20 I’ve failed to keep up with my own challenge so let’s all finish this week strong!
If you enjoyed this issue of Life of a Designer, consider buying me a coffee to show your support!👇
Article of the Week 📚
Let’s talk about the architecture of darkness!
HOW WILL ARCHITECTURE CHANGE AS THE WORLD GETS HOTTER?
David Gissen has some pretty interesting things to say which will change the dynamic of the city when it comes to providing shade to slow down climate change. You can read about his ideas here.
Gissen goes on to compare two cities that he’s lived in before,
In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, laissez-faire development practices in New York and Vienna resulted in extensive physical transformations that can still be seen in those places today.
These laissez-faire building practices lead to the abundant day time darkness that is experienced by many NYC residents. Referencing last week’s article and why the US is far behind when it comes to building tall skyscrapers, building reforms have been brought up to fight against giant shadows being cast onto residents. The need for neighborhood light caused buildings to have a wider base but narrow as it got taller to reduce the amount of shadows.
One can see the results of these codes throughout Manhattan in structures built between the 1910s and the early 1960s. The mandated changes ironically created a type of socialism of the sky, framing sunlight as a shared urban resource in the city’s most commercial sector.
So by now you’re probably wondering what Gissen’s solution to all of this darkness is?
When we met with the City of Vienna’s planning department, we listened to proposals to plant more trees throughout the city. A standard, nonarchitectural approach to addressing sun exposure on city streets, this is a straightforward countermeasure to increasing urban heat. One planner also introduced a fairly shocking concept: bringing back the narrowness of medieval streets in future projects as a way to create a healthier city. Such narrow, dark streets are proven to be cooler during the summer months, and the circulation of air within them is surprisingly greater than their detractors described.
There you have it, an idea to combat climate change is to head back into medieval times. I’m not upset about this especially because most modern buildings today lend to creating a space similar to this. We now have huge terraces on the 5th floor that almost replaced street interactions and even has landscaping and trees! Trees on top of buildings? YEAH!! My old professors would roll in their graves if they saw this.. lol
Anyways, I hope you enjoyed the read, I found it really interesting and very relatable as to why we in the US haven’t been able to build taller.
Thought of the Week 🎙
Twitter notification comes in saying, Bob Borson tweeted after a while. I'm intrigued so I open up my Twitter app and look at what he has to say.
Just putting this out there because every single day you are one of these two people - it's up to you to figure out which
I read it internally and then immediately I resonate with the young girl trying to shoot the basketball.. There are two characters in this photo,
the intern/designer who has just enough confidence to try and take some responsibility with their work. They know what they are up against, at least they think they know but they try anyways because frankly... their career working in the office depends on it.
Then we have character number 2
The slightly older designer or boss who shoots down all of your ideas and thinks you’re the dumbest person on earth but for some reason still keeps you around… (I think we all now how that can feel sometimes.)
Now, which one are you this week? I can argue that neither is a good place to be but I’ve found myself being the kid trying and trying to make a basket but every chance I get I get blocked and the ball bounces back and hits me in the face 😅
That's all for this week, follow me on Twitter & Instagram 📲
I'll be back next week, same time, same place! 💪🏽