More than bricks and mortar
03/07/09
Professor Avi Friedman, Professor of Architecture and Town Planning at McGill University's School of Architecture in Montréal, gave an enlightening and inspiring presentation at this year's CIH South East conference in Brighton.
Avi received his degree in Architecture and Town Planning from the Israel Institute of Technology, his master's from McGill University, and his doctorate from the University of Montréal. In 1988, he founded the Affordable Homes Program at the McGill School of Architecture, which he currently directs. He is known nationally and internationally for his housing innovation and is a practicing architect and author.
Professor Avi Friedman presented his views on what makes balanced, sustainable communities.
'There is a domino effect to what happened - the model that brought us all down was because we wanted to build and own as big as we could. Once you do this, you consume an enormous amount of natural resources. And then you need to get to them, by consuming oil and gas. We were sleeping at the switch, and then we woke up one morning to recognise the consequences - climate change.
'We're all pondering our way for the future: how should we house ourselves? We need to take a U-turn. We have abandoned the principles of building our communities. Sustainability is a term to be used, rather than attempting to satisfy our needs without thinking about the generations that come afterwards.'
Avi feels that the elements we need to consider are the economy, society, culture and the environment. He has explored this fully in one of his books: Sustainable residential development.
He highlighted the importance of supporting relationships. 'Riding a bicycle has a positive effect on the environment and your health. Everything we do needs to build and designed with a life-cycle approach. How should we house ourselves in the 21st century? We need to revisit the fundamentals.'
He cited the example of a new community in Québec. 'We began by altering the landscape, building a community in the forest where we didn't have to cut down any trees. We avoided dynamiting rocks when we built the roads, and we've been able to wrap trees around the design without damaging them.
'In terms of climate, we need to live in coexistence with our climatic system. In the past two years I've work in Iqaluit, the largest community of the Canadian territory of Nunavut, where we've designed a sustainable neighbourhood. We first started by looking at the wind direction and sun patterns so that we could build energy consumption into the community's design.'
Avi believes that ownership is something that can be valued, narrowing the gap between those who have and those who will never have. 'In Porvio in Finland, for example, they broke every law in the book to enable people to buy.
'But what is the relationship between our homes and our communities? We are living in tough times, and our lifestyles are giving rise to patients. 9% of all kids have type 2 diabetes. Our homes and communities must be our exercise machines, and they need to be designed that way. For example, when we ride a bike, we feel better and we behave better. In Québec, entire communities are designed for healthy living, with walking paths and bike lanes. It's the best gift you can give a child.'
Can technology help us in sustainability? Avi believes that we need to change the design of our next homes. 'People shouldn't be forced to buy more than they can afford to. With new flexible construction methods, we should be offering components and menus offering choice for people for their own home. And they should be quicker - we built a home on campus at McGill University over 12 days. We can create homes that are delivered much faster and that are nicer.'
He finished by talking about the current economic situation. 'Sometimes the media wants us to believe that the world is about to come to an end. I believe that, when you look at life, some will see the empty half of a glass and some will see the full half.
'The economic slowdown is an amazing time for opportunities. It's a time to think, change, wake up and look at nature. We will be able to retool the economy in a way that will work for the future - seeking new leaders and new ideas. We������¢���¯���¿���½���¯���¿���½re now in the process of greening the planet and, in the coming years, we will see green energy, hybrid vehicles and green buildings.'
What is the next move? 'We need to learn lessons - if we resume our ways by ignoring our lessons of the past, we'll be making a grave mistake. We all need to wake up and move forward very quickly, retooling our minds and retooling our industries with new minds.'