[GSBN] Square footage of straw-bale homes

[Andrew Webb]

In Australia there are architects and there are 'Building Designers" - 
the latter has a TAFE (college) degree and collectively they design the 
vast majority of low to medium-rise housing, light commercial and 
industrial buildings.  "Architect" and "architectural" can only be used 
by registered architects who are governed by the Architects Act in each 
state (which puts more accountability, personal responsibility and risk 
onto architects).   To get around this, one building designer I know of 
who designs monstrous, expensive houses markets it as 
'*Art*chitecture'.  "Architecturally designed" is a desirable feature 
for marketing housing; typically up-market housing (or it's an excuse to 
over price); it is often used illegally but without consequence.  
Architects get a lot of undue blame because most people do not really 
know what architects do and/or think that anyone who designs a building 
is an architect.  That is not to say that architects don't have a lot to 
answer for...but for the most part it is not in housing.

In terms of aspirational influence, the architects that I can think of 
that are celebrated in Australia (meaning some people outside of the 
field have vaguely heard of them) are known as long-standing proponents 
of 'sustainable design'.  These are Lindsay & Kerry Clare, John 
Mainwaring, Gabriel Poole, Robin Boyd.  Historically housing around the 
western world has little to do with architects, and the unsustainability 
of housing has as at least as much to do with town planning as house 
design itself.  The Garden City movement that resulted in contemporary 
suburban planning, characterised by cul-de-sacs, circles, courts, 
flower-shaped street plans (much appreciated by airplane passengers 
perhaps, but no one trying to find their way on the ground).  Garden 
City sounds wonderful but unfortunately results in at least 50%, 
probably 75%, of blocks having poor orientation and making it difficult 
and expensive to design a house with good orientation.  In other town 
planning models, the cost of sewer pipe has dictated narrow blocks, so 
more can be serviced with less length; again constraining possibilities 
for better design.

Western Australian housing was dominated by a local brick company who 
had immense sway and their own people in government so that it was 
illegal to build with anything else up until the 1960s or 70s.  Still 
today Western Australians often see double-brick construction as 
superior.  This is completely a marketing and lobbying outcome.  BTW, 
despite being Canadian, I have never been so cold as living in a 
double-brick house in Perth, Western Australian, when the temperature 
never dropped below freezing.

I do not mean to suggest that architects don't have a lot to answer for, 
but with regards to housing, their influence is very limited.  Frank 
Lloyd Wright, sometimes touted as a visionary sustainable architect, 
does have a lot to answer for suburban sprawl.  The 1/4 acre block is 
his idea; the idea that everyone can have their bit of paradise because 
car travel connects everyone.  Maybe seemed a good idea at the time.  
Terrible consequences.

-Andrew

On 14/05/2011 8:24 AM, Graeme North wrote:
> So part of the answer to your question Derek, may revolve around the definition of an "architect".
>
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