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<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=421464822-12052011><FONT size=2
face=Arial>Derek</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=421464822-12052011><FONT size=2
face=Arial>What Andrew says is correct. Architects are generally taught
sustainable design and I remember being taught to look at "architect's bibles"
like the AJ Metric Handbook - which gave minimum spaces required for
various functional rooms to design. There are many such standards
around.</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=421464822-12052011><FONT size=2
face=Arial>Maybe the high volume builders need to employ
architects.</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=421464822-12052011><FONT size=2 face=Arial>I
have many owner designers produce monstrous houses in the name of "green
design".</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=421464822-12052011><FONT size=2
face=Arial>Bohdan</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=421464822-12052011><FONT size=2
face=Arial></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
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<DIV dir=ltr align=left><FONT size=2 face=Tahoma><B>From:</B>
GSBN-bounces@sustainablesources.com [mailto:GSBN-bounces@sustainablesources.com]
<B>On Behalf Of </B>Andrew Webb<BR><B>Sent:</B> Friday, 13 May 2011 12:33
AM<BR><B>To:</B> GSBN@sustainablesources.com<BR><B>Subject:</B> Re: [GSBN]
Square footage of straw-bale homes<BR></FONT><BR></DIV>
<DIV></DIV>Architects design something like 5% of houses; it may be less.
My impression from blogs, magazines and awards is that architecture that is
considered good design has nothing to do with size (perhaps with the exception
of Dubai). The Australian Institute of Architects has a handful of award
categories, and one is Small Architecture. The others are Residential,
Public, Urban Design and Sustainable Architecture, from memory. Most projects I
remember from university also had nothing to do with (large) size; one project I
remember was to design a single self-contained room. <BR><BR>I don't think
the education of architects is the major problem. The education of clients
is. The housing market is dominated by large project home companies of
various levels of so called prestige, which is supported by mainstream press
which is thinly veiled marketing of Large and Excess. I have often had
questions from clients such as "we only need two bedrooms, but should we have
four for resale value?" or, "we would be happy with a carport but I suppose we
need a double garage for resale?". Typically these people have no
intention of selling. But, as a house is a huge cost and a mortgage is a
huge burden, they are scared and believe, or at least question whether they
should believe, what most newspapers, magazines, TV lifestyle programs, and
particularly real estate agents tell them. Compounding this, of course, is
the overarching growth fetish and consumerism of capitalist society in
general. <BR><BR>I always try to design to a budget; almost every project
is a struggle to rein in the client to theirs. I like what Bob Borson says
on his blog - from a list of desirable client traits, <BR>"<STRONG>Understand
their budget: </STRONG>this is not the same as knowing your budget. It’s sort of
a glass half empty versus glass half full mentality – but with money. One has an
empty “budget bag” that they think they can put stuff in until it’s full; the
other has a bag with their budget in it and they take things out until the
budget is expended. It might seem like the same thing but it’s not. The group
putting stuff in the bag will continually try and jam more stuff in, well beyond
when the zipper will close (just sit on it and then try…). The other, well, when
you take the last thing out, that’s it, there’s nothing left. Whenever we have
clients that stress quantity over quality, it’s a harbinger of things to come.
It’s not the clients job to know what things cost, but when they keep increasing
the square footage of the project, or continue to add program requirements
without ever thinking that these things have costs associated with them, it’s
shows that they aren’t thinking about the very base fact that everything
has a cost associated with it."<BR><BR>-Andrew<BR><BR><BR>On 12/05/2011
10:21 PM, Derek Roff wrote:
<BLOCKQUOTE cite=mid:00BCEA96DDABAFDBF11B3B84@%5B192.168.0.70%5D
type="cite"><BR>I have wondered about the education of architects, and perhaps
some of the architects on this list can comment.
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