SUSTAINABLE OR NOT? A CASE STUDY CHALLENGING TRADITIONAL ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN EDUCATION THROUGH HUMANITARIAN DESIGN
Open Access
- Author:
- Mosemann, David
- Graduate Program:
- Architecture
- Degree:
- Master of Architecture
- Document Type:
- Master Thesis
- Date of Defense:
- None
- Committee Members:
- Darla V Lindberg, Thesis Advisor/Co-Advisor
Darla V Lindberg, Thesis Advisor/Co-Advisor - Keywords:
- collaborative design
design thinking
sustainable development
humanitarian design
architectural education
socially conscious design
design build - Abstract:
- A report by UN-HABITAT in 2003 stated that by 2030 there could be 3 billion people living in states of impoverishment throughout the world, requiring the production of 4000 housing per hour. This statistic begs the question of how, in an era of a global economy, rapid advances in communication and computing technology, and increased rates of literacy and education, can such a large portion of the world’s population still be plagued by the basic problem of housing? This thesis suggests that this reality is often the unintentional but inevitable outcome of traditional design thinking models that fail to acknowledge basic principles of the concept of sustainable development. Brought forth as a concept on which to base needed changes in global policy by the Brundtland Report in 1987, sustainable development is changing the way we look at the critical issues of the modern world. William McDonough, architect and advocate for sustainable development, has stated that all models and phases of design require rethinking. He suggests the traditional linear process, a cradle-to-grave paradigm of a design process resulting in an end product should be exchanged for a cyclical, or cradle-to-cradle process that considers the subsequent use and future adaptations of the products of design. In 2004, the National Architectural Accreditation Board made sustainable design an official criteria of the conditions for accreditation, but examination of this criteria’s definition indicates a manifestation of sustainable development that tries to fit within traditional design thinking models rather than creating new ones. In particular, the definition omits social and economic issues, which are critical to the understanding of sustainable development as encompassing the three interdependent areas of social and economic development and environmental protection. Humanitarian design is the essential architectural discipline that engages social and economic issues, and therefore principles of humanitarian design need to be adopted into architectural discourse in order to realize a complete model for sustainable development. Through the mechanism of a case study, this research therefore examines correlations between architectural curriculum criteria and essential factors to humanitarian design, gathering a body of knowledge on which to inform further development of curriculum models that respond to the interdependent and dynamic qualities of the world’s developing environments. The suggested models embody feet-on-the-ground methods that are manifested in collaborative projects that emphasize extended interaction of designers with local communities and environments, and present a paradigm shift from a linear and individually based design process to one that recognizes the greater community, social and environmental responsibilities of the profession.