studio+space

Visual Essay: The Winners

2009-12-08T04:50:00.003+11:00

We are glad to finally announce the winners of the Visual Essay competition.
Since we received so many wonderful pictures, the team decided to choose 4 images, according to the votes and the characteristics the pictures should have, and that graphically are appropiate for an "end of the year" card.
This images will be available as cards on the arch-peace site on a few days for all the members to enjoy and use as will.

11
Old Door, by Marwa Yousef, Palestine
taken in Birzeit, Palestine

60
by Judith Vargas Araya
taken in Valparaíso, Chile

10
by Gabriela Sabadini, Chile
taken in La Serena, Chile

17
by Susanne Bruecke
taken in Havana, Cuba

Visual Essay, the voting procedure

2009-11-12T13:06:00.002+11:00

First and foremost, as Arch-Peace we thank all of you that participated in any way on this event, whether sending pictures or promoting it within your contacts and colleagues.

Now is the time for you to vote, we are looking for images that are graphically appropriate for an "end of the year" card (season's greetings). This means that it has to have the right balance between meaning and hope, according the Arch-Peace principles and ideals.

The images are now with a number, now have to vote for the top ten images that for you have what it takes to become the greeting card for this year.

You can cast the vote commenting here, through the Facebook event created to vote or sending a mail to gabriela@architectsforpeace.org.

Visual Essay

2009-11-06T11:22:00.007+11:00

Visual essay is a new category among our news. Members are invited to submit original photographs of their city/town or other visual clues on urban or architectural character. Among the submissions we will chose an image for our end of the year card (with due credit to the author).

Now we invite you to keep sending pictures, the deadline is November 8th at gabriela@architectsforpeace.org , or to vote to choose the winner.

You can find more details here.

<----- <----- <----- ToY -----> -----> ----->

2009-05-09T00:20:00.019+10:00

BORDERS

where do they start smarter we become = produce high technology high borders
better materials worse borders

Maybe i will live for a short time but i can't develop this way

Architects for better solutions

* WORKSHOP KOSOVA : “Ecologies of Identity”

2009-04-25T22:46:00.013+10:00

BAD-INN (University for Business and Technology in Prishtina, Kosova) invited BAD-MIL/Lorenzo Bini (Politecnico di Milano) with Prof. Gennaro Postiglione to lead a joint-workshop in Pristina, during November 2008. 5 students from Milan, Italy and 10 students from Pristina, participated in this urban design workshop.

The idea is to work on the complex topic of “building” a national identity of Kosovo and its consequences for the urban development of Prishtina and the whole Kosovo. The framework is the recently declared independency of Kosovo from Serbia and the need to build its own identity in order to proceed with the international discussion. A clear and visible identity is vital if you need to assert your country in relation to other countries. This is a consequence of a long term policy dating from last century where the idea of Nation & State was gathered together bringing also the theme of ethnicity.

The following documents cover some of the topics discussed during the workshop:

Ecology of Narration [PDF]
Ecology of Network [PDF]
Ecology of Heritage [PDF]
Ecology of Buildings [PDF]
Ecology of Borders [PDF]

Playing on Freeways

2009-04-19T04:09:00.004+10:00

By Anthony McInneny

Since 2005 Anthony McInneny has been a studio leader in the RMIT Art in Public Space program. In 2008 he was appointed as the coordinator of the Graduate Certificate in Public Art, Art in Public Space.

AMRIK..."Mobile History"

2008-10-15T22:58:00.002+11:00

AMRIK...A photography show to show the presence of Arab in South America
i had the chance to be part f it ,in organizing the show in ramallah ,Palestine
accompanied by the Brazilian architect who worked on the idea from the start
the pictures are just amazing

The pictures captured Arabs who immigrated to South America in the late 19th -20th century
they are now integrated the society,speak the language and have one of the most successful companies

The pictures were made by 23 photographers from ten countries in South America, all recent, except for the historic pictures. The exhibition is divided into four moments. The first shows the cultural presence of the Arab habits brought from abroad.

Then, the pictures show immigrants going through difficult moments when leaving their country. Then come images that show Arab and South American integration, and last of all comes the Arab identity.

I had the chance last February ..and Beatriz had the chance to visit it in Chile and Jordan this is just a great coincidence. If you want to know more about this exhibition go to http://www.exposicoes.mre.gov.br/amrik/default.html
thanks

what is trespassing to you?

2008-09-28T22:17:00.010+10:00

By Beatriz C. Maturana

At our last committee meeting, we had a very interesting discussion around the notion of 'trespassing' after which, and as suggested by Peter Johns, we decided to focus on trespassing for our next words @ bldg50.

The discussion was prompted by very real concerns around one of our pro bono project in which our ‘clients’ are actual squatters. So the question was: what is trespassing for Architects for Peace, is it something we take on, is it what we are…? After all we trespassed notions of ‘nationalism’, ‘patriotism’, fear of ‘terrorism’ and many other such notions when we took a stance against the war in Iraq. Since then, we have proudly trespassed many government decisions by openly and actively opposing them. For instance, on indigenous housing and land issues, on asylum seekers, on the continuation of the attack and occupation of Iraq, on the Kyoto protocol, on public transport and so on… Perhaps we might conclude that we stand for trespassing!

So, I would like to invite you to a visual exhibition which I will start. The question is: what is trespassing to you?

This of course will lead to our next http://www.architectsforpeace.org/seminars.php in November 08 called 'trespassing'. There are no limits to the form that your view of trespassing may take, and the only rule is that it has to somehow connect to the built environment. So it is up to you, from silly to serious all views are welcome. I will start with the following photograph I have called “corny”, which in my view trespasses taste and imagination, and makes me smile.

Note: To add your image, please link your blog/post to this post by using the link option below. Otherwise send us an email with your image and a few explanatory words. Note that by doing this you accept that your image and words can be used in this website and/or at Architects for Peace presentations (with due acknowledgment).

Spencer Tunick in Mexico City

2007-05-19T14:58:00.000+10:00

Karla Saenz, artist and member of Architects for Peace, was present in the zocalo of Mexico city for the latest installation of photographer Spencer Tunick - famous for his dramatic portraits of mass nudity in locations around the world.

In Karla's words...

I would say: Mexico in freedom!

Mexico and my heart are celebrating this event because Tunick showed the true power of public art; giving people a space of self-expression and freedom in many senses.

I was surprised to see almost 20 000 people participating. From the 6th floor of the Hotel Majestic the view was marvelous; some of us had tears in our eyes. The beauty of hundreds of exposed, vulnerable bodies created an atmosphere of unity, sheltered by the tenuous light of the sunrise.

The experience left me with a feeling of pride and many questions about human relationships…why should a thin layer of clothing and our preconceptions of the world make us so different from one another in our daily lives? Why can we not respect each other? Why are we not open for dialogue? To me it also shows how much we need spaces where we can be listened to.

September 2007 - Building in Thailand with Habitat for Humanity

2007-04-29T09:54:00.000+10:00

In September 2007 Lucinda Hartley from the architects for peace pro-bono team together with her husband Tim will be leading a group of 11 Australian volunteers to northern Thailand to work with Habitat for Humanity on a short term building project. We will be working in partnership with local families to build one or more houses.

Habitat for Humanity International is a non-profit, housing ministry seeking to eliminate poverty housing and homelessness from the world, and to make decent shelter a matter of conscience and action. Habitat volunteers have built homes together with more than 125,000 families in need in 87 countries. Habitat works with in partnership with local communities and through volunteer labour and donation of materials. It is not a give away program rather it seeks to empower local communities through its micro finance program.

It is the responsibility of the international volunteer teams to raise the funds to finance the building project we contribute to. Our team has a fundraising target of $AUD15,000. This will finance the cost of building materials and tools, and make a contribution to the regional project.

If you would like more information about the project, or are interested in making a contribution, please contact mailto:hinfo.habitat07@gmail.com.

Architectural | Urban Space Design Studio

2007-03-21T02:53:00.000+11:00

Architectural + Urban Space Design Studio
an invitation for the old, the young, the poor, the rich and all non-human beasts...

"Utopia is on the horizon: when I walk two steps, it takes two steps back. I walk ten steps and it is ten steps further away. What is utopia for? It is for this, for walking". Eduardo Galeano

For the last two years, I have run a 4th year architectural/urban design studio. In this studio, architecture is not the focus, but the result of urban, environmental and social considerations - and this is where we start. The studio focuses on the needs of the city, with architecture there to assist. These are human needs and those of non-human beasts, ecological needs - these needs know boundaries.

The following projects display the work of my University of Melbourne' students, from the last two semesters (2006). In both occasions, we have worked with the support and collaboration of two municipalities, the City of Knox and the City of Melbourne. These are actual sites and the students have worked towards resolving existing urban issues.

In the studios we spend the first two weeks learning about the city - strange as it may sound, some of the students had not spent time learning about their own city in Melbourne Australia. Therefore, for 2 weeks we met, discussed and worked in the public realm of Melbourne's civic centre.

Studio cross-disciplinary approach: An important feature of these studios has been its multidisciplinary and cross-university approach. For the Knox City project, for about half of the semester, students from RMIT public art and students from the University of Melbourne architecture, worked together visiting the site, preparing site analysis and initial urban proposals. This mixing not only provided a richer understanding of the problematic of the city, it also created the opportunity to learn from a different disciplinary perspective and to widen the scope for cross-disciplinary empathy.

The students - sometimes acting as hosts other times as guests - did their best to welcome their guest students. It was interesting to see how this process made it much easier and faster for everyone to feel at ease in this studio. Whether this was because there were not inner competitions - as both groups knew something the others did not know (and that was ok and fun) - is yet to be tested.

1. Southbank
An invitation for the old, the young, the poor, the rich and non-human beasts...
city-street-market-plaza-house-citizen: agenda for a living walking city…

“From Perikles' Athens to David's Paris, the word 'civic' has implied an intertwined fate, a crossing of fortunes. It was inconceivable to a Periklean Greek that his or her fortune could be separated from the fortunes of a city, or to a pagan Roman of Hadrian's time.” R. Sennett (1994)

Project:
Urban proposal and architectural design for a mix of public and private spaces, with residential and community or commercial buildings. The final proposal will cover an extension of approximately one square block of the Southbank area within “The Sturt Street cultural spine”.

Location:
Bounded by the Yarra River, Westgate Freeway, Kings Way, Dorcas Street and St Kilda Road

top of page image: Clare Cannon
image 2: Minh Ngyuen
image 3: Dominic Kao
image 4: Ka-Wai Wong and team
image 5 (presentation under the freeway): Anna and Libby
Image 6 (presentation under the freeway): Minh, Emily and Clinton
Image 7 (presentation under the freeway): by Minh, Emily and Clinton

2. KNOX CENTRAL
This balancing act aims to rise above exclusive economic agendas. An invitation for the old, the young, the poor, the rich and non-human beasts...
city, street, markets, squares and houses: transcending the shopping spectacle…

"Why are you so interested in these houses?" one of the Turkish dwellers asks me, "they are ordinary". There it is, the fundamental question in its lucid form: why would these countless, repetitive, identical houses for the workers inspire anyone to explore their architectural significance? Yet, a few minutes later, she admits that the roof terrace of their building is "very beautiful and uncommon". Esra Akcan, The "Siedlung" and the "Mahalle"

Project: medium density housing:
The housing project will emerge from a thorough understanding of its suburban circumstance. The objective is to identify current development agendas and propose new ones to ensure and facilitate a multiplicity of uses with a strong social and ecological programme.

Location:
Knox Central is the working name given to a core area of commercial and industrial land located along the Burwood Highway between Stud and Scoresby Road, Wantirna South / Knoxfield.

image 1: Darren Kim Lee Yio
image 2: Group work

Studio leader: Beatriz C. Maturana
Beatriz is an architect with a masters of Urban Design, she is currently a PhD candidate at the University of Melbourne. Her architectural work includes local government buildings such as childcare centres, maternal and child health, sport pavilions and residential and urban design projects.

Team leaders: Prof Greg Missingham (Knox City) and Dr Darko Radovic (Southgate)

Crawl Before You Walk

2006-09-26T21:13:00.000+10:00

The following work is part of a forthcoming partnership public art project (working title Crawl Before you Walk) between Architects for Peace, RMIT Public Art and one Melbourne University's architectural design studio. Works will be located beneath the Kings Way overpass, at the corner of City Road, Queensbridge Road and Kings Way, to be held on one night only on Monday 23 October, coinciding with the Walk 21 Conference.

“IMAGES DETACHED FROM every aspect of life merge into a common stream, and the former unity of life is lost forever. Apprehended in a partial way, reality unfolds in a new generality as a pseudo-world apart, solely as an object of contemplation…The spectacle in its generality is a concrete inversion of life, and, as such, the autonomous movement of non-life.”

G. Debord (1967)

Jaguar Lacroix is a new media artist whose work considers the paradox of modern life. She is concerned with the abject and the detached and the connection between this detachment and the necessarily irreconcilable notion of our complicity or culpability in this hopelessness.

Abattoir of Dreams presents two concepts set in the non-place beneath the appropriately named Kings Way overpass, at the back of the Crown Casino that is the built form of government’s addiction to gambling both metaphorically and financially. In Victoria, gambling is approaching 18% of State revenue.

Abattoir of Dreams – detail. Tattooed Bodies.

In the first work, the advertorial text of state sanctioned gambling along with its inherent risk of addiction is stamped literally onto the bodies of the state victim, here represented as a conveyer belt of gutted and denuded carcasses (the bodies of ‘dumb’ animals) – submitting to their role of transformation into state revenue. Taunts eliciting the realization of the dream of power inscribed on the front of the casino edifice (the processing plant) constitute lures of promise, but only via participation: – play the game, go all in, test your skill. Worship at the altar of the golden calf and you will be crowned, king – for a day - in CrownCasinoNeverLand, a day that lasts forever. The consumer, having swallowed the fetishised lie, becomes in turn the consumed product of the state machinery. Machinery rigged to guarantee the continuing prosperity of the larger hegemony and the power of the invisible few. Hooked on the promise, revolution will never cross your mind.

“ THE WHOLE OF LIFE of those societies in which modern conditions of production prevail presents itself as an immense accumulation of spectacles. All that was once directly lived has become mere representation.”

Guy Debord, The Society of the Spectacle. Ch. 1. Separation Perfected. p. 12. 1967 Buchet-Castel

(2) Abattoir of Dreams

As a culmination to this apparition of violence / mis en scène of horror, one may as well coin a term – glamourhorror: The spectacle of excess co-existing with the reality of death. We come to the Event as commodity: The representation and reproduction of the ‘other world’ as spectacle. The destroyed structure of a city, a symbol of human habitation and industry, existing in parallel time to the modern city we inhabit is projected onto a structure of permanence - a city overpass. The viewer is invited to comprehend the meaning this collision of realities might for them evoke. A sow, offensive to at least two religions is left to swing over the abyss of meaning and the concrete rubble – a lasting symbol to the barbarity of war and the violence of which we collectively remain capable.

“ THE WORLD THE SPECTACLE holds up to view is at once here and elsewhere; it is the world of the commodity ruling over all lived experience. The commodity world is thus shown as it really is, for its logic is one with men’s estrangement from one another and from the sum total of what they produce”. p 26. Ch. 2. The Commodity As Spectacle. Ibid

See Jaguar’s work and the work of RMIT and Melbourne University students for one night only, Monday 23rd October, below the Kings Way overpass, at the corner of City Road, Queensbridge Road and Kings Way, as part of the Walk 21 Conference.

Climate Refugees: Global Responsibility in a Market Society

2006-08-03T00:06:00.000+10:00

By Sarah Bridges, architecture student, Melbourne University, 2006

Subject: Environmental Design - Market Economy and Market Society
Subject coordinator: Dr Darko Radovic
Studio leader: Beatriz C. Maturana

1.0 INTRODUCTION

“By recognising environmental refugees you recognise the problem. By recognising the problem you start on the road to accepting responsibility and implementing solutions”(1)

(Jean Lambert, Greens MEP 2002)

The following essay attempts to not only continue, but provoke discussion on global responsibilities in terms of sustainable development in a market society. The plight of climate refugees from around the world is exemplary of a history of neglect in the global civil society. This neglect has compounded from economic, social and environmental inequalities, which has resulted in unstable futures for a predicted 150 million people by the year 2050 (2). This situation was caused due to problems not only in political and legislative arenas, but also in the inherent understanding of the individual and the greater mass about what part they play in the “sustainable world”. Andrew Simms, co-author of, “Environmental Refugees – The case for recognition”, 2003, comments that “we face a ‘homes-for-lifestyles’ scandal, in which people in poor, vulnerable countries pay with their homes for the lifestyles of the rich”. It is therefore only by changing neo-liberal or industrialized human nature, through implementation of political and legislative decisions in favour of repairing the situation, that a solution can be found. Thus the rich and poor can still live with equal access to the worlds basic resources, such as clean air, water, and most importantly solid ground to build their lives, families, communities and cultural identities on. See Fig 1.

2.0 GLOBAL INEQUALITIES

According to the United Nation Development Program (UNDP) Human development report 2005, although poverty has been reduced in some parts of the world, 25% of the world’s population is still stuck in severe poverty, and the gap between rich and poor is continually widening.(3) (See Fig. 2) When the world’s global economy is currently trading over $25 trillion, this begs the question of why are there still shameful inequalities and where are the national and international policies to prevent the economic, social and environmental inequalities, which are leading to unstable futures for over a quarter of the world’s population?

2.1 Economic Inequalities - Globalisation

Globalisation has been the major factor most analysts use as reasoning for the divide. It is therefore important to get an understanding of this term when discussing global economic inequalities. Sociologist Sasskia Sassen, from the University of Chicago, writes about globalisation and how it is a term “happily circulating in today’s world, without any conceptual underpinnings”. She argues that “globalization usually refers to international institutions that shape economic, political, and social systems at the national level” (4), the shaping methods used often do not cohere with the aims of the global civil community. It can be argued that such a state of inequality and uneven spread of power between the corporate international organisation and the governments of the world has arisen because the world is currently guided by “neo-liberalists’ ideology in an industrial global world.” (5) Morrison discusses global management as being guided by the Neo-liberalist ideology. From his definition, it is interesting to draw comparisons with the underlying definition of a Market society.

Neo-liberalism - Value is equal to price

- Value of species to be saved from extinction by what must be paid for their protection

- Does not recognize limits to market forces, but only to the efficacy of government action.(6)

Market Society- The value of everything is measured by what people are prepared, or able to pay for it.(7)

It seems therefore that perhaps the solutions lie therein, that being a champion of globalisation (i.e., successful international organisation) and turning a blind eye to global equity concerns should be the target of legislative moves. This is supported by Berkeley economist Pranab Bardhan, who calls for international institutions such as the World Trade Organization to regulate the behaviour of international corporations. Bardhan said, “International organizations provide a crucial mediating factor between countries that have unequal resources and unequal bargaining power.” (8) Through the implementation of policy there is a possibility of the “don’t beat them join them” mentality, where the world’s legislative powers can beat the independent organisations at their game by using the networks and rules set up globally in favour of the social and ecological environments and not the economic divide.

These economic inequalities are the catalyst for the butterfly effect on many detrimental problems within the world today. They lead to social and environmental inequalities which is where the real material and psychological detriment is felt.

Social Inequalities – Diminished Quality of Life and Life expectancy

Plato wrote in the fifth century BC warning Athenian lawmakers of the threat posed by extreme inequality. “There should exist among the citizens neither extreme poverty nor again excessive wealth, for both are productive of great evil.”(9)

Interestingly, the hero of neo-liberalism Adam Smith, agreed, stating, “No society can be flourishing and happy, of which the far greater part of members are poor and miserable. Relative poverty is a state where all members of society should have an income sufficient to enable them to appear in public ‘without shame’ ” (10). These statements are important in defining why social inequality is a major issue to be faced and how although social inequalities have been faced for centuries they should not be simply accepted. A blind eye has often been turned by the global civil society and thus continuation of the poverty cycle for many has persisted. See Fig 3. Statistics show that this has meant not only an economic gap but also a social gap, both playing the game of the chicken and the egg…which one came first?

2.3 Environmental Inequalities – Future Instability

“Ironically, those least responsible for Global warming or poorer nations are generally more vulnerable to the consequences of global warming. These nations tend to be more dependent on climate-sensitive sectors, such as subsistence agriculture, and lack the resources to buffer themselves against the changes that global warming may bring. “(11)

Global warming emissions of a country in comparison to its average life expectancy are direct indicators of Environmental stability in a country. Countries such as Australia having the highest per capita CO2 emissions at 1.4% of the worlds emissions, have a longer life expectancy, lower poverty gap and better future living opportunities in comparison with all the nations of the pacific islands, creating 23 times less emissions than Australia at 0.06% (12). Yet, it is these nations who will pay the highest price, if something isn’t done to curb our energy hungry and responsibility shy nation.

Whilst it is argued that through the economic divide, environmental inequalities have resulted, perhaps it should be looked at form another angle where the result has driven the cause. Andrew Simms’ book, “Ecological Debt – the health of the planet and the wealth of nations”, describes the paradox of how the global wealth gap was built on ecological debts, which the world’s poorest are now having to pay for. He suggests that the developed nations have exported their skill to less developed countries as economic immigrants, to find wealth and prosperity in an under legislated environment. They have taken advantage of lower laws on environmental protection and directly exported the financial gain back to the developed countries. All at the same time as strengthening the border controls of who is able to enter in their own more developed lands, as perhaps unskilled immigrants also looking for economic opportunity. Thus, the only benefit seen by the indigenous owners in less developed countries is a rise in production and export in the face of their own ecological demise. He goes on to describe the possibility of an “ecological debt”.

“Imagine opening a bank letter at breakfast to find that instead of your normal overdraft, you had an ecological debt that threatened the planet. If the whole world wanted to live like people in the United Kingdom we would need the resources of three planets like Earth. If the United States was our model the number would be five. Millions of us in the West are running up huge ecological debts: from the amount of oil and coal that we burn to heat our houses and run our cars, to what we consume and the waste that we create, the impact of our lifestyles is felt worldwide. Whilst these debts go unpaid, millions more living in poverty in the majority world suffer the burden of paying dubious foreign financial debts. “ (13)

This brings us to the case of Climate Refugees from around the world. People from less developed nations, who are directly affected by the detriment the environment has taken, and are still waiting for responsibility to be taken and the ecological debt to be paid by those from more developed countries owing.

3.0 Climate Refugees – Recognition and Responsibility

Climate Refugees are “Inhabitants from countries where the impacts of Climate Change, which include increased droughts, desertification, and sea level rise, along with more frequent occurrence of extreme weather events, inhibit their future social, economic and political survival.”(14) Factors such as; Food security, Water security, Increase in Vector and water borne diseases, Infrastructure and Land losses and Sea Level Rise are all too quickly arising in many less developed or environmentally unfortunate countries. Recent estimates suggest, “25 million people worldwide were uprooted for environmental reasons – compared to 22 million displaced by civil wars and persecution” (15). Another estimate suggests that by the year 2050, there could be 150 million climate refugees needing to be displaced. (16) See Fig 4.

Environmental refugees are currently not officially recognised and protected by the international community in a world of growing interdependency – where environmental problems have no respect for borders and nation states. The paranoia of wealthy countries is deeply ironic. Their carbon intensive lifestyles are driving global warming, which is likely to become the largest single factor forcing people to flee their homes around the world. There is an obligation on the nation’s most responsible for historic greenhouse gas emissions, to make sure that environmental refugees are recognised and protected. However, the Geneva Convention on Refugees contains no explicit clause to acknowledge their plight. Without a planned approach to managing the environmental refugee crisis, there will be chaos, avoidable suffering and a backlash against innocent victims of global environmental degradation.

This problem has already been faced in Australia and was rapidly denied in 2000 when the Tuvaluan government appealed to both Australia and New Zealand to take Tuvaluan residents effectively as Climate Refugees.

4.0 Case Study – Tuvalu

Tuvalu is a nation located in the pacific islands, made up of 9 coral atolls. Its population is approximately 11,000, and has an altitude of 3-5m above sea level. It has no major industry and does not have a large tourism industry. Its largest money making venture at present is the leasing of a www domain name .tv, which earns the country several million dollars a year. It is a struggling country in the best of time in today’s Market Society and yet now, has been put in the spot light for another reason. Its major claim to fame is that, it will be the first country to sink due to rising sea levels as a result of global warming. See Fig 5.

The appeal by the Tuvaluan government in 2000 was shamefully denied by Australia’s Phillip Ruddock, the Immigration Minister at the time, who stated that accepting environmental refugees from Tuvalu would be “discriminatory”.(17) Fortunately, New Zealand, a country of lesser size, and lower economic stability, put its hand up to help. Setting an example for the rest of the world, unfortunately however, unmoving to its closest neighbour. In March 2002, Prime Minister Koloa Talake announced that he was considering legal action against the world’s worst polluters, the nations most responsible for carbon dioxide emissions at the International Court of Justice.(18) And today in 2006, there is still yet to be discussion on a new immigration category within Australia. This example shows the urgency of diplomatic action needed to accommodate for the bleak future of climate refugees. It is merely a taste of the “Chaos” which many writing on Climate Refugees predict if the global civil society does not own up to its environmental responsibilities.

5.0 Global Responsibility

Andrew Bartlett of the Australian Democrats suggested in 2002 that if Australia considered its contribution of 1-2% of the global greenhouse gasses, Australia would see that it is directly responsible for roughly 1.2 to 1.4 million displaced people due to climate change. (19) See Fig 6

There is further need for a logical discussion to take place on global responsibility in the future. The ratio of emissions to immigration is one particular category dealing with climate refugees which is in effect only a short term answer to a long term problem. World leaders need to combine efforts, and put the issue on the table. There has already been response from some of the most powerful in regard to the effects climate has on immigration patterns from Tony Blair and Bill Clinton (see Fig. 7). However, it is obvious, that in today’s “market Society” there is greater need for legislation and policy making. While the immediate problem about to be faced by 150 million people needs an answer, perhaps more urgent is the answer to how we treat our global environment, and when we are going to stop abusing it. This was best put by the Tuvaluan Governor-General Sir Tomasi Puapua, at the 57th session of the UN General Assembly in September 2002,

“Taking us as environmental refugees, is not what Tuvalu is after in the long run. We want the island of Tuvalu and our nation to remain permanently and not be submerged as a result of greed and uncontrolled consumption of industrialized countries. We want our children to grow up the way we grew up in our own island and in our own culture.”

5.0 Solutions

When it comes to a solution to the problem it is not just a matter of small change. In a market society value is driven by price, and how much people are prepared to pay for something with money. Instead, the emphasis should be on whether the environment is able to pay for something. Perhaps it may take what Lester Brown describes as ‘launching the environmental revolution’ for any changes to fully assist in the possibility of a sustainable future.

“There is no precedent for the change in prospect. Building an environmentally sustainable future depends on restructuring the global economy, major shifts in human reproductive behaviour, and dramatic changes in values and lifestyles. Doing all this quickly adds up to a revolution, one defined by the need to restore and preserve the earth’s environmental systems. If this environmental revolution succeeds, it will rank with the Agricultural and Industrial Revolutions as one of the great economic and social transformations in human history” (20)

The following are a number of solutions put forth for dealing with the issues of Climate Refugees:

- Discussion on a political level regarding plight of Climate refugees

- Opening of a new category of Immigration by the immigration department directly related to climate disadvantage. (Australia has a disproportionate responsibility for creating them, and hence an onus to officially recognise them as a separate category of refugee.) (21)

- Recognition of responsibility directly regarding emissions affecting other countries.

- Payment of ecological debt to those owing through political discussion

- Assessment of causes behind climate Refugees, and collection of data, to make the problem a reality in the political arena

- Education to the public about the plight of Climate Refugees

- Increase the Overseas Development Assistance (ODA) from Australia to the United Nations target agreed upon in 1970, to 0.7% of the Gross National Income (GNI). Australia currently gives 0.41% (22)

Recommendations in Simms’s book for dealing with ecological debt include: (21)

1. Legal recognition and protection under international law for environmental refugees displaced by climate change and environmental degradation.

2. Rich countries to pay the cost of the rest of the world having to adapt to global warming.

3. Trade sanctions to be used against non-Kyoto states such as the United States and Australia

4. Cancellation of the unplayable conventional debts of poor countries in the face of rich countries' ecological debts

5. Gas guzzling urban 4x4 cars to carry environmental health warnings like cigarette packets.

6. The end of government subsidies to fossil fuels

7. In the light of global warming, a G8 reassessment of the resources necessary to meet the international poverty reduction targets of the Millennium Development Goals

8. A global framework to follow the current Kyoto Protocol based on the principle of equal, per person greenhouse gas emissions entitlements and cutting emissions to a level to stop dangerous climate change (known as contraction and convergence)

9. Compulsory therapy for key decision makers to help them deal with their denial about the scale of action necessary to deal with climate change.

10. A new model of economic development in which the acid test will be whether any policy increases or decreases human vulnerability to climate change.

6.0 DEFINITION AND POSITION OF TERMS

Globalization in terms of sustainable development:

“Globalization of industrial society includes not only the globalization of factories, but the globalization of pollution, of weapons production, of western technocratic management and its communications infrastructure”. (24)

Global Responsibility:

“By recognizing the problem you start on the road to accepting responsibility and implementing solutions” (25)

Sustainable Development:

A holistic approach to the process of development. Encompassing issues to do with environment, society, economy, politics and culture, both today and in the future

“Use of an area within its capacity to sustain its cultural or natural significance, and ensure that the benefits of the use to present generations do not diminish the potential to meet the needs and aspirations of future generations. Use of and visits to areas must contribute to social and economic well-being of the nations and its constituents without detriment to the heritage resources; and the integrity of the heritage resources is never jeopardized” (26)

Market Society:

When first unravelling the term of ‘market society’ it is difficult to ignore the underlying fact that these are two contradictory terms. “Market” has roots in economic benefit and competition, whilst society has deeper meanings attached with human ethics and behaviour, thus conflict can only arise. A basic definition of a ‘market society’ likens it to a social political structure similar to the free market style of capitalism (Adam Smith), whilst also referring to government instituted and or controlled forms of the market, also known as state capitalism (27). However, this is still quite broad. A real position on the phrase “market society” comes through its comparison with the phrase “market economy”

“When the market is no longer servant but becomes the master and the value of everything is measured by what people are prepared, or able to pay for it, we have not only a market economy but also a market society….”When the logic of market transactions invades most spheres of social life, everything becomes a commodity and ultimately nothing is worthy of respect” (28)

A market needs a society and vice versa, they need to co-exist, however, in the end, the market feeds off the society, whilst the society is merely facilitated by the market. The market can be manipulated but mostly importantly, it manipulates people.

Climate Refugees:

A report by Essam El Hinnawi in 1985, for the UN’s environment program defines climate refugees as

A category of persons “who have been forced to leave their traditional habitat” because of a marked environmental disruption “that jeopardized their existence and/or seriously affected the quality of their life.” (29)

Neo-liberalism:

- Global management is guided by neo-liberalist ideology

- Value is equal to price

- Value of species to be saved from extinction by what must be paid for their protection

- Cost of pollution by the price paid for emission entitlements, sold by those who pollute less to those who pollute more

- Does not recognize limits to market forces, but only to the efficacy of government action. (30)

Matrix of Antipodes:

Lines of social tension, representing deep fissures in industrial civilization. (31)

Figure 1

Figure 2

Source: UNDP Human Development Report 2005, http://hdr.undp.org/reports/global/2005/pdf/HDR05_complete.pdf

Figure 3

Source: International Labour Organisation
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/5059106.stm

Figure 4

Source: Myers, N., 1994, “Environmental Refugees; a crisis in the making”, in People & the Planet, 3(4)

Figure 5

Figure 6

Figure 7

Source: A citizens guide to Climate Refugees”, 2005 www.foe.org.au/download/fullcitizensguide.pdf

Footnotes
1. “A citizens guide to Climate Refugees”, www.foe.org.au/download/fullcitizensguide.pdf

2. Myers, N. “Environmental Refugees; a crisis in the making”, in People & the Planet, 3(4), 1994.

3. UNDP Human Development Report 2005, http://hdr.undp.org/reports/global/2005/pdf/HDR05_complete.pdf

4. Sassen, S., 1998, “Globalization and its Discontents – Essays on the new mobility of people and money”, The new Press, New York, USA

5. Morrison, R “Ecological Democracy”, Boston, MA, 1995 p.70

6. Ibid, p.85

7. John Nevile, The Australia Institute, 2000

8. Joshua Skov, Responsibility in the global Age

9. UNDP Human Development Report 2005, p.51

10. Ibid, p.51

11.“A citizens guide to Climate Refugees”, www.foe.org.au/download/fullcitizensguide.pdf

12. United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) 2000

13. Simms A., 2005 “Ecological debt, The Health of the Planet and the Wealth of Nations”, Pluto Press, U.K.

14. “A citizens guide to Climate Refugees”, www.foe.org.au/download/fullcitizensguide.pdf

15. Taylor, S, “Call to protect environmental refugees: crisis set to grow”, 2003, http://www.neweconomics.org/gen/news_envirorefugees.aspx

16. Myers, N. “Environmental Refugees; a crisis in the making”, in People & the Planet, 3(4), 1994.

17. The Australia Institute, Screw You Tuvalu, Media Release, October 14, 2001

18. Consibee M., Simms A., “Environmental Refugees –The case for recognition”, 2003, New Economics Foundation, UK

19. A citizens guide to Climate Refugees”, www.foe.org.au/download/fullcitizensguide.pdf

20. Lester R. Brown, 1992, “Launching the Environmental Revolution, Sate of the world: A worldwatch institute Report on Progress toward a Sustainable Society”, New York, W.W.Norton, p.174

21. A citizens guide to Climate Refugees”, www.foe.org.au/download/fullcitizensguide.pdf

22. A citizens guide to Climate Refugees”, www.foe.org.au/download/fullcitizensguide.pdf

23. Simms A., 2005 “Ecological debt, The Health of the Planet and the Wealth of Nations”, Pluto Press, U.K.

24. Morrison, R “Ecological Democracy”, Boston, MA, 1995

25. Jean Lambert, Greens MEP 2002

26. www.deh.gov.au/soe/2001/heritage/glossary.html

27. www.wikipedia.com

28. The Australia Institute http://www.tai.org.au/Newsletter_Files/NEwsletters/nl24.pdf#search=’market%society’

29. Consibee M., Simms A., “Environmental Refugees – The case for recognition”, 2003, New Economics Foundation, London

30. Morrison, R “Ecological Democracy”, Boston, MA, 1995, p.85

31. Morrison, R “Ecological Democracy”, Boston, MA, 1995 p.70

Healthy Living Centres as a Way to Promote Sustainable Communities

2006-08-01T14:03:00.000+10:00

By Mark Lam
(Student work. Presented at the University of Melbourne - Environmental Design)

The term Market Society in this discussion refers to a capitalist market economy that influences the exchange of goods and services in a society as well as the personal attitudes, lifestyles and political views of its people.

The World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED; Brundtland, 1984) definition of sustainability states:

Sustainability is development that meets the needs of humans and other living beings of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.(1)

The core concept of a sustainable environment is that there should be clean air, fresh water, sunlight (an effective ozone layer), fertile land and an abundant diversity of species. Furthermore it should address issues regarding habitat, society, economy, politics and culture. Hence, sustainable development means the development of all the above factors in a sensitive and sensible manner for the present as well as future generations.

Social sustainability is the harmonious co-existence of people within their society and environment (2). Arnie Næss, the author of the Deep Ecology philosophy states, “The ideological change is mainly that of appreciating life quality (dwelling in situations of inherent value) rather than adhering to an increasingly higher standard of living. There will be a profound awareness of the difference between big and great.” (3) A socially sustainable society does not have to be rich in terms of materialistic wealth, but has to be rich in terms of social and cultural wealth, which can be used for current and future generations.

The Market Society’s negative effect on social sustainability in cities is described by Sir Richard Rogers: “Cities are destined to house a larger and larger proportion of the world’s poor. It should become no surprise that societies and cities that lack the basic equity suffer intense social deprivation and create greater environmental damage – environmental and social issues are interlocked” (4). Most economists gauge the prosperity of a country using the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), which takes into account consumer expenditure, social costs e.g. welfare and environmental cleanup costs. The GDP however, is not a clear indication of the quality of life. The World Bank conducted a survey of OECD counties and found that in countries that had its economies owned by the richest 20 percent of its population, there was a lower rate of long-term growth (5,6). A better indication of the quality of life in country is the Index of Sustainable Economic Wealth (ISEW) takes into account all other social factors (not just economic costs) which are ignored by the GDP (Figure 1 explains this concept in graphic form).

In Australia, the divide between the rich and the poor is expanding and families that fall in the mid-range income bracket are declining. (8) Indicators for this inequality include rising unemployment rates and the increase of part-time and casual jobs in the country (see Figure 2). Richard Sennett discusses some of the undesirable consequences of increasing part-time and casual employment in more detail (9). Low-income individuals are often caught in a cycle of entrenched disadvantage, as they experience a lack of power, have limited opportunities for social participation, suffer from a lack of education/or skill levels and low self-esteem. The market society’s manifestations of globalisation, post-industrialism and e-commerce have the potential to exaggerate the situation for the poor. Furthermore, differences between the rich and the poor are manifested spatially where poorer people are relegated to certain suburbs, in housing commission flats or social housing. It is important to avoid social exclusion by having urban and regional policies that provide initiatives addressing such problems so that a balanced society within a stable economy can exist. (10)

Wealth, Health and the Community
The classic symptoms of poverty include poor education, poor environment and poor health, high crime rates, unemployment, drug abuse and social isolation. These demonstrate that economic and social systems are intertwined (12).
“More than 90% of people walking about in an ordinary neighbourhood are unhealthy, judged by simple biological criteria. This ill health cannot be cured by hospitals or medicine.” (13) This statement was made in 1977 based on observations of people in the United States of America. Thirty-one years later, the situation has not changed much. Based on the 2005 Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) report on Body Mass Index (BMI), 62% of males and 45% of females are classified as obese or overweight (Figure 3A and B). Diabetes is another indicator of physical health and the incidence of people suffering from this (mostly) diet related disease is high (Figure 4). Patients with diabetes are also highly susceptible to heart and vascular diseases. In terms of mental well-being, 57% suffer from depression or mood disruptive disorders, and 55% suffer from anxiety related disorders (14). Other diseases that can be prevented by improving diets, lifestyle and environments include cancer (15) and allergies (e.g. Multiple Chemical Sensitivity, MCS) (16).

The condition of our environment directly affects our health and well-being. Humans are by instinct sociable, hence a sustainable environment also means that there should be provision for human interaction and strong community support.

A proposal for Healthy Living Centres
The poor are often less healthy than the rich (19). An effective way to minimise this discrepancy would be to provide a place for poorer communities to be exposed to the concepts of health, enterprise, learning, environment and the arts. Healthy Living Centres are places for people to improve their physical, emotional and spiritual health. By addressing the issue of socially sustainable societies, current and future generations stand to benefit from its effects as these interventions will impact on the care given to the environment and in the long-term, sustainability of the economy.

Some examples of Healthy Living Centres.
Healthy Living Centres for the community already exist. Described below are a few examples of how these centres operate.

The Peckham Health Centre (The Peckham Experiment).
The Peckham Health Centre (20,21) was set up in 1935 by two doctors George Williamson and Innes Pierce who were interested in preventative social medicine for the working class. Their aim was to study the effect of environment on health in a deprived working class area. 950 families paid one shilling a week to use the club-like facilities, engaging in physical exercises, games, workshops or just relaxation. There were no set exercise programmes, and members were obliged to attend a thorough medical examination annually.
Sir William Owen designed the building in the modern style. The heart of the centre was a large swimming pool with a glazed roof. It had long stretches of windows that allowed plenty of natural light and fresh air in. Cork floor surfaces allowed children to wander around barefoot. All parts of the building were used including the roof, which was used for exercise classes. The interiors were simple, with floors supported on cruciform columns with the minimum number of internal walls, providing for a flexible space. It also provided for spontaneous social interaction in a community setting and for doctors to observe the members at play. There were no hidden, dark treatment rooms.

The centre closed in 1950 due to funding problems and because its philosophies did not fit into the National Health Service (NHS) at the time. The project became Pioneer Health Centre Ltd., and its philosophies have now been embraced by the UK government in the form of the Healthy Living Centres Initiative (22), which is well funded by the Lotteries. The architectural design of this building was purely for functional outcomes, unlike the next example, the Finsbury Health Centre.

The Finsbury Health Centre, UK.
The Finsbury Health Centre (Figure 6) is located in one of the poorest boroughs in London. As part of the Finsbury plan, the Finsbury Health Centre, designed by Berthold Lubetkin (23) (and Tecton) was opened in 1937 (24). The Finsbury Health Centre provided the opportunity for Lubetkin to use architecture as a catalyst to change people’s behaviour. The design of the centre provided plenty of natural light (using glass bricks) and ventilation. The centre had a brightly coloured scheme and cheerful murals promoting sunlight, fresh air and exercise as a way of life. The waiting rooms were arranged to provide a club-like atmosphere rather than the traditional rows of seats. Planning was flexible to cater for the ever-changing needs of the clinicians.

The services provided in the Finsbury Health Centre were of the curative approach, which also included a TB clinic, a foot clinic, a dental surgery, and a solarium, in line with the policies of the NHS at the time. The health center provided the first example of the marriage of modernist architecture with a strong social reforming agenda.

The Sacred Heart Mission, St. Kilda, Victoria Australia. (25)
The Sacred Heart Mission Centre (Figure 7) caters specifically for the poor living in St. Kilda and neighbouring suburbs. The centre has two healthcare facilities, one for a GP and another for allied health services. All services are provided on a gold coin donation basis or free if the client cannot afford it. Other programs include a soup kitchen, laundry, showers, accommodation for the homeless aged & women. Funding is obtained from government sources, charities and activities of its own opportunity shop. Full-time staff and volunteers run the facility. Administration and the GP’s clinic are located in the converted vestry, the soup kitchen café and opportunity shop are located in the converted Church Hall and the health centre and hostels are located in a converted primary school. Surrounding houses are also incorporated into the hostel complex.

The reuse of buildings is well planned for their functions. The opportunity shop, cafe and soup kitchen as well as the grounds surrounding the buildings have plenty of sunlit sitting areas conducive to social interaction. The main feature that is lacking in the whole scheme are areas for exercise or physical recreation, like those provided for the Peckham Centre, hence depriving facility users of closer social interaction. Staff at the centre organise sports programs, making use of surrounding sporting facilities, but the effect is not the same. The architecture or the buildings are reflective of the history and the main function of the site, as a Church. The Church has adapted its stock of buildings well to serve an urgent community need, showing an appropriate response to encourage social sustainability.

Borondarra Community Health Centre, Hawthorn, Victoria, Australia.
The Borondarra Community Health Centre (Figure 8A) provides a large range of healthcare services to residents in the Borondarra council (26). A wide range of health and counselling services are provided. Patients are either bulk billed, or charged a consult fee according to services provided. As the size of the building is limited, there is only a small general-purpose room which can also be used for exercise activities such as yoga or pilates. The centre is one of a network of three centres, run by a not-for-profit-organisation (27), with funding through the National Health Scheme (NHS) and government grants. Workers are paid full salaries, with no volunteer workers.

Located in the old post office building, next to the town hall, and close to the train station, its central location makes it clearly visible and easily accessible. The recycling of the old post office is an environmentally friendly option. However, the consult rooms were split into traditional arrangements of little rooms of central corridors, and sometimes were not as well lit by natural light and there was a larger reliance on mechanical ventilation (Figure 8B). The arrangement of the waiting area, with its traditional rows of seating also make it feel much like the average waiting area in hospitals and clinics. The centre, although run as a not-for–profit organisation is administered very much like a business and the ideas of compassion and charity for the community, are less evident.

The ideal situation: an interconnected network of Healthy Living Centres.
Studies have shown that some mass media promotions about improving health are only partially effective (28). Another way of promoting healthy living is to create a network of Healthy Living Centres within the city, each catering for about 7000 people that provide overlapping facilities so that these can be shared between centres (29). The overlap of facilities also means people from poorer suburbs can interact with those from wealthier areas. The aim of creating a network of such centres is to promote within and between communities the culture of exercise, social or community activities, education about personal health and lifestyle habits, and to provide healthcare services. The establishment of these centres is not only a form of preventative medicine, but a tool to educate the population on lifestyle habits, which have positive effects on environment sustainability and the economy.

The kind of services provided for each centre should be specific to the requirements of the community. Factors like socio-economic differences, environmental and cultural differences need to be catered for. Some of these migrants arrive as refugees, and in most cases are poorer and have language barriers. The cultural issue of healthcare then, has to be taken into consideration. For example, among the Vietnamese, the symptoms of depression are felt in the body rather than the mind (i.e. somatisation of their depression). Their treatment would be massage rather than counselling, as is the norm for Anglo-Australians. (31) The old biocentric model of “man” (32) which is commonly used in western societies has to be made redundant, as the population becomes more and more diverse.

The ability to adapt to changes in population demographics is important. For example, provision will have to be made for an ageing population. The design of buildings should be flexible, and must take into consideration these changes (33).

Philosophical views of health, illness and well-being are always evolving (34) and the society (35) and political agendas have strong roles in influencing these (36,37). Perception by the community of the type of health-care (e.g. Allopathic, Holistic, Chinese Medicine etc.) that works is also important (38). The careful selection of services based on its effectiveness for each community is therefore crucial. These choices should be done without financial and political influences (39).

The environment in which we live in is important to our health. There are many man-made agents (such as chemicals and radiation) that can be harmful to our health. Initial exposure to these may not have any effect on our health and well-being, but in the long term can be dangerous. Saunders, in his book the “The Boiled Syndrome” explores this topic in great detail (40). The importance of location, material selection and sustainable design can be infused into the thinking of communities through the Healthy Living Centres; hence, the architecture of the centres becomes important in promoting sustainability ideas.

The aesthetics of the healthy building is expressed well by modernist architecture. Some modern architects have specifically designed their buildings with the aim of promoting health. Aalvar Alto’s Paimio Sanitarium (Figure 10), was designed specifically for tuberculosis patients, who needed plenty of sunlight and fresh air to recover. Alto designed to the smallest details, including the fittings and furniture, to aid in the patients feeling of well-being. Berthold Lubetkin’s Finsbury Health Centre is another example, which was discussed above. Architectural styles are constantly evolving, and like healthcare methods, whichever style that suits the function of providing a feeling of sustainability for that community, it should be adopted. The recycling of buildings is a good idea in terms of environmentally friendly construction practices; however, some of the limitations of older buildings (especially ones with less access to natural lighting) may hinder the promotion of feeling of healthiness. Buildings that are designed specifically for this function and which have flexible floor plans would be ideal for the use as healthy living centres.

Factors for and Against the Establishment of Healthy Living Centres
Some factors that make the idea less attractive to decision makers are that the initial outlay for setting up a network of such centres may be high, their effects are not immediate and are difficult to measure (41). As most governments make decisions based on the popularity of the decision and the voting public (which usually excludes the poor and the young) have ignored the issues of health and community, as a means of promoting a sustainable society, decisions to fund such places are hard to justify. Being sick is also good for business (42), and this means that market forces actually support the idea of being sick. Other issues relating to difficulties in setting up such centres are the staffing of such places, i.e. working in places with less prestige or lower pay, having to deal with social ‘undesirables’, the expected difficulties working with the ill informed and changing their mindsets. With most establishments dealing with the public, administrative ‘red-tape’, legal and insurance issues will increase operational costs and hinder good initiatives.

For Healthy Living Centres to be set up and maintained, there needs to be strong policies and funding. Some ways of getting the ideas across to influence decision makers about the benefits of such centres include:

Setting up lobby groups to promote the idea to local, state and federal leaders. Infusing ideas into Local Councils and planners so that their Urban Design Strategies (43) include planning for such facilities. It is important that government bodies provide initiatives to establish such centres.
Educate the mass population about the concept as a means to gain voter support. Starting up debates using the mass media (e.g. newspapers, television and radio programmes) are a good way to expose the concept to the public.
Starting up prototypical centres to show that it works. Funding may have to come initially from charitable sources until government support can be obtained. The Sacred Heart Mission is a successful local example of the concept.

In terms of staffing, some volunteer work could help overcome the shortage of workers. As the proportion of retirement age people increase (44) it may be a possibility to mobilise this group of people in what Sir Richard Rogers describes as “creative citizenship”. Not only does this reduce the cost of running such places, it may provide the elderly with a sense of usefulness after retirement.

Concluding Comments
The idea of setting up Community Health Centres is an attempt to improve the health and well being of the community both physically and mentally. For these centres to be effective, communities of lower social-economic standing in cities should be targeted (45). These centres create greater social equity. Downstream effects of this holistic approach include more sustainable environmental and economical development, and the negating of undesirable effects currently created by the market society (Figure 11). In order for this to work, governing bodies must play an active role in the promotion of such centres.

Endnotes
1. UN General Assembly document A/42/427. Our Common Future. Oxford University Press. 1987
2. Sennett, R. Capitalism and the City.
3. Næss, Arne. Ecology, Community and Lifestyle: Outline of an Ecosophy. 1989.
4. Rogers, R. and Gumuchdjian, P. 1997. p. 7.
5. Planning Institute of Australia. 2004.
6. Stekekee (1999)
7. Rogers, R. and Gumuchdjian, 1997. p. 154.
8. Yates and Wulf, 1999 and Lloyd, Harding et al. 2000.
9. Sennett, Richard. 2001.
10. Planning Institute of Australia. 2004.
11. Sheehan, P. and Gregory, R. 1998.
12. Burdess, N. 1999. pp 149-171.
13. Alexander, C. et al. 1977. p. 252.
14. Australian Bureau of Statistics. National Health Survey, 2004-2005. 27 Feb, 2006.
15. Zaza, Briss and Harris. 2005. p143
16.www.housesforhealth.org.au. Website set up by Australian architects running a not-for-profit organization to address housing and environmental issues for people suffering from Multiple Chemical Sensitvities (MCS).
17. Australian Bureau of Statistics. National Health Survey, 2004-2005. 27 Feb, 2006.
18. Ibid.
19. Burdess, N. 1999. pp 149-171.
20. Hall, L. http://www.wellcome.ac.uk/doc_WTD004752.html
21. http://www.open2.net/modernity/3_6.htm
22. http://www.caerphilly.gov.uk/healthyliving/healthyliving.htm
23. Allan, J. 2002.
24. http://www.open2.net/modernity/3_5.htm
25. I would like to acknowledge Mr. Vince Corbett for showing me the facilities.
26. I would like to acknowledge Beng Lee Foo, RN for showing me the facilities.
27. http://www.iechs.com.au/
28. Zaza, S., Bris, P.A. and Harris K.W. (eds). 2005.
29. Alexander, C. et al., 1977. p. 252
30. Alexander, C. et al., 1977. p. 252
31. Julian, R. and Easthope, G. 1999. p95-114.
32. Lock, M and Gordon, D. 1988.
33. Means R., Richards, S and Smith, R. 2003. Issues regarding aged care are discussed in detail in this book.
34. Grbich, C. 1999. pp 3-13.
35. Collyer, F. 1999. pp 217-237.
36. Griggs, B. 1997.
37. Wearing, M. 1999. pp. 197-216.
38. Lam, T.P., 2001, pp.762-765.
39. Wearing, M. 1999. op.cit.
40. Saunders, T., 2002.
41. Zaza, S., Briss, P., and Harris, K. pp. 80-113.
42. Pallisco, 2006.
43. So that these proposals can be published and made into public documents such as the Knox Central Urban Design Framework, 2005.
44. Rogers, R. and Gumuchdjian. 1997. p149.
45. Rogers, R. and Gumuchdjian, P. 1997. p1-23.

Bibliography
Alexander, C., Ishikawa, S., Silverstein, M. with Jacobson, M., Fiksdahl-King, I and Angel, S. A Pattern Language. Towns. Buildings. Construction. New York: Oxford University Press, 1977.
Allan, J. Berthold Lubetkin. London: Merrel, 2002.
Australian Bureau of Statistics. National Health Survey, 2004-2005. 27 Feb, 2006. Retrieved May 1, 2006, from http://www.abs.gov.au/.
Burdess, N. ‘Class and Health’ in Grbich, C. (editor). Health in Australia, Sociological Concepts and Issues. 2nd Edition. Australia: Prentice Hall, Longman. 1999. pp 149-171.
Collyer, F. ‘The Social Production of Medical Technology’ in Grbich, C. (editor). Health in Australia, Sociological Concepts and Issues. 2nd Edition. Australia: Prentice Hall, Longman. 1999. pp 217-237.
The Finsbury Health Centre. Retrieved April 30, 2006, from http://www.open2.net/modernity/3_5.htm
Grbich, C. ‘Approaches to Health’. in Grbich, C. (editor). Health in Australia, Sociological Concepts and Issues. 2nd Edition. Australia: Prentice Hall, Longman. 1999. pp 3-13.
Griggs, B. New Green Pharmacy. London: Vermillion, 1997.
Hall, L. Positively Healthy. Retrieved May 1, 2006, from http://www.wellcome.ac.uk/doc_WTD004752.html
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Inner East Community Health Service. Retrieved May 14, 2006, from http://www.iechs.com.au
Julian, R. and Easthope, G. ‘Migrant Health’ in Grbich, C. (editor). Health in Australia, Sociological Concepts and Issues. 2nd Edition. Australia: Prentice Hall, Longman. 1999. pp. 95-114.
The Knox Central Urban Design Framework. 2005. Retrieved April 3, 2006, from http://www.knox.vic.gov.au/upload/Part1KCUDF.pdf
Lam, T.P., ‘Strengths and weaknesses of traditional Chinese medicine and Western medicine in the eyes of some Hong Kong Chinese’. J Epidemiol Community Health, 55, 2001, pp.762-765.
Lock, M and Gordon, D. Biomedicine Examined. Kluwer Academic, 1988.
Means R., Richards, S and Smith, R. Community Care: Policy and Practice. 3rd Edition. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2003.
Næss, Arne. Ecology, Community and Lifestyle: Outline of an Ecosophy. Cambridge; New York: Cambridge University Press. 1989.
Pallisco, 2006. Michael Pallisco, ‘Sick generate healthy demand’, The Age Wednesday 17 May 2006, Business p. 7.
The Peckham Centre. Retrieved April 30, 2006, from http://www.open2.net/modernity/3_6.htm.
Planning Institute of Australia. Liveable Communities. How the Commonwealth Can Foster Sustainable Cities and Regions. February 2004. Retrieved May 1, 2006, from http://www.planning.org.au/vic/images/stories/health/drafthealthpolicy.pdf
Rogers, R. and Gumuchdjian, P. Cities for a small planet. London: Faber & and Faber, 1997.
Saunders, T. “The Boiled Frog Syndrome, Your health and the built environment”. West Sussex, England: Wiley Academy, 2002.
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Sheehan, P. and Gregory, R. ‘Poverty and the Collapse of Full Employment’, in R. Fincher and J. Niewenhuysen (eds), Australian Poverty: Then and Now. Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, 1998.
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Zaza, S., Bris, P.A. and Harris K.W. (eds). The Guide to Community Preventative Services. What Works to Promote Health? New York: Oxford University Press, 2005.

888 - Public Art, Melbourne CBD

2006-05-16T23:38:00.000+10:00

888
Public Art Installation – Corner Russell + Victoria St, Melbourne CBD

A small project is being undertaken by RMIT Public Art Students around the 150th anniversary commemoration of the eight-hour working day. The project involves the notion of time, socio-economic changes in Australia and unsanctioned artistic interventions in public spaces.

The works vary from sculptural forms, to a range of unlikely souvenirs, text based work on time based ticketing, a sound work on a narrow cast of workers during lunchtime and various installations dealing with labour and the shifting terms of production.

One piece, utilising the three eights that was launched on April 21, the commemorative day of the action in 1856 that officially secured the eight hour working day, has spawned a series of response writhes by anonymous unionists that marked this day, May Day and the rally the following Sunday.

The usually inactive grass triangle on the corner of Russell and Victoria Streets in Melbourne has been a buzz of conversation and attention during the installation of the 11 works on site during April and May.

Pictured in order of appearance here are Eight Eight Eight by Wendy Black, Hollow Victory by Elaine Hogarty, Souveneirs by Claire McCraken, and Brain Food by Anthony McInneny.

Seeing faces behind the figures: a designer’s role in post-disaster reconstruction

2006-04-03T22:22:00.000+10:00

Seeing faces behind the figures: a designer’s role in post-disaster reconstruction

Transcript of presentation for pps:r exhibition, 15/3/06, by Eleanor Chapman

Note: This presentation was given before Hurricane Larry hit the Queensland coast. While I am deeply sorry for those who have lost homes and livelihoods and don’t wish to downplay their suffering by any means, I find it impossible to ignore the contrast in consequences when a natural disaster strikes a wealthy first world country as opposed to a struggling developing country. No lives were lost here, and I have no doubt that the generosity of our country’s government and its citizens will assist the affected communities on the path to recovery. It seems to me all the more timely to remind ourselves that others face far greater obstacles to rebuilding.

My recent experience traveling in Central America, and particularly Guatemala, has coloured my perspective on an incident that for most of us probably only registered as a slight blip on the radar. Hurricane Stan was dwarfed by the impact of Katrina in the US and the South East Asian earthquake. If it were not for my recent encounter with Central America, and particularly Guatemala, where I continue to be in touch with a female architect (burdened both with the double charge of practicing the luxury of design in a country where most are just working on survival, and being a woman in a still deeply patriarchal culture) I have no doubt that the suffering in Guatemala would have registered only as a slight blip on the radar for me. The rehabilitation of countries devastated by natural disasters or war is a complex issue and I am no expert on the subject. I can bring to this discussion my personal experience and a sense of connection to a place and people that have been dealt yet another blow in a long history of suffering. I can only try to dig a little deeper below the statistics that are piled up for our viewing displeasure. I want designers to recognize that beyond these statistics lie individual lives, and at this level we can mobilize ourselves to act.

In June of last year I had the opportunity to experience the lifestyle of an indigenous Mayan family living in the Guatemalan highlands, in a remote community 2400 meters above sea level. My experience began with a 2 hour hike uphill through mud and rain to reach the family’s home. It nearly killed me, and I was more than a little humbled to learn that the father of the household (who had accompanied me) had to do the round trip six days a week.

I was faced upon arrival with a totally alien landscape. It was a scene devoid of power lines, plumbing systems or cars, even the faint buzz of a radio was eerily absent. The home I was to stay at was one of a collection of timber or mudbrick huts clinging precariously to the mountainside.

My host family’s home was a dirt floored, two room affair. One room contained two beds for guests (it’s walls heartbreakingly decorated with carefully cut out newspaper clippings) and another of about the same size that acted as both kitchen and bedroom, furnished with some makeshift shelves, a wood fire and a single bed where the parents and their two little kids apparently slept all together. Rain water collected in a tank was used for washing clothes and bodies (this is done outside in the mud directly from the tank itself)

The families in this community eke out an existence by tending corn crops on land that they do not own themselves. They are very isolated from medical treatment and schools as the only access is via the dirt track I arrived on. Although the surrounding forest is stunning, it is gradually disappearing to provide firewood for the local community and more farming land, and during the wet season torrential rains further erode the cleared ground making it more and more unstable. Houses are not particularly structurally sound as they are built by people without the luxury of choosing sturdy materials or a secure location.

For most of us I’d say it’s pretty hard to visualize living in a place like this, but I’m going to ask you to stretch your imagination a bit further and imagine what happens when such a place is hit by a hurricane. In fact Hurricane Stan didn’t hit Guatemala directly but in just passing close by managed to cause massive mudslides and flooding. The area I visited escaped the worst of it, but in some parts entire villages just disappeared, huge chunks were torn out of bridges and roads and people were buried alive. According to the final figures something like 670 people were confirmed dead (although many more bodies were never recovered) over 25,000 homes were damaged and over 9000 completely destroyed. Numbers like this are always released following a natural disaster (and consistently refined and re-released) and they go some way to quantifying the extent of the damage, but in a way they’re meaningless and they’re difficult to move beyond.

Yes, they can give the international community some idea of the amount of financial aid required, but they tend to paralyze us as individuals – they make the situation out to be so big that we feel powerless and they don’t personalize the events at all. My point is that designers aren’t conditioned to respond mechanically to a sudden need for 9000 new houses – we work with a unique client, site, budget and set of needs to come up with a specific, personal solution.

So what role could an architect possibly have in the rebuilding process?

5 months down the track, Guatemala now faces the challenge of salvaging a country that was already in pretty bad shape. I would argue that it is now and in the coming months that most international help is needed, although the immediate horrors of ruined possessions and grief stricken mothers have long disappeared from our TV screens. Even if living standards are restored to their former level, the country is at risk of becoming entrenched in a cycle of devastation, rebuilding and further devastation. But given that getting back to that same level is itself a mammoth task for people who are now totally destitute, how is it possible to go above and beyond?

Well, from a practical viewpoint: inappropriate siting of buildings, unsafe construction, as well as nowhere secure to go in the case of evacuation, aggravated the damage caused by the hurricane. There is a chance to rectify these mistakes in the reconstruction, and an architect’s involvement to advise on these basic things could be worthwhile.

But I think the real answer may lie in rethinking the concept of rebuilding outside of merely practical terms.

It’s not just about four walls and a roof. By this I don’t mean that it’s an appropriate time to experiment with outlandish designs and spatial poetics, but that the social fabric of whole communities is also in need of repair. Many of those affected previously survived on farming or weaving textiles to sell to tourists. Wiped out crops and buried equipment means people have lost their livelihoods. Cultural identity is also endangered. In one of the worst hit areas, Panabaj, some members of the Mayan community are wearing donated Western clothes for the first time ever. This might not seem particularly striking, until one considers that Mayan communities continue to dress in handmade garments specific to each region, and now their inability to afford new looms and materials to weave their traditional dress represents a significant cultural blow. Further to this, families have been torn apart, many children were orphaned and kids as young as 6 years old are now looking after their little brothers and sisters.

So we’re really talking about piecing together individual and also collective identities, and while these may be intangibles in themselves, architects are generally well placed to draw out and interpret intangible issues. A sense of community has an importance in Latin America that our very much me-focused Western society can’t fathom, and in villages that can afford it the central focus of the community is physically the town centre, usually consisting of a church and plaza where people can gather. I see the reconstruction or establishment of communal nodes, like schools, town halls, clinics and maybe foster homes as being crucial to a process of renewal, as well as potentially being secure buildings suitable as evacuation points in the event of a future disaster. And once we get down to the scale of an individual community confronted with these needs, what should emerge but a unique client, site, budget and set of needs requiring a specific, personal solution.

What sort of skills are needed in the reconstruction stages? Well, some sort of construction knowledge as I said before. Communication skills, visual and verbal as English speaking is not always possible. Empathy. An appreciation of intangibles like cultural identity and personal feelings. Problem solving skills. Ability to work within constraints. Willingness to listen and learn from local knowledge and needs as much as the contribution of new ideas. Also a bit of a sacrifice of ego wouldn’t hurt. Do I really need to draw the obvious conclusion here? Aren’t these the things that we are trained to do as designers? The ego thing might be a bit of a challenge, but most of us are probably dealing with the others at school or at work in some shape or form every day.

I don’t want to over-simplify the situation. Obviously, even if we as individuals make the decision to contribute time and skills, funding has to come from somewhere for a start. Also, the recovery process is beset with much bigger problems that can only be addressed by the Guatemalan government. But to be overwhelmed by the scale of the situation is to miss opportunities to make inroads from within – we risk missing the trees for the size of the forest. Just what is at stake here? It is not quite a re-imagining of our roles as architects, but perhaps a re-ordering of our skill set; recognizing the value of communication skills, lateral thinking over abstract design sensibilities. The common view of architects held by those outside the field is dramatically different to our own self-perception and it’s not hard to see why; an entire ideological discourse is going on behind the closed doors of academic circles and institutions that rarely translates into real projects. What is the rhetoric really worth if it doesn’t ever become action? Working in a devastated country is a chance to demonstrate that there is more to architects than black suits and over-fed vocabularies. More importantly it’s an opportunity to rediscover the importance of engaging with clients, and be involved in genuinely worthwhile projects. I am far from the first person to have expressed these views, and that is possibly the most encouraging sign. I see designers as having the potential to operate at two levels: one being at the coal face, working with already established aid organizations and local people, and the other as a collective group petitioning governments and decision-makers.
It’s time for architects to swallow the fear of being too political; the built environment is already political, it always has been. I believe that having the world at our fingertips should entail some sort of shared responsibility, not just for the faceless concept of the ‘global community’, but the real people who live there.

Photographs (from top to bottom):

(click on photo to see a larger image)

Mayan_family_kitchen - Dinner is served in the kitchen (also a bedroom)
A single rainwater tank is the household's only source of water
A blanket of cloud descends on the mountain mid-afternoon
Map - Extent of housing damage in Guatemala (excluding buried villages)
Stan in huehue - City of Huehuetenango post-Hurricane Stan
Shelter - Plastic sheeting clad shelters proposed for emergency housing
Tent city pan - Shelter villages in February, four months after hurricane

Post Vacancy for the Future

2006-03-16T09:54:00.000+11:00

The City of Philadelphia, Urban Revitalization

An International Design Competiton on Philadelphia Urban Voids

How can a city respond to the crisis of vacancy? Philadelphia, with over 40,000 vacant properties representing nearly 1,000 acres, has become one of the nation's foremost examples of urban abandonment and extensive sprawl.

An International Perspective from AFP Ankara Members, A. Özge Özdamar and Nilüfer Gündüz

In the new landscape one major theme is that of urban context. That idea is based on the philosophy of revitalization of the city by creating “functional green areas”. In this project, vacant lands are transformed into potential: eco-islands, connectors and resonances in order to provide solutions at the regional and local scale.
Economic solutions are provided by increasing the land value and finding new functions to be applied to the abandoned buildings thanks to new green concept, namely “eco-islands”,

Physical solutions are provided by increasing the environmental quality and by taking advantages of the waterfront, diversity of the land

Eco-islands are located where the vacant land is incredibly dense. They simply are rural communities integrating sustainable development by ecological buildings, green production and alternative energy. Eco-islands are not necessarily integrated directly in the urban context; Their connectivity to the city is provided through the connectors which are located at the secondary vacant land. Tertiary vacant land approach is provided by resonances acting as buffer zones of the connectors and eco-islands.

These areas are designed to be a space “usable” by the whole range of local residents. Growing food as much as possible within the community bio-region and supporting organic food production, using village-based integrated renewable energy systems will contribute to the economic solutions. That will indeed contribute to the environmental quality which is actually the second main idea of the project by protecting the biodiversity and by preserving clean soil, water and air through proper waste and energy management.

Dead wood strategy for the Swiss forest

2005-09-24T22:19:00.000+10:00

By Nilufer Gunduz
This project aims at:
- analyzing both the quantitative and qualitative deficiency of deadwood and veteran trees in Swiss forests on a regional scale;
- determining the most urgent needs for action and
- suggesting different kinds of management measures to counterbalance the lack of deadwood and veteran trees.
The relationship between the distribution of saproxylic species* and the availability of deadwood and veteran trees allows us to determine regional potential for saproxylic species conservation.
Method:
On the one hand, the data from the Swiss National Forest Inventory are being analysed in order to find out some explanatory variables influencing the quantity and quality of deadwood in the Swiss forests. On the other hand, habitat suitability maps are being created to identify the distribution of saproxylic species. For this, the freeware Biomapper (Hirzel, A.H., J. Hausser, & N. Perrin (2004) Biomapper 3.0.), a program computing an ecological niche factor analysis based on present data is used. Input variables consist of 50 selected species of lichens, fungi, molluscs, insects, reptiles, birds and bats, and 15 ecogeographical factors such as topography, climate, forest type and protected area.
The overlay of all obtained habitat suitability maps will highlight “saproxylic hotspots” of Switzerland. Conservation efforts should be undertaken where “saproxylic hotspots” match deadwood-lacking regions.
*Species that are dependant, during some part of their life cycle, upon the dead or dying wood of moribund or dead trees (standing or fallen), or upon wood-inhabiting fungi, or upon the presence of other saproxylics (Speight, 1989).
Reference:Speight, M.C.D., 1989. Saproxylic invertebrates and their conservation. Council of Europe, Strasbourg.

http://gecos.epfl.ch/gecopa/Personnel/Rita/projects.htm

Temporary Living with Boundaries

2005-09-22T06:35:00.000+10:00

TOPOGRAPHY OF INTERCONNECTIONS
by A.Ozge Ozdamar
LOCATION
Magdeburg is the capital of Saxonia-Anhalt. The site: Magdeburg South-East is a former industrial part of the city with high rate of unemployment and a large amount of abandoned properties.

INTRODUCTION
The change of paradigm in the Stadtlandschaft of Magdeburg has a very noticeable effect on people’s lives and their everyday environment. Spaces which once had a high value for the community and individuals are now abandoned. Remaining values of use need to be localized and strengthened, new ones introduced according to the present process of shrinking in the Stadtlandschaft and the needs of the people in Magdeburg.

TEMPORARY LIVING WITH BOUNDARIES
The post-unification situation led to two kinds of boundaries in Magdeburg-South: “Linear Boundaries” and “Area Boundaries.”
CONCEPT: Frugal solutions to modify boundaries.
GOAL: Providing interconnections between living environments by means of boundaries.

http://www.masterla.de/studio/2004ibamd/html/projects/topography/oezge.htm

Journey's Seed

2005-07-26T11:17:00.000+10:00

Journey’s Seed
by Anthony McInneny, artist and arch-peace member
(located in Box Hill, Melbourne - Destination 109)

The two sculptural works were developed in response to the information gathered from Whitehorse residents from all walks of life about their journeys and sense of place and space.

The site of the works was chosen as a public space of movement, of gathering and transition.

Essentially, the forms are derived from the shape of safety mirrors seen in most places of pedestrian and vehicular movement. The idea that being able to see around corners and into the future offered a novel notion of a sense of belonging in a public place. The idea that safety is simply derived by being known and seen by others was most simply stated in the use of the convex mirror. The idea of reflection, distortion and amplification reinforced this idea – being seen from a wider angle and, at the same time, being able to survey the space wider than our field of vision or point of focus.

The second idea working in these sculptures is the notion of space itself. The patterns at the base and reflected in the works represent various ambiguous pictorial representations of space. Two-dimensional patterns from the east, west and Australia are derived from tile, weaving and flora motifs respectively.

Lastly, the works are designed to float in the space and, depending on the time and day, virtually disappear. The rhythm and dynamic of the pieces engages with the movement of people as they traverse the space from tram to the commercial and educational centres that make Box Hill a thriving city.

something about temporary housing...

2005-07-25T16:17:00.000+10:00

Something about temporary housing and the need for permanent solutions...

Under the direction of our team leader, Karen Tanfield, we have been working very hard, juggling work (paid), families, the AFP normal stuff and trying to get a submission ready for the Canberra Biennial. The topic was "temporary housing".In the research process we found many aspects about housing that are important, for example, the shortage of permanent accommodation for locals as well as refugees.
Some comments from our interviewees addressed the way that we "professionals" regard emergency accommodation. According to them, we tend to tackle the solution as a design object detached from the real needs of its inhabitants. The question is then asked, “ Is this good enough"?

Our submission to the Biennial was an abstract installation that looked at the experience of homelessness in Australia. Whether our submission is built or not, the process was fantastic and involved four different disciplines, social planning, urban design, public art and architecture. Karen will present the research in October. In the meantime there are a number of new competitions that are coming up soon as well as a possible friendship project in Cape Town, South Africa so please contact us if you would like to be involved.

the team: Shelley, Karen, Su, Agus, Ceri, Beatriz

Melbourne: "Public Art project for Sydney Rd"

2005-06-12T23:27:00.000+10:00

The Sparta Project:
The Hardwick Building at Sparta Place in Sydney Road Brunswick is getting a creative start even before the first tenants move into this iconic project.
Site RMIT Public Art, in collaboration with Marianna Hardwick, launched a series of temporary public artworks in the ground floor shop windows of the Hardwick Building.

Answering Mariana’s call for avante-garde operators, students and artists involved with Site RMIT Public art have jumped at the opportunity to create works on three sides of this unique site.

The Hardwick House and Sparta Project is the culmination of over two decades of work and creativity. “This project will attract innovative operators in the fields of millinery, cuisine, jewellery, fashion and art. Site RMIT Public Art are giving the building and the public a great taste of what will be the creative centre of Brunswick.” Said Mariana Hardwick
“The first day working on the site has had many members of the public just taking a peak inside the building for the first time in many years. We hope to create works that use the idea of a site under construction with viewing holes from the windows into other worlds” said Public Art Coordinator Geoff Hogg.

The first exhibition of works was launched on Friday 20 May.

Photos by SITE RMIT

Melbourne: "skipping rhymes"

2005-06-04T01:28:00.000+10:00

skipping rhymes:
Melissa + Shelley
In April 5th, these two artists/architects exhibited their work - more will be announced soon