Kwok and Groundziks Reading - Book Report/Review Example

Analysis and response of 3 books Book Kwok and Groundzik’s reading is a tremendously worthwhile tool, especially for ensuring effective decision making early in a project. This is because the reading is indispensable in making decisions that will ultimately help determine the form of a building, ensure the effective determination of systems and consultants one will need to consult. In addition, the book is also valuable in providing proper mechanisms through which prices can be set or determine what can suit a predetermined budget. In essence, the book is targeted at students and professionals since it can serve both as an introduction or a solid point of reference for green design (Kwok and Groundzik 102). The content of the book is quite systematic, thus can effectively help introduce and guide green strategies. However, the authors purposely steered clear of developing a concrete checklist for a green building. As a consequence, they deterred being slowed down by technical details. Kwok and Groundzik cover an array of topics and demonstrate the topics’ interconnectedness. The authors have accompanied all the strategies they introduce in the book with expressive images and sketches, which assist the readers’ comprehension of the book’s inherent concepts. Since clients and architecture schools are increasingly demanding the integration of green design, professionals, as well as students, require getting up to speed with the array of techniques. This is especially because architecture has proven to a fast-moving area. The book provides a user-friendly approach to the practical guidelines of applying environmental strategies in the design of green buildings. As expert architects, Kwok and Groundzik have a solid knowledge base, which they use in the compilation of this text. In the Biourbanism approach, harmonic solutions are widely emphasized as the primary approach in the design of spaces. This is aimed at ensuring that both buildings and environments are sensibly improved. The strategies Kwok and Groundzik endorse are founded on the premise of biophilic principles, which emphasize that the human brain reacts functionally to sensory cues and patterns that originate from the natural environment. Essentially, Kwok and Groundzik’s book demonstrates that an effective piece of architecture plays a significant role in ensuring the absolute well-being of the body and mind (Kwok and Groundzik 317). This means that solutions advocated by Kwok and Groundzik, for instance, using spaces with ample ventilation and natural light, as well as other environmental elements, are bound to cause a marked improvement in physical and mental performance, hence lowering stress levels. In essence, the authors propose a responsible and efficient use of natural resources, and appreciating the saving capacities of using natural resources, especially water, material resources and energy. These natural resources are essential elements to the design of effective, high-performing architecture that is not only friendly to the environment, but human life as well. The book’s introduction concentrates on the issues inherent in the design process, describing effective ways of ensuring an integrated design. However, perhaps the most essential part of the book is the description of at least 42 chosen green design strategies (Kwok and Groundzik 242). The handbook is dedicated to demonstrating the essence of the green strategies, especially by offering step-by-step approaches through which the strategies can be integrated into green design. In all the chosen designs described in the book, the authors identify all the critical topics of effective design. These topics include lighting, cooling, production, water, envelope, heating, energy and waste. All strategies are then analyzed by means of brief descriptions of concepts, approaches and principles. Kwok and Groundzik also integrate key architectural issues, design procedures, examples, drawings and implementation considerations, into their descriptions of the proposed strategies. This means that the authors not only provide strategies which they consider effective in green design, but also provide a basis on which their proposals can be measured against accepted standards. According to the authors, design studio projects mostly encompass schemes that integrate inspired, albeit rather unvalidated sketches which can only be associated with wishful green approaches. For instance, Kwok and Groundzik argue that the wishful incorporation of blue and yellow magic arrows is often meant to represent the way daylight behaves of how air flows into buildings. Rather than confine their approaches to such wishful connotations, Kwok and Groundzik provide innovative green strategies regarding aspects of green buildings, including spatial layout, form and orientation (Kwok and Groundzik 211). The authors show the essence of these aspects to the effective performance of varied green strategies. Kwok and Groundzik poise that in design studio, students typically use precedents in order to enthuse their design work. In the book, Kwok and Groundzik also provide a concrete reference which furnishes additional information regarding the international standards, guidelines, Internet sources and acceptable rating systems applicable to green design. The glossary of buildings and terms provided at the end of the book offers the readers a useful aid for understanding what the authors cover throughout the chapters. Furthermore, the book encompasses a chapter that provides case studies that demonstrate impressive diversity of climates, geographic locations, building types, climates and green strategies. The case study section of the book is essential since it expands on what the authors cover in previous chapters. The nine case studies provided within the book ultimately demonstrate how diverse green strategies can work together within a finished building such that they integrate natural principles into the finished product (Kwok and Groundzik 313). Overall, the book’s rationale arose from the observed need for resources capable of providing a concrete information catalog for various green strategies to ensure designers appreciate how the strategies function. Book 2 In this volume, Hosey appears to consider sustainability approaches as the wide-ranging ideal which is evident in the manner in which humans typically embark on making and using routine things. Hosey accomplishes this through the stylishly formulated and illustrated book that considers the treatment of aesthetics in design, specifically ecological design. The central part of Hosey’s argument are three primary principles, which are aimed at guiding designers’ problem solving endeavors, especially when it comes to problems inherent in developing ecological designs that are also visually pleasant (Hosey 51). Hosey deems design as a fundamental part of ensuring aesthetic value in things such as chairs, buildings and cars. At the core of Hosey’s book is the assertion that the fundamental principles of effective design include shape for place, shape for pleasure and shape for efficiency. However, having identified these principles, Hosey’s primary objective is fundamentally to show the relationship between these principles and link them to values, which have explicit roots in the movement for sustainability. Hosey, who is renowned for his major contributions to Architecture magazine has shared a wealth of knowledge regarding the values of connection, attraction and conservation. Hosey proposes that these values need to culminate in designs that are aesthetically pleasing. The primary tenet on which Hosey constructs his argument is that if a design cannot be deemed as aesthetically pleasing, then it is not sustainable. In essence, Hosey’s book is centered on the theme of beauty. Hosey (95) poises that the concern for aesthetic attraction is not a superficial one, but rather an environmental imperative since beauty has the capacity to save the planet. The book aligns Hosey’s ideas regarding aesthetic with the notion of pleasure by examining the experiences humans encounter through their sensory capacities. The book demonstrates the way in which individual senses work together with the real world in order to achieve a clear understanding of the mechanics of effective design. In addition, throughout the book, Hosey demonstrates the senses also have the ability to synthesis one’s experiences. This ultimately allows people to enjoy their environments, and this is what results in the development of a sustainable and ecological notion of beauty. Perhaps the greatest chapter inherent in Hosey’s book, which speaks to the essence of senses, is the chapter on sight. This chapter is arguably the epicenter of Hosey’s argument. Hosey begins by exploring the issue of color, he goes on to pose a rhetorical question, inquiring why color is not deemed as a factor in the area of sustainable design (Hosey 118). Hosey then moves on to discuss the subject of shape and pattern. Ultimately, the book presents an essential discussion regarding the function of fractals. Fractals are essentially the irregular geometries, which Mandelbrot a mathematician defined, in the 1970s. These irregular geometries help to define aesthetics, which are both truly universal and, according to Hosey, genuinely natural. The only major shortcoming inherent in the book is the fact that it lacks reference to classical philosophy, which informs some of the most notable arguments in aesthetics and the essence of visual elements. It is only through the incorporation of classical philosophy into the book’s argument that Hosey’s assertions, especially with regard to the universality of beauty could gain greater significance. In the same way, the incorporation of classical philosophy into the literary work could have allowed Hosey’s book to place greater emphasis on the cultural diversity regarding the concept of beauty. In essence, Hosey’s book, The Shape of Green is of paramount importance since it informs the integration of the idea of aesthetics into design. As a consequence, the book is bound to prove immensely useful to designers, architects, as well as typical readers looking for ways through which they can improve the planet by not only making it habitable, but sustainable, especially in the long run (Hosey 107). At its core, Hosey’s book prompts the question of whether going green alter the facade of design or merely its content. Hosey’s book is notably the first one to outline and elaborate the principles of aesthetics in sustainable design. Essentially, Hosey posits that beauty is the corner stone of sustainability since the way things feel and appear is of the same importance as the way they are designed and constructed. Over and above investigating what qualities make something emotively pleasant or attractive, Hosey links these elements with challenges inherent in practical design, thereby allowing the readers to critically evaluate what they deem as essential. For instance, Hosey allows readers to question whether the shape of a car can make increase its attractiveness and aerodynamic abilities at the same time or whether it is possible to construct buildings using porous materials capable of simultaneously cleaning the air. In order to respond to these queries, Hosey draws on knowledge from a wealth of scientifically conducted research. As a result of drawing from this knowledge, Hosey is able to show that both image and form can significantly increase comfort, community and conservation at diverse areas of design, from buildings to products to cities (Hosey 207). Hosey demonstrates that by fully appreciating the inherent principles of ecology, it is possible to revolutionize all aspects of design, both in terms of style and substance. Ultimately, green buildings help conserve energy, thus enhance their ecological footprints, and optimize performance. Book 3 The book presents the essence of biophilic design as providing designers with immense knowledge of the “why” before constructing a road map for what is likely to be the subsequent great design journey. The authors demonstrate the outcome of when nature motivates architecture, including the way architecture looks and how communities, as well as buildings function in reality (Kellert, Heerwagen and Mador 71). Kellert, Heerwagen and Mador show that as soon as designers appreciate the importance of nature in architecture, then the modern society will have attained major strides. In order to compile this volume, the authors combined their wisdom and integrated the wisdom of globally acclaimed experts in order to produce this magnificent book. This book is not only meant for professionals in the field of architecture and design, but other professionals including scientists, philosophers and typical businesspeople. In essence, the book is applicable to any individual seeking the key to novel prosperity, which reveres the natural world. The book serves as a revolutionary guide to the up-and-coming biophilic design practice. The authors grant a shift in paradigm in the approaches employed in design and the way buildings are constructed in the community. The new paradigm endorsed by Kellert, Heerwagen and Mador appreciates that the positive knowledge of natural processes and systems in modern buildings, as well as constructed landscapes is essential to human performance, well-being and overall health. According Kellert, Heerwagen and Mador (59) biophilic design primarily concerns the place of mankind in nature, and alternatively the place of the natural world in man’s society. The reason the authors are so resilient in their support for biophilic design is because this design approach encourages the emergence of mutuality and respect, as well as the enhancement of relationships as the norm instead of the exception. The book provides comprehensive details regarding the idea of biophilic design, which appreciate that people generally require an outlet to the natural world. However, the book’s authors go further to identify that the primary focus of modern buildings should be to ensure the health and welfare of all its inhabitants while also appreciating its social and environment impacts. As highlighted by the book’s title, the order of information within the book is segmented into three diverse segments in order to cover all subject matters: theory, science and practice. Notably, the comprehensive coverage of the book’s topics does not allow for the emergence of arguments due to the book’s wide array of topic ideas, as well as the expertise of its contributors. Professionals such as sociologists, architects, environmentalists, scientists and psychologists provide biophilic design with the concrete background needed to make it successful (Kellert, Heerwagen and Mador 87). These professionals demonstrate that the essence of biophilic design is to buttress the relations between man and nature in the physical built environment and the psychological relationship man intrinsically inherits. The first part of the book discusses the theory of biophilic design as introduced by Edward O. Wilson who is deemed the pioneer of the concept of biophilia. Wilson’s original ideas have to date influenced architects to contemplate how nature affects constructed spaces and how the designs of constructed spaces can impact the environment. The book encompasses case studies and projects to buttress Wilson’s ideas regarding the relationship between built forms and natural geometries. The second segment of the book offers scientific substantiation from human interactions in built space, which have reaped the advantages of biophilic design. Particularly, Chapter 6 examines the topic of Biophilic Theory and Research for Healthcare Design, describing how facilities incorporate natural features to enhance patients’ health. The chapter examines how the idea of biophilia and exposure to nature diminishes stress levels and pain and causes health-related improvements (Kellert, Heerwagen and Mador 100). The third segment of the book discusses the execution of biophilic design into built form, providing the reader with an appreciation for the need to transform the present practice of sustainable design into a form of design that encourages a deep link between man and nature. This segment of the paper is dedicated to case studies. Throughout the book, it is fascinating to note the differing levels of the projects starting from a biophilic architectural space meant for meditation to massive biophilic urban environments. This progression demonstrates the widespread applicability of the idea of biophilic design. According to Kellert, Heerwagen and Mador (227) the understanding of the way nature develops a sense of engagement, well-being and pleasure with space or place can clearly be linked with previous chapters concerning the creation of natural aesthetics, which develop a healthy and environmental sanctuary for the inhabitants of a building. Overall, the book not only captures the attention of the audience, but also inspires the reader to seek a closer relationship with the environment and educate those around on the significance of nature on man’s health and well-being. Works Cited Hosey, L. The Shape of Green: Aesthetics, Ecology, and Design. Washington, DC: Island Press, 2012. Print. Kellert, S. R., Heerwagen, J. H., and Mador, M. L. Biophilic Design: The Theory, Science and Practice of Bringing Buildings to Life. New Jersey: Wiley Blackwell, 2008. Print. Kwok, A. G., & Groundzik, W. T. The Green Studio Handbook: Environmental Strategies for Schematic Design. London: Elsevier, 2007. Print. Read More