Week 8 Studio Class

This week’s guest speaker was Dr. Deo Prasad. His expertise were in, sustainable development. Dr. Prasad spoke about how sustainability in the field of design relates closely to that of its surrounding environment. “The interconnection and interdependence of both built and natural systems.”
He outlined how this involves our course, by explaining that for emergent sustainable designs, we must look to collaborate with all aspects of the process and every player involved that has any impact or influence.
As Dr. Prasad puts it, there is a need for “…global collaboration for a sustainable future.”

In his presentation, Dr. Prasad gave us various examples of flourishing sustainable design systems seen over the years in places like Stockholm, Shanghai and Sydney. These programs involve designing in harmony with human activity whilst considering environmental impacts to all areas surrounding its site. Most often than not, these places are situated at the edges or outskirts of central business districts. They have large spaces of land and because the city encroaches on to the outer environments, they have the ability to development smart designs that incorporate urban precincts with natural environments.

Another aspect Dr. Prasad discussed that I found interesting was the idea that built environments are part of functioning ecosystems. That the challenge is not just conservation, but instead, achieving an optimal balance and efficiency in “ecocities”.
Improving the health of ecosystems in urban areas during building development can enhance services such as storm water retention and treatment and therefore improve other sustainable issues and overall environmental quality.
Some possible solutions could be, embracing ecological dynamics as an approach for life cycle design. Another could be, relying on built environments rather than natural environments for our resources.

For all these concepts to function, there must be a system of collaboration. From users to architects, local governments, international bodies and protocols. They all must be dependent on each other to initiate a process of problem solving. Starting from grass root programs to international charters and political summits, everyone has a role to play in their specified region. In doing this, a constant stream of communication and strategic planning can be employed to all aspects of urban design in the built and natural environments.