AET 275 Arch Design Fund.- Sustainable Housing

Project Site Open Period

2009-05-15T15:54:00.002-04:00

Our Second Life project site will be open from May 13, 2009 through May 29, 2009. Visitors are welcome to tour at all hours. If you would wish a guided tour, you can IM me, Profesora Farigoule, from inworld in Second Life to arrange a time convenient. You can read about us on The Arch Network, as Keystone Brouchard already has put our project on that group blog.

(click on "project site" above will produce a SLurl link to the site)

Open House Day was Very Busy

2009-05-15T15:44:00.003-04:00

I posted Notices at intervals throughout the day, and with each notice groups of visitors arrived. Our "landlord" Keystone Brouchard brought several people over and has promoted the site throughout his extensive contact list. I myself, over the day, spoke with visitors from South Africa, the Netherlands, the UK, France, New Zealand, and Venezuela (to name a few) and with others beginning teaching in virtual worlds throughout the United States.

Site is Open For Visitors

2009-05-15T15:42:00.003-04:00

The finishing touches in signage were put on the site on Tuesday night, and we had a "soft" opening on Wednesday, May 13, 2009. Our official "open house" with Notice publicity is scheduled for Thursday, May 14, 2009.

North Facade of House Proposal

2009-05-12T02:24:00.002-04:00

This is the North facade of the design proposal by Legato Redyard.

House Design Proposal by Legato Redyard

2009-05-12T02:23:00.002-04:00

This is the floor plan of the design proposal by Legato Redyard.

North Facade of House Proposal

2009-05-12T02:22:00.002-04:00

This is the North facade of the design proposal by Jango Carlucci.

House Design Proposal by Jango Carlucci

2009-05-12T02:21:00.001-04:00

This is the floor plan of the design proposal by Jango Carlucci.

North Facade of House Proposal

2009-05-12T02:20:00.000-04:00

This is the North facade of the design proposal by Gold Spore.

House Design Proposal by Gold Spore

2009-05-12T02:19:00.001-04:00

This is the floor plan of the design proposal by Gold Spore.

South Facade of House Proposal

2009-05-12T02:16:00.003-04:00

This is the South Facade of the design proposal by Larry Kegel.

House Design Proposal by Larry Kegel

2009-05-11T23:47:00.003-04:00

This is the floor plan diagram of the house design proposed by Larry Kegel.

Building in CapeTown Summary

2009-05-03T20:36:00.003-04:00

Hello,
Wow, i learned alot during the study of "building in Capetown". First i didn't realize that the very basic building materials we use in the States every day, are rare in Capetown. we use metal and wood studs to frame homes and in Capetown its mud roofs and concrete walls. we take for granted Central air and insulated windows, while in Capetown, its seems vent systems and more windows are the keys to living comfortable.

During the begin of the design i continued to use products that would last forever such as copper roofing material, thinking that these were ways to build homes that were extremely low maintenance. However, I kept on forgetting that many building materials were not readily available. I believe that I i have learned more about living in a greener environment just by limiting my materials and having to come up with better use for the materials i have to heat and cool spaces.

Larry Kegel

DESIGING THE HOME

2009-04-30T15:21:00.002-04:00

well me being an american kid and all this was a fun and challanging building for an african family home. The way that i went about going on was i did research about the outlying area of cape town such as what were the building materials used and what was the family size, and how green and energy efficent we could make it.

As soon as you walk through the front door you are greeted with the great room and straight ahead you can see the kitchen and dining room because of the half wall. Off to your left you have the two kids bedrooms with their bath in the middle. As for the right side you have the master bedroom and master bath. In the winter time the master, great room, and one kids bedroom gets direct solar gain for easy heating, while in the summer the little roof extension takes off the heat.

Jango Carlucci

Summary of Geography and Climate of Cape Town, South Africa

2009-04-23T19:07:00.003-04:00

At the southern tip of South Africa, you can find the beautiful city known as Cape Town. In the next two paragraphs, I will discuss and summarize, from my research, the geography and climate of Cape Town, South Africa.

GEOGRAPHY
The most distinctive landmark in Cape is known as Table Mountain. This national monument and National Park of South Africa forms a beautiful backdrop and dominates the skyline of the city. It has a plateau of over 3,300 ft. high and surrounded by near-vertical cliffs. Sometimes a thin-strip of clouds hang over the mountain, which is locally called the "tablecloth". Besides Table Mountain, the rest of Cape is also very mountainous. There are over seventy peaks over 1,000 ft. within Cape's city limits. However, the suburbs, and living area of the residents there are located on flat land or as known by the people of Cape, as simply, "The Flats". These flats lie on a rising marine plain consisting mostly of a sandy geology.

CLIMATE
Cape Town has a Mediterranean climate with Winter and Summer seasons. Neither season gets too hot or too cold, but both are still well-defined. Winter, which lasts from May to September, endure large cold fronts that come across the Atlantic Ocean with strong north-westerly winds. The average minimum teperature in the winter is 45 degrees F. Most of the cities annual rainfall occurs during the winter, but due to mountainous geography, rainfall amounts for specific areas vary. Valleys and coastal plains average around 20 in. of rain per year, while mountain areas average around 60 in. per year. Summertime, which lasts from November to March, is warm and dry. In the summer, the winds are not as strong and come from the southeast. They are known as the Cape Doctor because they blow away any pollution and clean the air. Summer temperatures are mild with an average of around 79 degrees F. The only times when Cape Town can be uncomfortably hot is when the mountain wind blows from the "Karoo interior" (a semi-desert area of South Africa) for a couple weeks in February or early March. Otherwise, temperatures are very reasonable and comfortable throughout the year.

Designing the Home

2009-04-13T11:56:00.002-04:00

The way that I went about in designing the home for a family in a township areas in Cape Town, was that I knew that most families live with relatives therefore it needed to have at least two separate bathrooms and various bedrooms. Considering it’s going to have large accommodations the home is somewhat spacious but small enough so that most people can afford the home In mild climates where winter are very cold and summer temperature are not extremely high, a non-compact shape cross ventilation. It’s also small enough so that the sunroom is providing most of the warmth circulate around the home.

There are trombe walls, and sunroom for effective passive heating. Most of the windows are facing northing, where it’ll be exposed my sunlight. I also implemented a half wall separating the sunroom area that consists with thermal mass for the winter, because then the thermal mass on the interior absorbs and stores solar radiation. The green roof is used to cool and warm the home, while in summer the green roof shades the home, and while in winder the soil is served as added insulation. The building will be faced south for better solar heating that is required in winter. The point of having many of these passive solar strategies is to minimize the use of electric heating or cooling.

Legato Redyard

Our "Living Laboratory" Design Site

2009-04-03T16:13:00.003-04:00

We have gotten our own Second Life Land. We are in the process of constructing a "living laboratory" design classroom. For the period of April 7 - 21 we will have an open collaborative process set up. Come visit our site - (if you have access to Second Life) and leave us comments, either by dropping us notecards in locations around the site designed for taking comments or by commenting upon the posts here in our blog.

From April 22-May 5 we will then enter our final re-design phase when our initial commentary will be incorporated into the design proposal. From May 5 - May 25 (0r s0), we will then have a formal presentation of the design solution.

The site will be open to the public then, and we will continue taking commentary on our project.

Have Possible Final Project Site

2009-03-30T23:34:00.003-04:00

thanks to Keystone Brouchard of Architecture Island, our group may have a plot of land in Second Life for 2 months to build and display our final design project.

Community and Family Life Summary

2009-03-24T20:37:00.002-04:00

My summary of general culture in Cape town area.

Cape Town is known to be the oldest city of South Africa. It’s also to be said that Cape Town is the second most populous city in South Africa, forming part of the metropolitan municipality of the City of Cape. Metropolitan municipality is a city which executes all the functions of local government for a conurbation. This is by compared to areas which are primarily countryside, where the local government is divided into district and local cities.

Republic of South Africa is consisting of 11 official languages. Afrikaans (Afrikaans), English, Ndebele (isiNdebele), Northern Sotho (Sesotho sa Leboa), Sotho (Sesotho), Swati (siSwati), Tsonga (Xitsonga), Tswana (Setswana), Venda (Tshivenḓa), Xhosa (isiXhosa), Zulu (isiZulu).

English is also frequently used, especially in the urbanized areas of Cape Town.

In the Sothern region of South Africa the majority speak Afrikaans.
(http://mobile.answers.com/topic/south-africa?curtab=2750_1)

The word braai Afrikaans for "barbecue" or "roast" and is a social custom in Botswana, South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe and Zambia. The traditions around a braai can be considerably different from a barbecue, however, even if the method of food preparation is very similar.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Braai)

Kwaito is a music genre that emerged in Johannesburg, South Africa in the early 1990s. It is based on house music beats, but typically at a slower tempo and containing melodic and percussive African samples which are looped, deep basslines and often vocals, generally male, shouted or chanted rather than sung or rapped.

House music arrived in Cape Town in the early 1990s at raves like the World Peace Party and in the original venue Club Eden, and later Uforia and DV8. This spread northward where, in the mid 1990s, Chicago house was becoming a popular genre in Johannesburg clubs such as 4th World, and local artists fused its sound with that of South African music.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kwaito)

Isicathamiya is a singing style that originated from the South African Zulus. In European understanding, a cappella is also used to describe this form of singing.

Isicathamiya choirs are traditionally all-male. Its roots reach back before the turn of the 20th century, when numerous men left the homelands in order to search for work in the cities. As many of the tribesmen became urbanized, the style was forgotten through much of the 20th century.
(http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/Isicathamiya)

Joseph Shabalala (28 August 1941 - ), born Bhekizizwe Joseph Siphatimandla Mxoveni Mshengu Bigboy Shabalala, is the founder and musical director of the South African choral group Ladysmith Black Mambazo.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Shabala)

Miriam Makeba(4 March 1932 - 10 November 2008), was a South African singer and civil rights activist. The Grammy Award winning artist is often referred to as Mama Afrika.

Architecture
Cape Town's rich colonial history has endowed the city with some distinctive old buildings in the distinctive Cape Dutch style with its whitewashed walls, ornate gables and thatched roofs. Some of the best examples of these are to be found on the many wineries the most easily accessible of which is Groot Constantia in Cape Town's southern suburbs. An easy stroll along the 'Historical Mile' between Muizenberg and Kalk Bay will take you past Posthuys, the oldest building in South Africa. Their attractive, brightly coloured, flat-roofed houses, decorative mosques and the sound of the muezzin calling over the city streets have remained relatively undisturbed for all this time.

Dating back to roughly the same period is the oldest European structure in South Africa, the Castle of Good Hope.

Research Investigation Phase

2009-03-19T15:31:00.001-04:00

The course students have completed a research investigations phase on the Cape Town area, including its history, culture, built environment, economy, etc. They will be posting summaries of the information they have learned so far. In addition, they are posting questions that they still have that they have been unable to answer to their satisfaction.

Community and Family Life Questions

2009-03-19T15:09:00.003-04:00

We’d stumble upon questions regarding to culture, and we hope you can answer them for us.

In an informal settlement, what is your average meal, and where do you get or provide the meals?

Community life is significant in South Africa township culture. What are most important social activities in township areas?

With high unemployment rate in township areas, how does a typical family get by economically?
Are semi-detached homes with more shared open community space acceptable culturally (as opposed to small detached houses on small plots of land)?

How many members typically live in a single family home township?

What are the main attractions of Cape Town?

By Legato Redyard
Thanks in advance.

Questions on building material availability

2009-03-19T13:58:00.004-04:00

What is the over all square footage of a typical redeveloped home?

What are the readily availible local building materials?

What are the most common building materials?

Is there anywhere online that i could research common building materials in Cape Town?

How are the typical redeveloped homes constructed?

Thank you!
Larry Kegel