When I first came to App I was attracted to the Sustainable Development department but after spending some time there I came to realize that it was lacking something. What I felt was that it was that it provided a great base understanding of the social and environmental aspect required for sustainable living but it adamantly disregarded culture, religion, and spiritual awareness which I believed key to getting anyone to adhere to any sustainable principle. So I went searching for something more, particularly something more fundamental. What was it about our lives that keeps us from admiring the wonder that is the natural world? What things could we do to restore that?
So I transfered to the IDS department. Much of my course work has focused on institutionalization and the social constructions of the world. One particular interest of study for me was medium and its influences in our lives. Mediums are all around us and discipline our bodies.
This led me to my first idea which is a discussion of architecture as a medium. I would be focusing on sustainable homes in contrast to modern/ conventional housing. I believe that one way to a sustainable future is to build sustainable homes which maintain a constant and reifying relationships with the natural world in their very design in the hopes that these lifestyle choices and behaviors would follow the owner into the world. We have all but weened the natural world from our homes. Vynal siding and linoleum flooring allow for the "cookie cutter" aesthetic we have all been looking for right? Design and flow of a house change the way in which it gets used. As well as its materials change personal perceptions. Natural materials require one to realize that the world outside is responsible for creating the world inside, which shelters us from the cold and the wet and provides us a space to live happily and harmoniously.
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