Roundtable discussion: Sustainability in the Urban Context

This year's roundtable focuses on sustainability in the urban context, a complex and topical issue that could potentially affect how we live on this planet in the future. Much that's written about sustainability focuses on new stand-alone buildings, but the issues are more complex in the urban context where you're dealing either with retrofitting older buildings or new infill buildings that must be cognizant of neighboring structures.

Some of the issues the designers face include local building codes, Historic District & Design Review Commissions, the LEED rating system, equipment such as solar panels and wind energy, windows, retrofitting existing buildings, green roofs and municipal officials. Under the direction of Editor Emeritus and founder of Traditional Building and Period Homes magazines Clem Labine, we asked a number of leading architects to comment on this subject. The participants received suggested topics and issues, but were encouraged to discuss the subject as they saw fit. Here are the results, arranged alphabetically by the firm's name. TB

All of our participants graciously shared their expertise, time, energy and thoughts with us. They include (in alphabetical order by firm name):

David Mayernik Ltd. (www.davidmayernik.com)
David T. Mayernik, FAAR, NCARB, RSA, president
Mayernik is an associate professor at the University of Notre Dame School of Architecture, and president of David Mayernik Ltd. An urban designer, architect, painter, writer and educator, he is also a fellow of the American Academy in Rome and the Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures & Commerce. His work for the TASIS campus in Lugano, Switzerland, won a Palladio Award in 2005. Mayernik contributed to the book Green Living, to be published in the spring of 2010 by Rizzoli and to the New Palladians book (Artmedia, spring 2010).

David M. Schwarz Architects, Inc. (www.dmsas.com)
Gregory M. Hoss, AIA, project manager and principal
Hoss has been with the firm since 1997 and has been a registered architect since 1994. He is a graduate of The Catholic University of America where he now serves on the Design Council. He is also a member of the District of Columbia Building Industry Association (DCBIA) and the American Institute of Architects (AIA). Hoss served as project manager for the recently opened Chapman Cultural Center in Spartanburg, SC, The American Airlines Center in Dallas, TX, and the Dr Pepper Ballpark in Frisco, TX. Currently he is working on the Smith Center for the Performing Arts in Las Vegas, NV.

Duany Plater-Zyberk & Company (www.dpz.com)
Galina Tachieva, LEED, partner, director of town planning
An expert on urban redevelopment, sprawl retrofit, sustainable planning and form-based codes, Tachieva directs and manages the design and implementation of projects in the United States and around the world, She is currently working on a forthcoming book, The Sprawl Repair Manual, to be published in the spring by Island Press. She is also the primary author of the Sprawl Repair Module, a special plug-in document to the SmartCode, which enables the transformation of sprawl types into community patterns.

Hanbury Evans Wright Vlattas + Company (www.hewv.com)
Gregory L. Rutledge, AIA, design principal and preservation specialist
During his 21 years with the firm, Rutledge has helped position Hanbury Evans as a leader in historic preservation. He particularly enjoys projects that revitalize communities, such as the Prizery Community Arts Center in South Boston, VA, and preservation planning to save national treasures, such as historic Fort Monroe. Rutledge was honored with the Preservation Award from the Virginia Society of the American Institute of Architects. He is a frequent lecturer on architectural history and is an active member of the Association for Preservation Technology International. He is a 1984 graduate of the University of Tennessee.

New Urban Guild, (www.newurbanguild.com), principal; New Urban Guild Foundation, director; Mouzon Design (www.mouzon.com)
principal, Stephen A. Mouzon
As principal of the New Urban Guild, Mouzon promotes the study and design of true traditional buildings and places. The Guild was instrumental in the creation of the Katrina Cottages concept (www.katrinacottages.com) and hosts Project SmartDwelling, an initiative to re-imagine the American home. The New Urban Guild Foundation also hosts the Original Green (www.oiginalgreen.org). At Mouzon Design he focuses on town building tools and services.

Urban Design Associates (www.urbandesignassociates.com)
Rob Robinson, AIA, chairman
Robinson earned a degree in Architecture and Urban Planning from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. Following graduation, he was an adjunct professor in the College of Architecture and Urban Planning at VPI for several years, and served as an architect with the Peace Corps in St. Vincent, West Indies, prior to joining UDA in 1980. In addition to urban design efforts in cities, towns and neighborhoods, Robinson also leads UDA's work in "shared vision and strategy" initiatives for regions and counties. Current projects under his leadership include various downtowns and waterfronts, mixed-use neighborhoods, new towns, vision plans and pattern books.

Voith & Mactavish Architects, LLP (www.voithandmactavish.com)
John H. Cluver, AIA, LEED AP, partner and director of preservation
Cluver received his professional degree in architecture from the University of Notre Dame, and a Certificate in Historic Preservation from the University of Pennsylvania. He has worked on a wide range of rehabilitation and new construction projects for a variety of educational, commercial and civic institutions, both as an architect and preservation consultant. Cluver is a member of the City of Philadelphia's Historical Commission Architectural Committee, and was named Young Architect of the Year by the Philadelphia Chapter of the American Institute of Architects.

1. Taeho Paik (02/11/2010 07:32:44)
Sustainability

The problem is capitalism not sustainability and it's not the developer that's the problem but the buyer. If capitalism has any rules at all, there is one that is sacrosanct - the freedom of choice. As long as energy remains a commodity, no amount of moralising will convince anyone to change their habits.

So in talking about sustainability let's resist the temptations of wishful thinking and face facts. For the way that most people around the world live today, the surburban home remains the most functional model for the way it accommodates a lifestyle centred around movement rather than socialisation. First, one needs to park the car and walk as little as possible, just because it happens to be the most convenient way of getting around. Second when one comes home from work - one is tired - and just wants to snack, watch television or indulge in some self-amusement on the Internet. You see modern lifestyles are self contained and for the majority, choices are made based on what one does inside, rather than outside. The housing market has latched on to this model not just because they are greedy but because they identify what can and cannot be sold. One could argue with sociological theories to try and convince people that this is a rather limited and unfulfilling way to live but the average guy will tell you that he has a nice bedroom with a double bed!

Now, all idealism aside, painful though it may be for us self styled elitists, people, believe or not, have priorities that has nothing to do with perceptions of beauty nor concepts of the ideal city. People will benefit or suffer by their decisions but for whatever benefits an ideal city may provide, people will not give up on what is by now considered a 'right', the ownership of a private automobile. Remind him of the horror of pumping all that toxic gas into the air on an hourly basis and he will just laugh at your face!

So why justify what are essentially aesthetic codes behind a banner of sustainability? Is it not just another form of moralising? The modernists are trying to go 'green' too. If the world is in trouble why not blame the lifestyle itself instead of looking for altertive ways of sustaining it? Why promote traditionalism at all? If architecture is life itself, is it not obvious enough that the stylistic breech of modernism has been disastrous at all levels, not just energy use?

The very word sustainability is well-meaning but essentially misguided. As a reaction against consumerism it misses the point. There is no such thing as a sustainable energy source, only combustible (carbon based or nuclear) and natural (solar and wind). There is no sustainable architecture - only temporary (Dubai) and permanent (Patheon, 2000 years being more or less permanent in the human sense).

We all want that warm glow of thinking that we are saving the world but in trying to push for a new way of life, let's be clear about what a professional architect is: He is someone who takes instructions and executes and not someone who decides. Yes we are all sensitive individuals but the profession itself has no power base. Let someone act politically first, let's see if society changes its parameters giving us a new kind of clientele before getting too excited.

FEBRUARY 2010 » ROUNDTABLE