Master of Architecture Thesis
Eco-tecture: Unifying Ecology with Architecture
Kevin Brady
AAU 2021
Thesis Advisor: David Gill
Thesis Preparation: Eric Reeder
How can architecture enhance, improve, and support educational and public awareness of the conservation and preservation of our local natural resources? Environmental awareness is the understanding of the fragile balance of our environment and the importance of its protection. One of the primary objectives of this thesis is to achieve ecological environmental literacy. A non-conventional process that advocates a personal, proactive, hands-on experience. An engagement that cultivates an elevated level of sensory interaction, discovery, and exploration within the natural environment.
Exposure and access to the elements of nature enliven the spirit, inspire curiosity, and encourages a ‘critical thinking’ response while promoting a healthy interactive lifestyle. This thesis seeks to determine how architecture could enhance and impact an ecological setting. A setting that will promote community health, productivity, conservation, and ecological awareness by accepting coastal shorelines and allowing access to or extending into the structure. Naturalizing low-lying coastal areas require soft-engineered solutions. This design approach engages the users alongside the natural environment, which challenges local regulations while preserving the natural habitat. The architecture will need to be more adaptable with increased complexity levels, creating living environments that reflect ecological systems with innovative integrated design. Identify new ecological designs in conjunction with engineering systems that focus not so much on “what things look like” but more on “what they can do.”
This thesis seeks to determine how architecture could enhance and impact an ecological setting that will promote community health, productivity, conservation, and ecological awareness through a detailed study. In conjunction with these extensive studies, research will be explored into emerging technologies that can integrate eco-design within an ecological setting. An active Eco-Center will be designed as an architectural composition that fosters a more significant relationship between local ecology, community, and architectural design.
Dezeen, 18 June 2021