Experimenting with the limits between inside and outside

 

Forget Green Roof, go Glass roof! (just kidding...)
Experimenting with the limits between inside and outside is truly what makes me tick! Connectedness... among people, to the outside... aside from making you want to use an umbrella to access to the bathroom, this building makes you want to take a deep breath of fresh air, doesn't it?

Check the beautiful video of the building here - Enjoy...

Atelier Tenjinyama / Ikimono Architects

Source: http://www.archdaily.com/145462/atelier-tenjinyama-ikimono-architec 

With an earth floor and a glass roof this building, design by Takashi Fujino of Ikimono Architects, experiments with the limits between inside and outside. This is a reoccurring theme among many of Ikimono Architects’s projects. Tradeoffs are enviable in a building of this kind, such as having to use an umbrella to access to the bathroom when it is raining and the hassles that come with an earth floor. The payoffs come in the form of being able to grow plants inside through the floor, gaze at the clouds and stars, listen to the sound of the rain and smell the scent of spring flowers.

Architectural Design: Takashi Fujino / Ikimono Architects
Location: Takasaki, Gunma Prefecture, Japan
General Contractors: Kenchikusha Shiki Inc.
Landscaping: Atsuo Ota / ACID NATURE 0220
Structural Engineer: Akira Suzuki / ASA
Roof: Safety glass shatterproof
Structure: Reinforced concrete
Use: Office + Residential
Exterior: Reinforced concrete
Project Area: 177.18 sqm (site), 61.93 sqm (building area), 61.93 sqm (floor area)
Design Year: 2007-2010
Project Year: 2010-2011
Photographs: Takashi Fujino / Ikimono Architects

Mapping...

1st map

2nd map

3rd map

Does that make me a minimalist?

Social Norms

I have been wracking my brain about what could I do to "break the norms" so I could share the exciting experience with my classmates. Actually I've been wondering about what makes norms, norms, more than anything, so I could break them.  I find New Yorkers pretty relax when it comes to "do's and don'ts" so that has not helped.

In any case, last week while on my way to class, a school professor was in front of me pushing a cart full of art supplies. You may call it "being a good Samaritan" or just "Proactive Behavior", but I walked up in front of her to hold the doors. Simple. I was not even thinking about until she gave me that astounded look! Had I just broken a norm? She not only looked quite surprised but with a big grateful smile she soundly thanked me and told me that this NEVER happens "here". Was I breaking an FIT social norm?! a student norm? (or a "too cool to be nice" norm?)

with my mom, sister and cousin

I think we all get the point. Norms are different in every places, cultures... They are unwritten rules that go beyond "The French kiss on the cheeks while Americans give a hug..."

I actually have a tendency to break a New York social rule on a regular basis: I like chatting with people I don't know. I talk to strangers on the subway, at the cashier line, just walking down the street, I talk to the dogs too but that’s another story.  When I met my husband he thought that was a little quirky. He was not sure if he liked all the attention we were getting here because of my "Chatty Cathy" habit. But he quickly learned that it could be quite entertaining. While some people get a little nervous, most get into the conversation. For me it's just a way to make everyday life more fun.

To be frank, I got this from my mother. I was not always like this. As kids, my sister and I would get so embarrassed when she would start chatting people up. But as I grew older I started appreciating this side of her. I realized this is what makes her so great, bubbly and fun to be around. That's also why she has this incredible ability to make friends anywhere she goes and  in record time.  And I got that from her as well!

Breuckelen Diaries

          It's the weekend again and it's just plain gorgeous outside so I went for a stroll and really felt like I was living in some fantasy "sustainable" land.  Indeed while picking up my share of organic veggies from CSA  (Community Supported Agriculture), I noticed how popular the locally baked hand crafted "Sweet Melissa" seasonal pies were. I saw kids running around on wooden "skuut" bikes, young parents relaxing at the local joint, teenagers kicking around eating locally made ice cream from Blue Marble...  the seltzer truck was delivering its refillable blue glass bottle which he brings to your stoop...

Other than watching people I've been working on my "Green Mission Statement" today which is probably why I see the world so full of promises and so Green! 

I was so inspired that I decided to watch the No Impact Man documentary. What a hoot! This is a documentary not to miss! 

No Impact Man

The Documentary: A Fifth Avenue family goes very green when writer Colin Beavan leads his wife, Michelle Conlin, and their baby daughter on a yearlong crusade to make no net impact on the environment in this engaging documentary. Among their activities: eating only locally grown organic food, generating no trash except for compost and using no carbon-fueled transportation. Laura 

Gabbert and Justin Schein's film premiered at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival.

Global Revolution

It's the weekend and finally I am sitting in my backyard. I put on my big sweater and I am enjoying the almost chilly weather. Fall is here. There is a lot going on outside in NY and more than just pumpkins appearing on porches or cats and bees observing each other.  As some of you may have heard or noticed or even be part of, there is an ongoing demonstration in big cities around the country. I am bringing this up because as Paul Hawkins suggests in Blessed Unrest, it's all connected: "social, economic and environmental movement should all be seen as one movement"
The Wall Street occupation* and the Global revolution are connected to what we have been learning and we are back in school for.
 
We have been talking in EBR class about the new generations of kids versus older generations and how much each knew, cared or fought for our environment and sustainable ideologies. How much connected to nature and environment are they? will they care about sustainability as much as we do? etc.
I would like to share with my colleagues two videos: one from the nineties (that would be our generation) and one from few months ago. Both are speeches from young teenagers. See for yourself:


The girl who silenced the world for 5 minutes:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQmz6Rbpnu0


School Student speech- London protest retrospective:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NNticyiDaDM 

*If you want to follow the Wall Street occupation, check here:  
http://www.livestream.com/globalrevolution