Re: [GBlist] houses old, new, borrowed recycled blue

["Steven Shepard" <sbtdesigns@earthlink.net>]

It is amazing to me how casual and sometimes glib we are about what we do
and want to do with our homes.  I know people here in South Texas who have
no homes at all.  It reminds me how desperate this very basic need for
shelter can be.  It is so very expensive to buy a home in America today that
homeowners in this region are a minority.  There is something terribly wrong
with that.

SBT Designs
25840 IH-10 West #1
Boerne, Texas 78006
210-698-7109
FAX: 210-698-7147
www.sbtdesigns.com

----- Original Message -----
From: "John Salmen" <terrain@shaw.ca>
To: "Aimee M Houser (Aimee Houser)" <hous0088@tc.umn.edu>;
<deumling@socrates.Berkeley.EDU>
Cc: <greenbuilding@crest.org>
Sent: Monday, January 07, 2002 8:37 PM
Subject: Re: [GBlist] houses old, new, borrowed recycled blue


> One of the continuing ironies here is that small houses can be a
'luxury' -
> being outside the vernacular and outside the envelope. The scale of
> appliances has already been mentioned but it extends into most
> 'commodities'. I've often drawn a room and then tried to 'plug in' the
> drawing of some manufactured upholstered object only to find that it was
> designed to seat some giant and left room for little else. Everything in
> N.A. is big or gargantuan. A small soft drink here would serve to satisfy
a
> daily liquid intake and at least a monthly sugar intake. I'm always amused
> at the recommended minimum clearances for toilets - generally enough to
have
> a few people join you. Without careful planning it generally is easier and
> more cost effective to build a 'large house' than a purpose built small
> house. The dividing line is probably now about 1800 sq.ft. for standard
> assemblies, but even at that level there seems to be a lot of compromises
or
> 'custom detailing'.
>
> I was trying to be a bit of devil's advocate in bringing up the issue of
> designing with limitations. Most houses that exist from the 30's-50's have
> those limitations and people have experienced the frustration of
remodelling
> them. Most are based on a rectangle or square with centrespan support
> generally within the 10-15' dimension. Centrespan is usually a wall
divider.
> Remodelling for open concepts has usually required major structural
> reworking of the original plan, replacing walls with beams. I've actually
> been involved over time in a project that initially opened a floorplan up
> with a centrebeam support replacing the original dividing walls and then
> subsequently creating new divisions within that space. I think a basic
> generic concept for housing now is that is should be designed for open
span
> between exterior support walls - and interior walls should become less
part
> of the building process and more part of the finishing process, similar to
> how kitchen cabinetry is developing wheels and legs.  It would seem a
> no-brainer but having been involved in mult-family housing projects - it
is
> not happening.
>
> Despite the fact that this is my work, I'm continually and perhaps
> progressively amazed at how much income and energy is expended on 'homes'.
> Over the last couple of decades the concept of what it takes to 'house'
> someone has grown simpler but the details have become incredibly complex.
>
> still enjoying this discussion.
>
> John Salmen
> TERRAIN E.D.S.
>
>
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Aimee M Houser (Aimee Houser)" <hous0088@tc.umn.edu>
> To: <deumling@socrates.Berkeley.EDU>
> Cc: <greenbuilding@crest.org>
> Sent: Monday, January 07, 2002 6:36 AM
> Subject: Re: [GBlist] houses old, new, borrowed recycled blue
>
>
> > I agree with your concern about lavish building of 2000 sq ft houses
under
> > the misguided assumption that that is living small and in hindsight, I
> > would've clarified my stance in relation to her ideas, her books. The
> > post-war cape cod (my house) has some problems (it is difficult, tho not
> > impossible, to tighten it up because of the kneewalls), but one thing it
> > has to its benefit is inherent flexibility. I am working towards
> > accomodating my mother and hopefully a child in the coming years without
> > adding, only reconfiguring.
> >
> > I see now where your ideas about sq footage come in--that there aren't
any
> > such constraints, even suggestions, in the not-so-big house's way of
> > thinking. I guess I do not think that Susanka's ideas are akin to
> > recycling, but they can be used as a starting point in thinking about
the
> > architecture of reconfiguration. I think that is where I got my ideas to
> > radically rethink my existing space. Its not that Susanka's ideas are
> > complete, but that they (to my mind) constitute the first representation
> > (iteration?) of rethinking mainstream residential architecture as "the
> > sky's the limit".
>
>
>
> ______________________________________________________________________
> This greenbuilding dialogue is sponsored by REPP/CREST, creator of
> Solstice http://www.crest.org, and BuildingGreen, Inc., publisher of
> Environmental Building News and GreenSpec http://www.BuildingGreen.com
> ______________________________________________________________________
>


______________________________________________________________________
This greenbuilding dialogue is sponsored by REPP/CREST, creator of
Solstice http://www.crest.org, and BuildingGreen, Inc., publisher of
Environmental Building News and GreenSpec http://www.BuildingGreen.com
______________________________________________________________________