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A House Deconstructed

Jarzombek, M. & Prakash, V. (2023). A House Deconstructed. Actar Publishers.

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A House Deconstructed book cover

Summary

We would like to think that we ‘know’ what goes into making a modern building. But the truth is that no one, not even architects, knows. The OUR [Office for Uncertainty Research] spent three years studying a single, relatively modest modern house located in Seattle, WA. The research focused on four vectors: Atomic Consciousness that dates back to the Big Bang and the earliest Super Novas: Production Consciousness that involves a vast array of ingredients that are combined to make architectural products: Labor Consciousness that spans a wide spectrum of temporal and economic conditions; and Source Consciousness that is multilayered and global in its reach. Though much was learned, it became clear that a huge proportion of what we ‘know’ about the house was unknowable, not because our epistemological instruments aren’t strong enough or calibrated precisely enough, but because things themselves are indeterminate, uncertain. This begs the question about agency. If we are to critique our profession and even improve some of its claims about Sustainability, then we must develop a more robust understanding of the building industry and the sourcing and making of materials. We must even develop a stronger awareness of the history of atoms and how architecture brings that history into a remarkable focus.

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The Population Health Initiative announced 12 climate change planning grant awardees. Of those 12 teams, 4 include College of Built Environments researchers. Descriptions of their projects are below. Read the CBE News story here.   Linking Climate Adaptation and Public Health Outcomes in Yavatmal, Maharashtra Investigators Sameer H. Shah, Environmental and Forest Sciences Celina Balderas Guzmán, Landscape Architecture Pronoy Rai, Portland State University Project abstract This proposal collects primary interview data with landed and landless agriculturalists in Yavatmal district in…

CBE researchers selected for inaugural cohort of Urban@UW Research to Action Collaboratory

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College of Built Environments Faculty and Student receive Husky Sustainability Awards 2023

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$2 Million Award from National Science Foundation Will Support Team to Develop 3D-printed Microorganisms for Sustainable Construction Materials

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Coastal Adaptations with the Shoalwater Bay Tribe: Centering Place and Community to Address Climate Change and Social Justice

The proposed community-based participatory action research project is a collaborative research, planning and design initiative that will enable a UW research team to work with the Shoalwater Bay Indian Tribe to explore sustainable and culturally relevant strategies for an upland expansion in response to climate change-driven sea level rise and other threats to their coastal ecosystems and community. The situation is urgent as the reservation is located in the most rapidly eroding stretch of Pacific coastline in the US, on near-sea-level land vulnerable also to catastrophic tsunamis. The project will advance the Tribe’s master plan and collaboratively develop a model of climate adaptive, culture-affirming and change-mitigating environmental strategies for creating new infrastructure, housing and open spaces in newly acquired higher elevation land adjacent to the reservation. Design and planning strategies will draw on culturally-based place meanings and attachments to support a sense of continuity, ease the transition, and create new possibilities for re-grounding. Sustainable strategies generated by the project will draw on both traditional ecological knowledge and scientific modeling of environmental change. The project will involve the following methods and activities:

  • The creation of a Tribal scientific and policy Advisory Board with representatives from the Tribal Council, elder, youth, state and county agencies, and indigenous architects and planners;
  • Student-led collaborative team-building and research activities that will also engage Tribal youth;
  • Systematic review of the Tribe’s and neighboring county plans;
  • Interviews, focus groups and community workshops to identify priority actions, needs and strategies;
  • Adaptation of existing research on sustainable master planning, design and carbon storing construction materials; and
  • The development of culturally meaningful and sustainable building prototypes.

Deliverables include a report of findings summarizing community assets and values, and priorities for the upland expansion vetted by Tribal leaders, documentation and evaluation of the UW-community partnership and engagement process, digitized web- based geo-narratives and story maps and technical recommendations for culturally-informed schematic designs, sustainable construction methods and low-embodied carbon storing materials. The project process and outcomes will have broad applicability for other vulnerable coastal communities and can be used to support their climate adaptation efforts as well.

Research Team
Principal Investigator: Daniel Abramson, College of Built Environments, Urban Design and Planning, University of Washington
Community Lead: Jamie Judkins, Shoalwater Bay Indian Tribe

University of Washington Partners:
Rob Corser, Associate Professor, Department of Architecture
Julie Kriegh, Affiliate Lecturer, Departments of Construction Management and Architecture and Principal, Kriegh Architecture Studios | Design + Research
Jackson Blalock, Community Engagement Specialist, Washington Sea Grant
Lynne Manzo, Professor, Department of Landscape Architecture
Kristiina Vogt, Professor, School of Environmental and Forest Sciences

Community Partners:
Daniel Glenn, AIA, NCARB, Principal, 7 Directions Architects/Planners 
John David “J.D.” Tovey III, Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation
Timothy Archer Lehman, Design and Planning Consultant and Lecturer

Plywood on steroids: CBE experiments with building materials for a sustainable future

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