Researching Human Habitats

                                                                                                        Meghin Neal

                                                                                                                             

Arcosanti

Arcosanti is an experimental town that began construction in 1970 in Central Arizona , North of Phoenix. The goal of arcosanti is to explore the concepts of archeology, which is a combination of architecture and ecology developed by an Italian Architect Paolo Soleri. When complete, Arcosanti will house 5000 people, demonstrating ways to improve urban conditions and lessen our destructive impact on the earth. The main focus of Acrosanti is to use natural resources and rely solely on the earth to provide every essential they could possibly need. Several systems of Acrosanti work efficiently together providing multi use buildings , circulation of people and resources , and solar orientation for lighting , heating and cooling.

I love the structured buildings and the thought of living off natural resources. I could picture myself here because I don’t think I would have to worry about a lot of health problems because everything your doing is healthy and good for you.

BedZED

The Beddington Zero Energy Development (BedZED) is  a great example of innovative, zero-energy, sustainable housing on a multi-unit scale. The residential and workspace development in the London borough of Sutton is a carbon-neutral community with numerous green spaces, recycling facilities, water saving features, and a legally binding green transport plan.

The design of BedZED meets high environmental standards, with a strong emphasis on roof gardens, sunlight, solar energy, reduction of energy consumption, and waste water recycling. Materials for the construction of BedZED are from natural, recycled, or reclaimed materials. All the wood used is approved by the Forest Stewardship Council or comparable internationally recognized environmental organizations.

I Like the fact that there buildings are made of a lot of materials that I throw away. Its cool to see them put things that I thought were useless and made them useful. I would live here.

Transit Oriented Development

                Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) is an integrated approach to land use and transportation development that creates long-term prosperity for society at large. TOD that is equitable and sustainable fosters healthy and prosperous communities, in which diverse groups of people have greater mobility choices and access to opportunity. TOD can provide a variety of social, environmental and economic benefits for people and communities, from reduced costs of living, better access to jobs, and economic growth, to healthier lifestyles and, through reduced automobile use, important reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.

            I have been staying on the MGS campus for a few days and it has totally changed my outlook on trains. Since staying here , I have grown to hate the sounds that trains make.