The recent influx of housing demand and development in Western Australia closely followed the high activity in the agriculture and resources industry. The urban area of Perth has doubled in size since the 1970s to 63 100 hectares. Low density urban spread with single detached houses remains the dominant mode of urban development in Perth. (p. 195 state of the environment report WA 2007)
There are three major factors in the rapid change of housing in Australia,
Environmental issues – More than ever, there is a greater awareness and higher expectations by the public on environmentally conscious development. It is up to architects to implement responsible, sustainable solutions to the general housing market and help reduce the waste of the Earth’s resources.
Change in demographics – The average number of people living in households in Australia is decreasing. It has decreased every decade from 4.53 in 1911 to 2.57 in 2001 and a projected 2.2-2.3 by 2026. This shows the future will bring the need for more small housing solutions and flexibility in household types.
Affordability pressures – According to the 2008 International Housing Affordability Survey, five Australian cities are listed in the world’s top 20 most unaffordable. Perth is among one of the most unaffordable cities to buy a house in the world.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Historic development of Housing in Australia
Australia has seen several rapid housing growth periods. The evolutionary cycle of development for Western Australia in particular has seen periods of intensive development followed by slower steady growth.
During the late 19th Century a rural to urban migration following the end of the gold rush and external migration added to a period of huge urban population growth. The high demand for housing combined with buoyant economic conditions fuelled a housing boom which remained unequalled until after the Second World War.
There was a general slump in building activity until the end of World War Two. The post war climate of reconstruction and innovation was fuelled by soldier re-settlement, high rates of immigration and a huge backlog in housing demand.
There have been several schemes adopted regarding the growth of cities in Australia since. For example Perth adopted the Corridor Plan for Perth in 1970. This addressed the prospect of endless urban growth along major transport corridors and around a network of sub-regional centres. In 1987 Metroplan sought to consolidate existing and future urban development and facilitate growth in a new pattern of centres in the middle suburbs. 2004 saw the release of the Network City plan. It emphasized growth management in an effort to contain fringe urban growth and renew and regenerate the existing urban area with a network of activity centres connected by a series of corridors.
By 2031 future population forecasts predict that the Perth and Peel region will house a population of more than 2.2 million people. This is an addition 556,000 people on today’s population. To accommodate this level of growth a further 328,000 dwellings and approximately 356,000 jobs will be needed. (Directions 2031)
The growth of the population shows there will be a need for improvement in building design and specifically providing new methods and strategies for housing growth in Australia. The need for experimentation and innovation not only in dense urban dwelling prototypes but also the model of a single detached house will become increasingly important.
During the late 19th Century a rural to urban migration following the end of the gold rush and external migration added to a period of huge urban population growth. The high demand for housing combined with buoyant economic conditions fuelled a housing boom which remained unequalled until after the Second World War.
There was a general slump in building activity until the end of World War Two. The post war climate of reconstruction and innovation was fuelled by soldier re-settlement, high rates of immigration and a huge backlog in housing demand.
There have been several schemes adopted regarding the growth of cities in Australia since. For example Perth adopted the Corridor Plan for Perth in 1970. This addressed the prospect of endless urban growth along major transport corridors and around a network of sub-regional centres. In 1987 Metroplan sought to consolidate existing and future urban development and facilitate growth in a new pattern of centres in the middle suburbs. 2004 saw the release of the Network City plan. It emphasized growth management in an effort to contain fringe urban growth and renew and regenerate the existing urban area with a network of activity centres connected by a series of corridors.
By 2031 future population forecasts predict that the Perth and Peel region will house a population of more than 2.2 million people. This is an addition 556,000 people on today’s population. To accommodate this level of growth a further 328,000 dwellings and approximately 356,000 jobs will be needed. (Directions 2031)
The growth of the population shows there will be a need for improvement in building design and specifically providing new methods and strategies for housing growth in Australia. The need for experimentation and innovation not only in dense urban dwelling prototypes but also the model of a single detached house will become increasingly important.
Versadome
The Versadome is a modular building system based on three organic shaped rigid structural shells in the nature of arches and domes. All components are designed to stack for easy transportation and assembly. Four complete units (approx. 800 square feet of enclosed space) can be stacked and transported in one standard shipping container. I really like the idea of it being stackable and easily transported. Would be quite effective in reducing the transportation energy of a building. Not too sure about the material its made of though.
Habitat 67
Habitat 67 is a housing complex and landmark located on the Marc-Drouin Quay on the Saint in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Its design was created by architect Moshe Safdie based on his master's thesis at McGill University and built as part of Expo 67. It was designed to integrate the variety and diversity of scattered private homes with the economics and density of a modern apartment building. Modular, interlocking concrete forms define the space. The project was designed to create affordable housing with close but private quarters, each equipped with a garden. The building was believed to illustrate the new lifestyle people would live in increasingly crowded cities around the world. Interesting concept of stacking and quite relevant. I like the modularity but still has a bit of variety. Also uses concrete.
Material editor
Just figured out how to make a new material in Ecotect. The standard material library is quite extensive however did not include the Thermomass insulated concrete wall I needed. I went into the materials editor and created a new material, assigning each layer with a thickness and selecting the approriate settings. It also has a handy little detail screen which can also be exported.
AEC magazine article on Ecotect
Martyn Day from AEC magazine gives a usefull review of the advantages and disadvantages of Ecotect. He states
"There is a lot of talk about green building design and many architects are coming up against design-related criteria of Part L. WIth building performance becoming key, Martyn Day evaluates a low-cost solution that could be the answer to better building design."
"There is a lot of talk about green building design and many architects are coming up against design-related criteria of Part L. WIth building performance becoming key, Martyn Day evaluates a low-cost solution that could be the answer to better building design."
The link to the article is below.
Domino on Archicad
So for this tutorial we had to model and document Le Corbusiers Dom-ino project in Archicad.
I found the program pretty hard to navigate at first but once I started to become familiar with the interface it got easier. I can see how it can be usefull when changing the design however I feel there are also alot of limitations in the design process.
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