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Cactus Wren with a "Natural" Cactus House |
GOAL
Your students will conduct research to discover how plants and animals in the Southwest have adapted to their environment. They will apply
nature's solutions to the creation of a radically innovative architecture. The students will execute plan, elevation (front, back and both sides), and
section drawings of their unique design of a "Living Southwest Eco-Architecture"
"Zomes" Showing Solar Panels
|
CLIENTThe U.S. Solar Energy Commission is sponsoring a design contest for Southwest architects. This agency
wants to promote the creation of an environmentally conscious architecture to conserve heating and cooling costs. The design must meet the following criteria:
- single-family home to accommodate four people
- utilization of traditional building materials in an original way
- introduction of non-traditional building materials to domestic architecture
- incorporation of environmental adaptations of plant and animal species native to the Southwest
Your class will submit plan, elevation (front, back and both sides), and section drawings of their design to the Commission. Your students' entry
must also include a one-page explanation of how the building relates to its environment. back to topCONCEPTS
- adaptation
- absorption
- color
- conservation
- design ethic
- ecology
- ecosystem
- environment
- evolution
MATERIALS
- drawing paper (8 1/2"X 11")
- flair pens
- large, colored markers
- colored pencils
- notebook paper
VOCABULARY
CACTUS: |
the family of plants with fleshy stems which store water, and have scales or spines instead of leaves. |
FLUTES: |
parallel, vertical grooves of saguaro cacti and classical columns. |
NOCTURNAL: |
relating to, or active at night, |
SPINE: |
sharp, stiff projection on a plant; modified leaf. |
TROMBE: |
kind of wall developed in France, which is constructed to heat, air and circulate it into the building by
natural convection. |
back to topHISTORY The sun has always been of great significance to the Native Americans.
Some greet the sun daily with offerings of cornmeal and prayers for long life. Today we are rediscovering what the "Ancient Ones" knew about
living in harmony with the sun and its natural rhythms. The sun's intensity in the Southwest presents a special challenge to architects. Creation of the Sun:
Long ago, according to an ancient Indian legend from the Zia Pueblo, there were two Creator Mothers who desired light. They gathered stones of
turquoise and carnelian, white shells, and abalone shells and with these they crafted the Sun. Together, they carried the Sun to the top of a high
mountain in the east and dropped him down behind the mountain. Slowly the Sun rose up above the mountain and into the cloudless sky. What the
Creator Mothers saw was not the sun they had created, but a glazing mask that covered his entire body. Daily, the Sun Old Man crosses the
Southwest sky. When he sinks in the west, he crosses a lake, descends to the underworld, and continues east where he rises again each morning. BACKGROUND Plants: How have plants adapted to life in the southern deserts?
Cacti, members of the rose family, have generated multiple thorns or spines that provide shade to the
body of the plant. The spines also trap a thin layer of air close to the plant to provide invisible insulation. The saguaro cacti have deeply fluted ribs that
generate shade over almost half of their surface. A cross-section of the saguaro reveals a central cylinder made up of hollow rods which acts as a water tower and provides support for the plant.
Caterpillar cactus crawls along the ground in sinuous undulations to create shade and lower its body temperature. Teddy bear cholla cacti live in dense colonies with each plant providing shade for its
neighbor.Plants have also adapted to the solar cycles. The leaves of the Mesquite bush close during the day to prevent over-transpiration, or water loss.
Night-blooming cereus, ("la reina de la noche" - queen of the night), blooms annually at the summer solstice (about June 21). On this shortest night of the year a
noctural insect pollinates the plant, the flower then fades and the cereus returns to its survival status until the next year
back to topAnimals: How have animals adapted to life in the southern deserts?
Underground Housing for Animals |
The apache pocket mouse has evolved to a pure white color to reflect the sun's rays and camouflage it in its habitat on
the White Sands Desert. Horned toads lighten their color during the heat of the day to reflect the sun, and turn dark again when the temperature drops. Gila monsters have highly polished, beaded
skin that reflects the sunlight. Desert lizards bask with their long side to the sun to gain heat in the mornings and turn toward the sun to minimize heat
absorption mid-day. The jack rabbit's large ears provide a surface area much greater than their mass and so function as radiators of heat in the summer and solar collectors in the winter.
Underground houses also protect animals from the sun. The kangaroo rat, kit fox, antelope ground squirrel, and wood rat cool off two feet below the
surface of the ground. On a hot day, the difference between the temperature on the surface and that in their burrows below can be as much as 70ºF!
Like their counterparts in the plant kingdom, some animals are strictly nocturnal. The kangaroo rat, tarantula, antelope ground squirrel, and
many reptiles emerge from their protective burrows only in the cool of the evening. Let us learn from our plant and animal neighbors how to live in this challenging environment. We can:
- construct underground shelters
- provide insulation around our homes
- devise solar-operated shades
- flute the exteriors to create shade
- wrap buildings around each other for shade
Adaptation:
Beehive Animal Apartment House |
Recently designers and architects have been looking at ways to adapt the logic of animal architects' building systems and patterns in
nature to the way they build for humans.The results are:
- underground housing
- the use of solar power
- orientation of houses in ways which will protect them from hot sun in summer while allowing the utilization of solar power in winter
Solar:
The sun's energy can warm our houses, our water, and our bodies. For centuries man has worshipped the sun. Modern man is
working on ways to better utilize the sun's energy to save our depleting resources and to live in harmony with nature.Remember that at different times of the year the sun's rays fall from different
angles. Be sure to consider what season you are in and observe from which direction the sun is coming. back to top
PROGRAM Your class may perform the following activities in preparing their designs:
Study plant and animal adaptations to the Southwest environment and make a list of those adaptations that the students will use in their designs.
Translate these natural solutions to architectural solutions. Explore several possibilities using unique building materials, innovative technologies, and creative form.
On a large sheet of drawing paper, students may design an "Eco-House" to accommodate a family of four. Remember to begin with a bubble diagram
and identify the clients needs. Students should carefully label their drawings and indicate materials, colors, and operating mechanisms where appropriate.
Write an explanation of how each student's building uses natural environmental adaptations to the Southwest climate. PRESENTATION AND EVALUATION
Display all drawings on 20" x 24" poster board. Arrange architectural drawings on the top half and illustrations of the plants and animals, whose
adaptations have been translated into structural terms, on the bottom half. A one-page explanation of how the building relates to its environment should accompany the display.
Have your students present their designs and explain the natural adaptations they chose. Their presentations should address the following
questions: How does their design exhibit an original solution? What new materials does their Eco-Architecture employ? What traditional materials
are utilized in innovative ways? Does their house require new technology for its operation or construction?
back to top
BIBLIOGRAPHY
- * Pringle, Laurence. The Gentle Desert: Exploring an Ecosystem. Macmillan Publishing Col., Inc.: New York, 1977.
- * Rahn, John Elma. Keeping Warm, Keeping Cool. Atheneum: New York, 1983.
- * Yount, Lisa. Too Hot Too Cold Just Right: How Animals Control Their Temperatures. Walker and Co.: New York, 1981.
* Suitable for Childrenback to topFor additional evaluation of your students' projects, see the
EVALUATION FORM AND RATING SCALE.
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