Save the Date

2013 ECO ABET SUMMER CHARRETTE

THURSDAY, JUNE 13

  

DO YOU SEE A NEED IN YOUR COMMUNITY?
LET US KNOW!

Eco Abet is currently gathering project ideas for this summer's charrette and we want to hear from YOU!

Projects should be related to an issue or a location in your community to which you believe
a half-day of GOOD DESIGN and GREAT TEAMWORK will make a big difference.
If you have an idea in mind, or know someone who does, let us help!

Send an email to Charmalee Gunaratne at: cgunaratne@ecoabet.org

“REDUZCA VELOCIDAD” : Caracas, Venezuela

“Reduzca Velocidad”: “Reduce Speed” screams the environment, not only to the millions of daily commuters to Caracas, but also to the speed of the “Urban Sprawl”.

Colorful, spontaneous composition of building blocks in Caracas, Venezuela does look interesting to the artistic eye. But this unplanned, uncontrolled spreading of urban development into suburban and the fringe of urban areas creates hazardous living conditions. This ad-hoc development overloads the services. Unavailability of proper drainage of rain water creates breeding grounds for mosquitoes, which lead to numerous of health issues. Living away from the city and commuting daily to work makes people spend more time seated in automobile, making them more risk to obesity and other health implications.

Urban sprawl also has a direct effect on water pollution, air pollution and other adverse impacts of automobile usage. According to Harold Taylor, Oxford Scientific Films, “Automobile exhaust contains unburned hydrocarbons, particulates, carbon dioxide, and oxides of nitrogen and sulfur that contribute to acid rain, smog, and global warming. The oxides combine with water vapor in the air to form acids, which return to the ground as acid rain. Smog, a mixture of smoke (particulates) and fog, irritates the eyes, throat, and lungs and also damages plants. Photochemical smog, a particularly harsh form of smog, is created when sunlight triggers a chemical reaction between the unburned hydrocarbons and the oxides of nitrogen in automobile exhaust. Carbon dioxide, produced from the burning of fossil fuels including gasoline, is the leading cause of the greenhouse effect, a phenomenon thought to be responsible for rising global temperatures”.

Where do we stand as designers/ builders? Do we see the colorful composition or the dismay of reality?

Photo credit: Jenee Siems