(EA & D) IDEOLOGY, THOUGHTS & INFLUENCES

Context & Culture
Natural & built environments are in a constant flow of overlapping transitions that are in continual decay, change & regeneration. ‘Elemental Architecture & Design (EA & D)’ is an approach that utilises change in the creation of new design & solutions absorbing the speedily revolution in sustainability & micro-technological advancements. e.g. artificial intelligence, miniaturisation, autonomous capabilities & new materials that impact our daily lives on a global scale, both collectively & personally. As always stated “there are no problems just possibilities”

At the outset of human development, progress was considered timely & balanced. With time, the speed of change has been at pace, with many natural & built environments unable to sustain the same balanced momentum, straining both cultural progress & global resources. EA & D responds to different geographic locations, customs & beliefs reflected from heritage, civic, social, commercial & technical advancements. Occasionally, a revolutionary event occurs which impacts on these creating unique environments & socio-technical changes that form the future, but with its roots clearly seen in the past.

Evolution & Awareness
History will surmise & accept the union of humanity, technology & architecture, either in its own right or as a contributing part in the simplicity of its making. Within EA & D, the combined spirit of nature’s teachings & human imagination creates a well-balanced living setting, born through the individual’s, culture, beliefs, context, local resources, material assemblies, socio-technological advancements with diverse technologies either required or desired. No matter what one’s culture, beliefs or attitude, architecture & design impacts our daily lives & must be beneficial to improve our environment & well-being.

‘Awareness’ of EA & D in architecture & technology, no matter what the scale, strikes a balance that when viewed can be seen as a semi-conscious entity, continuously adapting & changing to meet our needs & demands. Subtle environmental & constructional strategies provide clarity of design concept, structure, expression in material components & assembly with a clear visual composition. It creates a hierarchy of different environmental, functional, social, technological & aesthetic layers that provide mass / form of varying scale, light, texture & colour perceived as being solid, translucent & transparent that is viewed from both near & afar with many different experiences in between unified by ‘Greenscape’.

Expression of Technology & Construction
The human path has always been compelled by exploration and inventiveness. Throughout time, most new technology, materials, processes & assembly techniques have all led to improvement in our ‘environment & well-being’. This constant change can be seen with the advent of continuous development in progress of environmental design, sustainability, material science, recyclability, methods of manufacture / assembly, artificial intelligence, & miniaturisation allowing architecture & design to become a free thinking adaptive form, naturally responding not just seasonally or daily change, but in real-time.

‘Sustainability & Environmental Design’ is fundamental to EA & D’s thinking with location, culture, materials & resources all being pivotal in creating appropriate solutions. Throughout the design process, efficiencies & benefits are evaluated & assessed. Even today the construction industry is still trapped & blinkered in its own traditional past. It is slow in exploring the benefits of spin-off technology & concepts from the likes of the aerospace, vehicle, industrial & product design industries, that when inter-woven with (AI) can provide such efficiencies & benefits- just a new way of thinking. These are industries that can logistically mass produce finished components & assemblies to the highest standard & quality, whilst maximising sustainability, reprocessing, recycling of materials & limiting wastage in a controlled environment.

Preparative site works & ‘wet’ trades are limited to a minimum, with pre-consideration of components or sub-assemblies that are easily transported & re-assembled with the foresight for future adaption, retro-upgrading & maintenance all designed into the architecture. Completed projects have their own unique architectural component language, a signature, forming a visual composition appropriate for today & our future, but with all the roots in the past.

Environment & Wellbeing
Although evident, it is now being acknowledged that celestial events, human development & intervention has collectively impacted our planet on a global scale. A process that has been running in parallel with our own cultural, industrial & technological advancement. This must not just be viewed universally, but explored at all scales & actions taken through adaption e.g. infrastructural development, rural, horticultural, urban, technological, environmental, resources, sustainability & recyclability down to the single life style choices & change.

Sustainability, with the bonding between nature & humanity is at the core of EA & D. The level of complexity varies depending upon individual context / culture & a desire for inclusion of any appropriate technology, e.g. location, micro / macro climates, available local resources with many more influences that when combined form a tailored hybrid design that utilises maximum passive resources & if necessary can be accompanied by minimal active systems creating a setting of sustainable wellbeing.

It is our moral duty to strive to create environments using appropriate sustainable or recycled materials & processes in crafting our surroundings. After unlocking & maximising the use of free passive energy(s) it can be efficiently processed & operated using AI & autonomous control systems allowing excess to be stored & reused or even fed-back into the local infrastructure grid for use elsewhere. Active’ systems are seen as environmental modifiers that provide minimal supplementary support to fine tune our surroundings. The overall process creates a comfortable energy-efficient working & living organism, breathing, absorbing energy, storing or reradiating heat & by reverse cooling the occupants maintaining a balanced environment that can only be measured by response of the senses, part of the core to ‘Wellbeing’ in Architecture & Design.