in 2008 Casey Brown Architecture was short-listed by the World Architecture Festival in Barcelona for a project they call Permanent Camping, an innovative pared-back residential structure perched on a sheep station in central western New South Wales. Brown recalls the project – at the behest of the client – was an attempt to return to basics: “the urge to get away to nature is in most people I think”. But in this age of green politicking and sustainable living agendas it is difficult to discern what constitutes a genuine sustainable strategy and what is mere fashion.
The Permanent Camping structure – which has a mere 3x3m footprint – is “sustainable in a real not lip-service way. It consumes no power for heating or cooling systems, it collects its own water, and is made of recycled ironbark timber and copper, which can be reused again should the need arise.” Those familiar with the harsh and often unpredictable climate of New South Wales, where temperatures can soar to 40 degrees-plus in the summer and then plummet to freezing conditions weeks later, will appreciate Brown’s emphasis on design features that pander to the weather conditions of the bush. When not in use protecting the interior, the adjustable walls open up on the ground level to provide wide verandas ensuring ample protection from summer conditions, but allow for an abundant airflow. While Brown was keen to mimic the aesthetic of the local environment – for example the “copper patina corresponds to the colour of the lichen-covered rocks” – he imagines this structure working equally well as a fishing cabin in Tasmania or in the desert as a cluster of huts.作者: AMICUS_LAW 时间: 2010-7-21 20:42:07