Eco-Architecture and Design

The aim of the project is to create a vibrant eco-community. This will also be reflected in the architecture and landscaping of the site which will as far as possible realize the ecological-economic principles of localization, bioregionalism and cultural authenticity. In other words:

Any new buildings will be appropriate technology, low or zero emission, mixed use developments using local materials and designed for self-maintenance.
Buildings will be designed as living laboratories i.e.) in such a way as to make their design principles visible and with continual performance monitoring by students in mind.
Where possible students will get the opportunity to be involved in construction and maintenance.
The micro-economy of the Institute will be oriented to money circulating within the local community.
As far as possible, energy, water and waste-management systems will be eco-cyclic and 'off-grid'
The smallholding will operate to minimize the ecological footprint of the food provisioning system.

These principles are not put forward with the insistence that individuals accept them as economically viable or even ethically appropriate. Rather they are conceived as a living experiment designed to foster debate and highlight ecological tensions inherent in the relationship between modern market economies and the environment. Students will certainly go away with a much more nuanced understanding about what is possible and what is not, in the prospective ecological re-orientation of the economy. The self-imposed ecological limitation expressed in the architecture and metabolism of the site, will also force students to confront difficult trade-offs between individual liberty and expression and strong sustainability which seems to require the reemergence of stronger forms of community regulation.