Longevity of Materials

Wood can only last so long as a building material. Sooner or later it will be useless. Maybe fifty years. Isn't it more sustainable to use a material that lasts a long time and easy to repair? Most materials (including concrete) can be reclaimed and reused. Also, from a disaster proofing perspective I would never feel secure in a straw bail, timber framed house. It can be blown apart by high winds or destroyed by fire. Isn't that why we switched to bricks in the first place? A collective amnesia I think. A building should be built for longevity and resilience and if it takes a bit longer to demolish and reclaim its materials, so be it. Let's not be lazy about reusing materials.

Foster + Partners.

The environmentally conscious building movement is in a state of collective amnesia, and its taking hold. Eco-towns are springing up all over the place including one in Abu Dhabi, which is walled city, with enclosed streets for pedestrians only. Designed by Foster and Partners (seemingly the only architect in the world at the moment), it's enclosed streets shade pedestrians as they wonder around, with small cars on monorails to take passengers around the town (see pic). The project is funded by petro-dollars and will house a eco-power R&D community. It is an answer to ecological problems with self-sustaining solar power supply and waste recycling systems etc. But they have not taken into account the disasters that will and have in the past, come about as a result of climate change. Rising sea levels, storms, dry prolonged periods, maybe earthquakes etc. If you really want a sustainable town you must look at the disasters and unusual weather events that come with it, at least. If not all possible disasters.