Wednesday, January 19, 2011

TOPIC A: 5 Questions

From our research we have discovered that we would like to pursue a futuristic design.
What will the climate be like? 
In terms of the climate, we believe it will be significantly warmer. Based on an article written by Richard Bisgrove who is a lecturer at The Centre for Horticulture and Landscape, we must consider aspect in the design process as climate changes. For example, we must look at the  impacts on the place, the users and the designers.

He points out that if winter is shorter, than we have opportunites of using more fragile materials such as terracotta and marble. We may even get the chance of changing the look of our garden if climate permits tropical plants to grow there. In terms of the user, we may consider using more grass than pavement since it has natural cooling properties. Nevertheless, we have to consider sustainable material to be used even if we can use marble. Would it make sense to import that all the way to Canada or is there something more ecologically friendly. We think there are better material to select for an environmentally friendly approach.

As designers, the author makes us consider what types of spaces and plants we should incorporate in our design as climate changes. Do we know enough of about the types of plants that will be appropriate for our climate? Did you know that some flowers were more drought resistant than others? These are questions that designers will have to look at as climate changes. We will have to take a look at the functions of our environment and what changes that might arise. For instance, he also brought up a good point about having to mow your lawn twice as much if summers are longer and if we were to keep our lawn green we would be wasting a lot of water. If grass costs too much, maybe we can use synthetic grass.

Therefore our spaces should incorporate climate change and be environmentally friendly. We have to consider that the climate may be warmer and that we have to be prepared for natural disasters like floods, and hurricanes. What safety precautions must we take if these natural disasters are to occur? Hypothetically, if our summers were longer, it would be nice if our retirement home had more park space and flowers. As a result, the public landscape may change where parks will be used frequently by more people.

How will people move around?
- Solar power will be readily available and will recharge vehicles. Click here to read more

We believe in the natural aging process and think that we will exceed the death expectancy to twenty years.
Because of technological innovations in the healthcare system we believe it will help people live longer. People's vision and mobility are enhanced. For example, hip and knee surgeries have allowed people to become remobilized. Click here to read article.

    What will be the human population be?
    The population will grow tremendously. According to Stats Canada, we will have a population over 42.5-50 million people in 2056. Nevertheless, population growth is expected to slow down after 2056. Migration growth would play the biggest role in Canada's population growth.

    By 2056 the median age is predicted to be between 45-50 years old.  One in ten Canadians will be 80 years and over, which is a durastic change from 2005 where it was only one in thirty. The population is most likely to be higher in 2061 since the median age increases as time goes by.
     
    Older workers from the ages of 45 to 64 years will comprise 45% of the population in 2056. Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia will have the largest growth rates in Canada, whereas Newfoundland and Labrador, New Brunswick and Saskatchewan may have a smaller population than they currently do.

    Therefore it is important to consider the aging population of Canada and what it will be like in 50 years. Since there will be a lot of seniors there must be enough facilites to accomodate them. With the increase of immigrants coming to Canada, we will also have design facilities that respects different cultures and religions.

    http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/91-520-x/00105/4095095-eng.htm

    What will people eat?
    Foods will be altered to be more nutritious and allergy-free. For example, scientists will be able to add vitamins to a particular food and allergenic proteins can be removed. Click here to read the article.
    Everything will be genetically modified, as a result people can avoid certain illnesses associated with some foods. For example, they have genetically modified a bird that isn't contaminated with the bird flu.
    Click here to read article. 

    Genetically modified foods will be use to feed the entire world without damaging oceans and trees. There will be self-contained ecosystems that can recycle and use very little water to grow cucumbers or even farm fish. Click here to read article.

    What will cities look like?
    Pop-up cities article
    Cities in the future: according to the article, the future cities will be impacted by the changing environments like planet’s temperature and ocean level, so we need to bring out new solutions of ecological human settlements such as movable and interchangeable city; floating city and zero energy city are the themes for future contemporary design.
    An example of using solar power which is Solar Lily Pads by Peter Richardson, who used the under-used waterway as site for a series of small artificial islands, places to mount solar panels.
    Since we decided to create some floating-technology furniture by using solar power, we may as well set our goal towards the floating movable house, use the space properly, so that the house can move in a 3-dimension space. That may settle the problem of traffic and transportation.

    Finance
    Some people may not even have the finances to retire. For example, less and less Canadians ages 18-24 are investing RRSPs. Click here to read the article. 

    Technology
    New technology will help monitor your health. For example, we can install toilets that can collect data from your urine and be sent to the lab, as a result, people will be able to catch illnesses faster. Click here to read more. 


      No comments:

      Post a Comment