“Building” Health Awareness
Modernistic visual aesthetics and economic efficiencies aspire to erase all other sensory stimuli. Quake’s ‘Nature Deficit Disorder’ project is about experiencing Immersive Exuberance on all our senses. Technology to enhance our connection to nature, climate and other people not to exclude them.
Check out the aftermovie of our exhibtion at the Dutch Design Week 2023:
Be aware
The unavoidable reality of Climate Change is hitting our communal awareness.
While we may not be able to entirely evade it, we possess the capacity to mitigate its effects. This can be achieved through conscientious efforts to minimize our carbon footprint. Equally crucial, if not more so, is our readiness to confront the repercussions of climate change.
Whilst this sounds gloomy, we believe it could actually open up our awareness to a world that we separated ourselves from increasingly in the last century. The world around us; which with large windows in modernistic buildings we have flattened to just an image. All this for perceived short term comfort and control; the exclusion of the unexpected.
Separating ourselves from our natural environment comes at huge costs; ecological (Climate Change), mental (Stress) and physical (Obesity).
The “Nature Deficit Disorder” Exhibition invites you to reconsider the intricate balance between our built environment and our holistic well-being. Join us in reimagining a future where architecture harmonizes with nature, nurturing our minds, bodies, and the world we inhabit.
Imagine
Living on a campsite, a city created around children playing in the mud just barely allowing adults to move around let alone cars. Houses we’re in only to take shelter when it’s really unbearable outside. Waking up well rested, without stress and in good shape. Growing old healthy, active in life and society. Imagine all this and then wonder why if we can have all of this we choose not to.
Imagine the sun is your clock, not a Rolex. Imagine the car you share is for transportation, not for status, and suddenly you know why. Now try and imagine how we can change this and like us you’ll get stuck; stuck in that we can’t change it. And you’re right, but we can change ourselves, not instantly, not revolutionary, but we can imagine learning to appreciate life, not its derivatives. Of all the things we want; only time and time only is limited.
Let’s imagine real hedonism; the maximization of our own happiness – we do not believe we need less, we thoroughly believe we need more. More time to enjoy life, more real experiences, more interaction, particularly with the unknown, the unexpected, in essence; with risk.
If you can imagine this, go back and try and live life like we used to.
Experience
The boring, static environment we have created for ourselves in less than a century. Experience how much more exhilarating life can be when we use technology as an intermediary between us and our environment, not as a separator. Experience how reconnecting our other senses to the space we’re in amplifies the impact of the space. Experience hearing your children play in the garden, or the first floor. Experience smelling flowers even in-house. Experience dynamic, immersive environments not created as an image but for you to live in. Now you have experienced how buildings can enhance and not suppress living. Now you have imagined how it makes you happier and healthier now and in the future. Now you are aware that this better life is the only way we can grow with less. Maybe we cannot even stop the impact of climate change anymore, but just maybe we can learn to deal with it.
The “Natural Deficit Disorder” Exhibition beckons you to explore the dynamic dance between architecture, nature, and human flourishing. Join us on a journey of awareness, imagination, and firsthand experience, as we together reshape our built environment into a thriving testament to harmony and sustainability.
Rammed earth
An area made of ‘rammed earth’ will be one of the showcases in the exhibition! Rammed earth is an ancient construction technique that is gaining a renewed interest in recent years as a biobased building material. Because of its unique combination of strength, durability and thermal performance, rammed earth has the potential to be a more sustainable alternative to conventional construction materials. As the construction industry grapples with the challenges of the Net Zero targets, climate change and the need for more sustainable design, investigating the structural properties of rammed earth becomes increasingly important.
The exploration of rammed earth’s potential not only leads to aesthetically pleasing designs but also promotes sustainable design by utilizing locally sourced materials and reducing the carbon footprint associated with construction production and transport.
Rammed earth structures have inherent thermal mass, which reduce the amount of insulation material needed and the use of heating and cooling systems. The use of rammed earth as building material supports the transition towards low-carbon buildings and mitigates the environmental impact of the construction industry.
Rammed earth has been used for centuries in different regions around the world, reflecting its potential and flexibility as construction material. By studying its structural properties, we can better preserve and promote this heritage, while also integrating modern scientific knowledge and technological innovations to broader the field, such as Additive Manufacturing / 3D-printing, compaction techniques, mix proportions, prefabrication and stabilization methods.
In collaboration with Charles Thuijls.
