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On the occasion of its participation in the Global Eco-Forum 2012 we have learned about an initiative by Tom Deforce and Toni Solanas, called Eco-Urbi, which is based on the creation of sustainable architectural spaces related to the environment. «It aims to be a prototype of bio-construction housing with principles of efficiency, ecology, health and community».
We interviewed Toni Solanas to find out more about his idea of sustainability in construction:
1. What is the origin and what does the ECO_URBI project consist of?
The origin has to be sought in these coincidences of life, I can hardly remember. Tom and I met in the village of Vacarisses.
The project consists of combining two things: on the one hand, getting a job that is personally rewarding and, on the other hand, that this job improves the quality of life of the people who join the project.
2. What are the problems with the materials and methods currently used in construction?
Health problems for people and environmental impacts on the planet.
On the other hand, the current way of working is very dehumanised, as money has become the god that justifies everything, and traditional wisdom, which actually favoured “good living”, is being lost.”
3. What alternative solutions exist for air conditioning, energy efficiency, adaptation to the environment and, in short, improving our quality of life by adapting to the physical and social environment?
The first thing to do is to adopt measures that reduce demand - both for energy, water and materials - as well as the production of toxic and polluting waste. Once this has been done, we must seek efficiency in the use of materials and systems (and here the order of the factors is important: the first measure reduces much more than the second, and we must reflect on what this means: faced with a technological conception of progress, we must propose another idea of progress more linked to people, their intelligence and their capacities).
Thirdly, making the most of local resources, then there is the issue of using recycled products and favouring the recyclability of what we do, and finally offsetting the impact produced.
4. Is rural areas a good place to start this “hygiene revolution” and why?
Of course it is a good place, but it is not the only one. We must also consider the hygienic revolution for cities (as Cerdà and García Faria did in the 19th century). Despite their disproportionate metabolism and their tendency to entropy, we cannot abandon cities. Another important reflection is that we cannot occupy the rural environment with all those who now live in cities; we would destroy it. Nor can it be turned into a kind of reserve for the enjoyment of 4 tourists or hippies. We must be careful (and with respect of course) with individual “salvations”, I think the best thing is to try to “save” all of us, with the resources we have. And it is possible.
5. How does the media respond to these initiatives?
Well, that's too bad, frankly. Of course, in the area where we live there is practically no “rural environment” left. The urbanisation/cancer wave has occupied the territory in such a way that you have to move a long way away from the big cities and the coast to find what we call “rural areas” (at least as I think you're putting it).
6. There will be things we can learn from the more traditional rural constructions and their participatory social organisations...
Clearly, it is absolutely necessary to preserve and maintain the wisdom of vernacular construction, in terms of its ability to make the most efficient use of available resources, its knowledge, its materials and techniques, which are much healthier in general than “modern” materials and techniques.
In this aspect I would like to point out the need to recover the Mediterranean building tradition with its 4 main strategies for air conditioning: inertia, shading and cross ventilation and insulation. Unfortunately the current situation (Technical Code, certificates, etc.) responds more to the criteria of insulation and airtightness of colder areas (I am talking about my temperate climate zone of the Mediterranean coast, another thing is the colder climate of the mountains) and richer than ours, such as northern Europe than our climate.
It is also clear that participatory social organisations must be recovered, and thus save the concept of and respect for the public, the collective, the community, in crisis due to the staunch individualism to which the prevailing economic neo-liberalism (and, it is fair to say, also part of the tradition born of May '68) has led us.
7. How are people responding, do you foresee a greater acceptance of these forms of consumption/construction or a decline?
For now there is little response, but I still foresee a further rise of these ways of making and building.