Every day is Earth Day for architects designing the best structures, allowing clients to enjoy high standards of living and cost savings.
Earth Day brings images of gardens, trees and wildlife to mind. It’s a day for people to get outside and enjoy the spring weather or post photos of their favorite outdoor excursions from the past year.
At Texas Tech University’s Huckabee College of Architecture (HCOA), there isn’t a day the faculty and students aren’t thinking of the world around them. After all, that’s the backdrop for their work.
Some of the most innovative and breathtaking designs coming out of the college work the environment into its designs.
Peter Raab is an associate professor in the HCOA and serves as director of the Ecological Architecture + Design Graduate Certificate that launched last year.
“We believe good architecture is sustainable architecture,” Raab said.
Raab and others believe sustainability is more than a buzzword. That it can be utilized to create impact. From beautiful aesthetics to cost savings, designing with sustainability in mind seems to be the future of architecture.
“We are a professional school,” Raab said. “We have a mandate to prepare students for the field.”
Jobs go to architecture firms that can pitch striking, sensible and economical solutions. In today’s world, that means considering everything from materials and location to technological integration and maintenance.
Take a look at some Earth Day-friendly designs coming out of the HCOA.
Tucson Mountain Retreat
This retreat is designed to meld along the edge of the Saguaro National Park in Arizona and utilizes natural, site-based materials of rammed earth to frame views and connect with the landscape.
Earthen Ecologies
This mock-up is of ongoing research investigating the combination of vegetated medium and 3-D printed clay façades. Both invite ecological sensitivity to the built environment and passively cool interior spaces.
Local Timber
Student work from the HCOA that investigates mass timber as a low-carbon structural system won second prize in the International 2024 ACSA Timber in the City Competition.
