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Cornell University Solar Decathlon
2005
Landscape Architecture Branch |
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THE
SOLAR DECATHLON is a national competition for universities
sponsored by the United States Department of Energy. The crux
of the Solar Decathlon competition is for 19 teams to build
a stand- alone and fully functioning house for judging and
public display on the Mall in Washington D.C. for a ten day
period of public exhibition and evaluation in October of 2005.
Prior to and after the Solar Decathlon competition, each team
will have 96 hours for both construction and demolition. The
categories for judgment are: Architecture, Communications,
Dwelling, Documentation, Comfort Zone, Appliances, Hot Water,
Lighting, Energy Balance, and Getting Around. Each category
is worth one hundred points, save architecture and design
which is worth two hundred points. As such, the landscape
is not a judged component of the Solar Decathlon competition.
The Cornell team has decided that a landscape is an integral
component of the university’s entry. As such, a great
deal of thought, care and research went into the design of
the landscape program long before a pencil touched a piece
of paper. Fundamental in this programming is the idea that
the landscape is not simply an aesthetic entity in and of
itself, but a fully functioning and multifaceted system which
operates in conjunction with the systems of the house. It
is important to note that while there are many functional
components of the landscape system, the proverbial baby of
aesthetics have not been thrown out with the bathwater.
* * *
The larger objective of the landscape is to close the loops
of household production and consumption by offsetting the
exploitation of natural resources through localized methods
of production and mitigation. In this way, the house and garden
work as a single entity so that the design of the landscape
element functions in combination with the house to create
an independent and self sustaining system. Through this unique
exhibit we hope to promote a paradigm shift in the way the
traditional American landscape is perceived so that the ideal
of the contemporary landscape moves away from the traditional
notions of the lawn as ornament, and towards a more functional
aesthetic. This includes thinking about the landscape as a
market basket, a filtration system, a collection system, a
wildlife habitat and, finally, as a means of capital production.
The basic strategy for the CUSD landscape is to extend the
house and its everyday environment out into the land and vice-versa:
that which the landscape produces remains on site and eventually
circulates back into the system. Food cooked in the kitchen
is produced in the garden. Water from the shower, sinks, dishwasher
and washing machine is filtered and subsequently re-used to
irrigate the ornamental plants and lawn. Runoff collected
from the roof is stored for use in the garden. Any additional
water is cleansed of impurities before it runs offsite and
drains into the storm sewer. Scraps from the kitchen are returned
to the earth to provide nutrients and nourishment for the
ornamental plants and vegetables. The landscape provides a
food source for local butterflies and hummingbirds and other
wildlife habitat. Finally, any compost or foodstuffs that
remain can be sold at local farmer’s markets for a return
on investment. Over the last century our world economies have
evolved from the local to the global. Through our functional
incorporation of land use and design, the CUSD landscape attempts
to reverse this paradigm from the global back to the local.
In this way, the landscape becomes more than an aesthetic
entity, but one that is productive and beneficial for not
just the resident, but also the larger community. | |
