Green Arch Design

Doesn’t this home look like something straight out of The Hobbit?

The “low impact woodland home” exists in Wales.  It was built by the owner with regard for the environment.  It’s dug into the hillside, which means it’s probably energy efficient too.  The foundation and retaining walls are made with mud and stone. Straw bales in the floor, walls, and roof help insulate the home.  Reclaimed wood was used for the floor and fittings.

This building is one part of a low-impact or permaculture approach to life. This sort of life is about living in harmony with both the natural world and ourselves, doing things simply and using appropriate levels of technology. These sort of low cost, natural buildings have a place not only in their own sustainability, but also in their potential to provide affordable housing which allows people access to land and the opportunity to lead more simple, sustainable lives. For example this house was made to house our family whilst we worked in the woodland surrounding the house doing ecological woodland management and setting up a forest garden, things that would have been impossible had we had to pay a regular rent or mortgage. This is an excerpt from Alternative Housing

We at Green Arch Design Group had the pleasure of working with the 5th Grade Challenge class of Duncan Chapel Elementary School a few weeks ago.  Below are some pictures of the students as they talk about different types of architecture.  Each student created a re-mix of an audio journal created by Clemson College Architectural student, Aaron Wells.  Aaron made these audio journals while studying in Europe. The students even added their own voices to their remixes.

           

                        

           

 

Click on “Audio Journals” under “Catagories” to listen to the original audio journals.

Click on each student’s name to listen to their re-mix.

Austin

Brandai

Brianna

Britton

Brooke

Dana

David

Elizabeth

Emma

(Grace)

Jake

Justin

Kailan

Kendall

(Katherine)

Kim

Sam

Zadie

 

Part of the Great Places! series.  Clemson University architecture student Aaron Wells describes the architectural experience of San Pietro (St. Peter’s Basilica) in Vatican City, Rome.  This audio journal was created on November 7, 2006. 

Click on the link below to listen to the audio journal.

San Pietro – St. Peter’s Basilica

Click on the link below to listen to the OutTakes

San Peitro OutTakes

                                       

Part of the Great Places! series.  Clemson University architecture student Aaron Wells describes the architectural experience of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France. 

Click on the link below to listen to the audio journal.

Tour d’Eiffel

Click on the link below to listen to the OutTakes.

Tour d’Eiffel OutTakes

Click on the link below to read about the Tour d’Eiffel going dark.

Eiffel Tower Goes Dark

Part of the Great Places! series.  Clemson University architecture student Aaron Wells describes the architectural experience of Notre Dame in Paris, France.  This audio journal was created on November 19, 2006. 

Click on the link below to listen to the audio journal.

Notre Dame de Paris

Click on the link below to listen to the OutTakes. 

Notre Dame de Paris OutTakes

 

Part of the Great Places! series.  Clemson University architecture student Aaron Wells describes the architectural experience of the Duomo Di Milano in Milan, Italy.  This audio journal was created on September 17, 2006. 

Click on the link below to listen to the audio journal.

Duomo Di Milano – The second largest Roman Catholic cathedral in the world.

Click on the link below to listen to the OutTakes.

Duomo Di Milano OutTakes

Part of the Great Places! series.  Clemson University architecture student Aaron Wells describes the architectural experience of the Ponte Rialto in Venice, Italy.  This audio journal was created on September 8, 2006. 

Click on the link below to listen to the audio journal.

Ponte Rialto 

Part of the Great Places! series.  Clemson University architecture student Aaron Wells describes the architectural experience of the Clemson Architectural Foundation’s Daniel Center.  This audio journal was created in the Fall of 2006.

Click on the link below to listen to the audio journal.

Genoa Villa

Part of the Great Places! series. Clemson University architecture student Aaron Wells describes the architectural experience of the Piazza San Marco in Venice, Italy. This audio journal was created in the Fall of 2006.

Click on the link below to listen to the audio journal.

Piazza San Marco

Click on the link below to listen to the OutTakes.

Piazza San Marco OutTakes

Part of the Great Places! series. Scott Gould, faculty member at the SC Governor’s School for the Arts and Humanities, gives instructions to his students about how to describe a space. 

Recorded June 21, 2006

Click on the link below to listen to the audio journal. 

govschtrack1.mp3

Part of the Great Places! series. A Governor’s School student describes her dorm room. 

Recorded June 21, 2006.

Click on the link below to listen to the audio journal.

govschtrack2.mp3

Part of the Great Places! series. A Governor’s School student describes the dorm room. 

Recorded June 21, 2006.

Click on the link below to listen to the audio journal.

A Dorm Room

Part of the Great Places! series. A Governor’s School student describes the library. 

Recorded June 21, 2006.

Click on the link below to listen to the audio journal.

The Library

Part of the Great Places! series. Governor’s School student describes a room. 

Recorded June 21, 2006.

Click on the link below to listen to the audio journal.

govschtrack5.mp3

Part of the Great Places! series. Clemson University architecture student Aaron Wells compares the architectural experience of participating in a Worship service at NewSpring Church when their home was the Fine Arts building at Anderson College with their new building. This audio journal was created in March 2006.

Click on link below to listen to the audio journal.

Anderson, SC – New & Old Building Comparision – Audio Journal