Cohousing-L Mailing List: What does Stepped Terraced housing look like?

[Lion Kuntz (lionkuntz]

--- Brian Bartholomew <bb [at] stat.ufl.edu> wrote:

> I have spent time in Montreal, and I've seen Habitat 67 from the
> distance as scenery while driving across a bridge.  Habitat is in a
> very unwalkable location, stuck out on an island away from the rest
> of
> the city.  This is a shame because Montreal is particularly walkable.
> 
> > Orginally conceived as "affordable" rental housing [...] It also
> > failed in its goal of being affordable as the building is today
> > quite elite.
> 
> I don't think that follows.  The housing is considered by some to be
> attractive and unique, so over 40 years the wealthy who liked it
> outbid the poor.  This is the expected outcome.  If the housing were
> still occupied by the poor, then it would be of a flavor only willing
> to be occupied by the poor: projects and slums?  The development
> would
> have failed to be a widely desirable housing style.
> 
> The way to make good products available to the poor is to hurry up
> and
> sell as many as you can to the wealthy, now.  With every successful
> new product the movie stars get it first and the street sweepers get
> it last.  This adoption pattern is in line with human instincts and
> economic behavior.  If you produce something desirable but try to
> limit use to the poor with a contract or a law, it is contrary to
> instinct and incentive and the plan won't work very well.
> 
>                                                       Brian

I have some choice Cheneyesque words that I could marshall to describe
your remarks but I will forego...

"PALACES for the People" can house any income group any location on
Earth using mostly indigenous materials with some small amounts of
high-cost super strength imported components and raise any income
group's standard of living including the super wealthy.

If you think of it, PALACES have traditionally been reserved for the
ultra-wealthy and they do not pass down to the poor over time.

A second photo study of the "Esplanade" in Cambridge-Boston shows a
more mature implimentation of the terraced rooftop private outdoor
spaces evolved from Habitat-67 by the same architect.

These units too have been combined over time and the largest most
expensive one to hit the market was priced near $4,000,000 last spring.

The number of units on the market indicates high turnover and profound
dissatisfaction with the residence.

PHOTO STUDY:

http://ecosyn.us/1/Esplanade/Esplanade.html
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

PALACES for the People is a concept which allowed basic physics to
dictate the design. In order to be energy independent, buildings MUST
have free access to the sun for solar energy. Therefore it is an
anti-social act to shadow an neighboring building.

The height and shape of the building is dictated by shadow studies and
the width of the intervening streets is mandated by the same principle.

The end result is a building using concepts often seen in luxury
housing, such as the Esplanade, of sloped terracing to access more
solar while providing balcony-patios that are big enough for a large
dinner party-barbeque outdoors. The terrace patios are allocated at 900
square feet per unit, about the size of many suburban front yards 30' x
30'.

Form one defining principle a large body of secondary principles flow,
such as acres of raised horizontal surfaces collecting rainfall for
water purification and use, using zero-power gravity to route to
collection point.

After exploration of the primary and secondary principles it is
discovered that buildings can be constructed with unit costs well under
$50,000, in some cases down to $20,000 per residential unit. These
buildings are capable of being off all grids, even in the heart of
dense cities -- with their own self-contained water works, power, heat,
and sewer treatment package plants. No pipes or wires need enter or
leave the buildings.

Worldwide about 1,000,000 people have visited the website to look at
this conception. How long the myth will continue that we must service
the Forbes 400 billionaires so that Palaces will trickle down
eventually to the rest of us will continue is probably no longer than
it takes to kill the world, no more than 20 years or so from this date.

http://ecosyn.us
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

WOULDN'T YOU REALLY RATHER LIVE IN A PALACE?

There have been 30 MAJOR HURRICANES globally category 3-4-5, since
Katrina hit New Orleans, 8 of them have been top category 5. You are
running out of time to play denialist myths.

__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam?  Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around 
http://mail.yahoo.com