Favorite Green Quotes
Here are some of my favorite “green” quotes and excerpts…
“We need to find ways to recognize the absolute nature of the sustainable goal without turning our work into ideology. Here, architectural theorist Christopher Alexander’s Timeless Way of Building may be of help. Rather than addressing the concepts of “nature” or “harmony” or “sense of community” he writes poetically of the “quality without a name,” the essence of a place that can always be recognized by those who visit a landscape graced with ineffable beauty....”It is a process which brings order out of nothing but ourselves; it cannot be attained, but it will happen of its own accord, if we will only let it.””
The Hannover Principles, Design for Sustainability, William McDonough & Michael Braungart. Tenth Anniversary Edition. 2003.
“With our current technology the temperature of a place need not be associated with the form of the building or the materials used or the region where it is located. But how unsatisfying is the dissociation of warmth or coolness from all of our other senses!”
Thermal Delight in Architecture, Lisa Heschong. The MIT Press. 1979.
“Sustainable buildings are: Lovable because if they can’t be loved, they will not last; Durable, because they must endure, if they’re to be sustainable; Flexible, because if they endure, they will need to be used for many uses over the centuries; Frugal, because energy hogs can’t be sustained in a healthy way long into an uncertain future.”
The Original Green - Unlocking the Mystery of True Sustainability, Stephen Mouzon. 2010.
“Writing at a time when the ill effects of industrialization were rampant, Ruskin lamented the loss of traditional values and likened the acts of a good society to tree growth. “The power of the every great people,” he wrote, “as of every living tree, depends on its not effacing, but confirming and concluding, the labors of its ancestors.””
The Open Hand, Essays on Le Corbusier, edited by Russell Walden. The MIT Press. 1982.
“This recent discovery that the world is fragile is going to be probably the single most inspiring element for the new century for architecture. Not in terms of morality or consuming less energy but finding a new language that is actually the language of building that breathes....”
Renzo Piano interview by Charlie Rose, June 5, 2008.
The Hannover Principles drafted in 1993 by William McDonough & Michael Braungart:
Insist on the right of humanity and nature to co-exist.
Recognize interdependence.
Respect relationships between spirit and matter.
Accept responsibility for the consequences of design.
Create safe objects of long-term value.
Eliminate the concept of waste.
Rely on natural energy flows.
Understand the limitations of design.
Seek constant improvement by the sharing of knowledge.
“Simplify. Simplify.” Henry David Thoreau.
