| Home | |||||||||
| jondrane.net |
author |
||||||||
|
|
|||||||||
|
Article on Proliferation of Tall Buildings by Jonathan Drane Bamboo Buildings 'Proliferation of tall office buildings in the cityscape' Cities appear to abound with office buildings which, if seen as a ‘species’, (of building) could be considered the dominant and most prolific compared to others ( like apartments, hotels, hospitals and malls). Given that office buildings are the reason why a great majority of the working population are required to move across the planet twice every day, causing significant economic and environmental impacts, their continued proliferation and domination is worthy of further questioning. This dominance appears to occur in many ways; including height, mass, m2 area, population, density and proliferation rates. Office buildings have grown considerably in average height as a species only in the last century, due to structural technology which allows for them to soar from their previous height of a few levels, to over a hundred levels. A building of this height can house the equivalent of a country town. One tower can now hover above a block of land that would normally be allocated to the local post office. As office buildings get higher, their average footprint ( the area of the tower as it intersects the earth) grows as well, to allow for structural integrity. Due to this and their great height, their mass is considerable compared to other species. When office buildings ‘sprout’ in the cityscape, they do so in ‘clusters’ that are restrained in number by available space (which is determined by regulation). They do however (and particularly when they are ‘in season’), crop up in other places across the city, as if connected by a common thread. Office buildings seem to be a prolific species as well, populating their environment over relatively short periods when they are ‘in season’. If the cityscape was to be likened to a natural habitat with a species of trees, a savanna perhaps, then office buildings appear to be the ‘tall bamboo cluster’ invading a landscape that was normally marked by low grasses, bushes, scrubs and the spasmodic tree. Since office buildings call the working population from their homes at the same time every day along transport routes that are designed for the purpose, they hold a significant place in our way of life impacting on our living costs, movements, environment and lifestyle. They in effect form the second home which people go to each day, which at the end of a day’s work, cause us to move back to our first homes at virtually the same time every day. |
|||||||||
|
|
Jonathan Drane is an Australian non-fiction writer and poet.
|
|
Author Talks Jonathan's Next Author Talk is at Wingecarribee Library Southern Highlands June 09 date to be confirmed |
||||||
|
Writer's Digest Judge's Comments Posted For The Way of a Thousand Arrows
|
Learn The Lessons Of The Camino de Santiago Sign up (free) and change your life! |
||||||||
|
Award Received 17 Nov 07 The Way of a Thousand Arrows was awarded the Messenger Marketing Prize at the 9th Australian Publishers and Authors Book Show.
|
Articles & Reviews North Shore Times featured Jonathan on 2 April 08
Article Hills News 3 June 2008
|
||||||||
|
Related Sites By The Author |
|||||||||
|
The Invisible Man (The Way of The Father) A Memoir When truth gets buried deep beneath... |
The ability to draw larger numbers of people into a specific city area where office buildings are located, has been greatly magnified due to the increase in their height, scale and number. This is a phenomonen that was not as prevalent in their earlier form, as the accommodation capacity of low level buildings were constrained by height and available land. In ‘office building creation season’ in recent times, demand for office space is often oversupplied, due partly to the inefficiencies of the property development process. As a result, this new species leaves little resistance to the ability for organizations in general to be able to accommodate their people in the cityscape, and perpetuate and grow the ‘second home for the day’ culture of our society. Office buildings also have a considerable ecological footprint. Large amounts of energy are consumed in their construction, embodied within their frames and facades, and needed in their operation. Compared to other species in the cityscape they rank highly in terms of average ecological footprint. Residential towers hold greenhouse efficiencies related to co-location of people in a confined area. Office buildings appear to do this also, but with the efficiency of their soaring structures and the resultant scale of these buildings, they increase the capacity to draw the workforce out of their homes each day and perpetuate the daily ‘dance to work’. Background To Study The writer is a thirty year veteran of commercial building and property development projects, and has been involved in the creation of landmark office and other buildings in the Asia Pacific region. Building types include high rise office buildings, high rise hotels, high rise apartments, hospitals, factories, airports and shopping centres. The study seeks to address a concern the writer has, for the apparent unbridled trend of mankind to use tall office buildings for the primary purpose of accommodating humans during the day for commercial purposes. The concern is seen to stem from many other corporate factors as well, including accommodation of corporate growth, transport efficiencies, status, control and expediency. The writer holds a view that it is not necessary to move the working populace each day at the same time, and that as time goes by, and the planet continues to warm, this human habit will come under increased scrutiny. Seen from a satellite, as the dawn light from the sun cuts the earth’s sphere and crawls across the planet, every working day it brings the population to life, and then almost robotically they move across its surface to their second home for the day. This phenomena happens usually all at relatively the same time. When the sun goes down they all take the same strange pilgrimage in reverse. What has happened to our people, what is happening to our planet? -from ‘Earth Acne’, The Planet and The City, A Working Paper by Jonathan Drane 2009 ( unpublished ) The writer also holds the belief that corporate growth ‘for the sake of growth’ is at the heart of the issue. Since growth requires accommodation, it is seen as compelling that the seed should be questioned through the resultant offspring. This paper does not seek to solve all these issues, but like the emperor with no clothes, points at the towers, and asks for others to see what may not be obvious .
|
|
|
||||||
|
|
Copy Jonathan's On-line Sales Platform
A Store For Authors By An Author
|
||||||||
|
Island Verse & Mythology Featuring: The Man From Horseshoe Bay
|
Reach Your Readers While You Sleep!
|
||||||||
|
The Pilot Station The author finds a deep connection to the history of a pilot station on the mid north coast of NSW through a poem that comes into his head. Upcoming |
Research Questions Given the apparent dominance and proliferation of ‘office buildings’ in the cityscape, this thesis seeks to answer the following questions: Are office buildings, seen as a species, (compared to other buildings) the most dominant measured by height, mass, area, population, population density and proliferation rates. What is their likely future proliferation rate based on past trends, and assuming no regulation? How does this proliferation rate place them compared to other building species, in terms of ecological footprint. How does this proliferation rate place them compared to other planetary threats, in terms of ecological footprint. Research Propositions That office buildings are the most dominant and prolific species, compared to other building species. That future proliferation of office buildings has a higher significant impact on global warming than the proliferation of other building types. That future proliferation of office buildings has a high impact on global warming relative to other threats. First published April 2009 on www.jondrane.net this article is copyright all rights reserved .
|
Learn A Builder's Secrets
A School For Renovators By A Builder
|
|||||||
|
Buildings In The Mist Jonathan's Research Study |
|
||||||||
|
The future of our cities revealed in Jonathan's research study. |
|
||||||||
| jondrane.net |
author |
||||||||
| Home | |||||||||
