Book Description

SYNOPSIS: This book is about Design and Visual Communication for secondary school students and teachers. It is a very useful resource for primary, secondary school teachers and tertiary students, who are interested in all aspects of sustainable architecture. Designers and architects could also find it an interesting read. The software Google Sketch-up used, discussed, and illustrated in this book, is very user-friendly. The computer-aided drawing program – SketchUpMake – is freeware, which can be downloaded from the Internet. The computer program is very easy to use; very young kids, like primary school students, and secondary school students, can use it. It is a great design program and many tertiary students, as well as professional architects and designers, make use of it. The advantage is that objects and buildings can be designed in just minutes, for example, concepts and ideas. Included in the sleep-out brief is general research (inspiration board, design eras & influential architects), and design activities that include possible solutions to a sustainable architectural design brief. Extensive content is included on freehand sketches, SketchUp computer-aided drawings, elevations, site plans, diagrams, screenshots, biomimetics, assessments, and more. The assessment of the chosen building site is presented, including weather and climatic factors. Additionally, the author has included links to his YouTube videos (model/movement). These videos were specifically included to assist the solution to sustainable architectural briefs. Links to published academic work by the author, and much more, are also included. See Five House Publishing for more details. Exemplars of secondary school students work (sixteen-year-olds) from a New Zealand Secondary School are included (Design and Visual Communication). KEYWORDS: Design and Visual Communication (DVC), Sustainable Architecture, 16-year-olds, animal architecture, armadillo and onion inspired, ask nature how, biomimetics, clerestory, climate, collecting rainwater, computer-aided software, concrete, creativity, design eras, elevations, freehand sketching, generating design ideas, green roof, harvesting energy from the sun, harvesting energy from the wind, heatsink, ideation, illustrate sustainable function, influential designers, innovation, location, model, modernism, modernist architects, movement, New Zealand, orientation, passive solar, passive solar design, passive solar panel, passive ventilation, photovoltaic panel, primary school, retrofitting, secondary school, sectional views, Shadows and Shading, shipping container sleep-out, site assessment, site plan, Sketch-Up, sleep-out, steel reinforcing, sustainable architecture, sustainable features & functions, the living classroom, thermal mass, trombe walls, weather, climate.