Ecosa Institute
Encyclopedia
The Ecosa Institute is a non-profit, unaccredited, private design
school located in Prescott, Arizona
founded in 1996. The Institutes's goal is to bring innovative thinking, new pedagogical forms and an interdisciplinary approach to a design education using nature
as its underlying model. Ecosa provides a nontraditional approach to design education, with a yearly offering of three intensive semester programs in sustainable design
that explore sustainable materials, construction and methods, as well as a four-semester Masters in Regenerative Ecological Design program in which the students design their own concentration.
, urban planning
, landscape architecture
, industrial design
, and other design-thinking disciplines are unique problem-solving tools that have the potential to create a healthy, just and sustainable world. The Ecosa Institute uses nature as a model for the curriculum, therefore it is complex, recursive and diverse.
Fall 2011 will mark the launch of the new four-semester Masters in RE-Design, which will immerse students in a living laboratory of the most current thinking and innovation in the field of sustainable design
. Ecosa Masters students will delve into their chosen field of study and will research, design, develop, and implement a thesis project that will address a real issue local to Prescott or in a community where students have the means to develop working knowledge of the culture and infrastructure.
The report of the American Institute of Architects Committee on the Environment has said "In many ways, what students get in one semester is a more holistic understanding of sustainability than they could presently get at any traditional design school."
's Cosanti
Foundation and working with the Italian architect on his conceptual designs for a new vision of urban settlements. Brown worked on the resulting urban prototype, Arcosanti
, as architect-in-residence supervising both design work and construction. During his time studying with Soleri and teaching the philosophy of the arcology
concept, Brown began to cultivate his own vision of an ecological future and the new approach to design education he saw as necessary to achieve it. http://www.ecosainstitute.org/about-ecosa/about.html
Brown left the Arcosanti project and began to explore his ideas through a series of classes he developed and taught at Prescott College
. This opportunity to experiment with teaching methods convinced him that experiential education was the best way to reach students and to personalize learning. At Prescott College, Brown tried turning students who were environmentalists into designers, but later realized teaching designers to become environmentalists may be more effective in reaching his goal. Browns goal was not to tack on sustainable design to a conventional curriculum, but to restructure the underlying ethos of architectural education and bring a new sensitivity to the practice of architecture.http://www.architectureweek.com/2001/0516/environment_3-2.html
In 1996 Brown formally founded the Ecosa Institute in Prescott, Arizona, and in 1998 the organization was granted 501 (C)3 status. The Ecosa Institute offered its first semester in sustainable design in 2000. The program has now expanded to include a spring, fall, and summer semester program as well as a four-semester Masters program. The intent is to produce designers and architects who have a broad-based knowledge of nature, culture, and design who can understand the larger perspectives fundamental to creating a sustainable future.http://www.ecosainstitute.org/about-ecosa/about.html
It is an intensive, multifaceted mix of lectures, field trips, student presentations, readings, discussions, studio time and meetings with community groups and clients. The total immersion experience is designed in a way that matches the complexity of the information presented.
The program runs from 9:00am to 4:00pm five days a week and provides a large quantity of information in a short period of time. This new learning is then applied to the projects, giving a practical use for this theoretic information. Final presentations on larger projects occur at the end of the semester, while smaller project presentations occur throughout the semester. On completion of the semester students have a total overview of the issues, solutions and promise of sustainable design.
Regular Ecosa guest lectures include design-build
architect and University of Washington
professor Steve Badanes
, Pliny Fisk III
, co-director of the Center for Maximum Potential Building Systems
http://www.cmpbs.org/cmpbs.html, Nate Cormier of SVR Design http://www.svrdesign.com/, father of arcology
Paolo Soleri
, sustainable architect and author Sim Van der Ryn
, and architects Will Bruder
http://www.willbruder.com/ and Eddie Jones http://www.jonesstudioinc.com/.
Design
Design as a noun informally refers to a plan or convention for the construction of an object or a system while “to design” refers to making this plan...
school located in Prescott, Arizona
Prescott, Arizona
Prescott is a city in Yavapai County, Arizona, USA. It was designated "Arizona's Christmas City" by Arizona Governor Rose Mofford in the late 1980s....
founded in 1996. The Institutes's goal is to bring innovative thinking, new pedagogical forms and an interdisciplinary approach to a design education using nature
Nature
Nature, in the broadest sense, is equivalent to the natural world, physical world, or material world. "Nature" refers to the phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general...
as its underlying model. Ecosa provides a nontraditional approach to design education, with a yearly offering of three intensive semester programs in sustainable design
Sustainable design
Sustainable design is the philosophy of designing physical objects, the built environment, and services to comply with the principles of economic, social, and ecological sustainability.-Intentions:The intention of sustainable design is to "eliminate negative environmental...
that explore sustainable materials, construction and methods, as well as a four-semester Masters in Regenerative Ecological Design program in which the students design their own concentration.
Ecosa Institute of Regenerative Ecological Design
For over a decade the Ecosa Institute has advocated a radical departure from the traditional approach to teaching design. Ecosa is located in beautiful Prescott, Arizona, where they offer Fall, Spring, and Summer Certificate Programs in Regenerative Ecological Design (RE-Design). As an in-depth introduction to sustainable and ecological design, the semester program explores the many ways in which design can solve the environmental challenges of the 21st century. ArchitectureArchitecture
Architecture is both the process and product of planning, designing and construction. Architectural works, in the material form of buildings, are often perceived as cultural and political symbols and as works of art...
, urban planning
Urban planning
Urban planning incorporates areas such as economics, design, ecology, sociology, geography, law, political science, and statistics to guide and ensure the orderly development of settlements and communities....
, landscape architecture
Landscape architecture
Landscape architecture is the design of outdoor and public spaces to achieve environmental, socio-behavioral, or aesthetic outcomes. It involves the systematic investigation of existing social, ecological, and geological conditions and processes in the landscape, and the design of interventions...
, industrial design
Industrial design
Industrial design is the use of a combination of applied art and applied science to improve the aesthetics, ergonomics, and usability of a product, but it may also be used to improve the product's marketability and production...
, and other design-thinking disciplines are unique problem-solving tools that have the potential to create a healthy, just and sustainable world. The Ecosa Institute uses nature as a model for the curriculum, therefore it is complex, recursive and diverse.
Fall 2011 will mark the launch of the new four-semester Masters in RE-Design, which will immerse students in a living laboratory of the most current thinking and innovation in the field of sustainable design
Sustainable design
Sustainable design is the philosophy of designing physical objects, the built environment, and services to comply with the principles of economic, social, and ecological sustainability.-Intentions:The intention of sustainable design is to "eliminate negative environmental...
. Ecosa Masters students will delve into their chosen field of study and will research, design, develop, and implement a thesis project that will address a real issue local to Prescott or in a community where students have the means to develop working knowledge of the culture and infrastructure.
The report of the American Institute of Architects Committee on the Environment has said "In many ways, what students get in one semester is a more holistic understanding of sustainability than they could presently get at any traditional design school."
History
The vision for Ecosa was formulated during the 1980s and 90’s by English architect and educator Antony Brown. His dedication to issues of sustainability and ecological design developed after joining Paolo SoleriPaolo Soleri
Paolo Soleri is an Italian-American architect. He established Arcosanti and the educational Cosanti Foundation. Soleri is a lecturer in the College of Architecture at Arizona State University and a National Design Award recipient in 2006.-Early life:Soleri was born in Turin, Italy...
's Cosanti
Cosanti
Cosanti is the gallery, studio and residence of Italian-American architect Paolo Soleri. Located in Paradise Valley, Arizona, USA and open to the public, Cosanti is marked by terraced landscaping and experimental earth-formed concrete structures....
Foundation and working with the Italian architect on his conceptual designs for a new vision of urban settlements. Brown worked on the resulting urban prototype, Arcosanti
Arcosanti
Arcosanti is an experimental town that began construction in 1970 in central Arizona, north of Phoenix, at an elevation of 3,732 feet...
, as architect-in-residence supervising both design work and construction. During his time studying with Soleri and teaching the philosophy of the arcology
Arcology
Arcology, a portmanteau of the words "architecture" and "ecology", is a set of architectural design principles aimed toward the design of enormous habitats of extremely high human population density. These largely hypothetical structures would contain a variety of residential, commercial, and...
concept, Brown began to cultivate his own vision of an ecological future and the new approach to design education he saw as necessary to achieve it. http://www.ecosainstitute.org/about-ecosa/about.html
Brown left the Arcosanti project and began to explore his ideas through a series of classes he developed and taught at Prescott College
Prescott College
Prescott College is a private liberal arts college in Prescott, Arizona, founded in 1966. It is a non-profit organization which has an undergraduate body of roughly 800 students, and an average student to faculty ratio of 7:1 in on-campus classrooms...
. This opportunity to experiment with teaching methods convinced him that experiential education was the best way to reach students and to personalize learning. At Prescott College, Brown tried turning students who were environmentalists into designers, but later realized teaching designers to become environmentalists may be more effective in reaching his goal. Browns goal was not to tack on sustainable design to a conventional curriculum, but to restructure the underlying ethos of architectural education and bring a new sensitivity to the practice of architecture.http://www.architectureweek.com/2001/0516/environment_3-2.html
In 1996 Brown formally founded the Ecosa Institute in Prescott, Arizona, and in 1998 the organization was granted 501 (C)3 status. The Ecosa Institute offered its first semester in sustainable design in 2000. The program has now expanded to include a spring, fall, and summer semester program as well as a four-semester Masters program. The intent is to produce designers and architects who have a broad-based knowledge of nature, culture, and design who can understand the larger perspectives fundamental to creating a sustainable future.http://www.ecosainstitute.org/about-ecosa/about.html
Curriculum
Ecosa's curriculum is unlike those at traditional colleges and universities in that sustainable and ecological design at its core.It is an intensive, multifaceted mix of lectures, field trips, student presentations, readings, discussions, studio time and meetings with community groups and clients. The total immersion experience is designed in a way that matches the complexity of the information presented.
The program runs from 9:00am to 4:00pm five days a week and provides a large quantity of information in a short period of time. This new learning is then applied to the projects, giving a practical use for this theoretic information. Final presentations on larger projects occur at the end of the semester, while smaller project presentations occur throughout the semester. On completion of the semester students have a total overview of the issues, solutions and promise of sustainable design.
Guest Speakers
Each semester an adjunct faculty consisting of educators from colleges and universities, professionals in the architecture, design, and construction industries and experts from nationally recognized organizations join Ecosa as visiting faculty and lecturers. These individuals, regarded as experts in their field, teach specific segments of the curriculum.Regular Ecosa guest lectures include design-build
Design-Build
Design-build is a project delivery system used in the construction industry. It is a method to deliver a project in which the design and construction services are contracted by a single entity known as the design–builder or design–build contractor...
architect and University of Washington
University of Washington
University of Washington is a public research university, founded in 1861 in Seattle, Washington, United States. The UW is the largest university in the Northwest and the oldest public university on the West Coast. The university has three campuses, with its largest campus in the University...
professor Steve Badanes
Steve Badanes
Steve Badanes is widely known for his practice and teaching of design/build. He is a founding member of the Jersey Devil design/build practice,and is currently a Professor in the University of Washington Department of Architecture, where he holds the Howard S...
, Pliny Fisk III
Pliny Fisk III
Pliny Fisk III is a co-founder and co-director of the Center for Maximum Potential Building Systems , a sustainable design and planning 501c3 non-profit established in 1975...
, co-director of the Center for Maximum Potential Building Systems
Center for Maximum Potential Building Systems
The Center for Maximum Potential Building Systems , established in 1975, is a non-profit education, research, and demonstration organization specializing in life cycle planning and design...
http://www.cmpbs.org/cmpbs.html, Nate Cormier of SVR Design http://www.svrdesign.com/, father of arcology
Arcology
Arcology, a portmanteau of the words "architecture" and "ecology", is a set of architectural design principles aimed toward the design of enormous habitats of extremely high human population density. These largely hypothetical structures would contain a variety of residential, commercial, and...
Paolo Soleri
Paolo Soleri
Paolo Soleri is an Italian-American architect. He established Arcosanti and the educational Cosanti Foundation. Soleri is a lecturer in the College of Architecture at Arizona State University and a National Design Award recipient in 2006.-Early life:Soleri was born in Turin, Italy...
, sustainable architect and author Sim Van der Ryn
Sim Van der Ryn
Sim Van der Ryn is acknowledged as a leader in "sustainable architecture." He is also a researcher and educator. Van der Ryn's driving professional interest has been applying principles of physical and social ecology to architecture and environmental design....
, and architects Will Bruder
Will Bruder
Will Bruder is an American architect.Bruder studied art and engineering, but had no formal university training in architecture. After receiving a Bachelor of Fine Arts in sculpture from the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee in 1968, he worked and studied under Paolo Soleri, where he acquired...
http://www.willbruder.com/ and Eddie Jones http://www.jonesstudioinc.com/.