What would a sustainable San Antonio look like?

Caine speaking at the Tobin Center for the Performing Arts on December 17, 2019.

Ian Caine delivered the final installment of the UTSA 50th Anniversary Scholars Speakers Series, undertaking a broad thought experiment titled What Would a Sustainable San Antonio Look Like? 

“When it comes to climate change, cities like San Antonio are both the problem and the solution,” said Caine. “Cities cover less than 2% of the Earth’s surface, yet they produce 60% of the world’s carbon and greenhouse gas emissions. As we consider how San Antonio will respond to the climate crisis, we need to imagine what a sustainable city would look like, how it would work, and mostly importantly who it would serve.” 

Click on the image (above left) for a link to the talk, which is posted on Youtube.com.

UTSA students receive AIA Design Award for Galveston Island proposal

Proposal for eco-hotel on Galveston Island. Image: André Simon and Ivan Ventura

Operable hurricane shutter for eco-hotel on Galveston Island. Image: André Simon and Ivan Ventura

André Simon and Ivan Ventura. Image: UTSA

UTSA architecture students André Simon and Ivan Ventura received a Student Design Award at the November 19 American Institute of Architects San Antonio People + Place Celebration. The winning project, titled Transform for Storm, proposed an eco-hotel for Galveston Island’s Gulf Coast. This barrier island is the site of frequent hurricanes and in 1900 experienced the deadliest storm in U.S. history, a tragic event that killed 8,000 people. The awards jury selected Simon and Ventura’s proposal from a highly competitive field of entries, noting that the “….project sensitively explored the challenges of coastal habitation, offering hope for our shared future.”

The students developed the project in a fall 2018 design studio led by Ian Caine with collaboration from Dr. Hazem Rashed-Ali. This studio explored issues of ecological literacy and resilience through the comprehensive integration of advanced performance metrics and design pedagogy. The studio pursued the topics in parallel while re-examining the oft-misunderstood relationship between architectural sustainability and aesthetics. 

The studio also embraced the goals and methods of the Architecture 2030 Challenge, which commits that all new buildings and major renovations will be carbon-neutral by 2030. In 2016-2017, Architecture 2030 selected this design curriculum for its Pilot Curriculum Project, while Metropolis Magazine profiled it in an article titled The 7 Best Sustainable Design Courses in America.