Guillot_Annotation+2

Rachel Guillot Film Annotation 2  Garbage Warrior The film Garbage Warrior was directed by Oliver Hodge and released in2007. This film’s central argument was of sustainable and alternative building. The film follows an architect, Michael, who has a desire to create a sustainable community where there is no dependence on outside resources. This film touches upon the sustainability matrix of problems that surround architecture but focuses more on a possible solution to these problems and the ensuing matrix when a solution is proposed.

The film draws out a matrix of sustainability problems beginning with the structure of architecture as a profession. Michael calls the profession “useless” because it doesn’t deal with the planet or with people. Moving on past the profession as a whole, new buildings are being constructed in every part of the world. These new buildings are constructed of materials that are newly produced. In a world where we are constantly building then tearing down and replacing as a new owner buys the property or building, we are constantly using new materials and producing used ones. Very few architects use recycled materials and when they are used they are held to a higher standard. Another problem is that of the dependency we have on outside resources to power our lives. These resources include water, power, and sewage. The outside resources generally do not come from the local region. The dependency we have upon the “grid” dictates how we live our lives and where we live them. But, as the film showed, in some cases if the infrastructure companies feel competition from a lack of need for them, they can pressure government officials to make biased decisions. Garbage Warrior brings up another sustainability problem, that of the lack of community. In many places throughout the U.S. the community aspect of living has been lost. Every person lives on their own, in their own life. Michael, the architect, brings up this problem and attempts to create community values through community construction of homes. The unwillingness of people to change their viewpoints on architecture is also a sustainability problem. Recently it has been a “fad” to move to the suburbs, one of the most energy intensive places to live. As Michael states, “if you’re doing something right for people, they’ll find it”. As a result of doing something different from the norm in construction and infrastructure methods, the government found was looking for ways to give Michael violation and was extremely hesitant to allow him to “test” build on a site which is a disconnect between the scientific community [researchers] and the government. The project was not corporate sponsored giving a lack of urgency and pressure to the project. A good example of some of the problems of the political system is shown in that Michael, prior to fighting his case, changed the way he looked [he bought a suit] in order to become part of the system to fight it. Permits denied to the crew, legal subdivision requirements [archeologists and engineers tests], the sluggish nature of the bill writing [drafting and re-drafting], and time wasting in the political system are a few of the problems associated with this film. When the film goes into Michael’s involvement in the Andama Islands it brings up issues such as lack of water, environmental disasters and those affected most, and dependency upon the government. It was interesting to note that once a disaster occurred, those in charge were much more likely to be accepting of different methods. One of the key points to the matrix is that people do not want to look at the problem associated with our building and infrastructure system thus they are un-accepting of a solution.

The parts of the film I found most persuasive and compelling were those that showed the alternative building methods with recyclable materials. I found it particularly interesting how Michael states at the beginning of the movie that architecture is a useless profession. As an architecture student I was particularly interested in the different building methods and how creative he was with the materials and designs. The thought that went into using different materials for the different purposes in ways that they would work better than conventional materials was compelling as well. The use of imagery with the scenery, especially in the Andama Islands was very interesting and painted a good picture of the situation there. The dialogue was very well done as well. It did not seem to be staged at all but was very interesting and witty.

I would have liked to see more details on the construction of the Earthships, the materials used, and the means of using them. The film did not go into that much depth on the specifics. I am also very interested to see how the infrastructure for the Earthships works; most specifically the way that the water/sewage recycling systems work. I also believe that more interviews with the families and homeowners would have helped the film as well.

Though this film could be directed towards a large audience, I think it is especially helpful for those intending to go into fields related to the matrix of problems in this movie. It should a good example of the problems and the issues one will have to go through to combat them. This film should be shown to professionals, politicians, architects, and students, most specifically architecture, law, and Building Sciences because they have the power to do the most about these problems.

Educationally, students of the above professions would benefit and I believe if more environmental facts and explanation of how some of the off-grid systems work then it could added to the curriculum of Building Sciences and Architecture students. This film would work well in conjunction with some of the environmental courses that are part of our core curriculum.

This film prompted me to look more into the building methodologies that Michael describes. I began at the [|earthship.com] website and looked into the WOM [Water Organizing Module] that costs $3100 and brings catch water from the roof to be used four times within the building. It contains several filters to filter bacteria and particulate matter. It was also interesting to find a [|plan view] of the Earthships and really see much better how they are organized and how the [|world model] is set up in terms of prices and sizes. Yet another interesting thing found on the Earthship website was a map of areas in which we [|do not have the freedom] to build a zero-emission home. I also looked more into Biotecture, a term coined by Michael Reynolds and found [|green wall] projects, intended to work most in urban environment and bring back the connection between nature and human while working against the heat island effect. This film inspired me to think about more methods of green building, something I am interested in possibly for a Go Fix It project and [|Alternative Methods] include many ways we used to build whose skill and/or quality has been lost. This website presented many different alternative methods, one of which was the earthship. It also included other things that should be considered when it comes to new buildings.