The evolution of this movement is most likely to have originated from a number of factors including a response to the environmental crisis, however most of the fundamental principles seem to come from nature and vernacular (indigenous/native) fundamental principles.
If we come back to nature we realise that waste is something that mankind created. Nature goes around in circles, there is no waste. Everything is recycled back into the cycle.
The innovations of our ancestors are another important area to investigate. At this time the indigenous people lived off the land, they had a strong relationship with the land and its resources. These compelling principles of living have shaped sustainable design and even some fundamental architectural principles. The structures were built 'of the place'. They were built usually local materials and then would be returned and recycled back into the environment when they had finished. There was nothing that was added that harmed or impacted the natural surrounding environments.
These indigenous forms of architecture provided structure and threaded lightly on the land. This comes back to the main purpose of architecture - the ultimate pursuit of comfort and secondary safety/security. All these built structures by man altered the environment for the purpose of providing comfort. The dynamic relationship between needs and means. They used available materials which performed general functions. The people of this time adapted the materials and way they used them to the local environment, they had to consider localized temperature conditions and both utilize and protect from the elements. The idea of 'regionalism' - architecture designed with local materials and harnessed sun, wind and light for comfort. Design responses change dramatically within different climate zones.
I would like to come back and look into these fundamental principles as they may be of influence for my response. A few examples of Vernacular architectural principles:
Plain Indians - Tee-pee
Nomadic Society, Structure needed to be mobile. Tee-pee developed from animal hides stretched over a wood structure. In the cold weather the tee-pee could be closed tightly and a fire could be started inside the interior as smoke was able to rise through a small opening at the top. Due to the shape of the structure heated air would remain inside for longer. In the warm weather large flaps could be opened at the base of the structure allowing shade with breeze.
Igloo
Igloos are traditionally built from compacted snow blocks which form the shape of an igloo. They are traditional forms of shelter in arctic parts of the world for example Greenland. The compact form
of these dome-shaped buildings with a diameter of approximately 5m
protects from ice storms, and the massive snow blocks in combination
with a small entrance, often separated by an entry zone, provide optimum
insulation against the cold. In order to keep the warm air within the
living space, the entrances are usually built at a slightly lower level.
Typically, the interior of an igloo is partially clad with animal
skins. The occupants’ body heat and blubber-oil lamps generate
temperatures of up to 5°C at outside temperatures of –40°C. This traditional form of structure demonstrates principles of strong insulation aganist outside temperatures and wind protection.
Anasazi Cliff Dwellings - Mesa Verde
The village was built out of stone and located at the base of a giant cliff outcropping. The cliff was used to aid in providing comfort to the inhabitants. In the wintertime the low angled sun penetrated into the cliff dwellings and in the summer the high angled sun was kept away from the buildings to provide shade. The use of thermally massive stones with small windows also benefited the cliff location by letting enough air through for ventilation. This demonstrated basic passive solar principles.
This reading: Principles of climate-adapted Architecture holds many more examples which have established fundamental design principles.
http://librairie.immateriel.fr/fr/read_book/9789461860279/03
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