Sunday, March 23, 2014
Friday, March 21, 2014
Birdhouse
Spring arrived hotter than ever. Suddenly all went out for a walk. Urban trees and urban birds are playful. In one of my walk I noticed that good people have already placed birdhouses. So I came up with the idea to design a birdhouse.
The idea for the design response contains several problems. Hooks that mount easily, which can be modified and multiplied without much problem.
I did research and found out some facts about the design of little houses for birds:
Hole Diameter Matters - To make birds feel welcome at your birdhouse, the entrance size is critical. A fraction of an inch too small and your desired birdhouse residents will not fit into the house, and a fraction of an inch too large and you may find less desirable birds such as house sparrows and European starlings usurping the birdhouse. While different individuals of the same species may vary slightly in size, these basic birdhouse entrance hole dimensions can help ensure that your birdhouse attracts the types of birds you want to invite to become backyard residents.
Predator Protection - Backyard predators can include pets, stray cats, raccoons, squirrels and even other bird species that may kill or injure baby birds either as food or to take over the birdhouse for their own nesting site. To make a birdhouse safe from predators:
- Remove any perches from the house. Birds do not need them to access the house, and they only provide convenient handholds for predators.
- Be sure the birdhouse opening is the right size for the species you wish to attract. If the opening is too large, predators will have easy access to the nest and other bird species may take over.
- Position the birdhouse far enough away from brush so predators cannot stage an ambush, but close enough to plants so parent birds can easily scout the area. Five to eight feet of distance is sufficient for most birdhouses. Similarly, keep birdhouses away from popular feeding areas to prevent territorial conflicts between feeding birds and nesting parents.
- Choose natural colors so the birdhouse will blend into the surroundings. Browns and dark shades of green are the most suitable choices and will be the most attractive to birds. If possible, use only natural materials that lack ornamentation to keep birdhouses concealed.
Climate Safety - A safe birdhouse is snug and comfortable for nesting birds. To keep a house safe from the weather, follow these tips.
- Choose a birdhouse design with ventilation holes in the upper part of the walls to circulate fresh air and prevent the house from getting too hot or suffocating. If the design does not include ventilation holes, drill unobtrusive holes in the corners or sides of the house.
- Position the birdhouse so its opening does not face into direct sunlight or prevailing winds. Full or partial shade will help keep the house cooler, and a more protected location will be safer.
- Angle the birdhouse so rain cannot easily run into the opening or through ventilation holes. Some birdhouse models include an angled face to ease water runoff, and a larger roof overhang can also help keep the interior of the birdhouse dry.
- Avoid birdhouses that are constructed of metal. Metal houses will become miniature ovens in summer heat, and reflective metals are highly visible to predators.
Monday, March 17, 2014
Sunday, March 16, 2014
Friday, March 14, 2014
Eco city villages in Slovenia
We had a mild winter here in Slovenia , so now begins an early spring . This is a country known for its rich foliage through a long period in the year , in spring , summer and late autumn . Early spring luring me on daily walks, and walks led me to thinking.
I live in the city in Slovenia, which is a small country , and consequently, its cities can not be compared to New York or Mexico City. City structure in cities in Slovenia are recognized only in the downtown core that has historical character since the Austro-Hungarian rule in this region . So recognizable medieval and classical urban pattern. And that is the heart of the historical and cultural tourism experience .
Only the small fraction of the cities in Slovenia expanded their borders in modern times of socialist realism . And it is primarily groups of neighborhoods with predominantly prefabricated housing construction . The people of this region want to live in touch with nature . And even these day , every inch of land is converted to arable land . Even in cities .
The road through democracy , living in the European Union, its population wants to turn cities into urban centers , concentrated with business , administration , traffic ... At the same time , hurrying towards urban appearance characteristic of major European centers such as Paris , London , Berlin .. . accelerated and deeper Slovenia enters the economic crisis , but also a moral crisis , and thus environmental crisis . Because of that, I can not stop wondering myself why people, who so much love their land, do not continue to consider creating an urban village with environmental matrix elements?
The idea of creating an urban eco village is not new , nor mine, but very interesting and actual. Slovenian cities and urban areas with specific individual houses are prerequisites to develop in that direction . And if the government would not punish this act , the cities would look as beautiful small towns where there are citizens who are friends of nature. The economic crisis thus would be less for people who live in the city , the government would retain the pride of green state , and democracy and sustainability would go hand in hand as the only example in the European Union.
I live in the city in Slovenia, which is a small country , and consequently, its cities can not be compared to New York or Mexico City. City structure in cities in Slovenia are recognized only in the downtown core that has historical character since the Austro-Hungarian rule in this region . So recognizable medieval and classical urban pattern. And that is the heart of the historical and cultural tourism experience .Only the small fraction of the cities in Slovenia expanded their borders in modern times of socialist realism . And it is primarily groups of neighborhoods with predominantly prefabricated housing construction . The people of this region want to live in touch with nature . And even these day , every inch of land is converted to arable land . Even in cities .The road through democracy , living in the European Union, its population wants to turn cities into urban centers , concentrated with business , administration , traffic ... At the same time , hurrying towards urban appearance characteristic of major European centers such as Paris , London , Berlin .. . accelerated and deeper Slovenia enters the economic crisis , but also a moral crisis , and thus environmental crisis . Because of that, I can not stop wondering myself why people, who so much love their land, do not continue to consider creating an urban village with environmental matrix elements?
The idea of creating an urban eco village is not new , nor mine, but very interesting and actual. Slovenian cities and urban areas with specific individual houses are prerequisites to develop in that direction . And if the government would not punish this act , the cities would look as beautiful small towns where there are citizens who are friends of nature. The economic crisis thus would be less for people who live in the city , the government would retain the pride of green state , and democracy and sustainability would go hand in hand as the only example in the European Union.
Friday, March 7, 2014
Time to talk about sustainable development of urban planning
One of my occupation as an architect is sustainable architecture. Today I want to present my research paper on sustainable urbanism.
The global objectives of sustainability, in large part, are related to sustainable urban planning, because 40% of the world population lives in cities. Cities as complex and multilayer systems are part of a sustainable policy, because they are huge consumers of resources and show clear signs of unsustainable behavior. Particularly alarming is the situation in big cities with huge population, which pushing cities in condition or self-destructive. Researchers and planners are therefore encouraged to think about the city that will focus on self-regulation. Therefore challenge for this research.
Today it is unthinkable to plan the development of a state and society without implementing the concepts of sustainability both in socio-economic terms, but also in social terms. An important part there covers urban development which without society cannot function. Cities around the world today are faced with intense degradation, pollution, overpopulation, etc. Sustainable development refers to the environmental, economic and sociological processes in the city and its physical structure. My research paper explores the relationship between urban development and sustainable development through the relevant factors and indicators in the methodology of sustainable urban planning.
The modern city is an ecological phenomenon of the 21st century in which reality tends towards unsustainability. The basic idea of research is the challenge to encourage sustainable development in cities that are growing faster today than ever, as well as encourage of responsibility and commitment to humanity in general. The subject of research is implementation of sustainable concepts and how they affect the methodology of urban planning. In this sense, the focus is on identifying the indicators and factors relevant to sustainable development where the aim is to systematize the concepts of sustainable urban development and operationalization in urban planning documentation and development of the city Skopje.
This attempts to encourage research and further deepening the methodology of sustainable urban planning. As to the content of this paper, the shaping idea that led me was to cover the most important aspects of urban sustainability and development, through the study of existing models and opportunities for urban development, resulting from the criteria and indicators defined in international laws and documents for sustainability and methodologies of modern urban planning.
Given the nature of this research work consistently are observed ambitions that I had in conducting and systematization of the factors that reflect sustainable urban development, while, in exposure to the material and setting up of the thesis, parallel are reviewed several aspects that are distributed concentrically and are embedded in the concluding observations of the actual state of the model implementations in the planning of the city of Skopje.
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