Sustaining a vision

Passions in life don’t suddenly retire when you retire. Just ask Dr Steve Szokolay, honorary Associate Professor with The University of Queensland`s School of Geography, Planning and Architecture.

Despite having retired 13 years ago, Dr Szokolay has just released his latest book on what has been a driving passion of his – sustainable development.

Titled Introduction to Architectural Science: The Basis of Sustainable Design (published by Elsevier/Architectural Press, Oxford) the book is a compilation of more than 10 years research and lectures.

"One of the reasons I wrote this book is that sustainable development is such a fashionable term these days but about half the projects that use it don’t deserve the title," Dr Szokolay said.

"It is a very badly misused term so I wanted to establish some criteria."

He said architectural science provides the factual, physical basis for architecture concerned with not just what the building looks like but also whether it works or not.

"Unfortunately a lot of the work architects do is arbitrary and I’d like to to influence the way architects think," he said.

"And I’ve found that this approach, over the years, has had many students taking to it like ducks take to water."

He said with the idea of sustainability really coming into the public’s eye in the 1990s, building designers were more and more having to make products that embody its principles.

"Sustainability is having more and more input into what we do especially in terms of climatically suitable design, energy conservation and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions," he said

"Now many building codes are enforcing these requirements, so it’s not a matter of choice anymore, but these codes are only aimed at eliminating worst practice and we have to think of ways to do things better."

Dr Szokolay still works one day a week at the School, passing on his wealth of experience to the next generation of architects.

The book was recently launched by Professor Michael Keniger, Executive Dean of the Engineering, Physical Science and Architecture Faculty, who had followed Dr Szokolay as head of architecture when he retired.

Media: for more information contact Dr Szokolay (telephone 3378 8076, 3365 3537, email: s.szokolay@uq.edu.au) or Andrew Dunne at UQ Communications (telephone 3365 2802).