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The development of housing that can fluctuate to meet the needs of a constantly shifting population will aid in the overall success of the Alaskan economy.

In Alaska, the significant variation in both climate and population make standard architectural applications impractical. The large variation in population between the summer and winter months has created a need for housing types that can hibernate seasonally to reduce the amount of necessary energy and maintenance. Not only would this produce a more suitable and environmentally conscious method of housing the seasonal population, but also increase the possibility of permanent residence.

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The development of housing that can fluctuate to meet the needs of a constantly shifting population will aid in the overall success of the Alaskan economy.

In Alaska, the significant variation in both climate and population make standard architectural applications impractical. The large variation in population between the summer and winter months has created a need for housing types that can hibernate seasonally to reduce the amount of necessary energy and maintenance. Not only would this produce a more suitable and environmentally conscious method of housing the seasonal population, but also increase the possibility of permanent residence.

Housing types in Alaska are diverse in both character and location. They range from large scale housing projects, to individual homes, to developments in unlikely terrain. The Alaskan people are creative in both building techniques and locations in small scale operation, but lack these types of applications when moving into larger developments. The efficiency of large-scale housing developments for seasonal use is currently underutilized mostly because of the unfavorable living conditions they provide. Larger scale developments are not only more efficient in extreme climates, but would also be
much easier to maintain on a seasonal basis.

The climate in Alaska is unique in many ways that change the desired building standard. The climate is extreme, without question, with as much as 22 feet of snow in the winter and below freezing temperatures for months on end. However, other conditions exist that are potentially beneficial to an architectural design, such as extended hours of daylight in the summer months and unusually shallow bedrock in many regions. These conditions are currently not utilized because of the deviation from more traditional building standards in the lower states. The employment of these defining characteristics will not only help with the efficiency of a building, but could also work to reestablish the vernacular architecture of the Alaskan people and even potentially form a modern style unique to the region.
These graphs show the variation in climate throughout the state in the most extreme conditions (January and July) and the annual amount of daylight hours. The daylight hour chart compares the hours of Alaska with other states. The climatic chart demonstrates the temperature variation even within the state of Alaska.

The use patterns of the city of Juneau are clearly defined into residential and commercial sectors. These have formed organically around the main infrastructural elements including the shipping ways and the main highway. The limitations of city sprawl can be see in the map above by the amount of unoccupied land. The chart below maps the annual population fluctuation of the area. In the summer months, one can see that employment increases dramatically.

The circulation patterns in Juneau stems from the major interstate highway that is one of the only means of access to the city. From this highway smaller roads stem, but rarely stray far from the major road. The highway runs along the inlet shore allowing it to be used for the transportation or good and supplies for the harbor, one of the main sources of income for Juneau. The other major means of access to the city is through the shipping lines. These are used both for recreational tourism and industry, making them vital to the city’s success.

The population of Alaska is alarming not only because of its size, but also because of the amount of land within the state’s border. The diagrams above demonstrate the severity of this lack of population by comparing it with other states population density and size. The box size represents the overall square mileage of the state, while the red dots represent the population density. In addition, large cities from each of these states have been mapped to demonstrate the variance between Juneau, a large Alaskan city, and large cities elsewhere in the nation.

The topography of the Juneau area is architecturally difficult because of the incredibly steep incline. Little of the surrounding land is able to be built upon without significant leveling and other dramatic site alteration. This has resulted in the city being concentrated at the shore line of the Fritz Inlet with a small portion running up the Salmon Creek Valley. Although challenging, the terrain offers immense potential to capitalize on Alaska’s spectacular topography by architectural means.

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Developing housing in the Mat-Su Burrough of Alaska will help stimulate the State’s economy.

Housing is imperative to both quality of life and growth. In a difficult climate such as Alaska it is important to utilize current knowledge and building techniques as well as vernacular building types to construt functional, aesthetically pleasing, and economic options for residents. In Alaska, it is especially important to address this building issue because the increased cost of living deters permanent settlement and therefore stunts the economy.

The Matanuska-Susitna Borough, consisting of Palmer, Wasilla, Houston, as well as various other villages, is the largest growing region in the Pacific Northwest. This is not only significant for the Borough, but also for the state of Alaska as a whole because of their previous economic and population decline. A diverse employment base has greatly contributed to the success of the region because its population is relatively consistent throughout the year. As population and employment continue to rise, however, the housing need is growing without response. Furthermore, the newly developed housing is not adequate. It does not address the extreme weather conditions, topography, and seasonal use. These are all factors that can be addressed by architecture and which could not only help sustain the current population of the region, but help stimulate further growth. It is also important to consider that a beneficial housing development may persuade resident migration towards a concentrated area helping to reduce state costs. The benefit of developing Alaskan communities is beginning to be realized, and hopefully through the means of housing development, the state can continue its growth.

This concept sketch works to illustrate the disconectivity of the State of Alaska within its own borders. The site analysis clearly demonstrates the isolation and overall lack of density experienced by the population here. The largest city in the state holds a population of just under 250 thousand people, following this there are two other cities with 30 thousand, and then a handful of cities between 5-1 thousand. The remainder of the dots are towns and villages with less than 1 thousand people. This makes the total population of the state per square mile incredibly low. It is no wonder that the people of Alaska struggle to thrive when the conditions so readily isolate each settlement. The city grouping makes it necessary to treat future developments in a very different way than normal undertakings of the same nature in the lower 48.

"The Muses are not Amused"

“The Muses are not Amused” by Jorge Silvetti is a commentary on the current direction of architecture, both taught and practiced. He is critical of the categories into which architectural process has fallen because they do not adequately produce the necessary form making to make architectural objects of consistent consequence. Although troubling in the manner it is presented, I do not think that Silvetti is entirely correct in the way he goes about reducing the essence of contemporary architecture or the conclusion he reaches as an affect. Surely Silvetti’s basis for organizing architectural types and process is valid, his examples make that clear, but is it few and far between when one group can truly classify a work. This blurs the lines and is fundamentally detrimental to the argument of defined processes. Furthermore, I do not think that attempting to reducing the creative process into such defined lines is beneficial. If anything, it just reinforces stereotypes and allows an architect or, more destructively, an architecture student to classify and justify a means of process which may or may not be beneficial to the practice of architecture. If Silvetti would indeed like to see a change in the manner with which we go about producing, would it not be more beneficial to offer more concrete alternative methods instead of reducing and classifying that which already exists? He also seems to fail to acknowledge the moments, grant it they may be few and far between, when a masterpiece does result from one of these processes. I also think it is a bit misleading of him to reprimand our current generation for its practices by comparing our works to that of historical precedent. He does not view the large majority of what we produce as even close to art, as architecture use to be, but is it not the case that some of the most significant and awe inspiring creations were not appreciated for their brilliance until long after their completion? It is not difficult to criticize the failures in modern society, there are many, but would it not be better to celebrate our successes and allow the profession to grow in a natural always exploring way instead of reverting into ideals that are tried, tested and true? Do architecture and art need to go hand in hand, or perhaps have we evolved past art into a new frontier where a building can be so much more?