"Plagiarism is intellectual theft"

Plagiarism has been around ever since the introduction of artwork and the written language and has become a lot more common with the evolution of the internet. Plagiarism is seen as taking someone else’s material or information from an alternative source and presenting the information as your own original work without correctly citing the place of origin and crediting the original owner. If you do not reference and credit the owner it is seen as a serious offence and is seen as stealing, which the quote from Breach in 2009, “plagiarism is intellectual theft” sums up perfectly.

There is many different ways of plagiarism and these include the copying of books, websites, photos, videos, essays and even speeches. You will be seen as plagiarising if you take any information/visuals and do nothing to change them, unacknowledge the author and attempt to pass it on as your own original work, then you will be seen as a plagiarist weather you mean it or not. The most common form of plagiarism is when someone takes a passage of text from a book or website and puts it within their work.

There is a way to prevent your work from being plagiarism when you want to use information from an alternative source which is called referencing. To prevent your work from being described as intellectual theft you have to acknowledge such sources and make it clear, this can be achieved by following a reference system such as Harvard referencing, by using this you will display where you received the information from and you will not be seen as stealing intellectual information and your work will be legal and creditable. 

Other References Question 1:

George Orwell, 1949.  Nineteen Eighty-Four. 1^st ed. London, England: Secker & Warburg.

Forget Your Sadness, Dec 2013. Funny Cats Compilation [Most See] Funny Cat Videos Ever Part 1. Youtube. [online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tntOCGkgt98 [Accessed 16 Feb. 2016].

Laura Alvarez, 2015. Here's how we can learn to fall in love with shocking buildings. [online]. The Conversation. Available at: https://theconversation.com/heres-how-we-can-learn-to-fall-in-love-with-shocking-buildings-49723 [Accessed 16 Feb. 2016].

Hufton and Crow, 2015. UK Pavilion Milan Expo 2015. [digital image]. designboom | architecture & design magazine. Available at: http://www.designboom.com/architecture/uk-pavilion-expo-milan-2015-wolfgang-buttress-05-01-2015/ [Accessed 16 Feb. 2016].

AT_NTU, 2016. Day 2 of 3 at NCN Basford Hall for the first years undertaking bricklaying, plumbing and carpentry. [Twitter]. 16^th February. Available at: https://twitter.com/at_ntu. [Accessed 16 February 2016].

Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens, 2015. [Film]. Directed by J.J. Abrams. USA : Lucasfilm Ltd. [Additional production companies Bad Robot and Truenorth Productions ].

RIBA Sterling Prize Winners

My favourite RIBA Stirling Award Prize winner is Zaha Hadid’s, Evelyn Grace Academy that won the prize in 2011. Evelyn Grace Academy was a 10,745m² project situated in London, to create a building to provide education to four individual schools that would occupy the same building and make use of a shared outdoor space. The first thing that drew my attention was the overall aesthetics of the building and its unique style and shapes. The materials used for the main structure were steel and concrete which can be seen throughout the entire building, the walls of the school have also been created using glass for various different reasons. The exterior of the structure has been constructed using reflective materials such as metal and glass which reflects the sunlight and creates a strong visual and makes the building stand out in the residential area. Glass façades have been used to allow maximum amount of sunlight to enter into the interior to create bright spacious areas that create an environment that helps engage students in learning and creates an atmosphere for progressive teaching. The structure has been designed into a Zig-Zag pattern that runs throughout the entire building which gives it a futuristic look and greater aesthetics. One of the main features of the project is the relationship between the school and the surrounding area. The building has been designed to work around the outdoor space and has a running track that flows underneath the bridge of the building. I believe the main purpose of wrapping the building around the landscaped area was to create an environment that follows the phrase, ‘work hard, play hard’ showing that you can have fun and study in the same place. There are also many internal details that have been put in place to help fulfil the brief of creating a space to learn and study, The corridors inside have been made wider than regulations state, classrooms have been positioned beside large windows and the ceiling to floor height has been nearly doubled. By using these features they have created a large open space that allows greater levels of light and air to filter through the building, creating a well illuminated airy space that will reduce levels of stress that comes with school and enable the students to further engage in their studies. It is these smart internal features as well as the architectural design used to enhance the aesthetics of the building that make this my favourite RIBA Stirling Award Prize winner.

Fig 1

Fig 2

My least favourite building that has won the award is the Scottish Parliament that won in 2005. The main reason I dislike the building is due to the materials used and the design. The building is constructed using a wide range of materials from metal, concrete and timber inside and outside and organised in a variety of random oval like shapes. I don’t think it is a very aesthetically pleasing building as it looks too compact and messy, as the materials are all used at different levels and there are no flush surfaces. The use of shiny metal for the roof on the inside and highlighting structural elements in yellow looks very scrappy and the building look like an industrial factory. The Parliament is a room within the building I particularly am not fond of. The way that all the lighting barrels and fixtures are on display and not covered up take away from the pleasant looking roof trusses and make the overall room look unfinished. Although I respect the design put into creating the wavy roof structure and how it works, I just don’t appreciate how it looks from above or from the inside, as it looks strange and uncomfortable. The design features put into the external windows are very unique and interesting but my personal opinion is that they are random and look slightly out of place on a parliament building. With regards to it being a parliament building you would usually expect it to be a very grand, professional building, but as it is a very busy and stressful area the attempt of using unusual, funky shapes is a way of trying to brighten up the space and give something to look at whilst at work. I do believe that the project fulfilled the clients brief as it is a fully operational parliament building with sufficient space and offices. It is also a very unique style of building that stands out within the area, which could be an attempt to draw more attention to the building and improve the local environment, but personally I just don’t like the style used and see it more of an eyesore than an aesthetically pleasing development.

 Fig 3

Fig 4

Fig 5

Off-grid Housing

                                                                            

Chuckanut Ridge House

Off-grid housing refers to homes that are designed to function without being connected to the National Grid (‘grid’) for electricity, mains water supply, sewage or natural gas. This creates a stand-alone, fully functional, independent eco-friendly living spaces that adopts alternative methods to provide renewable energy sources.

As the house is build off the grid and renewable sources are used instead of the main supply, there are many advantages that come with it. One of the main merits of off grid housing is the stand alone power systems used to generate electricity on-site by using a wide range of renewable energy sources, such as sunlight. Solar panels are used to capture the energy produced by the sun and transforms this into alternative energy which can be used for electrical goods or to produce hot water. Geothermal energy is another method that utilises the natural heat produced beneath the earth’s surface to create electricity and also heat and cool homes directly. The main benefit that comes from using these solutions is the reduced energy costs, as it works out substantially cheaper than using energy produced on the grid and can sometimes not cost anything to run these systems. Wind is another natural energy sources that is used on off-grid houses. Wind turbines are used to achieve this, as the wind rotates the turbine which in turn produces energy which can be used within the home. If you have a suitable site which is locates near to a river, stream or creek a micro-hydroelectric system can be installed to gather the monument from the flow of water and convert it into energy. The most predictable and cost effective way to make renewable energy as the flow is relatively constant unlike the wind and levels of sunlight which can vary day to day. Another quality of using the stand alone systems is the lowered risk of power cut outs and lower demand. If there is a storm and the national grid losses power, an off-grid house will still have supply of electricity.

Off-Grid housing also employs greater eco-friendly solutions to supplying water as they use natural resources such as streams and lake. A pump and infiltration system can be installed to collect water from these natural reservoirs and deliver fresh, clean water directly to your taps. Wells can also be used to collect rain and groundwater which can be collected and used once filtered. Rain water harvesting is the final way to collect natural water. Large containers are placed outside to catch as much rainwater as possible, which leads into a filtration system and into the taps, eventually to be returned to the water cycle unless consumed, this is a more sustainable method to producing water as it is recycles the water and is not damaging to the environment.

Another merit of off-grid housing is the ability to live wherever you want, as you are not restricted by to the limits of the grid, this allows you to live in remote areas. With managing alternative energy systems, living more simply and learning the best ways to conserve offers hand on education and if done properly can also help reduce your carbon footprint and reduce damage to the surrounding environment. Although there is a lot of credit associated with off-grid housing there is also very few cons with living off-grid. The first is the cost, although in the long run you will end up saving money, at the start the cost of the RE systems are very high and you also may need to buy a backup battery system (depending on your energy needs) for when you alternative energy resources are unavailable. Another disadvantage may be the space requirement of some of the systems and you may be limited to where you can place your home depending on the space for the systems to operate. The last disadvantage can be seen either way, is the conservation and maintaining of the systems as they sometimes require attention to make sure they are fully functional and reaching maximum potential.

The merits of off-grid housing outweigh the cons and it is a sustainable alternative to use alternative energy sources instead of the main supply and create a eco-friendly home that is self-sufficient.