Green Concept and Sustainability 綠建築的設計發展

2.2.1 Early Thinking about Sustainability

According to Carson (1962), Bender (1970), Yeang (1995) and McLennan (2006), the beginning of green thinking in design process can be traced back to ancient times. The green concepts have been summed up as four evolutionary stages through history: the biological beginning, the ingenious beginning, the industrial, and the modern sustainable design movement (McLennan 2006). As early as the ancient Egypt, Greek and Roman periods, Plato had already pointed out the demand of sustainable practices for maintaining the environment in the light of human activities (Columella 1948; Strabo 1949; Van Zon 2002). In the 19^th Century, John Stuart Mill (1848) promoted an idea similar to the contemporary term “sustainable development,” but only discussed the need for remedial solutions of human impact on the natural environment (Mill 1883; Wines 1932;

Lowenthal 1958). Up until then, most sustainable concerns were focused on pursuing comfort for one’s living environment. During this period, Clausius (1850) mentioned the link between nature and society related to energy waste and the use of renewable material. Later, Haeckel (1866) coined the term “ecology” to define the relationship of the organism with the comprehensive science related to the environment. Similarly, Thoreau (1856) anticipated the findings of ecology and environmental history as the source of environmentalism in the modern days.

While the sustainable concerns were mostly developed on the theoretical concept for environmentally sensitive architecture during the 1850s, many large buildings included ingenious systems for ventilating the space without the use of

electrical or mechanical equipment. For example, Joseph Paxton’s Crystal Palace introduced not only a modern glass structure as part of the design approach, but also provided a roof ventilator for comfort and sustainability issues (Roth 1993). To provide ventilation for a long -pan space, Giuseppe Mengoni (1877) contrived a useful solution (later referred to as a labyrinth) for air-circulation (Gissen 2009). The Flatiron Building (1903) had deep-set windows to avoid the solar exposure (Gissen 2009). There were more examples with similar passive strategies during this ingenious period. However, the green system advocated in these decades was mostly related to philosophical issues of environmental degradation or concerns with passive technique for interior comforts rather than the focus of specific design elements.

2.2.2 Sustainable Movement after the Industrial Revolution

After the Industrial Revolution, Le Corbusier and other well known modernists, such as Walter Gropius and Mies Van der Rohe, advocated the employment of modern materials, new technology, and industrial forms in Modern architectures period. In 1926, Le Corbusier introduced his five points with the concepts of “free plan” and “free façade,” which bring in the advantage of maximum ventilation and light to the interior (Corbusier 1923). The progress of production techniques, the increased transparency in glass structure, and the thinking of glass is greener constitute the New Architecture thinking of the Modern Movement. Moreover, the modern technologies invented through the centuries also encouraged the new aspect of green concepts (McLennan 2004). While architects moved away from passive strategies such as operable windows or external sunshades under the

exploration of air-conditioning, there were also new forms and concepts developed that reflected the new language of technologies (McDonough 2003).

By expressing both modern and sustainable characteristics in his design process, Frank Lloyd Wright (1937) was the first to address the role of Organic Architecture as one of the important green concepts during the Modern Movement. Other architects, such as Antoni Gaudi, Louis Sullivan, John Lautner, and Claude Bragdon, intended to translate the organic design approaches as the relationship between natural surroundings and the unified organism of the building itself included in the design process (Van Zon 2002, McLennan 2004).

However, while those forerunners pursued these green ideas, most Modernists were more concerned with how buildings were put together rather than how to incorporate sustainable beliefs. Therefore, although the green influences emerged in the period of the Modern Movement (1920s - 1940s), the application of the green concept in architecture was mostly engaged with technical systems of passive solar design, bioclimatic design, bio-regionalism and so forth (Vale 1991).

2.2.3 Modern Movement and Sustainable Design Thinking

In response to the oil crisis of 1973, the issue of sustainability emerged as an important matter in society. Social awareness of the Green Architecture Revolution was inspired by Rachael Carson’s book Silent Spring, in response to the widespread public concerns about the environmental problems of the 1960s (McLennan 2006). One of the most prevailing green concepts during this period was developed with the Earthwork Movement of the 1970s. Peter Noever (1971)

introduced a new perspective of evolutionary design processes by examining the possibility of living spaces built completely underground with earth-sheltered roofs. As new technologies offered possibilities for green designs during this movement, Wells (1981) advocated the idea of underground architecture to step up the integration of landscape and architecture. Ambasz (1981) proposed the concept of Green Town by responding the Architectural Modern Movement of The house in the Garden in a more extensive way (Wells 1981, Wines 2000). In the ACROS Building, Emilio Ambasz presented his environmental architecture by integrating vegetation and terrain into buildings in order to maintain natural resources.

2.2.4 Organic Forms and Green Concepts

Reflecting a similar interest in combining technological advances with nature and organic forms, architects such as Jersey Devil, Ushida-Findlay, James Cutler, Arthur Quarmby, and Peter Vetsch extended the concept of borrowing nature’s organic forms and integrating them with the developments in sustainable technology (Crosbie 1985; Wagner 1994). Jersey Devil (1970) presented his project Snail House, merging the use of sustainable technology with curvature expression. The curved window strip and the central thermal mass chimney reflected to the heating and natural ventilation by matching the solar arc from east to west (Crosbie 1985; Stitt 1999). In his project, Soft and Hairy House, Ushida-Findlay (1994) integrated the modern concept of “inside out” and sustainable programs. The organic form not only suggested the fluid continuity, but the extensive roof garden also maintained a steady interior temperature,

among its green features. The flowing volumes of the Nine Houses by Peter Vetsch (1993) expressed his environmental intentions with the perspective of earth-friendly technology; the flowing organic appearance could represent both contemporary design-centered architecture as well as green design principles with ecological consciousness. The earth-centric philosophy has been an approach similar to Wells’s aspect of underground architecture, which became a progressively more prevalent way to respond to the green concept during this period (Wells 1981, Wines 2000).

2.2.5 Curvature Expression and Sustainable Technologies

Around the same time, the architectural impact of the oil crisis also led architects and theorists to focus on function-oriented green concepts for environmental purposes. The passive strategies were, again, rediscovered, such as the innovative potentials which coincided with the Environmental Movement to address the major concerns of the oil and ecological crises in the 1960s and 1970s (Carson 1962; McDonough 2003). Responsive to social-ecological awareness, Buckminster Fuller (1950) was known as an early pioneer in sustainable design and was the first to develop prefabricated mass-produced houses. The movement toward renewable energy such as solar or wind-derived electricity was a new theory in his period. His famous geodesic dome with a complex network of triangles forming a high-efficiency light weight structure was based upon the concepts of the Modern Movement that focused on low-cost mass production and using fewer materials. Its efficient ventilation system and the great use of recycled material inspired many digital and green designers such

as William McDonough across generations (McDonough 2003). Some architects began to use advanced technologies to create solutions to the problem of energy shortage, such as the double-skin wall technique for ventilation, solar panels on the roof, and thermal labyrinths for pre-cooling systems. One of the pivotal buildings in the origins of Green Architecture, Foster and Partner’s Willis Faber and Dumas Headquarters (1975), was constructed using mirrored windows which provided the functions of reducing heat gain, while providing large amounts of daylight in the space. This energy-efficient building features the combination of advanced technology and passive techniques (Pawley 1999;

Melet 1999; Weston 2004). The term “sustainability” had finally been created by the United Nations’ World Commission on Environment and Development in 1987 and was widely applied to various fields. Diverse green architectural theories gradually prevailed, such as Bruce Goff’s concept with connections to Wright’s “organic simplicity,” “bio-functional eco-architecture,” and Walter Segal’s

“small is beautiful” with the idea of self-build housing. The theorists started to generate technological innovations in architectural thought and practices related to green issues and sustainability (Fuller 1969; Segal 1983; Holzman and Goff 1998).

2.2.6 Ecological Modernization

At this time, diverse groups of architects and designers reflected varying perspectives on green issues. For example, some architects believed that sustainability or green architecture might diminish aesthetics and digital appearance. This type of design-centered thinking can be observed in Frank

Gehry’s Bilboa Guggenheim Museum, where tremendous sense and contributions from digital architecture are found. However, using non-renewable resources like titanium for cladding shows a lack of consideration for ecological issues. Furthermore, Simon Guy and Graham Farmer (2001) presented “the logics of the six competing logics” of sustainable architecture. One of the six logics, named The Ecotechnic Logic, suggested that “science and technology can provide the solutions to environmental problems” (Farmer 2002; Guy 2002).

The term “ecological modernization” indicates the possibility of overcoming the environmental crisis without leaving the path of modernisation (Spaargaren 1992).

Architects such as Renzo Piano, Steven Holl, Norman Foster, Glenn Murcutt, Kenneth Yeang, and Herzog & de Meuron started to experiment on building self-sufficient green architecture, combining design thinking with the development and progress of digital materials and technologies. By the 1990s, architects had re-generated sustainability from the environmental movement in the 1970s. The visible design processes for environmentally progressive architecture included the effective use of recycled materials, advances of green-conscious construction techniques, and concern for urbanism (McDonough 2002; Braungart 2002;

Gissen 2003). At the Challenge of Sustainability Conference in 1993, Cooper reinterpreted the green concept and focused on true sustainability instead of environmental performance (Guy 2005; Moore 2005). Within the sustainable architecture movement, Haggard presented the idea of a transition from “a period of deterioration of the natural environment to a more humane and natural environment.” Haggard also pointedly insisted that the term “sustainable

architecture” should also represent “the social and cultural shift in the world order, patterns and styles of living.” (Haggard 1980; Haggard 1995)

2.2.7 Intelligent Materials and Sustainable Technologies

While people focused on the new trend of large scale architectures or skyscrapers using the technologies of the last century, the negative effects of wasting energy and materials in large buildings became an increasing concern.

Battle mentioned about the evolution of the building envelope with the advances of renewable energy systems in large-scale building (1980). Similarly, Wines (1999) proposed a shift in the way skyscrapers were envisioned, from a sculptural aspect to the conceptual individuality of a vertical garden. Braungart (2002) promoted dematerialization, a term referring to the use of recycled materials for construction practices, and described how the new design process might change the appearance of architecture when integrating intelligent materials with new technologies (McDonough 2003). Since the re-analysis of a sustainable design process was provided through essays and critics, architects of some of the great large-scaled buildings have infused their designs with more environmentally sensitive components. Hellmuth, Obata and Kassabaum (HOK)’s Edificio Malecon (1999) and Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM)’s Manulife Financial (2003) demonstrate how consideration of the shape of the building can work with solutions needed for sustainability. In other projects, such as T.R. Hamzah and Yeang’s EDITT Tower (1998) or MVRDV’s Dutch Pavillion (2000), architects incorporate the multi-level greenery or other living organisms into buildings in order to mitigate the structure’s impact on its surroundings. Other

projects, including Shigeru Ban’s Japan Pavilion (2000), Nicholas Grimshaw’s Eden Project (2001), and Peter Testa’s Carbon Skyscraper (2002) incorporate the green design process by exploring environmental friendly materials or inventing new materials through technologies for new ways of construction.

Furthermore, Adriaan Beukers (2005) promotes thinking about the trinity logic of material, shape, and process in his book Lightness. He suggests that lightweight materials or new composite materials could waste less energy during construction (Beuker 2005; Hinte 2005). With new technologies and inventions, the approach to design must respond to the new technologies and new design thinking (McLennan 2006). Therefore, the development of the green concept has been advanced from a linear focus on energy saving to a non-linear perspective based on diverse green factors. Such a focus leads to redesigning buildings to be more self-sufficient and self-organized, while generating their own renewable energy (Van Zon 2002).

2.2.8 Integration of Digitalization and Sustainability

The development of new technologies, such as computational fluid dynamics (CFD), acoustic wave propagation simulation systems, digital models of buildings, and CAD/CAM technologies not only help compute curved forms, but also “alter the geometry in response to optimizing a particular performance criteria” (i.e., acoustic, thermal) (Kolarevic 2004). The form of the building can be automatically adjusted by computing and simulating airflows, transfers of heat mass, phase changes, deformation of building structure, and so forth. Thomas Leeser’s Helix Hotel demonstrates his approach to green designs through the

use of amorphous shapes and the high-tech systems. This project expresses not only a unique flowing appearance, but also makes a contribution to sustainability through a curved wall that functions for the adjustment of indoor ventilation. The use of new material also has capabilities for wind harnessing.

As Branko Kolarevic suggested, “Foster’s performative approach to the design of the GLA building could imply a significant shift in how ‘blobby’ forms are perceived. The sinuous, highly curvilinear forms could become not only an expression of new aesthetics, or a particular cultural and socio-economic moment born out of the digital revolution, but also an optimal formal expression for the new ecological consciousness that calls for sustainable building” (2004).

Successfully designed green projects concerned with the development of innovative materials, functionality, and green design concepts will help move contemporary green architecture from a microcosmic to macrocosmic perspective (Van Zon 2002).

Chapter 3 S e l e c t i o n o f C a s e s & A n a l y s i s F r a m e w o r k

3.1 Selection of Cases

Case 1: Swiss Re Headquarters

Swiss Re Headquarters is a commercial building designed by Foster and Partners in London, a winner of the Pritzker Prize in 1999. It is also an award-winning architecture recognized by the Royal Institute of British Architecture (RIBA). The Swiss Re Tower, a 591-foot building, stands in the financial district of London. With its glass dome and aerodynamic form, the shape of the tower not only minimizes wind flow of the building, but also consumes half the energy of office buildings of its kind. Foster promotes energy-saving, double glazing and introduces the shaft system to provide passive solar heating to the building.

Known as the first eco-friendly office building in London, the tower is constructed with innovative and technological concepts where the structure stiffness is increased, allowing column-free design, more natural light, and better ventilation.

The continuous, triangulated, perimeter structure is also generated by its radial plan for building reinforcements (Abel 2004). The key design strategy of this project is based on a careful balance of sustainability and digital technologies, which coincide with the challenge of a new generation of skyscrapers for the early stage of the digital age (Wells 2005).

Figure 3-1. View of Swiss Re Headquarters

Case 2: Chesa Futura

The Chesa Futura was designed by Norman Foster in 2004 in the Engadin Valley, Switzerland. Located along a slope, 1800 meters above sea level, the blob-form apartment is not only a combination of high-tech construction methods and traditional workmanship, but also environmentally-sensitive with the use of timber materials. The three-story building consists of six residential apartments and two stories for underground parking plus storage and planting, which accommodate the sloping site and the severe weather conditions through its sustainable timber superstructure and copper roof. With the conceptually simple yet complicated high-tech timber construction, Foster has struck a shingle-cladding shell by means of digital computation to arch a modern shape and to fulfil the purpose of environmental sustainability.

Figure 3-2. View of Chesa Futura

Case 3: Carbon Tower 2005

The Carbon Tower is an experimental project of a forty-story prototype skyscraper, designed by Peter Testa and Devyn Weiser from Emergent Design Group at MIT in 2005. The construction is known for its combination of new materials and computer intelligence, which generated the mass customization for its unique characteristics - the lightest and strongest building of its type. Although the tower has never been built, the evolution of composite materials, carbon fiber, Kevlar and fiberglass, are an innovation of deign thinking, which makes the construction technology of the high-rise building tangible and accessible.

Replacing traditional construction techniques, the application of computer modeling tools has fostered the transformation of the building industry in the 2000s and allows cutting-edge experiments with new sustainable materials for more efficient energy saving (Knecht 2004).

Figure 3-3. Physical Models of Carbon Tower

Case 4: BMW WELT Munich

BMW Headquarters is a multi-functional BMW exhibition center, designed by architects Coop Himmelb[l]au in Munich, Germany (2007). This project was the winner of the BMW design competition not only because of its freeform façade, but its sustainable ventilation systems for intensive gas exhausting and release during car delivery. The building of BMW Welt Munich presents a computational

design that burnishes its luxury brand and exhibits the complexities of digital appearance, while precisely carrying out the sustainable details of the project.

Figure 3-4. View of BMW WELT Munich

Case 5: Whitney water purification facility and park

The Whitney water purification facility and park in Connecticut, also known as Silver Drop, was designed by Steven Holl in 2005. This project was honored by the Van Alen Institute International Projects in Public Architecture in 2001, AIA NY Honor Award in 2005, and AIA Environment Top Ten Green Projects in 2007.

The construction plan features both water treatment facilities and a public park.

In contrast to the complicated digital freeform of contemporary architectures, the water treatment facilities were built in a simple, curvilinear form and its roof garden is humbly integrated in harmony with the landscape of the public park.

The environmental aspect of the complex design is to preserve and expand the existing wetland area where the site is located. The project also addresses the importance of water resources for sustainable development in general.

Figure 3-5. View ofWhitney Water Purification Facilities and Park

Case 6: Zaragoza Bridge Pavilion

Zaragoza Bridge Pavilion was designed for the Zaragoza Expo 2009 by Zaha Hadid Architects. The Pavilion functioned as the exhibition halls and pedestrian bridge to cross the River Ebro. As the entrance of Expo 2008, the Zaragoza Bridge Pavilion connects the diamond shaped sections by four structural objects.

The slightly curved shape of the Bridge Pavilion with the triangular truss pockets designed not only contains the space-frame structure for the pathway but also offers the spatial enclosures for exhibition halls. The bridge design maintains traditional nature and also involves technical innovations in digital technology of construction. The shark scales, shapes on the bridge surface, serve as sustainable, weather coping devices. The transformation of architectural form makes use of computing and energy-saving concepts, which makes possible a stiffer structure than the traditional ones. The complex structure of the Zaragoza Bridge Pavilion challenges cutting-edge construction techniques and technologies through which the engineering elements of the bridge and architectural elements of the pavilion are merged into one building typology (Hadid 2008). While bridge design is usually concerned more with structural engineering and function, the trend of freeform and sustainability in architecture is also presented in the design of the Zaragoza Bridge Pavilion.

Figure 3-6. View of Zaragoza Bridge Pavilion

Case 7: CSET building designed by MCA

The Centre for Sustainable Energy Technologies (CSET) was designed by Mario Cucinella Architects in 2009, and is the MIPIM Green Building Award winner.

The Centre for Sustainable Energy Technologies (CSET) was designed by Mario Cucinella Architects in 2009, and is the MIPIM Green Building Award winner.