• Earthly Reasons to Build Skyward
• Architect, Musician Battle for Resonating Frequency
• Arup: Master Planner for Cities
• Brand Defies Quality in Starchitecture
• A New Depot to Buy Green
• The Raw Truth About Oysters
• Architects Experiment with Ecology

Event: The Sustainable Works of Foster + Partners: A Mixed Greens Lecture
Location: New York Academy of Sciences, 7 WTC, 02.22.07
Speaker: Brandon Haw – senior partner, Foster + Partners; Carol Willis – director, Skyscraper Museum (introduction)
Organizers: Skyscraper Museum; New York Academy of Sciences

Foster + Partners’ designs emphasize a dialectic between the environment and technology, emphasized the firm’s senior partner, Brandon Haw. Recalling his own 1960s upbringing in an “art family” that treasured the off-the-grid principles of Stewart Brand’s Whole Earth Catalog, Haw was naturally drawn to the early work of Sir Norman Foster, Hon. FAIA, and Buckminster Fuller. “Bucky’s dome could have been used for the Willis Faber building,” he commented. Some features of that forward-looking Foster-designed 1975 building have become staples of sustainable design and corporate communitarianism: a green roof, open-plan workspaces, escalator-based vertical transportation, and raised floors. Then-and-now photos show how little modification this building needed as its occupants adapted to computerization and other changes over three decades.

As widely as Foster’s designs have varied, they have implemented recurrent principles: functional cladding, external positioning of cores, and attention to the details of airflow, heat exchange, and light. A point-by-point system of ecological analysis from site to materials guides all Foster projects, skyscraper-scale and otherwise. It’s become common to preface discussions of green design strategies with Al Gore-style data graphics on global temperature, carbon dioxide, demographics, and resource use. Haw’s presentation of this material was bracing without being alarmist; he recognizes the urgency of curbing greenhouse emissions has reached cultural and economic realms, and he applauds businesses that recognize common interests linking carbon footprints, quality-of-life improvements for workers, and financial performance. Foster + Partners is dedicated to building tall as much for the anti-sprawl effects of high urban density as for the customary financial motives.

The triangular Commerzbank Headquarters in Frankfurt (1997), arguably the first green skyscraper, treats German unions’ requirement that all workers be within 7.5 meters of a window as a productive constraint. Considering its central atrium space, “gardens in the sky,” and ample natural ventilation (used 85% of the year, improving on the original target of 65%), its internal offices are in higher demand than those facing outward. A mixed-use “vertical city” currently on the boards, the Moscow City Towers, will resemble “Commerzbank blown apart, turned inside out,” incorporating negative-pressure ventilation and energy systems that employ river water. For Aldar Central Market, a tower/souk complex in Abu Dhabi, the firm studied indigenous architecture to combine traditional heat-management strategies (sloping roofs, wind-catching chimneys) with modern photovoltaics and thermal tubes.

Similar structural and solar-energy-capturing strategies in the ill-fated 980 Madison tower ran into local opposition, but Haw promises the firm will return to the Upper East Side with a new design. Europeans have outpaced their U.S. counterparts in building green; Germany’s tight regulatory environment, in particular, makes eco-technology a priority in projects like the Reichstag, New German Parliament restoration, and the Free University in Berlin (the biomorphic “Berlin Brain”). The American architectural community’s focus on stylistic debates strikes Haw as frivolous, but he notes and hails rapid change on this side of the pond. Some years ago he remarked to colleagues, “We can’t tell the Americans what to do, but when they get it, they’ll get it big-time.” The Hearst Headquarters and similar buildings have proven Haw prophetic in that regard. Since Fuller and other Americans established green-design in the first place, it’s refreshing that we’re beginning to catch up.

Bill Millard is a freelance writer and editor whose work has appeared in Oculus, Icon, Content, and other publications.

Event: Resonating Frequencies
Location: Center for Architecture, 02.23.07
Speakers: David Byrne – former leader, Talking Heads & star, “Stop Making Sense”; Elizabeth Diller – partner, Diller Scofidio + Renfro
Moderator: Christopher Janney – artist, designer, author, Architecture of the Air: The Sound and Light Environments
Organizers: AIA New York Chapter
Sponsors: The Center for Architecture; Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts

“Does the venue shape the music or does the music shape the venue?” posed moderator Christopher Janney, designer and author of Architecture of the Air: The Sound and Light Environments. In a dialogue between musician David Byrne (arguing the former), and Elizabeth Diller, partner of Diller Scofidio + Renfro (arguing the latter), it was agreed that the question is cyclical.

To demonstrate how the venue shapes music, Byrne discussed how musicians often write music with a specific venue in mind. A punk band aiming to play at a club like CBGB’s, for example, would not write music that can be performed in an opera house. In the 1970s, composers Steve Reich and Meredith Monk began their careers performing at The Kitchen, which was a small loft space in Chelsea at that time. The repetition in their music reverberated off of the walls and tangibly washed over audiences, according to Byrne. This effect is not possible in larger concert halls.

The future of music is unpredictable, as the current venues of choice seem to exist in extremes, from arenas – where music is secondary to the communal mass experience – to the very individual iPod or automobiles. Since there have not been any venues designed specifically for popular music, Byrne wonders how the genre would change if there were.

Diller, on the other hand, argued that a venue is an extension of the performers and performances. Using the Diller Scofidio + Renfro with FXFOWLE Architects-designed Alice Tully Hall renovation as an example, she discussed the challenges of designing a music hall specifically aimed at becoming world-renowned for chamber music. Since there were strict rules – do not harm the acoustics, retain the structure of the existing hall, and keep all 1,100 seats – the project is 18 inches thick around the perimeter.

The guiding design theme addresses the psycho-musical experience, according to Diller, rather than acoustics. A high-performance wood veneer over a thin layer of resin sheathes the perimeter in a smooth, curving acoustic skin. Instead of using applied light fixtures, LED’s rest behind the resin creating a red/orange glow as lights are raised or lowered for the performance. The walls are isolated to reduce vibration from the subway. By eliminating visual and audio distractions, the listening experience becomes the focal point of the concert hall, and the music perceptually sounds better.

Both musician and architect agreed that ultimately both music and venue evolve from culture. A venue like Carnegie Hall was built for a specific type of music; it became a true destination for audiences; in turn, musicians began to play music that could be performed there. Patronage and audience determine the future of music and venue, and architects and musicians must please both.

WNYC’s Soundcheck recently invited Christopher Janney, David Byrne, and Ben Gilmartin (a prpject leader at Diller Scofidio + Renfro) to discuss the intersections of music and architecture. Click the link to listen to the show.

Event: Annual Stephan Weiss Visiting Lectureship: Jean Rogers – Sustainable Development: Changing the Environment to Changing Behavior
Location: Parsons, The New School for Design, 02.27.07
Speaker: Jean Rogers, LEED AP – senior consultant, Arup
Organizer: Parsons, The New School for Design

At this carbon-neutral event, Jean Rogers, LEED AP, senior consultant at Arup, urged designers to influence eco-friendly choices. With concepts of intergenerational equity and eco-footprints in mind, Arup is helping to master-plan two of the world’s most sustainable cities –Treasure Island in San Francisco and Dongtan in China.

Treasure Island will house its 13,500 residents near a ferry terminal. More than 6,000 daily public transit rides will be available to residents and visitors. An agricultural park in the middle of the island will grow food. The street grid orientation will maximize solar exposure and minimize wind exposure. Further efforts to reduce the island’s carbon footprint include underfloor ventilation, high-performance glazing, and southern-facing photovoltaics. Maximized surface area on roofs will export energy back to San Francisco’s power grid. Each resident will use nine acres of the planet’s resources, rather than the average 29 acres globally.

Near Shanghai lies the community of Dongtan, a Manhattan-sized stretch of reclaimed land. By implementing measures ranging from rice husk-run power plants to solar-powered water taxis, Arup intends to reduce the energy needed by 70%. Designed after Hurricane Katrina, each of the three villages will be a self-contained flood cell. Its eco-footprint equates to approximately four acres of the planet’s resources per resident, which is ideal in sustainability terms, according to Rogers.

Arup’s next step is to create a model for sustainable design that can be mass-produced and widely implemented. The firm is researching the possibility of an eco-friendly counterpart to the Chinese “superblock.” The imperative and the technology to “redesign the material basis for our civilization” exists, stated Rogers. All we need is the will.

Kate Soto is a Brooklyn-based writer and editor.

Event: Brandism Series: Icon as Brand
Location: Center for Architecture, 02.26.07
Speakers: Mustafa Abadan, FAIA – partner, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill; James Biber, FAIA – partner, Pentagram; Mario Natarelli – Chief Brand Experience Officer, FutureBrand; Frank Sciame – President & CEO, F.J. Sciame Construction Company
Moderator: Ned Cramer – Editor-in-Chief, Architect
Organizers: Anna Klingmann, Assoc. AIA; AIA New York Chapter

Architects today receive commissions from more clients who value good design, thanks in part to the efforts of ascendant branding experts. Developers have realized that some buyers and tenants will pay premium rates to occupy space designed by a “name-brand” architect, just as museum directors and city officials have tried to harness the caché of star architects to attract tourists. As a result, a super-crop of signature buildings is surfacing on the streets of major cities. New York’s recent and imminent icons include the Morgan Library & Museum designed by Renzo Piano Building Workshop (RPBW) with Beyer Blinder Belle Architects and Planners; Hearst Headquarters by Foster + Partners; RPBW/ FXFOWLE Architects’ New York Times Building; Gehry Partners’ IAC Center; the four new towers at the World Trade Center site; and One Bryant Park designed by Cook + Fox Architects. Is the drive to produce signature architecture healthy for the profession and the built environment, or does branding ultimately erase construction quality?

“Icon-branded buildings make connections between culture and commerce by combining design and real estate logic,” according to Anna Klingmann, Assoc. AIA, organizer of the Brandism series hosted by the Center for Architecture. Magazines such as Wallpaper – that fuse fashion, products, and architecture into a chic digest of contemporary visual culture – whet the public’s growing appetite for good design. While Ned Cramer, Editor-in-Chief of Architect, observed that contemporary architecture still lags behind classical and pre-modern design in mainstream popularity (see the AIA’s recent survey of America’s Favorite Architecture), several highly branded, recent projects, including the Apple Store Fifth Avenue by Bohlin Cywinski Jackson, made the list shortly following their completion.

If the branding-industrial field has discovered how to create interesting new buildings and travel destinations, it has not solved the problem of how to encourage consistent quality, nor how to preserve the distinct integrity of its successes. Can a designer focus on the programmatic, social, and formal challenges at the site while trying to produce a ready-made icon? Mustafa Abadan, FAIA, a partner at SOM currently working on the totemic Burj Dubai, says it’s not impossible. He described the development of the AOL Time Warner Center at Columbus Circle as an organic process of spatial problem-solving resulting in a striking final product. Yet he warns against a city resembling an overcrowded cosmetics store with opulent bottles jostling for attention.

James Biber, FAIA, an architect with the design and branding firm Pentagram, distinguished between architecture that revealed an “honest” brand identity, and superficial glitz amounting to an “advertising lie.” Mario Natarelli, whose firm FutureBrand is commissioned to strategically define cities, countries, and governments as well as companies and buildings, defines brand as a kind of relationship between seller and buyer. He agreed with an audience member that good branding is not synonymous with good architecture: “You can’t spin a building to be any better than it’s going to be.”

Gideon Fink Shapiro is a writer and researcher at Gabellini Sheppard Associates, and contributes to several design publications.

Event: Clodagh Inner Circle Speaker Series
Location: Clodagh Design Showroom, 02.27.07
Speaker: Paul Novack – Founder & Operational Manager, Environmental Construction Outfitters (E.C.O.)
Organizer & Sponsor: Clodagh Collection

The web is not the best source when searching for healthy alternatives, according to Paul Novack, CEO of Environmental Construction Outfitters (E.C.O.). That is why he founded Greendepot in January 2006 – to provide environmentally friendly and sustainable building products to both the public and the design community. A one-stop shop for construction needs with stock and delivery inventory, Greendepot also offers product recommendations to bring the most LEED points possible to a project. Insulation made from recycled blue jeans, rubber flooring manufactured from old truck tires, and cleaning products required to maintain a sustainable home are some of the items available.

Clodagh prides herself as a leader in responsible design, through her own practice as well as educating the public. Attendees of her Inner Circle Speaker Series were eager to hear about living healthier lifestyles: “I can use blue jeans as insulation in my walls?” “LEED what?” “How can I live green?” For more information, go to the Greendepot website or visit the Brooklyn showroom. To learn more about Clodagh and the Inner Circle Speaker Series, click the link.

Anne Lefferson, IIDA, ASID, is a designer at Brennan Beer Gorman Monk.

Event: The Big Oyster; History on the Half Shell, part of the Downtown Third Thursdays lecture series.
Location: India House, Marine Room, 02.15.07
Speaker: Mark Kurlansky – author, food historian
Organizer: Downtown Alliance

“Oysters were what New York was all about,” according to historian and author Mark Kurlansky, recalling the mollusk’s once defining place in the city’s history. Traces of the oyster industry may have all but vanished, but New York was once littered with street corner oyster carts, 24-hour oyster markets, and alcohol-fueled dives known as oyster cellars. In the 1800’s, New York’s cultural identity was tied to the oyster. “You rarely find a food that satisfies all socioeconomic backgrounds at one time,” said Kurlansky.

A strange tale of environmental caution lies at the root of why the native oyster has all but disappeared from the city’s cultural and culinary memory. The Hudson River estuary enables oysters to thrive with its brackish combination of salt- and freshwater. Dutch settlers enjoyed saucer-sized oysters; the oyster trade fueled the city’s growth and filled its tables. Beginning in the 1890s however, the Hudson’s oyster beds became contaminated by raw sewage causing cholera outbreaks. By 1930, it was illegal to harvest oysters, and by 1960 the water was too polluted for them to grow at all. Thanks to improvements brought about by the Clean Water Act, oysters can be found in the Hudson River today, though PCBs and heavy lead make them dangerous to consume. Someday, with the help of sustainable planning, New Yorkers might enjoy Hudson River oysters again, but never will they be plentiful enough to fuel an entire city.

Carolyn Sponza, AIA, is an architect with Beyer Blinder Belle Architects and Planners and is the AIANY Chapter Vice President of Professional Development.

Event: Experimental Urban Ecology
Location: Center for Architecture, 02.22.07
Speakers: David Ortiz – Project Manager, DMJM Harris/AECOM; Alex Felson – Director of Ecological Design, EDAW/AECOM; Anupama Sharma – Senior Project Architect & Planner, Metcalf & Eddy/AECOM; Amy Garrod – Sustainability Specialist, Faber Maunsell/AECOM
Organizer: AIA NY Committee on the Environment (COTE)

The study of ecological systems in urban environments is a relatively new area of research. The methodology used for ecological experiments in natural environments can be adapted for urban conditions – although with some difficulty. The heterogeneity of urban environments and social factors may compromise the scientific method when replicating experiments.

To aid the process, ecologists are forming new partnerships with design professionals to create architecture and urban designs that fuse ecology with design experimentation. Traditional collaborations between ecologists and designers often result in a design that directly mimics nature. In more recent designed experiments, however, the modular, functional, and geometric forms used to conduct the experiment become the basis for a new design expression.

According to statistics, the A/E/C industry invests only .05% of its total budget in research compared with the automotive industry’s 3% or biotech’s 14%. Convincing clients to incorporate design experiments into project budgets requires developing allies who can motivate constituents and mobilize resources. European sustainability metrics, such as the Building Research Establishment’s Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM) and other regulatory measures, emphasize the impact of development on larger ecosystems and facilitate the participation of ecologists. The inclusion of ecologists on design teams is still rare in the U.S., however.

Architects are in a unique position to integrate ecological research into the built environment by insisting on working with ecologists throughout design development. Such a perspective will prove increasingly valuable as designers attempt to improve local ecosystems with the built realm.

Aaron Slodounik, LEED AP, is a freelance art and architecture writer.