Today Urban Re:Vision announced three finalists for what might become the most sustainable city block in America. Situated in the heart of Dallas three teams were selected from hundreds of entries as part of the Revision Dallas design competition Ideas integrated local materials, vegetated screens to green ways, shaping how people will live and work in the future. Finalists include former Siyathemba finalist MOOV with Atelier Data of Lisbon, Portugal; David Baker and Partners Architects and Fletcher Studio, MediZed, and the firm Little from Charlotte, North Carolina

so excited!!! our hands – all shaking.

Here's what MediZed and David Baker Architects made!!!

I was just in our local Little Star Pizza on Divisadero in San Francisco for dinner Sunday night.  An artist, Erik Otto displayed some incredible art on the walls.  Here’s a little something we’d like to share with you! 

In 1967 doctors told Kamal Meattle that the polluted air in New Delhi was killing him. Instead of abandoning his home, Meattle found ways to grow his own fresh air. Now, Meattle runs a 50,000 square foot green hotel and business center in New Dehli. The facility is home to 1,200 indoor plants – 4 for each of the 300 occupants. In addition to lowering the HVAC system requirements, the plants pump oxygen into the air and remove volatile chemicals and formaldehydes. Studies have shown that for many occupants the plants increase productivity and blood oxygen levels while reducing headaches, lung impairment, and eye-irritation. To connect occupants with their living purification system, the facility’s website posts daily indoor and outdoor air quality levels.

In February 2009, Meattle joined other visionaries at the TED conference in California to explain how easy it is to grow your own fresh air.

The TED talk highlights 3 house plants that are vital for oxygen production and airborne chemical reduction – the Areca Palm, Mother-in-laws Tongue, and the Money Plant.

Rayna Gordon-Hellman
rayna@medized.com
415-994-6549 office

courtesy of Gluckman Mayner Architects

Ever since Donald Fisher (the founder of GAP) proposed a new Contemporary Art Museum at the Presidio (CAMP) to house his personal art collection, stakeholders have been unable to agree on an appropriate design. The first design by New York City-based Gluckman Mayner Architects caused a huge public oucry from San Francisco citizens and architects. To find a better solution, 10 local architecture firms held an exhibition called “CAMP: Reconsidered” to choose an alternative design.

The new design by WRNS Studios moves the structure underground and celebrates the surrounding landscape with a green roof. Still, not everyone is pleased.

courtesy of WRNS Studios

The Presidio Historic Association devoted its March newsletter to explaining why the new design is a poor choice for the Presidio, and encouraged readers to voice their oppositions at the April 7th meeting of the Presidio Trust. To further complicate matters, the San Francisco Bay Guardian and the San Francisco Chronicle have published editorials opposing the development for reasons ranging from increased car traffic in the Presidio to Donald Fisher’s arrogance.

Last night, The San Francisco AIA chapter held a public meeting to discuss “The Future of the Presidio’s Main Post”. WRNS studios and the Presidio Trust were present to speak about their vision for CAMP. While their vision may be clearer, the road to construction is not. Will CAMP become a reality? Stay tuned.

Rayna Gordon-Hellman
rayna@medized.com
415-994-6549 office

NoRA photo by Bo Stjerne Thomsen

I stumbled across some interesting examples of performative architecture that use digital media to encourage community connectivity and sustainability. The first is a Pavilion Project called NoRA built for the 10 International Architecture Biennale in Venice.

photo by Bo Stjerne Thomsen

The non-representational design is a temporary structure that reacts to the flow of people around the space. Infrared cameras monitor movement and feed information to a software program (Eyesweb) that controls colored LED lights and sound patterns coming from NoRA.

The lights and sounds allow NoRA to become an active part of the landscape – encouraging community interaction around the structure. Five webcams are also positioned around NoRA to build a relationship between digital communities and the local built environment.

Habitat Hotel by James Clar and Associates

While NoRA uses lights and cameras to interact with pedestrian flow and online communities, Habitat Hotel reacts to sun exposure and educates viewers about environmental conditions. The hotel is surrounded by a mesh envelope that is dotted with nodes of small solar cells, batteries, and LED lights. The solar collectors store energy and monitor the level of sun exposure at each node.

At night, microprocessors control tri-colored LED lights that create a soft glow around the building. The LEDs create an energy map of the building with different colors corresponding to the level of sun exposure at each node. The multi-color glow changes each day and educates viewers about solar energy collection. In addition, the soft glow of small LED lights cuts down on light pollution from other harsh exterior lighting or bright floodlights.

Rayna Gordon-Hellman
rayna@medized.com
415-994-6549 office

Last week, Autodesk announced that Vancouver would be the 3rd Digital City in a pilot program to create an accurate 3D city-model that incorporates civil engineering data, utility information, building design, and geospatial mapping. Vancouver, a leader in innovative and sustainable urban planning, plans to use the model to aid its green development efforts. The integration of CAD, Building Information Modeling (BIM), and infrastructure information is an exciting advancement that will allow city planners and citizens to simulate the future impacts of city-wide initiatives.

This is an extremely valuable tool when trying to understand the social and environmental impacts of public works projects. Imagine if the traffic department could simulate the changes in traffic flow that would result from adding bike lanes and vegetated corridors to streetscapes. At the same time, environmental planners could see how bike lanes and vegetated corridors would change storm-water runoff volumes and local air quality. The availability of integrated city information should help local governments choose the most cost-effective and valuable city upgrades. “Urban design at a city-wide scale is the next great design challenge. Our Digital City technology provides cities like Vancouver with a comprehensive approach to create a sustainable city that balances economic and engineering demands with environmental and social needs,” said Jay Bhatt, senior vice president, AEC solutions, Autodesk.

Rayna Gordon-Hellman
rayna@medized.com
415-994-6549 office

Circuit boards by Chris Jordan

The growth of digital communication has created a disconnect between people and their physical communities. While web platforms encourage global correspondence, they take time away from face-to-face interactions with neighbors and the local landscape. This isolation makes it difficult for residents to understand and address the social and environmental issues that surround them. In other words, when the physical manifestation of a problem is out of sight, it is easy to put it out of mind as well.

This disconnect is reinforced by what Flemish philospher, Lieven De Cauter, calls capsularization. He warns us of a culture of sealing ourselves off from the external environment through individual car use, isolated suburban living, and dwindling use of public space.

e-Bank by Chris Jordan

In order to fuse virtual networks with local community spaces, designers are finding creative ways to integrate digital media into the built environment. At the most basic level, digital images create an emotional connection between the viewer, the subject matter, and the physical space where they are displayed. This emotional connection is illustrated in Chris Jordan’s photography addressing unbridled consumerism. The photos shown confront viewers with bold images of the wastes they create but rarely encounter in landfills.

Rayna Gordon-Hellman
rayna@medized.com
415-994-6549 office

Crushed Cars by Chris Jordan

Spools by Chris Jordan

The rise of digital media has created new communication pathways and social networks that change the way people interact in public spaces. In a paper about performative environments, Ole Jensen and Bo Thomsen explain that “the increased use of mobile technologies and various other mobile medias create an imbalance in the attention paid to the local environment in relation to the global network.” In order to reconnect people with their surroundings, architects are experimenting with performative environments that integrate digital technologies into the built environment to bridge the gap between cyber-space and public space.

In a paper titled The Cyborg Self and the Networked City, W.J. Mitchell explains that “fluid collections of wirelessly interconnecting individuals – perhaps assembled from the beginning, in cyberspace rather than at any physical location – are becoming a crucial fact of urban life”. To build a strong and responsive networked city, it is important to create digital connections to local physical spaces in order to bridge the gap between cyber-communication, the natural environment, and public space.

By nature, green buildings integrate more seamlessly with the surrounding ecosystem and create awareness about the local environment. Coupling digital media with building lifecycle information and environmental indicators solidifies the connection between occupants and the natural landscape. Occupants could view creative data displays of a building’s water usage and renewable energy production as well as real-time weather and local air quality information. When you feel connected with your surroundings and community, environmental sensitivity increases and well as the awareness of community issues.

For the next few posts, I will continue to explore the connections between digital media, architecture, performative environments, relational aesthetics, and environmental awareness. Stay tuned.

Rayna Gordon-Hellman
rayna@medized.com
415-994-6549 office