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

Windcatcher, Egypt 1300 BC, British Museum

According to the EPA, one-sixth of all the electricity generated in a year is used run air-conditioning systems (costing occupants approximately $40 billion). The energy required to run air conditioners creates crippling utility bills for residents as well as harmful CO2 emissions for the environment. That’s why Sue Roaf, a professor of architectural engineering, calls “the use of centralized air-conditioning systems in buildings with fixed windows an increasingly high-risk strategy in buildings”. In order to adapt to changing weather patterns and energy resources, ventilation and natural cooling systems must be incorporated into the building design.

The Lighthouse by Sheppard Robson

Before air-conditioning existed, builders in extremely hot climates found other ways to design spaces that stayed cool naturally. As early as 1300 BC, Egyptians built windcatchers to passively cool and ventilate buildings. Traditional windcatchers create air movement by manipulating temperature gradients between floors and pulling air through a vertical shaft running from the basement to the roof. Each floor has shuttered apertures that allow occupants to pull cool air down from the roof when their is a breeze or pull it up from the basement on really hot days. Now, architects are implementing some of these old methods to achieve highly efficient and sustainable buildings.

In London, Sheppard Robson and Arup built a model home called the Lighthouse using a windcatcher design. In addition to the windcatcher, the Lighthouse uses solar panels to produce energy and utilizes structurally insulated panels (SIPs) to create a highly insulated building envelope. Many other sustainable components are used to reach a zero emissions standard that England is trying to achieve in all homes by 2016. The Lighthouse proves that antiquated design techniques can produce a more sustainable and livable building even today.

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

Van Jones has been Oakland’s green job guru since he founded Green for All – an organization committed to finding “green pathways out of poverty” through green job training. Now, Van Jones is bringing his message to Washington as a senior advisor to Nancy Sutley, chairwoman of the White House Council on Environmental Quality.

Van Jones’ return to Washington follows a stirring statement he gave to the 111th Congress on January 15th during the Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming hearing. You can check out his statement on YouTube.

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

Some of  mike’s work from the past been featured as an example of how the illumination tools in vray can be utilized – read more….

Governer Schwarzenegger wasn’t the only public official in California promoting sustainability and green innovation last week. On Friday, the Mayors of San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose published an article in the San Francisco chronicle outlining their commitment to coordinated green growth in the Bay Area. To reinforce their pledge, Gavin Newsom, Ron Dellums, and Chuck Reed signed a joint blueprint for climate change action that outlines 10 specific and measurable goals.

The mayors are finally realizing that real sustainability can’t be achieved through piecemeal solutions – programs must be seamlessly integrated into a larger sustainable blueprint. Bay Area residents share the same air, water resources, and transportation, so they must also share green solutions.

The Chronicle article highlights the strengths of each city’s existing green programs – San Francisco’s biodiesel bus fleet and recycling program, Oakland’s Green Job Corps, and San Jose’s vision to become an epicenter for green tech. The Mayors also acknowledged the vital role of local green businesses and nonprofits to encourage green practices that boost the local economy.

Connecting the roots of green growth and sharing the best practices of each city will transform the Bay Area into a leader of smart and sustainable regional planning.

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

© Agence France-Presse

Earlier this week, Governor Schwarzenegger went to Hanover Germany to promote green innovation to technology companies from around the world. Schwarzenegger joined 50 California companies attending the 23rd annual CeBIT conference – the largest international IT fair. Schwarzenegger urged tech companies to use the current economic crisis to shift focus to sustainable innovations that are needed to build a global green economy. Schwarzenegger’s message was reinforced by large signs on the building that displayed the word “crisis” crossed out, replaced with the word “opportunity”. (For more about Schwarzenegger’s visit to CeBIT check out this Grist article).

Greenpeace

Another conference focusing solely on green innovations took place just days before in New York City. In addition to greening the existing consumer electronics industry, the Greener Gadgets conference hosts a lively design competition that encourages people of all walks of life to create and vote on green gadget designs. Marc Alt and Jill Fehrenbacher, the founders of the Greener Gadgets Conference, wanted to create a platform to inspire creative innovations and share green solutions. While some green gadgets are criticized for being expensive toys for the elite, the sentiment is overshadowed by practical green solutions that emerge when unbridled innovation is encouraged. For example, Mission Motor’s $68,995 Electric Motorcycle may only appeal to speed bike enthusiasts, but the new battery management technology is an exciting advancement that can be implemented in other green applications.  For more about the green gadget debate, check out the Celsias article I posted 2 weeks ago.

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