Contemporaneity

Ecological and energy efficient architecture as a new trend in the architectural culture

Robert Mazur

Abstract

Climate change at the turn of the 20th and 21st centuries is indisputable. In 1988, two Organizations of the United Nations – the World Meteorological Organization (WMO)1 and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)2 created the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)3. IPCC is a permanent forum of cooperation of hundreds of scientists from many countries, publishing every few years the reports which greatly affect the development of national and international climate programs and the policy of financing research on climate change. The first report of IPCC was published in 1990, next ones in 1995 and 2001 and the last one in 2007. The last report was developed by over 600 authors from 40 countries, reviewed by over 620 experts and representatives of governments. The summary of the report was accepted by representatives of 113 countries. The key conclusions of the Fourth Assessment Report of the IPCC (AR4) are as follows:

– Warming of the climate system is unequivocal,

– The probability that this is caused by natural climatic processes alone is less than 5%,

– The probability that this is caused by anthropogenic (human) greenhouse gas concentration is >90%,

– During the 21st century world temperature could rise by between 1.8 and 4 °C. However, the possible rise ranges from 1.1 to 6.4 °C,

– Sea levels will probably rise by 28 to 42 cm,

– There is a confidence level >90% that there will be an increase in heat waves and heavy rainfall.

In architecture the first ideas to save energy and construct environmentally friendly buildings appeared during the fuel crisis of the 1970s.

Keywords:
ecological-and-energy-efficient-architecture

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Climate change at the turn of the 20

and 21

cen-

turies is indisputable. In 1988, two Organizations of the

United Nations – the World Meteorological Organiza-

tion (WMO)

and the United Nations Environment Pro-

gramme (UNEP)

created the Intergovernmental Panel on

Climate Change (IPCC)

. IPCC is a permanent forum of

cooperation of hundreds of scientists from many coun-

tries, publishing every few years the reports which greatly

affect the development of national and international cli-

mate programs and the policy of nancing research on

climate change. The rst report of IPCC was published

in 1990, next ones in 1995 and 2001 and the last one in

2007. The last report was developed by over 600 authors

from 40 countries, reviewed by over 620 experts and rep-

West Pomeranian University of Technology, Szczecin, Faculty of

Civil Engineering and Architecture, Division of Contemporary Architec-

ture, Theory and Methodology of Design.

The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) – international

organization with 188 member states which originated from the Interna-

tional Meteorological Organization (IMO), which was founded in 1873.

Established 1951, WMO became a specialized agency of the UNO whose

task is to unify, improve and exchange of publications on meteorology as

well as support studies of climate, geography, and hydrology.

Source: http://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Światowa_Organizacja_Me-

teorologiczna.

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) – agency

of the UNO established by the resolution of the General Assembly of the

UNO no. 2997 from Dec. 1972 to coordinate UN environmental activities,

constantly monitoring the global environment. UNEP is based in Nairobi,

capital of Kenya. Achim Steiner from Germany is the Executive Director

of UNEP.

Source:http://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Program_Środowiskowy_Or-

ganizacji_Narodów _Zjednoczonych.

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) – organization

established in 1988 by two organizations of the United Nations – World

Meteorological Organization (WMO) and The United Nations Environ-

ment Programme (UNEP) to assess the risk of climate change caused by

human activity.

Source: http://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intergovernmental_Panel_on_

Climate_Change.

resentatives of governments. The summary of the report

was accepted by representatives of 113 countries. The key

conclusions of the Fourth Assessment Report of the IPCC

(AR4) are as follows:

– Warming of the climate system is unequivocal,

– The probability that this is caused by natural climatic

processes alone is less than 5%,

– The probability that this is caused by anthropogenic

(human) greenhouse gas concentration is >90%,

– During the 21

century world temperature could

rise by between 1.8 and 4 °C. However, the possible rise

ranges from 1.1 to 6.4 °C,

– Sea levels will probably rise by 28 to 42 cm,

– There is a condence level >90% that there will be

an increase in heat waves and heavy rainfall.

In architecture the rst ideas to save energy and con-

struct environmentally friendly buildings appeared during

the fuel crisis of the 1970s. A growing interest in new,

non-conventional sources and technologies of energy

generation has resulted in the development of philosophy

of architecture which is friendly both to people and en-

vironment where it is located as well as the doctrines of

sustainable development of architecture. Currently sus-

tainable development is development that meets the needs

of the present without compromising the ability of future

generations to meet their own needs, is possible – this fa-

mous sentence from the 1987 WCED report – “Our Com-

mon Future” (Brundtland Report – after the last name of

Gro Harlem Brundtland – the Chair of the commission)

set a new direction in the development of architecture

at the end of the 20

century. The beginning of the 21

century strongly conrmed the ecological and energy ef-

cient architecture as a canon and indicator of culture in

creating human life space. Taking into account the pre-

cisely assigned objective of the European Commission

to shift to an energy efcient and low carbon economy

already in 2020 (reduction of the demand for energy by

20% and reduction of emission of CO

by 20% as well as

Robert Mazur*

Ecological and energy efcient architecture

as a new trend in the architectural culture

128 Robert Mazur

an increase in use of renewable energy by 20%), the fol-

lowing question arises: Is ecological and energy efcient

architecture only a fashion or temporary trend caused by

the problems with global natural resources or architec-

tural culture growing from the receptivity to the ideas of

eco-philosophy and care for future generations as a vi-

sion of the future? The analysis of the conception as well

as of the execution of architectural designs from the turn

of the 20

and 21

centuries in Europe and globally can

provide the answer to that question.

Since the 1970s, the works by Emilio Ambasz have

been permanently in the center discourses about ecologi-

cal architecture

due to their incorporation into surround-

ing landscape and vegetation. His works are a perfect ex-

ample of the integration with nature – the key postulate of

ecological architecture. The theories developed by Emilio

Ambasz include the basic criteria of ecological architec-

ture – relation to context, creative approach to landscape,

symbols, ecological technologies and visionary imagina-

tion. In his designs Ambasz treats landscape as integral

part of an object and, just like other architects, incorpo-

rating a human dwelling place into the context of nature,

he makes references to the achievements of Frank Lloyd

Wright. Schlumberger Research Laboratories in Austin,

Texas, is a center of technology whose interiors, accord-

ing to the assumptions of its investors, were to adapt to the

changing number of its employees [3]. The location of the

buildings was to be associated with data owing through

the computer and that is why the whole compound was

designed as integrated with the landscape with its indi-

vidual buildings buttressed with earth berms. Ambasz

achieved two goals: integration with the surroundings and

a better thermal insulation of the buildings regardless of

the season by covering the buildings with masses of earth.

Ecological architecture – although the idea of energy efcient

and environmentally friendly architecture has always been embraced by

utopian architects, it became especially popular and important in the early

1970s, and particularly after the fuel crisis in 1973. London’s Ecologi-

cal House by Graham Caine is the agship building of this type. Some

of the most spectacular examples of ecological architecture, although

never executed, include the arboreal designs by Magdalena Abakanowicz

from 1991.

Source: http://www.artinfo.pl.

Furthermore, the design displays cosmological relations

with ancient Celtic buildings and at the same time indi-

cates the connection between the computer age communi-

cation techniques and art of earth as well as ancient ritu-

als. Another example of work by Emilio Ambasz where

earth berms are used to incorporate the building into the

landscape is Lucille Halsell Conservatory in San Antonio,

Texas (see Figs. 1 and 2).

The buildings with specimens of plants resemble the

Hanging Gardens of Babilon. The design is crowned with

forms resembling glass pyramids surrounded by furrows

in the ground and moulds. This makes it look like a living

monument in honor of plants, earth, and sky. The whole

design provides for proper sun exposure, microclimate

and exchange of air for the plants kept inside. The big-

gest design by Emilio Ambasz is ACROS Building in

Fukuoka, Japan completed in April 1995. This is one of

the most signicant examples of architecture – the gar-

den design is in opposition to garden architecture inter-

preted as “return to nature” associated with a house built

in the natural environment. ACROS Building expresses

the ecological desire to give back to nature the space

taken by people and to rebuild the natural environment

destroyed in the 20

century. The use of the green fa-

cade of the center of culture as an extension of the nearby

parkland is no longer a visual object and it becomes an

icon of architecture absorbing and stimulating senses.

This design refers to the important issue for architecture

ecological namely the man-made nature as opposed to

original nature. This is also an answer to the question:

What is green architecture at the turn of the 20

and 21

centuries?

The Pit by Peter Noever can be a European example

of pro-ecological architecture, expressing the vision of ar-

chitecture regarded as an extension of landscape [3]. The

architect remodeled an old wine cellar abandoned for over

two hundred years and a nearby quarry located in Breiten-

brunn, Austria. This is a special combination of integrated

environment, public space and landscape architecture,

creating green architecture provoking further work on

ecological apartments of the future. Another example of

architecture integrated with the natural environment is

EFA – a radio satellite station by Gustav Peichl in Aenz,

Figs. 1, 2. Lucille Halsell Conservatory, San Antonio, Texas, Emilio Ambasz – source: http://www.ickr.com

Ecological and energy efcient architecture as a new trend in the architectural culture 129

Austria [3]. The design integrating the broadcasting sta-

tion technical facilities with residential buildings into an

earth slope refers to the works by Emilio Ambasz and his

green architecture designs.

These examples of ecological architecture at the end

of the 20

century are set in the context of the idea of

integration of a man-made space with the natural space.

They provide the answer to the question asked earlier:

What is ecological architecture? The sensitivity of archi-

tects expressed in those examples and the consequence of

the idea of integration of architecture with its surround-

ings is the best conrmation of the high culture in creating

a man-made environment. The respect for green natural

resources by giving back the space taken by man is an

expression of a deep concern for the environment of the

future generation and realization of the vision of contem-

porary architecture. It is worth noting that the examples

do not apply modern energy efcient solutions or use re-

newable sources of energy. Their focus is more on design

solutions and implementation of the idea of earth-oriented

ecological architecture.

Ecological architecture of the 21

century is totally

different. Its characteristic features include a rapid devel-

opment of information technologies and technological

achievements in the scope of use of renewable sources of

energy. In order to meet the current needs of the society

ecological architecture sets a new direction in creating hu-

man life space. Physalia – which in Latin means jellysh

– is a giant cnidarian driven by hydro-turbines designed

by Vincent Callebaut covered with plants and solar panels

(see Fig. 3) [1].

Physalia is meant to navigate through the rivers and

clean water. Furthermore, inside there will be lecture halls

and gardens where the visitors will live pro-ecologically.

Another design by Vincent Callebaut called Dragony

is a vertical farm providing healthy and ecological food.

The program includes the production of high quality veg-

etables and fruits. The futuristic ecological farm without

pesticides will be located in the heart of New York. Anti-

Smog is a project for one of industrial districts in Paris

(see Fig. 4) [1]. A structure whose surface is coated in

titanium dioxide will efciently reduce the amount of

smog in the air. Modern architecture is supposed to be

not only energetically self sufcient but also contribute

to removing toxic pollutants from the air, cleaning water

in nearby reservoirs or using rainwater for technical pur-

poses.

The architect calls his work an “organic parasite”

placed in a post-industrial environment full of both still

operating and already abandoned factories. It will con-

sist of two main parts. The “Solar Drop” perched over an

unused railroad tracks on de l’Ourcq canal – an ellipti-

cal structure resembling rugby ball which, in compliance

with the requirements of ecological architecture, will

have hundreds of photovoltaic panels supplying neces-

sary energy and systems to collect rainwater which can

be used e.g. to ush toilets or clean photocells. What is,

however, truly distinctive about the project by the Belgian

designer is its exterior coated in titanium dioxide which,

according to the author, will reduce the level of airborne

pollutants and contaminants. In its reaction with smog it

will break down organics and consequently clean the at-

mosphere. Inside the “drop” there will be public spaces

and a huge exhibition hall – everything designed around

a central garden full of vegetation. The other building in

the ecological compound is a 45 m tall “Wind Tower”

with an art gallery and a skytop garden with a spiral path

leading to it. The name of the building derives from the

name of special vertical axis wind turbines used in its con-

struction that operate like the Darrieus wind turbine

. The

Tower will be coverd with LED screens to display news.

Inspired by the shape of a water lily, Vincent Callebaut

designed the Lilypad – a completely self-sufcient oat-

ing eco-city. This visionary urban agglomeration will be

adapted to meet the need of contemporary civilization. It

will have apartments, gardens, shopping centers, places

for recreation and entertainment. The project is a vision of

an ecological city of the future. Born in 1977 in Belgium,

Vincent Callebaut expresses in his projects the ideas of

ecological human life spaces needed by the 21

century

information society. This is also expressed by the Per-

fumed Jungle as a reminiscence of jungle located in the

The Derrieus turbine – sometime called an eggbeater is one of two

main types of vertical axis wind turbines (VAWT). Patented by Georges

Darrieus in 1931.

Source: http://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turbina_Darrieusa

Fig. 3. Physalia, Vincent Callebaut

– source: http://portal.architekturakrajobrazu.info

Fig. 4. Anti-Smog, Paris, Vincent Callebaut

– source: http://portal.architectkrakrajobrazu.info

130 Robert Mazur

harbor. The project implements the assumption of green

areas provided to the residents of Hong Kong for recrea-

tion, relax and entertainment. It may also house ofces

and other facilities.

Architects from Ecosistema Urbano created a project

of an ecological urban space. The designers of Eco Boul-

evard, in Vallecas, a suburb of Madrid, assumed that it

would serve two purposes: an ecological lter and a place

to stimulate social activity. They deliberately chose the

form of an open pavilion that can be freely used by the

residents of Vallecas (see Fig. 5) [1]. It also serves as a

city amphitheater to hold concerts and performances as

well as a meeting place for the residents of the district.

Eco Boulevard is a self-sufcient structure tted with

photovoltaic fuel cells. On individual oors there are pot-

ted plants to lter the air in the district. The most interest-

ing effect was created inside the pavilion where the air

temperature is lower than outside by 8 to 10°C.

Architecture of the 21

century evidently evolves in

the direction of ecological ideas, maintaining modern ap-

pearance and application of the latest technologies. This

is conrmed by Rafesia Zero Energy House from Kuala

Lumpur in Malaysia, Zoki Zoli or Elm Park in Dublin,

Ireland designed by Bucholz McEvoy Architects and

California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco. Global

solutions for cities such as Penang Peaks in Malaysia by

Michael Sorkin Studio (see Fig. 6) or Shenzhen Logistic

City in China, by JDS-Julien de Smedt architects are more

and more popular [2].

It is impossible to describe all examples which would

provide the answer to the question asked earlier: Is eco-

logical and energy efcient architecture only a fashion

or temporary trend caused by the problems with global

natural resources or architectural culture growing from

the receptivity to the ideas of eco-philosophy and care

for future generations as a vision of the future? One can

conclude that although contemporary architecture is a de-

liberate direction inspired by the ideas of eco-philosophy,

however, it still applies the latest information technolo-

gies and technical solutions. The examples of projects

presented above as well as architectural concepts dene

the vision of the future, respecting the context of the place

and the natural environment as well as show deep ecologi-

cal concern for future generations.

Fig. 5. Eco Boulevard, Ecosistema Urbano – source: http://www.plataformaarquitectura.cl

Fig. 6. Penang Peaks, Michael Sorkin,

Makoto Okazaki, B. Degn, Y. Koda

– source: http://sorkinstudio.net/PenangPeaks.htm

References

[1] Jodidio P., Green Architecture Now!, Tashen GMBH, Cologne

2009.

[2] Van Uffeln C., Ecological Architecture, Braun Publishing AG, Berlin

2009.

[3] Wines J., Zielona Architectura, Taschen/TMC Art., Cologne 2008.

Ecological and energy efcient architecture as a new trend in the architectural culture 131

Architektura ekologiczna i energooszczędna

nowym kierunkiem kultury architektonicznej

Przedmiotem artykułu jest architektura ekologiczna i energoosz-

czędna jako odpowiedź na wzrastające zapotrzebowanie i tendencje

w nowoczesnej wizji architektury. Kreowanie architektury przy użyciu

odpowiednich materiałów oraz stosowanie zintegrowanych systemów

energooszczędnych z wykorzystaniem odnawialnych źródeł energii staje

się nowym zjawiskiem kulturowym. Artykuł podaje przykłady ekokultury

architektonicznej i odpowiada na pytanie czy jest to moda obecnych

czasów, czy powszechny kierunek kultury architektonicznej.

Keywords: ecological and energy efcient architecture Słowa kluczowe: architektura ekologiczna i energooszczędna