Contested Reinterpretation of : Authenticity of Ecological Place-Making in Facilities

A Thesis submitted to the Division of Research and Advanced Studies of the University of Cincinnati

In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of

MASTER OF SCIENCE

In the School of Architecture and Interior Design of the College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning

2008

by Aparna Madhavan M.S. Marketing. University of Cincinnati, 2008 | B. Arch. Bangalore University, India, 2004 | LEED AP

Committee Chair: Prof. David Saile Prof. Michael Zaretsky

Reader: Prof. Virginia Russell Abstract

Public Markets were the predominant way Americans shopped for food before the Second

World War. Public Markets were replaced by supermarkets that came to dominate the grocery scene.

A supermarket is the last point in the supply chain of the production and distribution of food and is situated in most American communities by corporations. Alternatives to the supermarket exist in the form of cooperatives or as farm stores.

In recent years there has been an increased interest in food. Consumers expect it to be ecologically sustainable, healthy for our bodies, and everything we consume to be good in its implications to the planet. This trend in conscious choice is further extended to where we go to shop for food. Expectations of corporate practices in the facility design of grocery stores rise as the general public grows increasingly aware of ecological issues.

Ecological place-making and consumerism pose a fundamental conflict. The former assumes the intricacies and complexities of human behavior and the constraints imposed by the environment.

The latter aspires to simple, general laws that cover all possible economic arrangements, such as technology, in a way that can be used by businesses. Ecological design, which is rooted in competing conceptions of , however, should precede technological strategies in sustainable building design. This thesis adopts a framework of a social constructivist’s perspective of ecological place-making, as proposed by Simon Guy and Graham Farmer, to help situate the trends of the emergent culture of sustainable architecture.

This thesis analyzes the trends in the architecture of grocery store facilities that offer natural, organic, and local foods. What are the alternatives to a supermarket in America today and what is the role of ecological place-making in each case? The analysis is about how our choice and awareness as a consumer, resident, or community member influences the design of food facilities.

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How does the trade of food influence design approaches and how does this further impact the environment as a whole and the ecology of the communities where we live?

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Acknowledgement I am grateful to my advisors, Professors David Saile, and Michael Zaretsky, for their patient and perceptive guidance through the course of this thesis. Special mention and thanks to Professor

Virginia Russell for her invaluable advice on the topic. I would like to thank the faculty at the School of Architecture at DAAP for widening my horizons of architectural thought. Sincere gratitude to

Adrian Parr for her advice which served as a useful primer on this research, Jim Bradford for all the lively discussions through the course of the colloquium, and Ellen Guerrettaz for her creative vision in coordinating the MS program.

Love, gratitude, and respect to my parents and mother in-law, who have always encouraged me to achieve all that I dreamt possible. Love and thanks to my brother, Anand, who has been a source of inspiration to pursue my masters in this country. Much thanks to my twin boys, Neil and

Kavin, for their unconditional love and cooperation through the course of this program. Last and definitely not least, sincere thanks to my dear husband Kamal, for his endless encouragement, support, and patient love. I will forever be grateful for his belief in my capabilities.

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Table of Contents

Abstract 1 Acknowledgment 4 Table of Contents 5 List of Tables 6 List of Figures 6 List of Illustrations 7 Introduction 11

1 Contested Motives of Ecology and Consumerism 16 2 The Six Logics of Sustainable Architecture- A Social Constructivist Perspective 28 3 Markets: Past and Present 40 4 Defining the Commodity 52 5 Traditional Strains of Counter-culture: Local Farm Stores and Co-operatives- Hawthorne 59 Valley Farms Store and People’s Co-op 6 Supermarket Pastoral and Eco-branding- 85 7 The Benchmark Approach: Corporate Social Responsibility, Green-washing- Wal-Mart 111 Supercenter 8 Summary and Conclusion 126

Bibliography 141 Appendix 150

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List of Tables

Table: 1- The Six Competing Logics of Sustainable Architecture. Source: Guy, Simon and Farmer, Graham. Contested Constructions: The Competing Logics of Green Buildings and Ethics in Warwick Fox, ed., The Ethics of the Built Environment (London: Routledge, 2000).

List of Figures

Figure-1: Fractal Pyramid. Source: McDonough, William and Braungart, Michael. Cradle -to-Cradle: Rethinking the Way We Make Things (New York: North Point Press, 2002).

Figure-2: The Six Competing Logics of Sustainable Architecture. Source: Created by Author. Images from the following website: California Academy of Sciences featured in Greenroofs.com website http://www.greenroofs.com/projects/pview.php?id=509. Accessed on October 5, 2008. Earthship featured in Keetas, Ecofriendly and green blogs , http://keetsa.com/blog/tag/michael_reynolds/. Accessed on October 5, 2008. Kandalama, Sri Lanka featured in Experience Sri Lanka , http://www.experiencesrilanka.com/package_indiv?package_id=17. Accessed on October 5, 2008. Fairfield Toll house featured on Gaia Group Website , http://www.gaiagroup.org/Awards/index.html. Accessed on October 5, 2008.Acrosanti, AZ on Acrosanti Website, http://www.arcosanti.org/. Accessed on October 5, 2008.

Figure- 3: Contextual and internal patterns of a building. Source: Silverstein, Murray & Jacobson, Max 1985 "Restructuring the Hidden Program. Toward an Architecture of Social Change" in Wolfgang F. E. Preiser (Ed.) Programming the Built Environment , Van Nostrand Reinhold: NY., pp.149- 164.

Figure- 4: Cluster of Patterns for a supermarket. Source: Silverstein, Murray & Jacobson, Max 1985 "Restructuring the Hidden Program. Toward an Architecture of Social Change" in Wolfgang F. E. Preiser (Ed.) Programming the Built Environment , Van Nostrand Reinhold: NY., pp.149-164.

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List of Illustrations

Illustration-1: Faneuil Hall, Boston. Source: In Encyclopedia Britannica, Encyclopedia Britannica Online . http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/201495/Faneuil-Hall-Marketplace. Accessed on September 30, 2008.

Illustration- 2: Ariel View of Hawthorne Valley Farm Store. Source: Hawthorne Valley Farm. Farm Photo Gallery. http://hawthornevalleyfarm.org/photogallery/photogallerypage.htm. Accessed on October 1, 2008.

Illustration- 3: Hawthorne Valley Farms. Source: Hawthorne Valley Farm. Farm Photo Gallery. http://hawthornevalleyfarm.org/photogallery/photogallerypage.htm. Accessed on October 1, 2008.

Illustration- 4: Hawthorne Valley Farm Store, View of the store from across the green. Source: Building Green. Hawthorne Valley Farm Images. http://www.buildinggreen.com/hpb/images.cfm?ProjectID=779 . Accessed on October 1, 2008.

Illustration- 5: Panoramic view of buildings that make up Hawthorne Valley Farm buildings. Source: Building Green. Hawthorne Valley Farm Images. http://www.buildinggreen.com/hpb/images.cfm?ProjectID=779 . Accessed on October 1, 2008.

Illustration- 6: Hawthorne Valley Farm Store, Context Plan. Source: Building Green. Hawthorne Valley Farm Images. http://www.buildinggreen.com/hpb/images.cfm?ProjectID=779 . Accessed on October 1, 2008.

Illustration- 7: Hawthorne Valley Farm Store, Project Floor Plan. Source: Building Green. Hawthorne Valley Farm Images . http://www.buildinggreen.com/hpb/images.cfm?ProjectID=779 . Accessed on October 1, 2008.

Illustration- 8: Hawthorne Valley Farm Store, South and East Elevations. Source: Building Green. Hawthorne Valley Farm Images . http://www.buildinggreen.com/hpb/images.cfm?ProjectID=779 . Accessed on October 1, 2008.

Illustration- 9: Exterior View of Hawthorne Valley Farm Store. Source: Building Green. Hawthorne Valley Farm Images . http://www.buildinggreen.com/hpb/images.cfm?ProjectID=779 . Accessed on October 1, 2008.

Illustration- 10: Hawthorne Valley Farm Store, Cross Section highlights daylighting and air movement patterns. Source: Building Green. Hawthorne Valley Farm Images. http://www.buildinggreen.com/hpb/images.cfm?ProjectID=779 . Accessed on October 1, 2008.

Illustration- 11: Computer-generated image showing a section peel of the Hawthorne Valley Farm Store. Source: Building Green. Hawthorne Valley Farm Images. http://www.buildinggreen.com/hpb/images.cfm?ProjectID=779 . Accessed on October 1, 2008.

Illustration- 12: Interior View of Hawthorne Valley Farm Store. Source: Building Green. Hawthorne Valley Farm Images . http://www.buildinggreen.com/hpb/images.cfm?ProjectID=779 . Accessed on October 1, 2008. 7

Illustration- 13: Café in Hawthorne Valley Farm Store. Source: Building Green. Hawthorne Valley Farm Images . http://www.buildinggreen.com/hpb/images.cfm?ProjectID=779 . Accessed on October 1, 2008.

Illustration- 14: People’s Co-op: Walkable from neighboring homes. Source: Building Green. People’s Co-op Images . http://www.buildinggreen.com/hpb/images.cfm?ProjectID=223 . Accessed on October 1, 2008.

Illustration- 15: Ariel View of People’s Co-op in a dense neighborhood. Source: Google Earth. http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=3029+SE+21st+Ave.+Portland,+OR+97202&om =1&ie=UTF8&ll=45.502076,-122.643986&spn=0.011851,0.027637&z=15. Accessed on October 1, 2008.

Illustration- 16: Ariel View of People’s Co-op in a dense neighborhood. Source: Google Earth. http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=3029+SE+21st+Ave.+Portland,+OR+97202&om =1&ie=UTF8&ll=45.502076,-122.643986&spn=0.011851,0.027637&z=15. Accessed on October 1, 2008.

Illustration- 17: People’s Co-op elevation showing green roof and Cob walls. Source: Building Green. People’s Co-op Images . http://www.buildinggreen.com/hpb/images.cfm?ProjectID=223 . Accessed on October 1, 2008.

Illustration- 18: People’s Co-op courtyard. Source: Building Green. People’s Co-op Images. http://www.buildinggreen.com/hpb/images.cfm?ProjectID=223 . Accessed on October 1, 2008.

Illustration- 19: People’s Co-op: Exterior view of thermal storage wall that uses reused bottles. Source: Building Green. People’s Co-op Images. http://www.buildinggreen.com/hpb/images.cfm?ProjectID=223 . Accessed on October 1, 2008.

Illustration- 20: People’s Co-op: Inside view of thermal storage wall that uses reused bottles. Source: Building Green. People’s Co-op Images. http://www.buildinggreen.com/hpb/images.cfm?ProjectID=223 . Accessed on October 1, 2008.

Illustration- 21: People’s Co-op: Bench made of Cob Source: Building Green. People’s Co-op Images . http://www.buildinggreen.com/hpb/images.cfm?ProjectID=223 . Accessed on October 1, 2008.

Illustration- 22: People’s Co-op: View of green roof. Source: Building Green. People’s Co-op Images . http://www.buildinggreen.com/hpb/images.cfm?ProjectID=223 . Accessed on October 1, 2008.

Illustration- 23: People’s Co-op: Courtyard plants. Source: Building Green. People’s Co-op Images. http://www.buildinggreen.com/hpb/images.cfm?ProjectID=223 . Accessed on October 1, 2008.

Illustration- 24: People’s Co-op: View inside the store. Source: Building Green. People’s Co-op Images. http://www.buildinggreen.com/hpb/images.cfm?ProjectID=223 . Accessed on October 1, 2008.

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Illustration- 25: People’s Co-op: Farmers’ market in the courtyard. Source: Building Green. People’s Co- op Images . http://www.buildinggreen.com/hpb/images.cfm?ProjectID=223 . Accessed on October 1, 2008.

Illustration- 26: People’s Co-op: Community room. Source: Building Green. People’s Co-op Images. http://www.buildinggreen.com/hpb/images.cfm?ProjectID=223 . Accessed on October 1, 2008.

Illustration- 27: People’s Co-op: Patron in the courtyard. Source: Building Green. People’s Co-op Images . http://www.buildinggreen.com/hpb/images.cfm?ProjectID=223 . Accessed on October 1, 2008. Building for and by the community: No hidden program

Illustration- 28: Whole Foods Market at Arroyo, Pasadena. Source: Torreon Capital, Bellevue Center . http://www.torreoncapital.com/investments.html. Accessed on October 1, 2008.

Illustration- 29: Elevation Drawings of Whole Foods Market, Arroyo, Pasadena. Source: Bellevue Center Whole Foods Project. Report created by Christopher A. Joseph & Associates for the City of Pasadena. http://www.ci.pasadena.ca.us/planning/deptorg/dhp/bellevuedeir.asp. Accessed on October 1, 2008.

Illustration- 30: Rendered View of Whole Foods- Arroyo Parkway. Source: Report made for the City of Pasadena. City of Pasadena, Planning Division. http://www.ci.pasadena.ca.us/planning/deptorg/dhp/bellevuedeir.asp . Accessed on October 1, 2008.

Illustration- 31: Plan of Whole Foods Market in a dense, commercial, walkable neighborhood. Source: Google Earth. http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=465+S+Arroyo+Pkwy,+Pasadena,+Los+Angeles, +California+91105,+United+States&sll=37.0625,- 95.677068&sspn=29.440076,56.601563&ie=UTF8&cd=1&geocode=FY7mCAIdhDb1- A&ll=34.139195,-118.147445&spn=0.007495,0.013819&z=16&iwloc=addr. Accessed on October 1, 2008.

Illustration- 32: Plan of Whole Foods Market in a dense, commercial, walkable neighborhood. Source: Google Earth. http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=465+S+Arroyo+Pkwy,+Pasadena,+Los+Angeles, +California+91105,+United+States&sll=37.0625,- 95.677068&sspn=29.440076,56.601563&ie=UTF8&cd=1&geocode=FY7mCAIdhDb1- A&ll=34.139195,-118.147445&spn=0.007495,0.013819&z=16&iwloc=addr. Accessed on October 1, 2008.

Illustration- 33: Historical Assessment of Bellevue- Original Site of Whole Foods Market, Arroyo, Pasadena. Source: Bellevue Center Whole Foods Project. Report created by Christopher A. Joseph & Associates for the City of Pasadena. http://www.ci.pasadena.ca.us/planning/deptorg/dhp/bellevuedeir.asp. Accessed on October 1, 2008.

Illustration- 34: Photograph showing a bus garage door along Bellevue Drive elevation on January 10, 1924. Source: Issue of The Pacific Electric Magazine, courtesy John Heller in Bellevue Center Whole Foods Project. Report created by Christopher A. Joseph & Associates for the City of Pasadena . 9 http://www.ci.pasadena.ca.us/planning/deptorg/dhp/bellevuedeir.asp. Accessed on October 1, 2008.

Illustration- 35: Images of Original Site of Whole Foods Market, Arroyo, Pasadena. Source: Bellevue Center Whole Foods Project. Report created by Christopher A. Joseph & Associates for the City of Pasadena . http://www.ci.pasadena.ca.us/planning/deptorg/dhp/bellevuedeir.asp. Accessed on October 1, 2008.

Illustration- 36: Interior photo of Whole Foods Market, Pasadena, CA. Source: Los Angeles Eater. http://la.eater.com/archives/2008/02/22/eaterwire_whole_foods_allyoucaneat_brunch_the_stand _in_westwood_the_counter_in_westlake.php . Accessed on October 1, 2008.

Illustration- 37: Brand Touchpoint Wheel. Source: Davis, Scott and Longoria, Tina. Harmonizing Your ‘Touchpoints’: Consumers may come in contact with your brand on a daily basis. Use each interaction to strengthen their beliefs about your brand. http://www.prophet.com/downloads/articles/Harmonizing%20Your%20Touchpoints%20(SD%2 0TL).pdf . January/ February 2003. Accessed September 21, 2008.

Illustration- 38: Branding Whole Foods Market. Source: Cartis Group, Whole Foods Market. http://www.cartisgroup.com/casestudies/wholefoodsmarket.html . Accessed on October 1, 2008 and Whole Foods Market website. http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com. Accessed on October 1, 2008.

Illustration- 39: Interior Design: Whole Foods Market Corporate Headquarters. Source: Journal of Interior Design, Vol. 31. No. 3. 2006.IDEC Design Awards .

Illustration- 40: Wal-Mart site access from the highway. Source: Google Earth. http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=3301+tower+road+aurora+co&sll=37. 0625,-95.677068&sspn=27.504711,56.601563&ie=UTF8&ll=39.764494,- 104.77232&spn=0.006499,0.013819&z=16&iwloc=addr. Accessed on October 1, 2008.

Illustration- 41: Aurora Wal-Mart: Exterior Photos. Source: Building Green. Aurora Wal-Mart Images. http://www.buildinggreen.com/hpb/overview.cfm?projectid=543. Accessed on October 1, 2008.

Illustration- 42: Aurora Wal-Mart: Photos. Source: Building Green. Aurora Wal-Mart Images . http://www.buildinggreen.com/hpb/overview.cfm?projectid=543. Accessed on October 1, 2008.

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Introduction

Ecology and economy have typically been treated as separate entities. Often the interests of consumerism and capitalism are in contradiction to the interests of ecology. According to architect

William McDonough and chemist Michael Braungart, 1 the definition of the triple bottom line in , uses the concept of eco-effectiveness that views commerce as the engine of change.

Competing environmental strategies, however, have been grouped into a homogeneous categorization of green design 2 with little or no reference to their distinctiveness. It is easy to assume that sustainable buildings 3 are merely differently configured technical structures with distinct methods of adopting technology. Authors Simon Guy and Graham Farmer contest this and argue that there is actually a long history of environmentalism. They track down the roots of sustainable architecture that constitute the basis of ecological design. They then propose six logics of ecological place-making 4 in sustainable architecture that precede technological strategies and alternate visions of sustainable place. This model is used as a lens in understanding the trends of an emergent culture in building and how we interpret ecologically sustainable facilities design.

Historically, public markets were where food was bought and sold in America. A look at the history of public markets in the United States reveals that up until the 1930s, public markets were settings with vibrant social activity and were very much a part of the mainstream American culture.

Their demise was due to the lack of patronage and the restructuring of the city attributed to World

1 See Chapter 1 for an outline of the definition of the triple bottom line. 2 The term Green Design is used interchangeably for . Sustainable design assumes consideration to principles of ecological, social and economic sustainability. 3 The term Sustainable building or green building is used to indicate strategies in construction that are targeted to increase efficiency in the use of energy, water and other resources, protecting occupant health, and reducing waste and pollution. This is different from the basic assumptions of the concept of Sustainability in Architecture which in addition to technology and material considerations encompasses buildings as cultural, social, political and as places. Refer to Chapter 2 for a detailed explanation of this term. 4 See Phillips, Rhonda. Community Indicators Measuring Systems (Burlington: Ashgate Publishing, Ltd., 2005). Assistant Professor in the Department of Urban and Regional Planning at the University of Florida, author Rhonda Phillips defines place-making as predisposition of the human brain to organize phenomenon in binary opposition. To Phillips, Ecological place-making is that which maintains geographic place, the rest of nature and humans as indispensable partners in place-making. Ecological place-making invokes human ecology to question the sustainability of the rapid dissolution and reconstitution of place that is characteristic of the modern world. 11

War II, the depression, and residents moving away from city centers. Grocery stores opened in their place to provide food and were a successful business model when it came to supplying industrialized food to residents.

The organic movements in food and environmentalism have their most recent roots in the sixties’ radicalism, and these constituted main tributaries of counterculture that ended up disappearing into the American mainstream. This includes concerns for the environment, ecology, health, organic foods, health foods, natural foods, energy, conservation, and alternative fuel sources.

There is an increased interest in what we eat. We want this product to be ecologically sustainable, healthy for our bodies, and to be good for us and the planet. “Food consists not just in piles of chemicals; it also comprises a set of social and ecological relationships, reaching back to the land and outward to other people. I no longer think it's possible to separate our bodily health from the health of the environment from which we eat or the environment in which we eat or, for that matter, form the health of our general outlook about food and health,” 5 observes author Michael Pollan, director of the Knight Program in Science and Environmental Journalism and an expert on the topic of food .

This trend in conscious choice of food is further extended to where we go to shop for food.

Harris Interactive, an independent market research company, conducted a survey in 2007 of over

2,000 US consumers. Their study revealed that over two-thirds of the consumers were conscious of the environmental impact of their purchases and either had intentions to make or were making

‘greener’ 6 purchase choices. When it comes to the role of supermarkets and the environment, “one- quarter (28%) of adults say their supermarket is doing something to promote or encourage activities that help ensure the long-term well-being of the environment while 16 percent say their supermarket

5 Pollan, Michael. In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto (New York: Penguin Press, 2008). 6 The terms “greener” and “greenness” is used to convey the consumers’ perceived sense of environmental consciousness. 12 is not doing anything.” 7 While most Americans shop in a supermarket for food today, there are other options to buy local, organic, and natural foods. Depending on the community that one is a part of, the options are to go to a farm store, a co-op 8, farmer’s market, or natural foods chains.

A grocery store is a store established primarily for the retailing of food. Large grocery stores that stock items in addition to food such as household products or flowers are called supermarkets.

Supermarkets are large, self-service grocery stores, but are smaller than hypermarkets or superstores.

The supermarket is the last point in the food and distribution chain, and is situated in various communities by supermarket corporations. Commercial retail grocery stores consist of

“supermarkets [which] account for 55% of the American retail grocery market, followed by convenience stores with 16%, mass merchandisers with 9%, warehouse clubs with 9%, and dollar stores with almost 2% in 2004.”9 The Energy Information Administration reported that there was an estimated 226,000 commercial retail grocery stores in the United States in 2003 10 and this number has increased since. “The number of farmers markets in the United States continues to grow, reports

USDA’s Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS), reaching a total of 4,685 in August 2008.” 11

According to the Cooperative Grocer, a journal for co-op managers, there are a total of 300 food cooperative grocers in the US. 12 Farmer’s markets and cooperatives in combination constitute less than 3% of the commercial retail grocery stores in the United States.

7 The Harris Poll® #72, July 18, 2007. http://www.harrisinteractive.com/harris_poll/index.asp?PID=788 . Accessed on November 1, 2008. 8 According to the International Co-operative Alliance, a co-operative is an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social, and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly-owned and democratically-controlled enterprise. See the International Co-operative Alliance. http://www.ica.coop/coop/principles.html. Accessed on November 16, 2008. A Food Co-op is a grocery store organized as a co-operative. Food co ops are consumer co-operatives and are usually owned by their members. 9 and Agri-Food Canada. Agri-Food Trade Service. "Overview of the Retail Grocery Market in the Pacific Northwest United States,” December 2005, http://www.ats.agr.gc.ca/us/4133_e.htm . Accessed on September 20, 2008. 10 Energy Information Administration. “Official Energy Statistics from the U. S. Government,” http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/cbecs/cbecs2003/introduction.html . Accessed on September 20, 2008. 11 AMS Farmers Markets Search. http://apps.ams.usda.gov/FarmersMarkets/ . Accessed on October 12, 2008. 12 See Cooperative Grocer. http://www.cooperativegrocer.coop/articles/index.php?id=158 . Accessed on October 12, 2008. 13

In recent years there has been a growing number of food facilities that are LEED certified.

Building Green is an independent publishing company that showcases green design information. It features four LEED 13 certified food facilities, categorized as ‘retail.’ All four buildings represent different local conditions and forms of local knowledge, but all provide organic food to the communities they serve. This thesis looks at each one of these stores in detail to observe their approaches to design, technological strategies, the hidden programs, and their implications for ecological place-making. The quest is to understand the contested nature of the approach to ecological design when it comes to food facilities in a community.

The first case study analyzed in this thesis is a food store at a biodynamic farm that functions as the outlet for produce of the farm. It is a part of a community with a school in addition to the farm. The second case study analyzed is a food co-op that sustains ample resident involvement, participation, and is well integrated into its community. This is followed by a study of the natural and organic food chain, Whole Foods Market, to observe the implications of branding and other marketing strategies in the design and building of a store. One of their stores in Pasadena, California is analyzed in its approach to facilities design and implications for local conditions. The final case study is a Wal-Mart superstore in Aurora, Colorado that offers organic foods in its product line. This study aims to broaden the implications of LEED certification and the technical strategies employed in the context of company image and corporate social responsibility.

This thesis concludes with insights into sustainable place-making that the social constructivist perspective brings. Using the first two case studies to understand the holistic implication of ecologically sustainable architecture, this study critically looks at the predominant

13 The U. S. Green Building is a national coalition of leaders from all aspects of the building industry, working to promote buildings that are environmentally responsible and profitable and that provide healthy places to live and work. LEED is an acronym for Leadership in Energy and , a program of the U. S. Green Building Council designed to encourage the implementation of sustainable building practices. The LEED rating system is a national consensus-based building rating system designed to accelerate the development and implementation of green building practices. 14 means of shopping for food today in the form of corporate retail chains. This study highlights the benefits offered by the LEED rating system and the obvious benchmarking of the technical design requirements of buildings. It also looks at the role of LEED in branding and in Corporate Social

Responsibility used by corporations. By adopting Guy and Farmer’s six logics of sustainable architecture, this thesis highlights the fundamental factors that are responsible for the lack of social and cultural sustainability in the modern day supermarket and supercenters. Finally, a case is made for a deeper understanding of the issues involved in ecologically sustainable architecture.

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Chapter 1

Contested Motives of Ecology and Consumerism

In this decade, the media has seen a profusion of buzzwords that seem to indicate a preoccupation with sustainable thinking. The social and mass messaging of the ideas of sustainability transcend corporations, politicians, education, government, and regulations. Not only are organizations and social groups adopting sustainability in their function and messaging, there is a shift in the awareness and individual choices that citizens, consumers, and members make. Common considerations in sustainable design are sensitivity toward non-renewable resources such as oil and ore, non-toxic materials, recyclable content, recyclability of the material itself, energy and water efficiency, and sensitivity to the ‘greenness’ of its own manufacturing process. The U. S.

Environmental Protection Agency considers “green, or sustainable, building [as] the practice of creating and using healthier and more resource-efficient models of construction, renovation, operation, maintenance and demolition.” 14

In addition to technology and material considerations, Sustainable Architecture encompasses buildings as cultural, social, political, and as places that influence our health. Strategies in sustainable building design include green architecture, ecological considerations to building design, regional and bio-regional design, passive solar building, and environmentally conscious-building. All this strives to address the political and economic issues of the world. The overarching explanation of the concept of articulated by the World Commission on Environment and

Development states that, “Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.” 15 It is a

14 U. S. Environmental Protection Agency, ‘Green Building’, August 25th, 2008, http://www.epa.gov/greenbuilding/ . Accessed on September 16, 2008. 15 World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED). See (New York: Oxford University Press, 1987), p. 42.

16 broad social, environmental, and economic concept that addresses the needs of the future, the effect of buildings on the environment, and attempts to define the limits for consumption of resources.

Two important considerations in sustainability are ecology and economy. Both ecology and economics share the same Greek root, oikos , meaning “house.” Linked with nomics, economy means

“management of the house.” Linked with logy , ecology means “study or knowledge of the house.” If study and knowledge of the house is in tandem with its management, then would not good ecology be the basis of good economics?

Knowledge versus Management

Traditionally, though, ecology and economy have been viewed as discreet entities.

Environmental analyst, Lester Brown, notes that since the Industrial Revolution, economy and ecology have been mutually exclusive of each other. He argues that this does not have to be so and that instead of pitting economy against ecology, he advocates marrying the two. He further notes that the campaigns that prioritize environmental preservation over economic gain often fail, and that economies will collapse if they deplete the natural resources that serve as their foundation. Brown

warns that “[if] the operation of the subsystem, the economy, is not compatible with the behavior of the larger system- the earth’s ecosystem- both will eventually suffer. An environmentally sustainable economy- an eco-economy- requires that the principles of ecology establish the framework for the formulation of economic policy and that economists and ecologists work together to fashion the new economy.” 16

As part of building the eco-economy, Brown suggests tax-shifting as representative of one method that maintains tax levels by reducing income tax while increasing taxes on environmentally destructive activities, such as oil production and clear-cutting. Eco-labeling represents another solution that allows consumers to ‘vote with their wallets’ by purchasing environmentally-friendly

16 Brown, Lester R. Eco-Economy: Building an Economy for the Earth (New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2001). 17 products 17 . Brown also addresses the United Nations, governments, the media, corporations, NGOs, and individuals to accelerate the transition to an eco-economy. In short, Brown calls for a paradigm shift in terms of scientific revolutions and economic order.

A New View of the Industrial System: Paradigm Shift

Environmentalist and journalist Paul Hawken envisions an industrial transformation occurring now as comprehensive and revolutionary as the First Industrial Revolution, which began in the middle of the 18 th century. This revolution gave rise to modern industrial capitalism and vastly expanded the possibilities for material development. He notes that the gains of the First Industrial

Revolution have been achieved at an immense cost to the earth. More of nature has been consumed or destroyed than in all prior history- the world lost a fourth of its topsoil in the past fifty years and around a third of the forest cover. According to Hawken, every living system on the planet is losing ability to sustain the continuity of the life process. 18 Price reduction of natural commodities that we once saw was a result of stronger resource extraction technology. This creates an illusion of prosperity. This is not from earnings but from the principal, which is the global inherited wealth that

Hawken calls Natural Capital. He considers this the store of commodities that has been produced by nature in its 3.8 billion year development process. This includes everything from nature that we consume from air, water, soil, trees, fish, plants, etc. Hawken notes that these nonrenewable resources provide a very valuable service of regeneration of atmosphere, flood management, water storage and purification, soil fertilization, waste processing, and buffering against extremes of

weather.

17 The term environmentally-friendly products is a term commonly used by businesses and organizations to communicate to consumers that the products and services offered inflicts minimal harm to the environment. Currently there exists no standard for this concept. 18 See Hawken, Paul, Lovins, Hunter L and Lovins, Amory. Natural Capitalism: Creating the Next Industrial Revolution (Little Brown and Company, 1999). 18

By viewing natural capital as a valuable service and commodity source, Hawken is able to redefine the traditional view of capital as a ‘stored value.’ Added to the two forms, financial capital and manufactured capital are natural capital and human capital. While it is difficult to place a value on ecosystem services, Hawken stresses the importance of it. An important line of argument that he presents is the creation of value as a linear sequence of extraction, production, and distribution. Raw material, labor, technology, supply chain, distribution, profits, extraction, and waste production are fragmented processes. They are all central to the production and consumption cycle leading to negligence of the environment, when in fact the environment is “an envelop containing, provisioning and sustain the entire economy.” 19 This new view of industrial systems employs an expanded set of values that include accounting for natural and human capital. The four strategies that it promotes are:

1. Radical or industrial efficiency

2. Bio-mimicry, or drawing inspiration from nature in design

3. A service and flow economy that shifts the perception of wealth as goods to a value-centric perspective that stresses services and the satisfaction of human needs

4. Investing in Natural Capital, which involves developing markets for activities that enhance and restore the environment.

Hawken criticizes the chemical industry’s attack on who linked the health of the environment to public health, and takes this further to link the environment to issues of social justice and even culture.“For the developed world, there is a choice made: to promote economic policies that despoil indigenous lands or to support culture and the remaining biological

19 See Hawken, Paul, Lovins, Hunter L and Lovins, Amory. Natural Capitalism: Creating the Next Industrial Revolution (Little Brown and Company, 1999). 19 sanctuaries.” 20 As seen here, sustainability is often presented as deeply and closely connected to the economy and further technology. The emphasis is on integrating Natural Capital in the mainstream model of economy.

Also in line with the idea of a paradigm shift are American architect William McDonough and German chemist Michael Braungart who remove the guilt from ideas of environmentalism.

Serving as a prototype of a truly recyclable product, their book is actually printed on plastic resins that are representative of all the materials in nature that can be reused and recycled without degradation of quality. “[The book] celebrates its materials instead of apologizing for them.” 21 The authors push for an ‘upcycling’ of materials, which they consider ‘eco-effective’ as opposed to a conventional approach or ‘eco-efficiency.’ More corporations are getting involved with the complete lifecycle of their products. This effects not just the environment, but the investors as well.

Eco-effective companies have the potential to lower raw material costs and to provide more sustainable returns.

McDonough and Braungart note that in the present world, valuable raw materials are thrown into the ‘grave’ of landfills and this is telling of design and a lack of foresight. To them, it is possible to have a world where intelligent design results in perpetual reuse of materials and the concept of

waste is eliminated. Contrary to traditional environmentalists’ views of reduce, reuse, and recycle, the cradle-to-cradle theory encourages growth, which is inherently unstable and is rooted in capitalism.

Rather than focusing on how products degrade the environment, the authors see product cycles that are in harmony with the earth’s cycles of regeneration and hence reconcile with environmental preservation.

20 Hawken, Paul. Blessed Unrest: How the Largest Movement in the World Came into Being and Why No One Saw It Coming . (New York: Penguin Books, 2007). 21 McDonough, William and Braungart, Michael. Cradle-to-Cradle: Rethinking the Way We Make Things (New York: North Point Press, 2002). 20

The cradle-to-cradle theory conveys a sense of inevitability in the current means of production. It provides investors the opportunity to support the transformations of the economy from one that foretells its own end (as in the cradle-to-grave) to an economy that celebrates its perpetual renewal (cradle-to-cradle). This, to the authors, provides investors the basis of investors’ financial profit and further encourages the adaptation to a more sustainable form of capitalism.

McDonough uses the fractal triangle as a concept tool in integrating sustainability in business practices. Balancing the triple bottom line of economic goals with social and environmental concerns has been the traditional view. This, according to McDonough, limits the innovation and

value that the design process can offer. The value that the fractal triangle provides is to stress the emphasis of ecology as the basis of the triple bottom line. It emphasizes the interconnectedness of our world. Any one concern with the triple model line needs to be reinterpreted as the value inherent in ecology, economy and equity, and the spectrum of values they provide in the social, cultural, and economic interests. Design faces resistance when the values in each zone overlap and it is in this zone that McDonough finds the most business opportunities. This defines the many innovations in the industry that have not been defined before.

Figure-1: Fractal Pyramid.

What remains fundamental to the concept of sustainability is the value that sustainable design produces respective to the fractal model. The three pillars of sustainability- economic,

21 environmental, and social concerns- are fundamental and bottom-line concerns of businesses.

Design solutions that integrate these and further provide solutions that are able to tap value in the social, cultural, and ecological zones are what drive practice and business interests.

Broadening the Lens through which Sustainability is viewed

Other views of biologists, economists, ecological economists, scientists, and social writers stress sustainable solutions to be viewed multi-dimensionally. Biologist Edward Wilson notes that unfortunately in the recent past, ideas about management of our world “can be summarized in two labels: Newtonian and hermetic. Newtonian, because economic theorists aspire to find simple, general laws that cover all possible economic arrangements… hermetic- that is, sealed off from the complexities of human behavior and the constraints imposed by the environment.” 22 Wilson stresses that universality is a logical and worthy goal, except that the innate traits of human behavior ensure that only a minute set of such arrangements is probable or even possible. It is the attempt to define and legitimize universality, either by ecology or by economy, which causes sustainable solutions to be viewed through a narrow lens that looks to technology and known processes as partisan solutions.

Senior scientist, Eric Davidson notes that “the environment has progressed from a fringe issue in American politics in the sixties to a mainstream issue that pollsters and politicians take very seriously as we enter the twenty-first century.” 23 Until recently, economy and ecology were studied separately. But it is now apparent that the human economical system and the biophysical ecological system are very interdependent. If the ecological system is not carefully managed, Davidson warns, the economical system will fail. Davidson calls our attention to the notion that if we solve some environmental problems, by extension we can solve all environmental problems. He calls this the

22 Wilson, Edward O. Consilience: The Unity of Knowledge (New York: Knopf, 1998). 23 Davidson, Eric A. You Can’t Eat GNP: Economics As If Ecology Mattered (Cambridge, MA: Perseus Publishing, 2000). 22

“false complacency from partial success.” 24 The problem Davidson outlines is that many environmental problems that have appeared to be solved have actually just been moved to other region, countries, or social groups, often as a consequence of more open trade. 25

Traditionally, ecological-economics assumes that land (natural resources), labor, and capital have a sustainable balance. If one resource is depleted, it can be substituted by another resource according to this mainstream model. Contrary to this assumption, economist Robert Costanza and ecological economist Herman Daly note that “manufactured capital, human capital, social capital, and natural capital function more like complements than substitutes.” 26 It follows, therefore, that a sustainable model requires a safe minimum of each of these four types of capital in some kind of systemic relationship.

The mainstream model also assumes that technology will have the potential to save us from ecological disaster. Costanza argues that “when the stakes are so high, it might be rational to assume that technology will not come to the rescue at the last minute and to take a more precautionary approach that assures our sustainability regardless of technological developments.” 27 It therefore becomes important to analyze and understand strains of sustainability that are different from one that connects ecology and economy.

In unveiling the workings of the economy, author Jane Jacobs reveals the basic functions of the economic system and the fundamental observation that they must obey. Jacobs contradicts the doctrinaire views of economists, forcing the confrontation of unquestioned theory with reality. She calls upon important philosophical positions that distinguish the conventional from a point of view that can be described as ‘ecological’ economics. Jacobs highlights that humans and their artifacts are

24 Davidson, Eric A. You Can’t Eat GNP: Economics As If Ecology Mattered (Cambridge, MA: Perseus Publishing, 2000). 25 See Arrow, Kenneth et al. Economic growth, carrying capacity, and the environment . Science 28 April 1995. Volume 268: 520- 521. 26 Costanza, Robert and Daly, Herman E. Natural Capital and Sustainable Development . , Vol. 6, No. 1. (March, 1992) pp. 37-46. 27 Costanza, Robert et al. Managing our environmental portfolio . BioScience (2000), 50:149-155. 23 just as much a part of nature as any other organism. The basis for most conventional economics and science is based on ‘Cartesian dualism,’ 28 which assumes that humans are fundamentally different from the rest of nature. Jacobs points out that humans and their artifacts behave much like other complex adaptive systems in nature. She proposes that they must obey the same laws of physics, chemistry, and evolutionary biology as any other complex adaptive system. 29

Commercial Buildings and the Potential to Build Sustainably

In 2003, the United States had 4.9 million commercial buildings (including grocery stores) that covered 72 billion square feet of floor space– an increase of 28% in number of buildings and a

40% increase in floor space since 1979. By 2030, commercial building floor space is expected to reach 108 billion square feet – a 51% increase over current levels. In 2006, it was recorded that commercial buildings consumed 18% of all energy use in the US.30 It is no surprise that in the year

2005, the U.S. Green Building Council announced a call for a project to pilot test the LEED rating system for retail building as it expanded its efforts in sustaining environmentally responsible architecture.

The U.S. Green Building is a national coalition of leaders from all aspects of the building industry, working to promote buildings that are environmentally responsible and profitable, and that provide healthy places to live and work. Their website notes that, “The U.S. Green Building Council is a 501(c)(3) non-profit community of leaders working to make green buildings available to

28 The central claim of Cartesian dualism is that despite the ontological distinction between the immaterial mind and the material body the two causally interact. This further leads to a substantial problem for Cartesian dualism: How can an immaterial mind cause anything in a material body, and vice-versa? This has often been called the "problem of interactionism.” Descartes himself struggled to come up with a feasible answer to this problem. See Descartes, R. (1641) Meditations on First Philosophy, in The Philosophical Writings of René Descartes , trans. by J. Cottingham, R. Stoothoff and D. (Murdoch, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1984) vol. 2, pp. 1-62. The central claim of Cartesian dualism is that despite the ontological distinction between the immaterial mind and the material body the two causally interact. This further leads to a substantial problem for Cartesian dualism: How can an immaterial mind cause anything in a material body, and vice-versa? This has often been called the "problem of interactionism.” Descartes himself struggled to come up with a feasible answer to this problem. 29 See Jacobs, Jane. The Nature of Economies . (New York: Modern Library, 2000). 30 Center for Sustainable Systems. ‘Commercial Buildings’, http://css.snre.umich.edu/css_doc/CSS05-05.pdf . Accessed on May 13, 2008. 24 everyone within a generation.” 31 In 2005, the U.S. Green Building Council announced a call for projects to pilot test the LEED rating system for retail as it expanded its efforts in sustaining environmentally responsible architecture.

LEED and Legislation in the Building Industry

LEED is an acronym for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, a program of the

U.S. Green Building Council designed to encourage the implementation of sustainable building practices. The LEED rating system is a national consensus-based building rating system designed to accelerate the development and implementation of green building practices. Buildings receive credits for using various sustainable design practices and are then awarded a LEED certificate if they accumulate enough points.

In addition to developing the rating system, the full LEED program offers training

workshops, professional accreditation, resource support, and third-party certification of building performance. In order for a building to be certified, certain prerequisites must be achieved and points earned for meeting or exceeding the program’s technical requirements. Points add up to a final score that relates to one of four possible levels of certification: certified, silver, gold, and platinum. LEED is one of the primary building rating systems in the United States and can be understood by government agencies and corporate organizations.

Legislation has a role in building sustainability, and in recent years we have seen an increase in the number of cities and local municipalities that have embraced green principles of planning.

LEED is a system that is integrating into the mainstream and sets standards to attain what has come

31 U. S. Green Building Council. http://www.usgbc.org/ . Accessed on May 13, 2008. 25 to be known as ‘Green Building.’ 32 As of October 2007, 22 states and 75 American towns and cities have adopted policies to require or encourage LEED’s green building practices.

The USGBC website advertises that, “LEED is transforming the marketplace by providing a nationally recognized certification system to promote integrated, whole-building design practices in the building industry.” 33 Sustainable buildings, as noted, are a big business. From the marketing of professional services by architecture and engineering firms to the emergence of real estate market

value for ‘green’ attributes, the design, construction, and operation of green buildings have become an integral part of the business of building.

Technological Advancement and a need for a Theoretical Framework

Construction experts Charles Kilbert, Jan Sendzimir, and Bradley Guy observe that building professionals are increasingly aware of and committed to a more responsible approach to sustainable building and the environment, but have been, “using only mere intuition and literally guessing at how best to reduce effects on Nature of building construction, operation and demolition.” 34 The authors state that although certain guidelines such as the USGBC and the LEED exist, the design and construction of buildings are still in a context of alarming knowledge gaps and incomplete delineation of goals. One aspect that is deemed vital is a holistic understanding of site, landscape, climate, materials, and energy.

Kibert stakes out territory firmly defined by the practices and realities that both facilitate and constrain the production of green buildings in the United States. He links major theories and aspiration of green building with the leading working guidelines for green building in the United

States, which is the LEED standard. Architectural design and construction today integrates green

32 The term Green Building uses ‘green’ in the literal sense of the color of healthy and plentiful vegetation and this refers to the environmentally-friendly quality of construction. Due to the complex composition and methods of manufacturing, building materials cover a broad range of “greenness.” 33 U. S. Green Building Council. “LEED Rating System”, http://www.usgbc.org/DisplayPage.aspx?CMSPageID=1819 . Accessed on May 13, 2008. 34 Charles, Kibert J, Sendzimir, Jan, and Guy, Bradley G. Construction Ecology: Nature as the Basis for Green Buildings (London: Spon Press, 2002). 26 principles in the process and Kibert provides a valuable reference for professionals in the field.

Kibert acknowledges the critical need to provide rules and guidelines in light of the unfortunate fact that unfamiliar ideals, philosophies, and fundamental values may not be easily adopted nearly as

widely as would be necessary for radical change.

Kibert raises an important question and frames the issue, stating that in a world consistently battling against radical shifts and that questions current modes of production and consumption, is it enough to rely on guidelines without the adoption of profound philosophical and technical change?

He notes, “A robust theory of ecological design is sorely needed as, fundamentally, that is what the design of high-performance green buildings is about: developing a human environment that functions in a mutually beneficial relationship with its natural surroundings and that exchanges matter and energy in a symbiotic manner.” 35 While LEED and the USGBC go the extra mile to outline and articulate the guidelines of sustainability, what remains fundamentally important is the formulation of a comprehensive ecological theory of sustainable design.

Authors Simon Guy and Graham Farmer do exactly that. Simon Guy is a professor of architecture at the University of Manchester and an expert on the social constructs of sustainability.

Graham Farmer is an English architect, an associate professor at the University of Nottingham, and also an expert on ecological design. Both establish that the applications of sustainability must be understood in a social context. They present the six competing logics of ecological design that outlines the framework of sustainable buildings and its implied effects on contemporary built form.

The next chapter explores the details of the six logics as presented by Guy and Farmer.

35 Charles, Kibert J. Sustainable Construction: Green Building Design and Delivery (New York: John Wiley & Sons, 2005). 27

Chapter 2

The Six Logics of Sustainable Architecture- A Social Constructivist Perspective

Broad Interpretation of Sustainable Design

Building Green is an independent publishing company that showcases green design information, features sustainable buildings, GreenSpec 36 products, specification guidelines, and other publications for an audience in the United States and around the world. Its goal is to help building industry professionals design and build projects from a ‘whole-systems’ perspective and further take an integrated design approach that minimizes ecological impact and maximizes economic performance. The projects that Building Green features come in all forms and sizes. Building categories listed are: commercial office, industrial laboratory, restaurant, retail, financial and communications, residential, hospitality, day care, education, recreation, and library. Project sizes

vary from under 1000 square feet, 1000 square feet to 2500 square feet, 2500 square feet. to 10,000 square feet, 10,000 square feet to 25,000 square feet, 25,000 square feet to 100,000 square feet,. and more than 100,000 square feet. Given that this publisher represents just one of the myriad of articles, reports, and books on the subject of green or sustainable buildings, we see the “bewildering array of contrasting building types, employing a great variety of different technologies and design approaches, each justified by a highly diverse set of interpretations of what a sustainable place might represent.” 37 The contested nature of sustainable architecture, pointed out by Sara Cook and Bryn

Golton, note, “the designation ‘green’ is extremely wide ranging, encompassing many viewpoints

36 GreenSpec is an online product directory that lists environmentally preferred products. Each product is rated by Building green based on set specification standards adopted by Building Green. Building Green conducts their own research based on current editorial priorities. Their claim is that because their resources are subscription-supported, they have total editorial independence and integrity, with the commitment to provide information subscribers can trust. 37 Guy, Simon and Farmer, Graham. Reinterpreting Sustainable Architecture: The Place of Technology. JAE Volume 54, Issue 3 , Pages 140 – 148. 28 and open to broad interpretation,” given that sustainable architecture is an “essentially contestable concept.” 38

Sustainable Architecture as a Design Approach

In the complex media messaging and information available to the public, it is easy to assume or understand the meaning of sustainable building design as a specific altered way of building rather than an integral process in design. While some might view the incorporation of sustainable principles and eco-responsible design strategies as an application, environmental sociologists view it as a design approach, a comprehensive attitude rather than a prescriptive remedy. Specific needs of the environment have elicited different approaches of design and more specifically different modes of addressing, formulating, and solving set challenges. Building design in this sense has taken on a social role in addressing this challenge. Since there are a variety of motivations and goals that can be realized through environmental policy changes, “environmental discourse intrinsically is fragmented and contradictory.” 39

Back in the 1960s and 70s, environmentalism was considered a radical critique of existing social arrangements. Maarten Hajer points to the fact that from 1972 onward, radical environmentalism was replaced by a form of discourse that he calls ‘.’ Hajer defines ecological modernization as a form of environmental policy discourse anchored in two presumptions: that environmental problems can be solved through the main established institutional relationships of society, and that environmental management is a positive- sum game. The Politics of

Environmental Discourse entertains the right choice of environmental movements and agendas by state officials, industrialists, and labor organizations. Ecological modernization to Hajer is the contradiction when continuous economic growth and private-sector autonomy of resource decision

38 Cook, Sara J. and Golten, Bryn L. Sustainable Development: Concepts and Practice in the Built Environment , Sustainable Construction CIB TG 16, (Nov. 1994): 677-685. 39 Hajer, Maarten A. The Politics of Environmental Discourse: Ecological Modernization and the Policy Process (New York: Oxford University Press, 1995). 29 making can be made consistent with long-term ecological sustainability 40 , thus subjecting it to politicization, renegotiation, and delegitimizing.

Authors Simon Guy and Graham Farmer adopt “the concept of green building [as] a social construct” 41 and go a step further in categorizing the approaches to sustainable design as adopted in practice. Guy and Farmer acknowledge the severity of the threats that environmental problems pose and highlight sustainability in the context of the social production of space, place, and the environment. They challenge the assumption that environment is a mere physical entity and prefer to view it in more than just scientific terms. After careful analysis of completed buildings, extensive literature review of books, articles, and reports covering issues related to sustainable, environmental, ecological, or green buildings, they came up with a typology of six environmental logics. The six environmental logics are listed as Eco-technic, Eco-centric, Eco-aesthetic, Eco-cultural, Eco- medical, and Eco-social.

Table: 1- The Six Competing Logics of Sustainable Architecture

40 The term ecological sustainability is related to ecosystems and is the capacity of ecosystems to maintain their essential processes and functions and to retain their biological diversity without impoverishment. Ecological, economic and are considered to constitute the framework of sustainable development. 41 Guy, Simon and Farmer, Graham. Reinterpreting Sustainable Architecture: The Place of Technology. JAE Volume 54, Issue 3 , Pages 140 – 148. 30

In exploring each logic, Guy and Farmer aim to articulate the frame of thinking about sustainability. To Guy and Farmer, the central theme in the design of sustainable projects rarely addresses environmental challenges in their entirety. Instead, each approach or logic is dominated by specific emblems, which are “issues that dominate the perception of the ecological dilemma.” 42 Each of these logics outlines the theoretical framework in which the green building debate is framed differently, yet simultaneously balancing the environmental challenge and an alternative design concept of what constitutes a sustainable place. “In exploring these interpretative frameworks, we illustrate how each logic prefigures technological choice within a broad design strategy premised by a specific form of environmental place-making.” 43 Guy and Farmer present the six logics as separate yet not autonomous, and they do acknowledge that in practice, however, the logics may merge or not exist. The following section explores the six logics as presented by Guy and Farmer.

1. Eco-technic Logic- Buildings and the Global Place:

This logic embraces worldwide views of environmental concerns. Concerns include problems such as climate change, global warming, ozone layer depletion, and transnational pollution issues like acid rain. Design is regarded as having the potential to address global environmental challenges using science and technology. As Cook and Golton note that technocentrics recognize the existence of environmental problems and want to solve them through management of the environment putting their trust in “objective analysis and a rational scientific method.” 44 Upholding the path of modernization is vital, and environmental crisis is addressed with an approach of ecological modernization. “The assumption is that existing institutions can internalize and respond

42 Hajer, Maarten A. The Politics of Environmental Discourse: Ecological Modernization and the Policy Process (New York: Oxford University Press, 1995). 43 Guy, Simon and Farmer, Graham. Reinterpreting Sustainable Architecture: The Place of Technology. JAE Volume 54, Issue 3 , Pages 140 – 148. 44 Cook, Sara J. and Golten, Bryn L. Sustainable Development: Concepts and Practice in the Built Environment , Sustainable Construction CIB TG 16, (Nov. 1994): 677-685. 31 to ecological concerns and what is required is an integrative approach in which science, technology, and management take account of the environmental impacts of development.” 45

This view includes the way policy makers view the issue on environmental challenges globally. It includes the Brundtland definition of meeting needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet theirs. To Guy and Farmer, “The role and context of sustainable buildings become prioritized in terms of global action and local reaction.” 46

This logic tends to approach the issue of sustainability very quantitatively. Success is measured by the energy consumption of buildings, amount of water conserved, waste that is recycled, etc.

2. Eco-centric Logic- Buildings and the Place of Nature

The Eco-centric logic is in sharp contrast to the Eco-technical. This logic suggests a rethinking of the underlying assumptions and values of industrial and governmental functions. The basis of this logic is inherent in the discourse that stresses the dynamic interaction between the living and the nonliving as a community of interdependent parts suggested by the notion of Gaia .47 The moral basis of consideration extends beyond the human focus to include non-living objects and ecological systems. In this logic, buildings are unnatural and hence “interrupting natural cycles of nature.” 48 It follows from this logic that owing to the unnatural process of building, it renders a surface of earth organically sterile and hence a barrier to the interaction of soil, sun, and water. As “a result in ecological terms, a building is a parasite.” 49

45 Guy, Simon and Farmer, Graham. Reinterpreting Sustainable Architecture: The Place of Technology. JAE Volume 54, Issue 3 , Pages 140 – 148. 46 Guy, Simon and Farmer, Graham. Reinterpreting Sustainable Architecture: The Place of Technology. JAE Volume 54, Issue 3 , Pages 140 – 148. 47 The concept of Gaia has evolved for 25 years since it was first introduced. Gaia is best thought of as super-organism. The concept of Gaia is entirely linked with the concept of life. See Lovelock, James. The Ages of Gaia: A Biography of Our Living Earth . (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1989). 48 Rees, William and Wackernagel, Mathis. Our : Reducing Human Impact on the Earth (Canada: New Society Publishers, 1996). 49 Curwell, Steve and Cooper, Ian. The implications of urban sustainability, Building Research and Information 26/1 (1998):17-27. 32

Considerations in design include whether to build or not. In cases where building is essential, reduction of the ecological footprint is aimed. Inspirations to design strategies tend to be based on natural and ecological systems that apt to be efficient, living, closed, and cyclic processes. Limited use of services from centralized infrastructures, reduction in the use of virgin building materials through reuse and recycle, and increased use of renewable, natural materials is preferred.

3. Eco-aesthetic Logic- Buildings and the Place

The role of sustainable architecture in the context of the Eco-aesthetic logic is metaphorical rather than focused on methods or materials. According to Guy and Farmer, it is an iconic expression of societal values. The emphasis is on the concept of the New Age, which takes an evolutionary view of world history, and “is bound together by a belief that the world is undergoing a transformation or shift in consciousness which will usher in a new mode of being.” 50 Solutions to environmental issues are less about utilitarian challenges and more about the aesthetic and sensual aspects of the new shift in values. “The eco-aesthetic logic emphasis on individual creativity and a liberated imagination combined with a romantic view of nature that rejects Western rationalism, modernism, and materialism.” 51

Guy and Farmer note that the challenge of this logic is in representing the epoch shift of the new millennium and in the transition to a holistic, ecological worldview. The framework of this logic is involved in redefining the culture of a new universal architectural iconography that strives to alter our consciousness of nature. Contrary to the traditional view of architecture based on an anthropocentric attitude to nature, “the entire direction in design suggest the development of a new paradigm in the building arts that [is] based on ecological models.” 52 This logic emphasizes the

50 Storm, Richard. In Search of Heaven on Earth: A History of the New Age . (London: Bloomsbury Press, 1991). 51 Guy, Simon and Farmer, Graham. Reinterpreting Sustainable Architecture: The Place of Technology. JAE Volume 54, Issue 3 , Pages 140 – 148. 52 Wines, James. Passages: The Fusion of Architecture and Landscape in the Recent Work of SITE. Architectural Design 67 (1997): 32–37. 33 development of a coherent or appropriate architectural form over the sustainable performance of the building, expressed by Charles Jencks’s statement, “good ecological building may mean bad expressive architecture” 53 The theme is to develop a new language of architectural form that reflects the sensuous, creative, green architecture, and a reflection of the “delights in the ecological paradigm for its philosophy of holism, its style and the way in which it illuminates the complexity paradigm.” 54

The new age is perceived to be a reflection of new and evolved methods of construction and technological advancements in design processes and techniques. There is a reflection of the paradigm shift in ecological thinking to create new sensual, organic, untraditional forms that explore the context and experience of space.

4. Eco-cultural Logic- Buildings and the Authentic Place

Reacting to sustainable issues involves a rethinking of values that guide environmental and cultural choices. The aim of this logic is not the rethinking or creation of new cultures, but the preservation of existing ones with a shift in the reorientation of values. Authenticity and the need to more fully relate to the concept of locality and place are important. The emphasis is on place, and this logic is an extension of the reaction to sterile modern spaces and the efforts of globalism of the

International Style.

Preservation of human culture and resistance to cultural homogeneity emphasized by

Frampton, “sustaining any kind of authentic culture in the future will depend ultimately on our capacity to generate vital forms of regional culture.” 55 The diversity of human culture is seen as part of a sustainable development and in that sense worth preserving with the “aim to conserve the richness and diversity of life on earth—and that includes human cultural diversity.” 56 Guy and

53 Jencks, Charles. The Architecture of the Jumping Universe: A Polemic: How Complexity Science Is Changing Architecture and Culture (New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1997). 54 Ibid., pp. 94–96. 55 Frampton, Kenneth. Modern Architecture: A Critical History (London: Thames and Hudson, 1985). 56 Naess, Arne. and Ultimate Premises, The Ecologist 18/4-5 (1988): 128–131. 34

Farmer refer to this long-range development as “ecosophical” and stress that “Any model of ecologically sustainable development must contain answers, however tentative, as to how to avoid contributing to thoughtless destruction of cultures, and to the dissemination of the belief in a glorious, meaningless life.” 57

This logic draws inspiration from Heidegger’s concept of the sense of place that involves the continuation of relearning, reinhabiting a sense of place. “This unique sense of identity evolves subjectivity from within nature and there is a concern for the continuity of meaning between tradition and the individual combined with the cultivation of an ecological consciousness.” 58

Decentralization is emphasized; and protecting ecosystems, landscape, and biological systems is important. The logic suggests that adherence to universal and technologically based design methodologies do not often reflect in the cultural values of a particular place or people. The emphasis is on regions or bioregions. 59 Ujam Faozi and Fionn Stevenson, for example, call attention to the inauthentic, superimposed application of unsustainable technical fixes in response to environmental considerations in ‘Arabic-wind’ towers as culturally and locally unsustainable. 60

Best emphasized by the regionalist approach of architects like Glenn Murcutt in Australia,

Charles Correa in India, Geoffrey Bawa in Sri Lanka, and Hassan Fathy in Egypt, this logic stresses an emphasis on the uniqueness of place, use of local materials and techniques, formal responses to climatic, and microclimatic conditions.

5. Eco-medical Logic- Buildings and the Healthy Place

57 Naess, Arne. Sustainable Development and the Deep Ecology Movement . Proceedings of the European Consortium for Political Research Conference: The Politics of Sustainable Development in the European Union , University of Crete (1994): 1. 58 Guy, Simon and Farmer, Graham. Reinterpreting Sustainable Architecture: The Place of Technology. JAE Volume 54, Issue 3 , Pages 140 – 148. 59 A bioregion is defined by a combination of natural, biological, and ecological characteristics and by a cultural context; it is both a bounded physical terrain and a “terrain of consciousness.” See Dasmann, Ray. (1974). Conservation, Counter- Culture and Separate Realities . Environmental Conservation 1, 133- 137. 60 Contemporary architecture to authors Faozi, Ujam and Fionn, Stevenson should “recognize very deeply structured personal responses to particular places” if it is to be sustainable.” See Faozi, Ujam and Fionn, Stevenson, “Structuring Sustainability,” Alt’ing, Mar. 1996: 45–49. 35

Sustaining individual health is the central theme of this logic. The benefit of good building design that relates to the improved health of humans is a driving force. This logic utilizes a medical rhetoric to focus attention on the adverse impacts of the built environment and the causes of stress that engender health problems, both physical and psychological. 61 Increasing the use of technology is not necessarily seen as beneficial to health or social conditions of humans. Issues raised by the sick building syndrome are addressed. David Pearson considers current urban built environments as poorly designed and a constant exposure to them produces stress and illness along with other symptoms. 62

The building, rather than being a sheltered or protected environment, can be a dangerous environment that poses potential hazards to inhabitants. What seems to exaggerate the problem is the lack of control in large modern, technology-based buildings separated from the natural environment. Hawkes Dean maintains that of essence are spaces that maintain a sense of dynamics of the natural climate and of the proper condition of mankind.63 The idea here is embodied in the concept of Baubiologie (building biology) that stands for an integrated view of health and ecology. 64

This approach uses natural materials, building methods that are traditional, organic treatments or, and the use of daylight, ventilation and color in a way that promotes health and wellbeing of its inhabitants.

6. Eco-social Logic- Buildings and the Community Place

Finally the Eco-social logic to Guy and Farmer is reflective of the political discourse that goes beyond individual concerns based on wide social factors. The tension between the structure and workings of democracy versus that of community is emblematic of this logic. Based on the

61 Guy, Simon and Farmer, Graham. Reinterpreting Sustainable Architecture: The Place of Technology. JAE Volume 54, Issue 3 , Pages 140 – 148. 62 Pearson, David. Making Sense of Architecture , The Architectural Review No. 1136 (Oct. 1991): 68–69. 63 Hawkes, Dean. The Environmental Tradition: Studies in the Architecture of the Environment (London: Taylor & Francis, 1995). 64 The aim is to “design buildings that meet our physical, biological, and spiritual needs. Their fabric, services, color and scent must interact harmoniously with us and the environment . . . to maintain a healthy, ‘living’ indoor climate. See Pearson, David . The Natural House Book (London: Conran Octopus, 1991). 36 principle of social ecology, 65 Guy and Farmer assert that ecological destruction is a form of human suppression with the theory that the more oppressive the nature of society, the more likely that it

will abuse and dominate the environment.

The functioning of industrialized society is seen to be problematic and, in order to be sustainable, this logic proposes its decentralization into smaller self-sufficient communal units. “The aim is the creation of healthy, self-reliant societies that exercise local control, take responsibility for their environment, operate a local economy based on minimal levels of material goods and the maximum use of human resources.” 66 In order for the built environment to embody and express the

values of social and ecological community, it is vital for democratic values of full participation and freedom in society to be the norm. 67 Buildings inherently have the potential to exhibit a sense of individual and collective identity. This logic is social, technical, and aesthetic, and highlights the political issues of democracy in the use of technology and expertise. High technology is not owned or used just by the experts or a minority of men; it is the use of appropriate technologies that is democratic. The assumption is that nature constantly evolves through its capacity for self- organization into more complex forms. “Nature” in this context, includes humans, so natural and social history grade into and are part of each other. 68 With the mind at the highest point of evolution, Guy and Farmer note that it represents the entity by which the earth has become self conscious.

65 Social Ecologists believe that “human domination and degradation of nature arises out of social patterns of domination and hierarchy, patterns of social life in which come humans exercise control or domination over others.” See Bookchin, Murray. The Modern Crisis (Philadelphia: New Society Publishers, 1986). 66 Guy, Simon and Farmer, Graham. Reinterpreting Sustainable Architecture: The Place of Technology. JAE Volume 54, Issue 3 , Pages 140 – 148. 67 Author Russell, Dick suggests that “we need a building metaphor that somehow encapsulates the idea of co-operative community, of a responsibility toward the earth and each other that we have abandoned.” See Russell, Dick. Ecologically Sound Architecture Gains Ground, Amicus Journal Summer 1993): 14-17. 68 Pepper, David. Modern Environmentalism: An Introduction (New York: Routledge, 1996). 37

Figure- 2: The Six Competing Logics of Sustainable Architecture.

The aim is to create buildings that are appropriate, flexible, and participatory that serves the needs of the occupiers without major environmental implications. The vision of independent eco- communities is realized by a number of alternative communities around the world. The interpretive flexibility attached to any artifact or the fact that it might be designed in another way point towards the multidimensional analytical model that recognizes how certain technological development pathways fade away, “while other are economically reinforced as members of a society come to share a set of meanings and benefits attached [to them].” 69

Rather than attempt to recognize one consensus based solution of sustainable architectural design, the process of adopting a social constructivist perspective forces the debate to enlarge the context of sustainable architecture in order to legitimize the different views in an ongoing process of transformation. This model provides us the critical methods to understand technological innovations that transcend the notion of facilitating a process or determining the form. The effort in

69 Moore, Steve A. Technology and the Politics of Sustainability at Blueprint Demonstration Farm . Journal of Architectural Education (1984 -), Vol. 51, No. 1(Sept., 1997), pp. 23-32. 38 this thesis is to understand the reality of architecture in tune with real human needs in a multi-vocal context.

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Chapter 3

Markets: Past and Present

Public Markets in America

James Mayo is a Professor in the School of Architecture and Urban Design at the University of Kansas. He looks at the American grocery store with a focus on the business evolution of an architectural space. According to him, public markets that predate grocery stores in America were

“essentially organized as socialized institutions.” 70 Public markets thrived in an era when the

American economic structure was highly local or regional. Private enterprise increased and become integral, both geographically and organizationally. For many people, public markets represent not only a shopping choice, but also a social life worth saving. While most markets were still financially

viable, they were replaced first by chain grocery stores and then by the supermarket. Mayo shows that the rise and fall of public markets reflects the transition of the American political economy from local mercantilism to national corporatism.

Mayo notes that public markets were a transplant from England and continental Europe.

“Public markets are a significant American phenomenon, because they were the main food emporiums for the nation much longer than any other building type for food retailing in U.S. history.” 71 Historically, a town had to be of sufficient size to have a marketplace, and its location had to meet both the needs of buyers and sellers. Most colonial cities had a marketplace near the town center. The first marketplace of record in the English colonies was established in Boston during

1639 by an order of Governor John Winthrop. Water transportation was important in the transport of goods and New York’s Battery Park. Later, St. Loui’s town center market near the Mississippi river illustrates this.

70 Mayo, James M. The American Public Market . Journal of Architectural Education (1984-). Vol 45. No. 1(Nov., 1991). 71 Mayo, James M. The American Grocery Store: The Business Evolution of an Architectural Space (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1993). 40

Illustration-1: Faneuil Hall, Boston

The initial temporary nature of open markets made them seem like a fair. Rigid rules of boundaries were difficult to maintain by the merchants due to the lack of a building. With market buildings being built and it being open everyday, social life in public markets became ritualized and stratified. Mayo also outlines the chaos that street vendors seemed to pose to the market vendors and how this played in the complexity of the social class difference between those who worked inside the market houses and outside as street vendors. There were distinctions in class and treatment between market house merchants and country people.

There was further social class separation in the hours that the social classes in the city were able to shop. Earlier in the day, the upper classes were allowed to shop, followed by the middle and lower classes. Being the last to shop were the under privileged section of society consisting of the blind and crippled. Mayo notes that the market was a platform that to some extent acknowledged the social life of the American people, but it also possessed its own social structure among the merchants and was further influenced by the way it was governed.

The markets were a political place in the city as social class forces and economic influences

were interwoven in the creation of the public market. The consequence Mayo notes is that “public markets helped to reinforce America’s social class system, much like other aspects of American

41 life.” 72 Mayo represents the colorful, active social life of public markets as a political reflection of

America’s economic life by quoting William Gothe, “The squares are very full on market days; there are fruits and vegetables without number and garlic and onions to the heart's desire. Then again throughout the day there is a ceaseless screaming, bantering, singing, squalling, huzzaing, and laughing. The mildness of the air, and the cheapness of the food make subsistence easy.” 73

According to Mayo, design of public markets in the United States was a result of political- economic forces of municipal controls and private enterprise. With the development of cities, open markets were replaced by architectural structures located in the street. With traffic congestion, they

were relocated on the block, with more architectural changes resulting from this move. Internally, the public market was shaped by the actual business activities of stall merchants. In the twentieth century, privately owned markets changed the nature of labor relations in the market. The rise of the grocery store, according to Mayo, led to the market’s demise. Municipalities saw no incentive to support public markets with the reduction in tax revenues, and private entrepreneurs could not hold up to the competition that mass grocery stores operated under a system of mass distribution. Mayo perceives the public market today as a viable cultural function, but without the political-economic

viability of its former days.

Mayo outlines the development of the grocery store as a semi-public, human institution, as

well as an economic, social, and political enterprise. Mayo lays out the business and social reasons behind the change of architectural design of public markets from marketplace to general store, the introduction of the grocery store, and the search for better and faster methods of food distribution.

This was accomplished initially by organized grocery chain-store companies and then later by the establishment of supermarkets. Both collectively and individually, the owners of these enterprises

72 Mayo, James M. The American Public Market . Journal of Architectural Education (1984-). Vol 45. No. 1(Nov., 1991). 73 Goethe, Wilhelm. Italian Journeys (London: George Bell and Sons, 1885). 42

were innovators who opened new markets across the country, expanding their business, and experimenting in plan design.

Mayo argues that the “lack of historic recognition for public markets is a combination of their political importance and expedient destruction for economic reason.” 74 The change in locations and architectural design of public markets have been, from their inception as open markets, the street market house and the market house on the city block. He stresses the sense of community and the business and social aspects of public markets that were inherent then. The changes in architectural design from general stores to grocery stores, then to grocery chain stores, and finally to supermarkets, were in response to increasing demands in distribution and consumer demand.

Small market-houses and general stores lacked the size to keep the goods they carried well organized. In light of the rise of large retail corporations that spread across the nation in the last half of the nineteenth century and small businesses, small-town grocery stores found it difficult to compete. With intense competition for which they were not well suited, their numbers began to dwindle. To Mayo, the large grocery chain system was less than a total success. In the 1920s and

1930s, it suffered a number of setbacks and the anti-chain movement grew stronger. While supermarkets came to dominate the grocery scene after the Second World War, they frequently faced public criticism about the quality of food.

The grocery store life in the American context is the continuity and change in this American experience to which Mayo refers. He notes that while the economic, political, and social conditions had emerged to bring about change in the ways in which food has been distributed, roles in different parts of the distribution world had come to be redefined. Mayo rightly notes the continuity in the form of persistence of small independent grocery concerns despite the presence of great grocery

74 Mayo, James M. The American Public Market. Journal of Architectural Education (1984-). Vol 45. No. 1(Nov., 1991). 43 chains and supermarkets in the national marketplace. “For many people, public markets represent not only a shopping choice, but also a form of social life worth saving.” 75

Rapid Growth of Supermarkets in America

Author Max Zimmerman is the co-founder of Big Bear, a regional supermarket chain that operated in Ohio and Virginia. Founded in 1933, the chain was a central Ohio institution until it was taken over by Penn Traffic in 1989. The late thirties saw a rapid growth of the industry, the switch of the large chains to the super-market type of operation. To Zimmerman, these supermarkets were intended to bring “cheaper goods to the masses” 76 and he refers to them as a ‘missionary effort.’ He stresses that the development of the Super Market Institute, the industry's trade association, facilitated the growth. The industry saw the growth of nonfood sales in supermarkets; the trend toward larger, modern outlets built in the suburban locations; greater mechanization in the industry; and the entering of many local and regional chains into the capital market for expansion funds.

Advertising practices, promotional activities, and community relations increased. The self-service contribution of the supermarket to the other forms of retailing throughout the world has resulted in relatively lower cost of food items today as compared with the twenties.

Rachel Bowlby is a literary critic that researches shopping in the twentieth century.

According to her, the supermarket at the turn of the century and in “its everyday forms was a matter of household duty, and in its exceptional forms- the trip into town, the seasonal sales- it was a diversion or a temporary aberration.” 77 Supermarkets developed distinct characteristics, both physical and intrinsic. While low prices and self-service aspects of the supermarket are critical to customer satisfaction, the physical characteristics have become iconic. A supermarket typically is on a large lot located in suburbs away from the city center with an enormous one-story square building

75 Mayo, James M. The American Public Market . Journal of Architectural Education (1984-). Vol 45. No. 1(Nov., 1991). 76 Zimmerman, Max M. The Super Market: A Revolution in Distribution (New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1955). 77 Bowlby, Rachel. Carried Away: The Invention of Modern Shopping (New York: Columbia University Press, 2001). 44 surrounded by a large asphalt plane for parking. Within the store one is surrounded by an overwhelming array of product choices arranged in rows of large displays, each more impressive than the last. Storefront windows that might distract consumers were eliminated to keep the focus inwards on the products.

Far from the richness of social life that public markets once promoted, supermarkets today are aimed at convenience and target those persons whose highly individualized lifestyles desire minimal human interactions in the food shopping process. Lost are the days when shopping was a means of socializing. Grocery shopping is practical, functional, commoditized, and contrary to any notion that it promotes social life.

The Hidden Program

An architectural program is a list of spaces-denoting specific rooms; it may consist of gross areas, key relationships between them, and an overall budget for the project. Some might describe activity patterns, requirements, or performance specifications. Murray Silverstein and Max Jacobson of Jacobson, Silverstein, and Winslow Architects, analyze the programmatic problems with the modern supermarket and define “the architectural program [as] a social-physical form.” 78

The name of the facility, list of spaces and its functions, and costs imply that certain social

values will be supported and further implies that the final building will be owned and operated in a certain way. The assumptions of basic building types are taken for granted. Silverstein and Jacobson argue that the program being such a vital part of the building needs to have the involvement of architects from the very onset of the project rather than being handed down a list of requirements of the building.

78 Silverstein, Murray & Jacobson, Max 1985 "Restructuring the Hidden Program. Toward an Architecture of Social Change" in Wolfgang F. E. Preiser (Ed.) Programming the Built Environment , Van Nostrand Reinhold: NY., pp.149-164. 45

Silverstein and Jacobson note that “people are not simply disaffected with architecture as such; they are disaffected with the way of life that is sustained by Modern architecture.” 79 The alienation and passivity of the public is the original point of departure for an architect’s work. When architects do not have a say in the programming, they feel that the projects are alienating, wrongly conceived, and socially reactionary. With a preconceived building type proposed for a project, the advantage offered by participation in programming is that architects can question the entire building type. They can attempt to restructure it or come to terms with the fact that in such a situation programming can only make a form that is fundamentally in doubt a little more palatable.

Most chain supermarkets and supercenters have a prototype design with a fixed program.

With such a pre-determined facility program, what professionals often tend to avoid is the analysis of hidden programs. “It is not easy for an architect to go to the roots of a building type, unravel the myths contained there, and still be employable.” 80 According to Silverstein and Jacobson, this is not a skill architects pick up at school or in practice, it is the kind of work society should expect from professionals that seek to define themselves as environmentalists concerned with the user.

Silverstein and Jacobson note that an architectural program is a set of basic patterns or relationships. If the central pattern is well formed and true to the problem, the building will be in the human grain. If, however, they are taken for granted and a program is developed that obscures

whatever problems they contain, then alienation takes root immediately and the new building works against the life of its community.

Understanding the Structure of Patterns

A pattern is a system of forces- social, political, economical, and so forth- that results in a recurring spatial relationship. “A design pattern is a single problem, documented with its best

79 Silverstein, Murray & Jacobson, Max 1985 "Restructuring the Hidden Program. Toward an Architecture of Social Change" in Wolfgang F. E. Preiser (Ed.) Programming the Built Environment , Van Nostrand Reinhold: NY., pp.149-164. 80 Silverstein, Murray & Jacobson, Max 1985 "Restructuring the Hidden Program. Toward an Architecture of Social Change" in Wolfgang F. E. Preiser (Ed.) Programming the Built Environment , Van Nostrand Reinhold: NY., pp.149-164. 46 solution.” 81 Each pattern has a name, a descriptive entry, and a cross-reference. Architect and author

Christopher Alexander describes pattern language as a relation of design patterns that must relate to each other in order to form a pattern language. To Alexander, this is a method or discipline that teaches us precisely what we have to do to make our buildings live. “But though this method is precise, it cannot be used mechanically.” 82

When we refer to a building type, we use a name to refer to a cluster of patterns that give the building its fundamental identity. The cluster denotes a dense system in which social, physical, and economic factors all reinforce each other. These systems have a characteristic structure.

Figure-3: Contextual and internal patterns of a building.

Figure-1 shows how few patterns it takes to form a tight, self-perpetuating system: a few contextual patterns that connect the building to its antecedent conditions in the society at large, a core pattern that gives the building its basic definition, and a few internal patterns that describe the fundamental organization of the building. Silverstein and Jacobson hypothesize that eight or nine patterns define the core of a building type.

81 See Alexander, Christopher. A Pattern Language: Towns, Buildings, Construction. (New York: Oxford University Press, 1977). 82 Alexander, Christopher. The Timeless Way of Building. (New York: Oxford University Press, 1979). 47

By describing the system of patterns, the actual experience, and then analyzing the boundary of the problem, Silverstein and Jacobson are able to analyze the hidden program of a typical supermarket. The three contextual patterns for a supermarket are: the factory farm 83 ; a set of governmental policies 84 , and private, corporate ownership on a national scale. The core pattern for a supermarket is a single, large facility offering all needed household goods and serving a community of several thousand. The major internal patterns of a supermarket are: location near a major traffic artery, with 50-75% of its area devoted to parking; a self-service layout, and a storage and stock- handling area separate from the shopping area but connected to the road; self-service aisles leading to a central checkout and paying area, with the most needed items located in the hardest to reach positions so that customers must pass less needed items first; and an artificially controlled environment in every dimension- climate, light, sound. The diagram below for this cluster of patterns may be conceived as shown in Figure 2. These eight patterns form the system that establishes the typical supermarket as a building type.

Figure-4: Cluster of Patterns for a supermarket.

83 Silverstein and Jacobson describe the factory farm as a giant food producing agri-industry and a giant prepared food industry- with national distribution capability 84 Including regulations that control growing and marketing procedures and are predisposed toward the giant industrial style 48

The factory farm is characterized by the application of capital-intensive techniques of industrialization to the mass production, distribution, and selling of food. Superficially, in terms of sheer quantity of food produced, “this pattern appears to be successful. It is socially and ecologically unstable, and it tends to be the creation of bland, synthetic, standardized goods.” 85 The factory farm depends on cheap supplies of fossil fuels. As supplies decrease, the system will prove to be less

viable. It is interesting to note that “while pre-industrial methods of food production generally resulted in a net energy gain for society, with each calorie of work producing slightly more food calories of energy to be expended in the production of a single calorie of food value.” 86 In addition to this, Silverstein and Jacobson point out that the factory farm operates far from its markets in the urban region and food must be transported thousands of miles to the grocery shelf.

Silverstein and Jacobson note that the federal government directly subsidizes agri-industry at the expense of smaller farmers and gardeners. The government regulates the quality of produce and,

while this practice ensures a modicum of safety for consumers, it often works against them. “It appears that while policies work to maintain minimal levels of quality, they also work against the production of really excellent food, which is only possible when grown closer to markets and in smaller quality.” 87 The third major contextual pattern that defines the supermarket is the fact of private, corporate ownership on a national and international scale. In the case of the largest of these businesses, the enterprise becomes vertically integrated, with the corporation owning the factory farms that produce the food, the trucks that transport it, and so forth. The communities of users- both the shoppers and the people who work there- have no real stake in the operation. The community as a whole does not become enriched by the success of the operation. The potential

85 For an introduction to the problem, see Hightower, J. K. The Industrialization of Food: The People’s Land. National Coalition of Land Reform, edited by Barnes, P. Emmaus (PA: Rodale Press, 1975). 86 Black, J. N. Energy Relations in Crop Production. Annals of Applied Biology 67 (1971). Also Cox, Jeff. Factory Farming Is Not Efficient. Journal of Organic Gardening and Farming, June 1973. 87 Silverstein, Murray & Jacobson, Max 1985 "Restructuring the Hidden Program. Toward an Architecture of Social Change" in Wolfgang F. E. Preiser (Ed.) Programming the Built Environment , Van Nostrand Reinhold: NY., pp.149-164. 49

wealth created by the sheer existence of a community needing a market flows out of the community to stockholders. The supermarket works as a drain on the economic health of the community in

which it is located.

The patterns that define the market itself and its internal organization are the supermarket, the site, the store, the self-service layout, and the artificial environment. The single, large, centrally managed facility with everything under a single roof favors corporate management but lacks any potential for a socially lively experience for the customer. The layout does not encourage simple social interactions even among neighbors from the same community that it serves. The supermarket is typically located on a major traffic artery, with the building itself surrounded by parking. Parking is empty during off hours. This is in sharp contrast to public markets of the past that were part of a community’s major public space and would close down for a period of time to allow the market to become some other kind of public community space.

The store typically contains the shopping area, the checkout and lobby area, and the storage and handling area in the back. Owing to the typical self-service arrangement, the only point of contact with customers is at the check-out. The storage area is as large as one-third of the store, staffed but off limits to shoppers. The arrangement and layout of the store ensures customer exposure at least twice to least needed and most profitable items, as people move through the store and back to the checkout. Exposed to an endless array of products, the consumer may be ill equipped to keep tabs on spending. Finally, the artificial environment of the supermarket needs to be controlled to ensure that the food will sit on the shelf as long as possible. Lighting is also controlled to a greater degree than is necessary with not to much light coming in the form of day- lighting. The symbolic concurrence between the unchanging environments of the market is connected to the unchanging character and dependability of the produce.

50

All eight of these patterns work together to form an integrated system called the supermarket, but they do not represent a happy image of a culture’s solution to the problem of marketing. While each pattern justifies, supports, or needs the other for stability, the system as a

whole tends to support an unstable social and ecological reality. Silverstein and Jacobson’s interpretation of the hidden agenda as outlined above “supports an irresponsible agricultural system and a useless prepared food industry. It produces food of uniformly mediocre quality.” 88 They stress the lack of transparency that users have when it comes to realistically thinking about where our food comes from. The experience of buying and selling food is dehumanized. By making the experience of shopping as surreal as possible, it makes the chore of shopping as bearable as possible. The program of the supermarket on the whole is one that tends to insulate us from life instead of providing an enriching experience.

88 Silverstein, Murray & Jacobson, Max 1985 "Restructuring the Hidden Program. Toward an Architecture of Social Change" in Wolfgang F. E. Preiser (Ed.) Programming the Built Environment , Van Nostrand Reinhold: NY., pp.149-164. 51

Chapter 4

Defining the Commodity

Food

Food is a vital part of our existence and well-being. Its value as a basic necessity of human survival is outlined by Norman Borlaug’s quote, “Without food, man can live at most but a few

weeks; without it, all other components of social justice are meaningless.” 89 In the pre-industrial era, surplus food was sold in local village markets for consumption by local customers. The post- industrial period saw a wider distribution of food. In the 20 th century, we saw a transformation from the public markets to supermarkets. Toward the end of the 20 th century, supermarkets were further revolutionized to be modeled as large warehouses, usually out-of-town and selling food from around the world. The Energy Information Administration reported an estimated 226,000 commercial retail grocery stores in the U.S. in 2003 90 , and this number has gotten larger since. Food currently holds the status of a commodity in American society according to the United States Department of

Agriculture 91 . It can sometimes also be classified as a luxury commodity in today’s market. It is traded and marketed on a global scale. Food no longer needs to be grown locally to be available to consumers. The food retail industry is a complex, global system and is defined by the Food

Standards Agency as, “the whole food industry – from farming and food production, packaging and distribution, to retail and catering.” 92 This is a big industry considering that the US consumer spends

89 Borlaug, Norman. The Nobel Foundation 1970, Norman Borlaug- The Nobel Peace Prize 1970- Nobel Lecture. http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1970/borlaug-lecture.html (1970). Accessed on September 20, 2008. 90 Energy Information Administration. “Official Energy Statistics from the U. S. Government,” http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/cbecs/cbecs2003/introduction.html . Accessed on September 20, 2008. 91 See U. S. Department of Agriculture. “Food and Nutrition Service,” http://www.fns.usda.gov/fdd/ . Accessed on October 31, 2008. 92 Food Standard Agency, “Food Industries.” http://www.food.gov.uk/foodindustry/ . Accessed on November 1, 2008. 52

10% of the GDP annually on food.” 93 “The United States food retail industry generated total revenues of $719.5 billion in 2007.” 94

Shopping for Food

Shopping for food is a very real need in our day-to-day functioning. Grocery stores include small, independently owned stores, farm outlets, and retail chains, including supermarkets and supercenters held by mid to large corporations and are all an integral part of our communities and neighborhoods. In America, most people shop for food at a supermarket that is a local representative of a chain store. According to the US Census Bureau, “U.S. industry comprises establishments generally known as supermarkets and grocery stores primarily engaged in retailing a general line of food, such as canned and frozen foods; fresh fruits and vegetables; and fresh and prepared meats, fish, and poultry.” 95 “Supermarkets accounted for 55% of the American retail grocery market, followed by convenience stores with 16%, mass merchandisers with 9%, warehouse clubs with 9%, and dollar stores with almost 2% in 2004.” 96 Recent trends in grocery retail has included offering organic and natural foods, chemical-free, non-toxic products, local foods, green packaging, alternative bagging methods, alternatives that target health and nutrition, and other green

initiatives. It is quite ironic that author and critic of the industrial food complex, Michael Pollan, says

that, “Bogus health claims and food science have made super-markets particularly treacherous places

to shop for real food.” 97

93 See Food Industry Overview, “Plunkett Research Overview”. http://www.plunkettresearch.com/Industries/FoodBeverageTobacco/FoodBeverageTobaccoStatistics/tabid/248/Def ault.aspx . Accessed on November 11, 2008. 94 The food retail market consists of the total revenues generated through food sales from supermarkets, hypermarkets, cooperatives, discounters, convenience stores, independent grocers, bakers, butchers, fishmongers and all other retailers of food and drink for off-the-premises consumption. See Business & Company Resource center, Datamonitor Industry Market Research , July 15, 2008 pNA United States - Food Retail.(Industry overview). 95 U. S. Census Bureau. http://www.census.gov/epcd/ec97/def/445110.HTM . Accessed on September 20, 2008. 96 Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. Agri-Food Trade Service. "Overview of the Retail Grocery Market in the Pacific Northwest United States,” December 2005, http://www.ats.agr.gc.ca/us/4133_e.htm . Accessed on September 20, 2008. 97 Pollan, Michael. In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto (New York: Penguin Press, 2008). 53

Hasn’t food always been natural?

The rise in the development of grocery chains and supermarkets in this country coincided

with an important development in the production of food- the industrialization of agriculture. In

1920, Fritz Haber was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for improving the standards of agriculture and well-being of humanity. He was responsible for synthesizing ammonia- important for fertilizers.

An expert on organic food, author Michael Pollan critically notes this as a milestone in allowing the food chain to turn from the logic of biology to the logic of industry. America’s highly productive agricultural practices and food processing has resulted in “freeing people from nature's cycles of abundance and scarcity, as well as from the tyranny of the calendar or locale.” 98 To Pollan, this freedom came at a huge cost to human and environmental health. Synthetic fertilizers, , fossil fuels and their corollary, genetically adaptable corn, were a godsend to the global food industry.

Agriculture transforms corn into animal feed, high fructose corn syrup, modified cornstarch, hydrogenated corn oil, and a host of food additives. Corn is federally subsidized in the United States and makes a good profit once it is incorporated in burgers at McDonald’s, Coca Cola, and other processed foods. Cattle raised in crowded factory farms, fed corn- not the grass for which their rumens were intended, survive on antibiotics. For Pollan, a key criterion for choosing food is the amount of fossil fuel needed to grow, process, and transport it.

In a reaction to synthetic nitrogen fertilizers and pesticides used in , a more sustainable mode of farming, or , became prevalent in the United States and

Europe. of Germany 99 (the largest certification organization for ) began the first certification program, the of the United Kingdom, and

98 Pollan, Michael. The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals. (New York: Penguin Press, 2006). 99 Commission for Environmental Cooperation and TerraChoice Environmental Services Inc, Environmental and Other Labeling of Coffee: the role of mutual recognition, supporting cooperative action, May 2004 54

Rodale Press in the United States, along with others. In 1972, these organizations joined to form the

International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements. IFOAM's mission is “leading, uniting and assisting the organic movement in its full diversity. [Their] goal is the worldwide adoption of ecologically, socially and economically sound systems that are base on the principles of Organic

Agriculture.” 100

Pollan celebrates all the good alternatives for organic food that we have today. “We have local farming, organic farming, farmer’s markets [or community supported agriculture], good options.” 101 There are a total of 4,685 farmer’s markets 102 and 300 food cooperative grocers 103 in the

US. Both farmer’s markets and cooperatives combined constitute less than 3% of the commercial retail grocery stores in the United States. Pollan adds that there are a lot of good foods in the

American supermarket, but most of it he notes is around the edge: fresh produce, fresh meat, fish, and dairy. The middle of the store where non-perishables are located is where you really get in trouble, according to Pollan.

Increasingly since the 1990s, there has been an increased awareness and growth in consumer awareness and need for fresh produce, organic, natural foods. In December 1996, the Food

Marketing Institute reported that “65% of traditional supermarkets carry natural/organic foods and

24% of grocery shoppers say they buy them at least once a week.” 104 The term ‘natural,’ as applied to foods, has no legal definition. “As used within the health and industry, natural foods are free of additives, contain no artificial ingredients or preservatives, and are minimally processed.” 105 Similar to the mainstream food industry, packaged groceries command the largest

100 IFOAM. Uniting the Organic World Website. http://www.ifoam.org/ . Accessed on September 22, 2008. 101 Harper , Roseanne. 2008. “43 Michael Pollan.” SN: Supermarket News 56, no. 29: 76-76. Business Source Complete. 102 AMS Farmers Markets Search. http://apps.ams.usda.gov/FarmersMarkets/ . Accessed on October 12, 2008. 103 See Cooperative Grocer. http://www.cooperativegrocer.coop/articles/index.php?id=158 . Accessed on October 12, 2008. 104 Food Marketing Institute (FMI). How Consumers Are Shopping the Supermarket . Washington DC, 1991. 105 Escher, Catherine. The U.S. Health and Natural Foods Market . May 2000. Packaged Facts, a Kolorama Information product. 55 share (45%) of the health and natural food market. “This category continues to gain significance, because mass-market grocery stores tend to devote more space to packaged natural foods, which are easier to merchandise. Sales of organic foods—those produced without the use of synthetic chemical fertilizers and pesticides—continue to contribute to the growth of the health and natural food market. The organic industry is growing between 20%–25% annually, analysts say, reaching an estimated $5 billion in 1998.” 106

Living in a Consuming World

As we saw in Chapter 1, there is an inherent contradiction in ecological considerations and economic ones in this context of the production and consumption model. This has been echoed by many thinkers and authors in society today. Consumption , to authors Steven Miles and Malcolm Miles, has become a key proponent of urban social change and, as consumption increasingly becomes symbolic, it also becomes ideological. In the context of the city, Miles and Miles note that as such,

“consumerism has come to take on a concrete existence to the extent that we accept it as a way of life, as the way of life.” 107

According to Miles and Miles, there is more to a city than the productivist perspective on the city as a site of production and accumulation. Consumption has always had a major impact on the geography of the city and on city life. An important characteristic of city life in the 20th century is not just the extension of consumption and of consumer ethics to much wider parts of the ; it is a qualitative turn toward proactive investment in and promotion of cities as centers for consumption. Consumption is becoming a means of production in its own right, and the fabric of the city is being transformed according to the image of consumerism.

106 Escher, Catherine. The U.S. Health and Natural Foods Market . May 2000. Packaged Facts, a Kolorama Information product. 107 Miles, Steve and Miles, Malcolm. Consuming Cities (London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2004). 56

Miles and Miles note that while consuming cities aim to provide to consumers, what it does accomplish is to provide a complex set of conditions to its consumers that categorize, segment, or divide them. However, the disadvantage of consumption is that it divides as much as it provides.

They make the case that consuming cities actually cause more problems to consumers than provide solutions. A second and important line of inquiry that Miles and Miles provide is into the relation between consumerism as a cultural form and the city as space and place. The concern here is that consuming cities lose their sense of place and space. Retail and commercial buildings, big box stores, strip malls, etc. are a statement of this image of consumerism manifest in built form in a context that lacks a sense of place or community. One could be in a mall in Austin or Cincinnati and, amidst the concoction of contemporary branded environments, not really realize the location of the city.

Applied to construction, expert James Kay notes that production-consumption models should adhere to principles that recognize limits of natural systems to provide energy and absorb

waste, model their behavior on those of natural ecosystems, delegate functions of an anthropogenic system to a subsystem of the , and use non-renewable materials only as capital expenditures to bring forth renewable resources. The basis of this in principle is not the perception of a static ecology at equilibrium, but on the details of the behavior of systems that self-organize for increased resource efficiency and ‘survivability.’ 108

Building Green showcases green design information and features four LEED certified food facilities, categorized as ‘retail.’ All four buildings represent different local conditions and forms of local knowledge and, in function, provide organic, natural, and sometimes local produce to the community they serve. The Hawthorne Valley Farm store measures 8,467 square feet and is a rural country farm store located in Harlemville, NY. The People’s Co-op is a 5,400 square foot co-op

108 Kay, James J. (2002). On Complexity Theory, Energy and : Some Implications for Construction Ecology in Kibert, Charles J, Sendzimir, Jan, Guy, Bradley G. Construction Ecology: Nature as the Basis for Green Buildings (New York: Spon Press, 2002). 57 located in a dense residential district in Portland. The Whole Foods Market Flagship store measures

76,770 and is located in a dense commercial and mixed use district in Pasadena, California. Finally, the Wal-Mart Supercenter in Aurora, Colorado is the second experimental store that measures

206,000 square feet and is located in a suburban district. While all four exhibit their firm commitment to energy efficiency, their approach to sustainable architecture and hence ecological place-making is worth analyzing.

In the following chapters I use Guy and Farmer’s framework of the six logics of sustainable architecture as a lens to understanding the trends of an emergent culture of building. I strive to see how we interpret ecologically sustainable facilities design to empirically analyze four facilities that sell organic and natural foods that we saw, has a growing consumer base. Each case study represents overlapping logics, as might be expected. The logics are not by any means exclusive as they are not frozen in space or time. I empirically analyze each one of these stores in detail to observe the approach to sustainable design in implemented technological strategies and its implications on ecological place-making. Since the goal of Organic Agriculture has been stated to be the worldwide adoption of ecologically, socially and economically sound systems, this study strives to analyze if this particular approach to food product offerings is further reflected in building practices of the facilities in which food is sold. Does the strategy of energy efficiency suffice as sustainable architecture or does sustainable architecture reflect a deeper belief and philosophy held by the owners, designers, and customers that reflect the fundamental logic of embracing organic foods?

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Chapter 5

Traditional Strains of Counter-culture: Local Farm Stores and Co-operatives- Hawthorne

Valley Farms Store and People’s Co-op

Organic food expert Michael Pollan celebrates a meal consisting of fresh wholesome locally grown foods. He is impressed with the sustainability of mixed farming, where animal waste is food for plants that become food for animals in a synergistic closed loop. As a result, he argues that it is the features, associated with small-scale local agriculture, rather than organic or vegetarian practices that are important if one wants to reduce the ecological footprint associated with eating. Pollan’s omnivores supreme rule is that everything is connected and “if we eat by the grace of nature, not industry, the dilemma [of eating healthy], disappears.” 109

The Grace of Nature in Biodynamic Farming

Inaugurated in 1924 by Austrian scientist , biodynamic agriculture is a

worldwide movement that pre-dates organic agriculture by approximately twenty years. It is the oldest, non-chemical agricultural movement and seeks to work actively with the health-giving forces of nature. Biodynamic farming 110 avoids chemicals in farms and wineries, and combines common sense agriculture, an understanding of ecology, and the specific environment of a given space with a new spiritual scientific approach to the concepts, principles, and practices of agriculture.

Essentially, biodynamic farming and gardening views the soil and the farm as living organisms. It regards maintenance and furtherance of soil life as a basic necessity if the soil is to be preserved for generations. It also regards the farm as being true to its essential nature if it can be

109 Pollan, Michael. The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals. (New York: Penguin Press, 2006). 110 Bio-dynamic comprises an ecological and sustainable farming system, that includes many of the ideas of organic farming but predates the term. A central concept was to "individualize" the farm by bringing no or few outside materials onto the farm, but producing all needed materials such as manure and animal feed from within what he called the "farm organism". Other aspects of biodynamic farming include timing activities such as planting in relation to the movement patterns of the moon and planets and applying "preparations,” which consist of natural materials which have been processed in specific ways, to soil, compost piles, and plants with the intention of engaging non-physical beings and elemental forces. 59 conceived of as a kind of individual entity in itself - a self-contained individuality. It begins with the ideal concept of the necessary self-contentedness of the farm and works with furthering the life of the soil as a primary means by which a farm can become a kind of individuality that progresses and evolves. 111

Biodynamic agriculture is a way of living, working, and relating to nature and the vocations of agriculture based on good commonsense practices, a consciousness of the uniqueness of each landscape, and the inner development of every practitioner. Commonsense practices include striving to be self-sufficient in energy, fertilizers, plants, and animals; structuring our activities based on

working with nature's rhythms; using diversity in planting, fertilizers, and animals as building blocks of a healthy operation; being professional in our approach to reliability, cleanliness, order, focus on observation, and attention to detail; and being prompt and up-to-date in doing one's job. The concern with the uniqueness of a particular landscape includes developing an understanding of the geology, soils, climate, plant, and animal life; human ecology; and economy of one's bioregion. 112

Hawthorne Valley Farm Store

One example of a synergistic closed looped local farm is the Demeter-certified 113 biodynamic farm nestled in the Taconic Range in Columbia County- The Hawthorne Valley Farm.

Known as ‘the farm school,’ the Hawthorne Valley Farm originated when a group of pioneering educators, farmers, and artisans purchased the Curtis Vincent Farm in Harlemville, New York in

1972. The intent was to offer children from urban centers a hands-on experience of what it means to be stewards of the land. The farm consists of 400 acres, comprised of pastures, fields, woodlands, and a 12-acre market garden. This farm is part of the Hawthorne Valley Association 114 , a non-profit

111 See McDermott, Robert. The Essential Steiner: Basic writings of Rudolf Steiner , Harper & Row, 1984, pp. 41-44. 112 See Biodynamic Farming and Gardening Association. “Resource Catalogue”, http://www.biodynamics.com/ . Accessed on September 11, 2008. 113 Commission for Environmental Cooperation and TerraChoice Environmental Services Inc, Environmental and Other Labeling of Coffee: the role of mutual recognition, supporting cooperative action, May 2004 114 See Hawthorne Valley Association. http://www.hawthornevalleyassociation.org/ . Accessed on September 29, 2008. 60 operation dedicated to social and cultural renewal through education, agriculture, and the arts.

Harlemville also consists of sister programs of the Visiting Student Program, Hawthorne Valley

School, and the Alkion Adult Education Center.

Illustration- 2: Ariel View of Hawthorne Valley Farm Store.

Illustration- 3: Hawthorne Valley Farms.

Originally an old horse barn was used to house the farm’s self-serve retail needs. The operations of the farm store were small- selling a few dairy products, breads, and vegetables. Built in

2003 and completed the following year, a new store now houses the farm’s retail operations and offers a full line of organic, natural foods and other groceries to meet the community’s needs. The farm store has a view of the farm's pastures and is also located in the hamlet of Harlemville.

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Illustration- 4: Hawthorne Valley Farm Store, View of the store from across the green.

The store was built on 46,000 square feet. of previously developed land across from

Hawthorne Valley School within the hamlet of Harlemville. The store measures 8,467 square feet. and entertains 600 visitors a day. To customers, the store primarily functions as a gateway to the

Hawthorne Valley Farm. It offers its visitors a place to shop, meet, learn, and work. The store was designed with sustainable principles as a continuation of its Steiner philosophies. 115 The design of the store was intended to demonstrate the feasibility and benefits of green architecture, while supporting farmers, growers, and other initiatives that strive to protect and further the health of the land. Economically, the creation of the store was aimed to sustain Hawthorne Valley Farm and other endeavors of the non-profit association. It promotes local community participation and furthers relationships with other business partners.

The farm’s operational mission includes public education and community support. The design of the building through which the farm projects its presence was critical in representing the mission. The owners were committed to the preservation of the village green and enhanced support of local farmers and growers by selling their goods in the store. They provided a café area for customers to rest. This store represents an effort to centralize the commercial aspect of Hawthorne

115 Philosopher Rudolph Steiner in 1893 put forth a philosophy of freedom that focus on the concept of free will. Steiner Philosophies are based on a holistic outlook of life that insists on a harmony between our perception and cognition of the world. Biodynamic agriculture, a method of organic farming that has its basis in a spiritual world-view (, first propounded by Rudolf Steiner), treats farms as unified and individual organisms, emphasizing balancing the holistic development and interrelationship of the soil, plants, animals as a closed, self-nourishing system 62

Valley, increase the participation of local farmers in the small business framework, and provided increased employment opportunities for the area.

The farm’s mission is also to be ecologically sensitive and resource efficient as is achievable

with the available resources. The owners were devoted to the notion of locally produced, regional, organic agriculture that nurtures the land that in turn nourishes them. They conduct tours for children and adults to showcase examples of a diversified, self–sustaining not–for–profit initiative.

They encourage and support internships and project to older student an enhanced learning experience and exposure to business practices. This store acts as a gateway to the farm by exposing biodynamic and to the public and demonstrates the added value of the farm’s processes. Their community involvement is further evident in the Farmscape Ecology Program, an educational center where visitors can learn about the ecology of the Valley and how it relates to the farm and their food.

Site

The site is a tight parcel in the farm hamlet setting. The building adds spatial coherence to the small hamlet as it adopts a human scale with broken parking in clusters. The store connects the farm to the Waldorf School across the road. The entrance to the Hawthorne Valley Farm was located in a more manageable location. The store provides an interface between the public and the farm, and surrounding agricultural landscape.

Illustration- 5: Panoramic view of buildings that make up Hawthorne Valley Farm buildings.

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Pedestrian and Vehecular Scale

The architects of this store, Coldham & Hartman Architects, note that one challenge they faced during design was to accommodate vehicles that provided bulk deliveries. Trucks were completely unsympathetic to the hamlet setting. The design had to provide a truck access to sustain its retail operations in a predominantly pedestrian layout. To address this, the building mass was split into two. The front of the store was scaled down and bent toward the street, maintaining the orthogonal progression of small residential buildings along the small bisecting country road.

Illustration- 6: Hawthorne Valley Farm Store, Context Plan.

Illustration- 7: Hawthorne Valley Farm Store, Project Floor Plan.

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Illustration- 8: Hawthorne Valley Farm Store, South and East Elevations.

Climate and Material Considerations

The entry door was located in a ‘southeast pocket,’ catching the rising sun and powering a morning melt-off on frosty winter days. Sunlight is used in interior lighting utilizing clerestories and southern windows to provide stimulating shopping, working, and community spaces. The bulk of the building was bent toward the noon sun – an orientation that also allowed a manageable circulation of the 18-wheeler delivery vehicles while screening them from the peopled outdoor areas.

The primary electric lighting is ambient, compensating dimming in conjunction with day-lighting.

Illustration- 9: Exterior View of Hawthorne Valley Farm Store.

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Illustration- 10: Hawthorne Valley Farm Store, Cross Section highlights daylighting and air movement patterns.

While this store is in a small town setting, the use of sustainable building technology and energy efficiency is cutting-edge. The hot water is produced via heat exchangers from the coolers and freezers. Effort to recycle water, provide photovoltaic panels to conserve energy, and the use of skylights to alleviate health symptoms in the building all integrate sustainable design principles. 116 A new wind energy program was initiated in this project. For every kilowatt of electricity the Farm

Store uses, it buys a kilowatt of wind energy, which is then delivered to the power grid for statewide distribution. 117 The program was developed through combined efforts of the New York State

Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) and the New York State Public Service

Commission. Heat that is lost from coolers and freezer equipment in traditional applications is conserved. This store uses heat generated from the cooler and freezer equipment is captured to produce hot water for the store, bakery, and deli. All these technologies have been very well integrated into the building’s engineering systems’ requirement.

116 See Coldham & Hartman Architects. “Hawthorne Valley Farm Store”, http://www.coldhamandhartman.com/completed.php?id=4. Accessed on August 15, 2008. 117 Although the Farm does not actually use the wind energy itself, by participating in New Wind, it ensures that someone else is using clean, , without the use of fossil fuels. It is estimated that 20% of New York‘s energy needs can be met through wind energy; this is the percentage of the Farm’s overall energy usage it is buying in wind energy credits. All electricity consumers (individuals and business) are able to participate in this new energy option program at a self-selected level. 66

Illustration- 11: Computer-generated image showing a section peel of the Hawthorne Valley Farm Store.

Illustration- 12: Interior View of Hawthorne Valley Farm Store.

The building materials and colors picked project an enticing and friendly feel. In an attempt to reflect the farm’s philosophical stance, the architects picked materials that would accomplish a dual role of support and finish. These materials in their true nature form a cohesive visual pallet. The concrete floor slab is stained and polished; steel columns and PSL beams are un-encased; the wood- steel trusses proceed rhythmically in full view over the space and rest plainly on their supporting

walls and beams — even the ICF (Durisol) 118 wall form blocks are exposed to the interior. The honest exposure of material not only decreases the volume of material used, it also limits the construction site waste and maintains serviceability and a functional flexibility. The materials used in store construction indicate simplicity and clarity in design, and are a pick that is environmentally

118 Durisol is made from waste wood and cement, and has a furnace slag mineral wool insulation plug. The blocks made from recycled waste wood (100% natural lumber). 67 responsive. The floors are stained concrete. The ceiling is the natural wood of the roof structure.

The use of alternative materials in the registry cabinets combines renewable wheat straw fiber with a formaldehyde–free resin.

Illustration- 13: Café in Hawthorne Valley Farm Store.

The store attracts people and is considered as a life force in the community. Its location there was essential. The store is a drive-to location and parking was reduced by taking advantage of the school parking. Peak shopping periods occur at times when the school is not in session, or when parents are delivering their children to school. Writer Laurily Epstein, who is the president of the board of trustees of Berkshire Grown, a nonprofit group that supports local foods and farms in

Berkshire, notes that, “The Hawthorne Valley Farm store is not just a place to buy groceries. It is the social gateway to everything integral to the community - a social, economic, agricultural, environmental, and educational center actively promoting the local and regional economies.” 119

Implications in Sustainable Architecture

This case study is a good example of sustainable building within a community. An honest approach to the working of the program is a critical design driver. Analyzing the hidden program of

119 Quoted by writer Laurily Epstein, president of the board of trustees of Berkshire Grown, a nonprofit group that supports and farms in the Berkshires). See Coldham & Hartman Architects, “Hawthorne Valley Farm Store,” http://www.coldhamandhartman.com/completed.php?id=4. Accessed on August 15, 2008. 68 this store reveals the lack of factory farm, government policy, or corporate ownership. In turn, the design pattern is influenced by the natural or biodynamic farm- the farm itself being the food source and a non-profit organization. Compared to a typical supermarket, there is no dependence on an unsustainable food supply system, poor food quality, or a vertically integrated enterprise that is typical of corporations. Place-specific enrichment, such as integrating with the farm and neighboring buildings and facilities, being an outlet for quality food products and working to enrich the interests of the community, are an inevitable outcome of the design of this building. The store provides opportunities for social integration among community members. The design has been very sensitive to the needs of scale in parking, pedestrians, and the hamlet. The store has a café, and outdoor display opportunities in addition to the produce, bakery, and storage that is typical of supermarkets.

This represents a good use of mixed use of space needed by grocery store outlets.

Biodynamic agriculture is a method of organic farming that has its basis in a spiritual world-

view. This is based on a Rudolf Steiner philosophy that is emblematically eco-centric. It treats farms as unified and individual organisms, emphasizing balancing the holistic development and interrelationship of the soil, plants, animals, and humans as a closed, self-nourishing system. The philosophy extends to the design of the store as it reflects the attitude that views “the earth not as a commodity to be bought and sold but rather as a community of which humans are an integral part.” 120 This project, as an extension of the fundamental philosophy of the Hawthorne Farm, exhibits an eco-centric logic in sustainable architecture.

The artificial lighting in the store was integrated with efficient and sustainable engineering systems by using natural light through appropriate building orientation. The store uses clerestories and southern windows in addition to ambient electric lighting. It utilizes ample natural, recycled, and environmentally responsible materials. The exposure of materials is a gesture of honesty to the

120 Leopold, Aldo. A Sand County Almanack (New York: Oxford University Press, 1949), pp.223-224. 69 selection and its symbiotic structural integration. Use of heat exchangers, use of wind energy, and the energy program in conjunction with the New York State Public Service Commission work well to make the building engineering systems more efficient. There is an attempt to “internalize and respond to ecological concerns and an integrative approach in which science, technology, and management take account of the environmental impact of development.” 121 This is a successful integration of the strain of eco-technical logic in the execution of the project.

With the intent to provide better health to workers and visitors through building design, we saw considerations in design pertaining to day lighting techniques and ventilation. When users of the former store that was housed in a barn mentioned symptoms of illness in the building, the owner and architect identified the building itself as a potentially dangerous environment. They understood that “the health of the individual [was linked to] an increasingly important condition: a healthy environment.” 122 The eco-medical logic that Guy and Farmer outline was hence a consideration in design.

Used by the community as a gathering place, and to entertain and sell to visitors, the store is a gateway to the farm and community. Located across from the school, this is a venue that supports the farm’s mission of public education and community support. It runs in conjunction with the school and programmatically supports an extension of the school’s educational efforts in biodynamic training, hangouts for resident students, and education tours. The individual and collective identity of the Hawthorne community is reflective in one of the store’s visitor’s comments on the store. It is the perfect example of community, healthy food, and an ‘old school’ co-op atmosphere. Consumers report on blogs that, “They aren't very fancy, and they don't need to be.

They have a great choice of foods, support community farmers and other residents, and keep it

121 Guy, Simon and Farmer, Graham. Reinterpreting Sustainable Architecture: The Place of Technology. JAE Volume 54, Issue 3 , Pages 140 – 148. 122 Lanthier, Isabelle and Olivier, Lawrence. The Construction of Environmental Awareness in Eric Darier, ed., Discourses of the Environment (Oxford: Blackwell, 1999), p. 65. 70 real.” 123 This is reflective of Guy and Farmer’s eco-social logic that stresses that “ethical concerns stem from the creation of buildings that have the potential to help us forge a sense of individual and collective identity.” 124

The Hawthorne Valley Farm store does not stand out of place in the rural setting and it reflects the flavor of the hamlet and community of which it is a part. The adaptation of scale, programmatic pattern, and building technique in this design reflects local evolution and use. The emphasis in design is on the peculiarities of place, the use of local materials, and an appropriate formal response to the climatic conditions. To Guy and Farmer the eco-cultural logic “emphasizes both the preservation and conservation of the variety of built cultural archetypes that already exist, combined with a concern for cultural continuity expressed through the transformation and reuse of traditional construction techniques, building typologies, and settlement patterns, each with a history of local evolution and use.” 125 In this sense, the store emphasizes the eco-cultural logic of sustainable design as outlined by Guy and Farmer.

Eco-cultural logic emphasizes re-inhabiting or relearning a sense of place. It is a logic that identifies a unique sense of identity and evolves subjectively from within nature. It exhibits a concern for continuity of meaning between tradition and the individual combined with the cultivation of an ecological consciousness. This approach is concerned with the characteristics of regions or bioregions, which is conceived as the basic geographical unit of a small-scale ecological society.

123 Yelp: Real People. “Real Reviews”, http://www.yelp.com/biz/hawthorne-valley-farms-ghent . Accessed on October 18, 2008. 124 Guy, Simon and Farmer, Graham. Reinterpreting Sustainable Architecture: The Place of Technology. JAE Volume 54, Issue 3 , Pages 140 – 148. 125 Guy, Simon and Farmer, Graham. Reinterpreting Sustainable Architecture: The Place of Technology. JAE Volume 54, Issue 3 , Pages 140 – 148. 71

Biogeographic regions or Bioregionalism

Biogeography is the study of the range of over space and over time. It is based on the concepts of regions as organizing units for human activity. Regionalism itself stands for that

which is local, specific to a place or region. Vincent B., Canizaro explains ‘Regionalism’ as “the local experiences, the kind most of us have most of the time should serve as the basis for architectural design. In the same way that all politics are local, so it is with architecture, whether by accident or design. Regionalism must foster connectedness to place and be a response to the needs of local life, not in spite of global concerns and possibilities, but in order to better take advantage of them.” 126

Bioregionalism, to some, emerged in the early 1970s as the product of intermingling between biogeography and the California counter-culture. Peter Berg, the acknowledged ‘father’ of bioregionalism, had been involved in the Diggers and the San Francisco Mime Troupe. In 1973-74, he met the esteemed ecologist, Raymond Dasmann, who was interested in bioregionalism as a

vehicle for more ecologically-oriented values. 127 The result of their collaboration was the definition of the term Bioregion . Bioregion refers to both geographical terrain and a terrain of consciousness (culture) - to a place and the ideas that have developed about how to live in that place. The region or geography typically sets the limits for bioregions. Bioregionalism is synonymous to the ‘politics of place.’ However, some

view that regions in their full development are also a product of culture. ‘Social regions’ are a product of the cultural, political, and economic specifics of a place.” 128 To Berg and Dasmann, the differences in human culture can be defined on a human scale, on the level of the terrain and on the

‘terrain of consciousness’” 129 that expresses itself in culture. Themes in bioregionalism include belief in nature, as opposed to political or administrative, regions as organizing units for human activities;

126 Canizaro, Vincent B. Architectural Regionalism (New York: Princeton Architectural Press, 2007). 127 See Dasmann, Ray. (1974). Conservation, Counter-Culture and Separate Realities . Environmental Conservation 1, 133- 137. 128 See Alexander, Don. Bioregionalism: The Need for a Firmer Theoretical Foundation . Trumpeter v13.3, 1996. 129 A term used to denote the mind set, understanding and outlook of a social group of people in a specific place. To Don Alexander, one can say that the terrain of consciousness is everything - that wherever people think they are is where they are. What's important is that people re-orient themselves ecologically; the precise boundaries of that re-orientation are unimportant. 72 an emphasis on a practical land ethic to be applied at a local and regional scale, and the favoring of locally and regionally diverse cultures as guarantors of environmental adaptation, in opposition to the trend toward global monoculture.

One way of building that uses local and regional resources and materials and has no resemblance to any trends in global monoculture is with Cob. “It is estimated that 30% of the world's population live in earthen homes. Cob building uses the world's most abundant and sustainable building materials, has very low embodied energy, and its cost is minimal. Virtually all the materials used in the cob building process are biodegradable or can be recycled, making it one of the most environmentally friendly ways of building.” 130 Building in earth or Cob is an ancient and traditional practice that originated in the South-West of England. In the 90s, trends in Portland, Oregon emerged when Cob building was embraced on a widespread scale and made more accessible to people in the city. The nature of the material brought members of the community of all ages and abilities to come together to recreate living, breathing social networks, instead of avoiding eye contact with one another, and retreating into their single-family homes and biocidal consumerist lifestyles. Cob structures that now dot the urban landscape of Portland make it the most livable city in America.

People’s Co-operative

People’s is a Cooperative in Portland, Oregon and it cultivates a thriving local economy by integrating ecological responsibility, local food systems and cooperative ownership with equitable business practices in a lively community marketplace. The Co-op was set up in 1970 in a building that is nearly a hundred years old and which previously was a neighborhood grocery. Growing

130 Earthed. “Earthed Information: Building using Cob”, http://www.earthedworld.co.uk/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=4 . Accessed on September 30, 2008. 73 membership and an increasing customer base resulted in the Co-op expanding the building to 5,400 square feet from its original 2,400 square feet.

Site

The store is located in a high dense neighborhood in Portland and is a two-story building.

The co-op was completed in March 2003, with a membership of approximately 1,600 families. In selecting a site for the expansion, the co-op had the option of moving to a new site to build a new building. Instead, they decided to renovate the existing structure and expand. The co-op is only 55% new construction, with 45% being a renovation of the historic 1918 building. The existing building is used as a resource, and this exhibits an inherent sensitivity and consciousness to the environment.

Illustration- 14: People’s Co-op: Walkable from neighboring homes.

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Illustration- 15: Ariel View of People’s Co-op in a dense neighborhood.

Illustration- 16: Ariel View of People’s Co-op in a dense neighborhood.

Walkability

People’s is located in a walkable community. Committed to a car initiative, People’s conducted a survey that showed that more than half of its shoppers did not use automobiles while shopping at the co-op. The co-op has no new parking to accompany the building’s expansion.

Rather, they incorporated ample bike racks and sell bus passes at the counter that further encourages the use of alternative transportation. The design considerations exhibit a holistic approach to building transportation concerns in building design. People’s allows members to choose their transportation in an effort at . By considering a holistic view of the shopping,

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People’s managed to create opportunities that encourage a sustainable lifestyle for its members, customers, and employees.

Illustration- 17: People’s Co-op elevation showing green roof and Cob walls

Illustration- 18: People’s Co-op courtyard.

Alternate Sustainable Design Strategies

Project Designer David Wadley notes that the members of the cooperative were committed to the environment and this made it easy to integrate sustainability into the expansion process. “We didn't really make a big deal out of the process...sustainability was natural and we didn't have to push it.” 131 Inside the building the design maximizes day lighting potential and takes advantage of solar heat gain. A geothermal system heats and cools the building. Rainwater is deemed an asset to the

131 U. S. Department of Energy. Commercial Buildings, “Building Database: People’s Food Co-op,” http://eere.buildinggreen.com/process.cfm?ProjectID=223 . Accessed on September 15, 2008. 76 building by virtue of a rainwater recovery system that stores up to 1,500 gallons at a time and meets nearly all on-site irrigation demand throughout the summer, including drip irrigation for the partially

vegetated rooftops. The building is plumbed to flush toilets with rainwater. Unharnessed rainwater is directed to the ground to promote groundwater recharge and reduce the volume of storm water entering the municipal storm/sewer system. The building also takes advantage of temperature differentials inside and outside the building to stimulate naturally driven ventilation among other heating and cooling strategies. Use of natural and recycled material is captured by a south-facing thermal storage bottle wall fronted by deciduous street trees that permits sunlight and heat gain in the winter while the mass of its Cob infill actively cools the space in the summer.

People’s has two eco-roofs that do a great deal to support watershed management by dramatically reducing run-off. In addition, green roofs help to control sediment transport, reduce soil erosion, absorb pollutants from rainwater, and mitigate the ‘hot spots’ the urban areas create.

The courtyard formed by the ‘L’ shaped building is planted with native and drought tolerant

vegetation that requires minimal watering and provides shade and evaporative cooling. Bioswales located in the courtyard has native Oregon plants and catches runoff. This bio-regionalist approach that integrates both the geographical terrain and the terrain of the consciousness in terms of members’ preferences is reflective in the ecological considerations of the project.

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Illustration- 19: People’s Co-op: Exterior view of thermal storage wall that uses reused bottles.

Illustration- 20: People’s Co-op: Inside view of thermal storage wall that uses reused bottles.

Cob Design and Construction

People’s co-op was the first commercially zoned building in the nation to feature the Cob

wall infill. People’s made Cob from local sources and used it as wall infill on two sides of the building, as well as for benches inside and outside the store. Cob is an ecologically friendly building material and reduces the need for wood, steel, and toxic man-made materials. It is an ancient material and has been used for construction since medieval times. Cob essentially consists of clay, sand, straw and water, and is similar to adobe. “This ancient practice has been used throughout

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Britain for centuries,” 132 and is known for its durability and strength. It is inexpensive as a building material and is considered to be a good fire proofing material and resistant to seismic activity. Cob surfaces lend themselves to engraving, artistic, and individual expressions. Some criticize Cob construction as not suited to be built everywhere and suggest that semi-rural areas are best suited for this kind of construction. “Because the people who build them tend to be ‘a little earthy,’ …, most cob houses end up looking ‘a bit like a mushroom.’” 133 However, there are other examples of historic Cob buildings in Canada built by early immigrants from the British Isles, which manage to integrate well with their surroundings.

Illustration- 21: People’s Co-op: Bench made of Cob

Illustration- 22: People’s Co-op: View of green roof.

132 Weisman, Adam and Bryce, Katy. Building with Cob: A Step-by-Step Guide (Green Books: 2006). 133 At Home. “A Dream Home Made of Mud”, http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20070803.wlcob/BNStory/lifeHouseHome/?page=rss&id= RTGAM.20070803.wlcob . 2008. Accessed on September 17, 2008. 79

Illustration- 23: People’s Co-op: Courtyard plants.

Design for the Community

People’s carry fresh produce grown locally and that is certified organic. Members and other customers report having a good shopping experience on Portland’s social websites. They describe the co-op has having friendly staff and a great place to shop for organic, vegan, health food, local, and fresh produce. There are recurring notes on interior climate comfort. Despite the lack of air- conditioning, the store seems comfortable even in summer, which is a positive testament to the Cob technology and eco roofs. The community room facility with the offerings of yoga classes, meditation, tai chi, community meetings, free classes, and countless events each month, is an invaluable resource to members of the co-op and the community.

The incorporation of a farmers’ market in the courtyard every Wednesday afternoon is an event warmly anticipated every week. “The number of farmers' markets has more than doubled in the last ten years, to more than four thousand, making it one of the fastest growing segments of the food marketplace.” 134 There is the incentive of receiving a 15% discount in the store with optional

volunteering. The abundance of cultural, community, and social integrity in the experience of

134 Pollan, Michael. In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto (New York: Penguin Press, 2008). 80 shopping empowers members in their shopping experience with rich, positive, and changing experiences.

Illustration- 24: People’s Co-op: View inside the store.

Illustration- 25: People’s Co-op: Farmers’ market in the courtyard.

Implications in Sustainable Architecture

This case is well rounded and exemplifies all strains of Guy and Farmer’s six logics of sustainable architecture. The democratic setup of the store is inherent in the fact that People’s is a cooperative. The use of Cob as a building material and strategy in regulating indoor temperature, rainwater recovering and harvesting, use of Bioswales and other landscape features, and choice in reusing the existing site are all ways in which People’s has reduced the impact of its ecological building footprint. Cob has social, cultural, community, and environmental benefits. This labor intensive but environmentally-friendly method was facilitated with the help of many volunteers.

Literally hundreds of community and co-op members had a hand in the creation of their Cob walls

81 and benches during several weekend work parties. What is inherent in People’s efforts and the efforts of the people of Portland is a “radical approach to rethinking building design and production.” 135 In this sense, the eco-centric logic is evident in design considerations of the store

with the use of Cob , green roofs, and other non-traditional building technologies. The reuse of space as a design choice in site selection as opposed to relocating is very directly sensitive to the environment and realigns the concept of sustainability to its legitimate goals of preventing waste, recycling, and reusing existing resources of land and built form.

The use of technology to make the building more efficient indicates the existence of the eco- technical logic in a way that improves the final environment of this store. The store uses a geothermal system to heat and cool the building, recycled water is used in plumbing, and green roofs and the use of daylight is utilized for the interiors. While the store does not possess an adaptive strategy to a modern building production, it nevertheless maximizes the building efficiency and adopts elements “of new technology that are more intelligent than the older ones and that benefit the environment.” 136

Cob contributes to the unique aesthetic and feel of a place. It is a humble material and prompts memories and images of huts and more temporary shelter. Inherent in the visual expression of the landscape and materials of wood and Cob used in the exterior of the building are the iconic expression that the building “should act to inspire and convey an increasing identification with nature and the nonhuman world.” 137 While this building’s aesthetics cannot be categorized as the

New Age Green Architecture, it breaks from the strictly formalist interpretations of architecture as representative of an anthropocentric attitude to nature and building based on ecological models. In this sense, the strain of eco-aesthetic logic is inherent in this building.

135 Farmer, John. Green Shift: Towards a Green Sensibility in Architecture (Oxford. WWF, 1996), p. 172. 136 Spaargaren and Mol, “ Sociology, Environment and Modernity ,” p. 335. 137 Wines, James. The Architecture of Ecology”. The Amicus Journal (Summer 1993): 23. 82

The provision of a community room in the facilities draws in new people and provides opportunities for educational and well-being programs. The community room in the facility is a novel way to integrate multi functional spaces within a retail set up. This model mirrors the complex patterns of community life as integrated in built form. It addresses the ethical issues of the building that helps forge a sense of individual and collective identity.

The design approach expresses the organic formation of society with links to the natural locality within which the community is developed through these links. As opposed to technology and expertise, this building highlights the political issue of democratic control. In that sense, the design approach aims to express the organic formation of society with links to the natural locality

within which the community was developed. It is through this link that users are more aware of their impact on the environment. Guy and Farmer note that, “It is only through a model of community that is created to serve common needs and goals, where humans experience true freedom and individual self-realization, that they will be able to live in harmony with the natural world.” 138 The eco-social logic, as outlined by Guy and Farmer, embodies and expresses the notion of a social and ecological community in which democratic values such as full participation and freedom are the norm. The community engagement in the process of building design and construction is invaluable in legitimizing place and promotes a sense of belonging and ownership among the community.

Mixed-use, the creation of a community room, etc., all further stress the central consideration of the consumer as opposed to the use and design of space for a purely monetary benefit.

138 Guy, Simon and Farmer, Graham. Reinterpreting Sustainable Architecture: The Place of Technology. JAE Volume 54, Issue 3 , Pages 140 – 148. 83

Illustration- 26: People’s Co-op: Community room.

Illustration- 27: People’s Co-op: Patron in the courtyard.

People’s co-op, however, is indicative of Guy and Farmer’s eco-cultural logic. The bio- regional approaches to design are sensitive to the authenticity, aesthetic consideration, and climatic implications of building design. The use of Cob, Bioswales, and green roof strategies are site-specific responses to sustainable issues and challenges of conservation, climate control, and alternate resources. It celebrates authenticity of place and locality in the design, construction, and use of the building. This is telling of the preservation of human culture and further sustains vital forms of regional culture that resist universalization typical of modern techno centric culture. Strategies of promoting alternative transport, mixed use, responsiveness to the human scale, and reinterpretation of local materials are all solutions based on design that this building promotes.

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Chapter 6

Supermarket Pastoral and Eco-branding- Whole Foods Market

Sustainable Building is Becoming the Norm

Grocery retail chains such as Albertsons, Kroger, Safeway, Hannaford, Wal-Mart, Trader

Joe’s, and Whole Foods Markets are all in favor of green building and tout their commitment to sustainable issues. “Sustainability [as] defined from a business perspective as strategies and practices that promote the long term well-being of the environment, society and the bottom line- is a growing issue and opportunity for the food industry” 139 notes Jeanne von Zastrow, senior director of the

Food Marketing Institute, heading up the Washington D. C.-based trade association’s Sustainability

Initiatives Program. Von Zastrow notes the increasing expectations of consumers and employees of the business community. Expectations of are associated with expectations and awareness of environmental and social practices. What once was an exception in terms of building sustainable retail buildings has now become the rule.

Ashley Katz, a media coordinator for the USGBC notes that retailers were among the first adopters of LEED, recognizing the need to green their spaces in order to convey their corporate

values to their customers. Companies working on LEED prototypes include Wal-Mart, Starbucks,

McDonald's, Target, Home Depot, REI, and Whole Foods. 140 Whole Foods has over twenty LEED certified stores in the U.S., including recent stores featured on the Whole Foods’ website in Austin,

Chicago, Pasadena, and Sarasota. Commenting on the Sarasota store in Florida, USGBC President,

CEO, and Founding Chair notes, “this LEED certified supermarket responds to a global need-the necessity for our planet's buildings to be built in tandem with the environment. The Sarasota Whole

139 Sustainable Food News. "Guest Column: The Sustainability Imperative", July 24, 2008, http://www.sustainablefoodnews.com/story.php?news_id=4346 . Accessed on September 19, 2008. 140 U. S. Green Building Council. “USGBC in News Details,” http://www.usgbc.org/news/USGBCInTheNewsDetails.aspx?ID=3786 . Accessed on September 22, 2008. 85

Foods Market is to be congratulated for the certification in that it will enhance our environment and serve as a model for other supermarkets.” 141

Whole Foods Market Pasadena, California

Both the City of Pasadena and Whole Foods Market support green building initiatives. In

March 2006, Pasadena, California became the first local government to require LEED certification. 142 The Whole Foods Market Arroyo Store is LEED (CI) certified and has incorporated

LEED strategies under the main sections of LEED. 143 This comprises the main LEED categories:

Sustainable Sites, Water Efficiencies, Energy & Atmosphere, Material and Resources, and Indoor

Environmental Quality. (See appendix-1). This store was the most recent outcome of Whole Foods

Market, Southern Pacific Region’s recently established goal to pursue LEED CI certification for its new stores.

Illustration- 28: Whole Foods Market at Arroyo, Pasadena.

The architectural firm, KTGY Group, Inc. Architecture and Planning, received the Pasadena

Beautiful Foundation’s Redevelopment Award for the design of the Whole Foods Market, honoring the firm’s significant development incorporating an historic building. 144 Whole Foods Market also

141 Whole Foods Market. “Press Room” . http://media.wholefoodsmarket.com/pr/wf/fl/pr_09-28-05-B.aspx . Accessed on September 22, 2008. 142 See Website: How Stuff Works. “How LEED certification works,” http://home.howstuffworks.com/leed- certification.htm . Accessed on September 10, 2008. 143 See Whole Foods Market. “Arroyo Store”, http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/stores/arroyo/ . Accessed on September 22, 2008. 144 PRLog Free Press Release. “KTGY Earns Pasadena Beautiful Foundation’s Redevelopment Award For Design of Whole Foods Market”, http://www.prlog.org/10090182-ktgy-earns-pasadena-beautiful-foundations-redevelopment- award-for-design-of-whole-foods-market.html . Accessed on September 22, 2008. 86 received a prestigious Gold Nugget Grand Award for the Best Adaptive Re-Use Project. Honoring creative achievements in architectural design and land use planning for residential, commercial and industrial projects. The Gold Nugget Awards program is the premiere event of the annual PCBC, the nation’s largest regional trade show and conference. 145

Illustration- 29: Elevation Drawings of Whole Foods Market, Arroyo, Pasadena.

Illustration- 30: Rendered View of Whole Foods- Arroyo Parkway. Site Located in one of the most populous counties in the United States, Los Angeles County, the

Arroyo Pasadena Whole Foods Flagship store was opened in November 2007. It is situated on the site of an eighty-year-old, 76,770 square foot, two-story building. The store is situated on a 1.2-acre parcel, and is supported by three levels of subterranean parking including Vermaports, a system for transporting shopping carts similar to escalators.

145 PRLog Free Press Release, “KTGY Earns Pasadena Beautiful Foundation’s Redevelopment Award For Design of Whole Foods Market” , http://www.prlog.org/10090182-ktgy-earns-pasadena-beautiful-foundations-redevelopment- award-for-design-of-whole-foods-market.html . Accessed on September 22, 2008. 87

Illustration- 31: Plan of Whole Foods Market in a dense, commercial, walkable neighborhood.

The award winning Whole Foods store incorporates elements of the eighty-year-old existing historic structure that was originally an auto repair/tire center building. The design retains 8,200 square feet of the original structure. The surrounding area consists of retail, commercial, and residential buildings. The project site is bounded by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority

(MTA) Link Gold Line right-of-way to the west, a one block stretch of Bellevue Drive (which dead- ends into the MTA Gold Line) to the north, South Arroyo Parkway to the east, and a paved commercial lot to the south. 146 A Trader Joe’s store, Whole Food’s main competitor in this region, is located just down the street on South Arroyo Parkway.

Surroundings

There is a transit-oriented village rising adjacent to the Gold Line station. The Gold Line opened in 2004, connecting Pasadena to downtown Los Angeles and the region’s light-rail network.

The site is a half-mile from where the Pasadena Freeway terminates into Arroyo Parkway and within

walking distance of two new mixed-use projects, Archstone Smith’s 347-unit Del Mar Station and

Champion Development’s 72-unit Pasadena Collection. Del Mar Station Transit village was

146 City of Pasadena. “Pasadena Planning and Development,” Planning Division, Bellevue Center Whole Foods Project Draft Environmental Impact Report and Technical Appendices, http://www.cityofpasadena.net/planning/deptorg/dhp/bellevuedeir.asp . Accessed on September 22, 2008. 88 recognized by the Congress of New Urbanism 147 and is known for its design based on the CNU’s principles of creating high density, walkable communities based on neo-traditional principles of planning. 148 The Del Mar Station Transit Village provides a complex civic plaza for those who live and work in this area of Pasadena. The city has plans to spruce up Arroyo Parkway — the main throughway into Pasadena from downtown Los Angeles — with a new streetscape that includes lining the boulevard with palm trees, adding seating and other landscaping, as well as installing decorative crosswalks and replacing concrete paving with rubberized asphalt to reduce traffic noise in close proximity to the new urban housing developments.

Illustration- 32: Plan of Whole Foods Market in a dense, commercial, walkable neighborhood.

Historic Background and Efforts at Preservation

The Whole Foods property was formerly owned by the former Pacific Electric Railway

Company (‘PE’) which operated the old ‘Red Car’ trolley system. Dating back to 1874, the trolley system was a network of light rail and electric streetcars that connected Los Angeles, Orange,

Ventura, San Bernardino, and Riverside counties. It was once the region’s most popular mode of transportation, but the network fell victim to the popularity of the automobile and was shut down in

147 See Congress For New Urbanism Sustainable Communities 2008. http://www.cnu.org/node/521 . Accessed on September 22, 2008. 148 See Congress For New Urbanism Charter of New Urbanism http://www.cnu.org/charter . Accessed on September 22, 2008. 89

1961. Developer Gordon Ekstrand researched the building’s history and was able to prove to the city that PE, which had also operated city buses, had simply used the building for the maintenance and storage of buses. City zoning officials eventually concluded that the significant economic benefits of the planned development outweighed the significance of the building’s historical architecture and the project was approved. The one-story portion of the Bellevue elevation was important because the Pacific Electric Motor Buses were maintained in the one-story portion of the building and it features architecturally distinctive parapets.

Illustration- 33: Historical Assessment of Bellevue- Original Site of Whole Foods Market, Arroyo, Pasadena.

Quote from Historical Assessment of Bellevue: City staff astutely made the observation that the recessed decorative brickwork in each of the pier caps may be a stylized reference to a piston in an internal combustion engine. In this case, the series of piers could be considered important architectural features, because they would convey through architectural design rather than pure function, the historic use of the building to repair and maintain PE buses, including their motors. In 1957, a damaged brick pier was removed and replaced, but it appears to have been replaced in kind, is not readily distinguishable from other original piers, and is nearly 50 years old, therefore it continues to contribute at the same level as the other piers in its series. The decorative piers are evident on the east, north and west elevations, but were not used along the south elevation.

Illustration- 34: Photograph showing a bus garage door along Bellevue Drive elevation on January 10, 1924.

90

Southwest view of the project site from Bellevue Dr. Southeast view of the project site from Bellevue Dr. Northwest view of project site from South Arroyo Prkwy.

Western view of project site from Arroyo Prkwy. North view from inside bay East view from inside bay

Southwest view of Metrolink Rail Northwest view of Metrolink Rail Southern view of Cotton Wood street from Arroyo Pkwy

Illustration- 35: Images of Original Site of Whole Foods Market, Arroyo, Pasadena.

In cooperating with historical preservationists, Ekstrand requested that architects, Irvine,

California-based KTGY Group, Inc., preserve and incorporate the primary components of the

building’s historical architecture (two exterior brick walls and a reconstructed roof monitor with

skylights) into the new structure. Originally, Whole Foods had planned to take only the second floor

91 and a small portion of the ground floor in the 90,000-square foot, two-story structure with a three- level subterranean garage. Finally, though, Whole Foods decided to make this its West Coast flagship store, and leased the entire building. “This is not a typical stucco box like most supermarkets. This is a very different type of building,” says Ekstrand, “with expansive glass, interesting masonry work and a bowed, standing-seam metal roof.” Noting that the project’s cost

with tenant improvements will be in excess of $50 million, he adds, “You don’t typically see this type of architecture in a supermarket. It will capture both automobile commuters and train commuters on their way home and will be the focal point for anyone grocery shopping within 5 miles from there.” 149

Business of Branding

“Supermarket Pastoral” is the term that Michael Pollan uses to describe the experience of shopping at Whole Foods Market. “You walk into that store, and it just looks like a beautiful garden, and there are pictures of organic farmers up on the walls, and little labels that describe how the cow lived that became your milk or your beef, and the cage-free vegetarian hens that got to free range.” 150

To Pollan, Whole Foods is attempting to create the image of a farm in your mind. Much like a Wal-

Mart superstore, the Whole Foods Flagship store provides a one stop for groceries, local produce stands, butcher shop, fish market, and florist. But unlike the retail giant Wal-Mart, the Whole Foods

Flagship store offers a unique combination of the concept of a healthy, organic eatery and supermarket for the customers that seek it. The store offers sit down dining and a wine and Tapas lounge- an entirely new way to look at the grocery shopping experience.

Starting with a single store in Austin, Texas with nineteen original staff members in 1980, the company has now exploded into an empire consisting of 54,000 employees. David Aaker is an

149 Shopping Center Business. “Partnering for success,” May, 2006, http://www.shoppingcenterbusiness.com/articles/MAY06/story46.shtml . Accessed on September 22, 2008. 150 Golson, Blair. Michael Pollan, “Michael Pollan: The Truthdig Interview”, April 11, 2006, http://www.michaelpollan.com/press.php?id=32 . Accessed on September 24, 2008. 92 expert in marketing and he comments on the role of Branding. “Branding adds spirit and soul to

what would otherwise be a robotic, automated, generic price-value proposition.” 151 The Whole

Foods Brand represents grocery stores that provide premium quality food to health and quality- conscious consumers who can afford to pay a slightly higher price than the regular, traditional supermarket. A column in Business Week magazine had this to say when describing the Whole

Foods branded environment, “Counters groan with creamy hunks of artisanal cheese. Medjool dates beckon amid rows of exotic fruit. Savory breads rest near fruit-drenched pastries, and prepared dishes like sesame-encrusted tuna rival what's sold in fine restaurants. Staff people smile, happy to suggest wines that go with a particular cheese, or pause to debate the virtues of peanut butter maltballs. And it's all done against a backdrop of eye-pleasing earth-toned hues and soft lighting.” 152

Illustration- 36: Interior photo of Whole Foods Market, Pasadena, CA.

Whole Foods’ branding pitch is, ‘whole foods, whole people, whole planet.’ Cognitive expert

Edward de Bono advises marketers that attention should be paid to the unique buying state of the customer, which means understand customers' needs and preferences, and identify what will

151 Aaker, David. Brand Portfolio Strategy: Creating Relevance, Differentiation, Energy, Leverage, and Clarity . (New York: Free Press, 2004). 152 Business Week. “Eating Too Fast at Whole Foods,” October 24, 2005, http://yahoo.businessweek.com/magazine/content/05_43/b3956106.htm . Accessed on September 21, 2008. 93 generate value. 153 As noted before, the market for natural and organic foods has increased since the

90s. “The organic industry is growing between 20%–25% annually, analysts say, reaching an estimated $5 billion in 1998. Packaged Facts estimates that about 50% of natural food sales now occur in the mass market, with the majority (45%) in supermarkets.” 154 The strategic positioning of

Whole Foods as a grocer of natural and organic products has been a business success. Clearly, the growth that Whole Foods has experienced over the 90s decade and this decade has catered to the need in the market for natural and organic foods.

“Brand management is an organization-wide process, especially when the brand is a corporate brand. The brand promise must be delivered at each point of contact with the consumer, including customer service lines, retail sales associates etc.” 155 Marketing experts Scott Davis and

Tina Longoria define the concept of a brand touch point. “It is all of the different ways that your brand interacts with and makes an impression on customers, employees and other stakeholders.” 156

Touch points can be product use, packaging, advertising, editorials, movies, store environments, company employees, and casual conversation. Consistency is not only about delivering the promise, but is about the alignment of both internal and external aspects of communication that provides the holistic experience. “Building trust in brand therefore requires consistency over a long period of time.” 157 The brand is reinforced when conveyed in a consistent and integrated manner.

153 See Neumeier, Marty. The Brand Gap. (Indianapolis, Ind.: New Riders Pub., 2003). 154 Escher, Catherine. The U.S. Health and Natural Foods Market . May 2000. Packaged Facts, a Kolorama Information product. 155 VanAuken, Brad. Brand Aid: An easy Reference Guide to Solving your Toughest Branding Problems and Strengthening your Market Position. (New York: American Management Association. 2003). 156 Davis, Scott and Longoria, Tina. “Harmonizing Your ‘Touchpoints’: Consumers may come in contact with your brand on a daily basis. Use each interaction to strengthen their beliefs about your brand ,” January/ February 2003, http://www.prophet.com/downloads/articles/Harmonizing%20Your%20Touchpoints%20(SD%20TL).pdf . Accessed on September 21, 2008. 157 Shaun Smith. “Brand Experience” in Brands and Branding ed. Rita Clifton, John Simmons, Sameena Ahmad. (Princeton, N.J.: Bloomberg Press, 2004) 97-111. 94

Illustration- 37: Branding Touch point Wheel

Media is conventionally the main channel of branding. It can be divided into four main categories. These are two-dimensional media (print, packaging, logo, brochures, catalogues, etc.), three dimensional (in store experience), mass-media (television ad campaigns, internet, etc.), and personal relations and communications (customer service, etc.) The first set of two-dimensional media is effective in visual communication of the ‘identity system’ and help in creating a visual memory of the brand. However it is the mass-media advertising that allows for communicating the nuances of attributes in a strategic way. Although media is the main channel of branding, there are other detrimental aspects of marketing such as advertising, messaging and communication. All contribute to the process of reinforcing the central brand image of its company to investors, customers, suppliers, and employees.

Whole Foods’ webpage is a good indicator of the company’s messaging to its consumers.

Websites and internet marketing is a very prominent method of advertising and messaging by companies. “We continue to experience significant growth and vitality in interactive marketing, media and advertising,” said Randall Rothenberg, president and CEO of the IAB. “We expect

95 growth to continue, as consumers spend more and more time online, and marketers find more – and more innovative – ways to reach them through digital media.” 158

Unlike the website of a typical supermarket that offers coupons or special discounts, Whole

Foods uses its website as a platform to feature meticulously prepared meals, professionally styled and photographed. All this is in an effort to connect the dots between a consumer’s ingredient list and the gourmet meal that results from a visit to the store. It also highlights its involvement and commitment to community, local produce, and a list of stores around the country complete with its trademark green accent band and signage. It also features details about the products they support, quality standards, information about health and nutrition, core values, information about the company, and blogs to connect consumers.

Of the four brand touch points mentioned earlier, mass-media has the potential to influence cognitive processes. Three -dimensional spatial elements have an advantage here. Whether it is in- store designs or tradeshow exhibits, once encountered by consumers, they have the potential to create multi-sensorial experiences that appeal both rationally as well as emotionally. These spatial experiences provide a physical proof of the brand promise and become the basis for a relationship of trust.

Eco-branding

One thing that remains a success among all Whole Foods stores is that their design is successful in connecting to its ‘green’ customers. When consumers, aged 21-29, in Los Angeles,

Miami, New York, and San Francisco were asked which companies were environmentally friendly, they responded unanimously. “Whole Foods was ranked No.1, primarily because it was the first chain that communicated greenness to this crowd. Respondents credited Whole Foods for changing

158 Interactive Advertising Bureau, “Internet Advertising Revenues Up 18.2% YOY, $5.8 Billion for Q1 ’08, Second Highest Quarter Ever”, June 17, 2008, http://www.iab.net/about_the_iab/recent_press_releases/press_release_archive/press_release/339821 . Accessed on September 21, 2008. 96 the way people think about food, packaging and what the food is carried home in, namely reusable sacks.” 159 When it comes to store design and visual graphics, Whole Foods is unusual in the branding industry. Cartis group is the branding company for Whole Foods. The showcased Whole

Foods case study on their website notes that, ‘Whole Foods Market operates a centralized brand but encourages their individual stores to add local flavor to their food, décor and marketing — strengthening the satellite brands but potentially weakening the central brand.” 160 The result was a creation of a central brand visual identity that could be customized for individual regional stores.

Illustration- 38: Branding Whole Foods Market.

Environmental Branding

The Whole Foods corporate headquarters in Austin, Texas is a good case study to get a feel for the brand image in interior design. The store’s interior designer notes that the “aesthetic inspiration for the design solution came from a logical source: farmland.” 161 The drywall panels were manipulated, bold color and patterns were applied, and interesting material and textures to simulate horizontal stratification patters and the color of soil were included. Carpet from the McDonough collection by Shaw, Richlite paper countertops, ‘green’ textiles, and stained concrete floors add

159 Brand Week. “Gen Y's Fave: Whole Foods”, July 27, 2008 , http://www.brandweek.com/bw/content_display/esearch/e3i023cb54210a5a93a7a8f2ccebeb7d54b . Accessed on September 22, 2008. 160 Cartis Group. “Case Studies: Whole Foods Market”, http://www.cartisgroup.com/casestudies/wholefoodsmarket.html . Accessed on September 22, 2008. 161 Journal of Interior Design Volume 31 Issue 3, Pages 62 - 63 Published Online: 2 Jun 2008 2007, Interior Design Educators Council, http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/fulltext/120183578/PDFSTART . Accessed on September 21, 2008. 97 interest to the space and address the project’s sustainability goals. Extensive natural light, green- scaping, and graphics were used in the design to celebrate the company’s ‘roots’ and rich 25-year history.

Illustration- 39: Interior Design: Whole Foods Market Corporate Headquarters.

Stores of this chain are designed with this theme of environmental friendliness. The color green is used for its trademark logo and signage. The stores are distinct throughout the country.

Some use local material of stone, brick, or wood. Others have a sleek feel with the use of glass and lighting that gives a unique sense of lightness. The idea is constant; the material language used is to simulate a local, authentic feel. The environmental stance is reflected in the design of stores. When environmental cues attempt to communicate a branded message to its consumers, it is categorized as emotional branding. Marketing expert, Mace Gobe, says emotion branding is “how a brand engages consumers on the level of the senses and emotions; how a brand comes to life before people and forges a deeper, lasting connection.” 162 When it comes to brand messaging, consumers are exposed to a consistent message from the website to the store’s visual merchandise.

Bruce Horovitz, a reporter at USA Today, explains his experience as, “Temptation by design: The lighting for the produce is the kind used in art galleries. The music is classical. Walk by

162 Gobé, Marc. Emotional Branding; The New Paradigm for Connecting Brands to People . (New York : Allworth Press, 2000). 98 the hot nut section and special fans waft that tummy-teasing smell of roasting nuts your way. The store signs and displays aren't plastic and particle board but a more eco-friendly, woodlike product made from wheat straw.” 163

“Whole Foods offers a psychological absolution of our excesses,” says Jerald Jellison, psychology professor at University of Southern California. “After filling your cart with sinful wine, beer, cheese and breads, you rationalize it's healthy, so that cancels out the negatives.” 164

Whole Foods Corporation

While there are opinions in support of Whole Foods’ sustainable initiatives, the core environmental positions that the company embraces deserve closer analysis. Whole Foods Markets,

Inc. is engaged in both- owning and operating a chain of natural and organic food supermarkets. It is the largest natural foods grocers in the United States. Its stores are supported by regional distribution centers, bake house facilities, commissary kitchens, and seafood-processing facilities, and produce procurement centers, a national meat purchasing office, a confectionary, and a specialty coffee, tea procurement and brewing operation. As of September 30, 2007, Whole Foods Markets,

Inc. operated 276 stores, with approximately 263 stores in thirty-seven U.S. states and the District of

Columbia; as well as seven stores in Canada and six stores in the U.K. 165

Business Model

Whole Foods’ mission is simple. The company is committed to selling the highest quality natural and organic products, looking after its customers and employees, and keeping the earth

163 USA Today. “Money: A Whole New Ballgame in Grocery Shopping”, August 3, 2005, http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/food/2005-03-08-wholefoods-cover-usat_x.htm . Accessed on September 22, 2008. The term “eco-friendly,” is used like the term “environmentally-friendly”-to communicate to consumers that the products and services offered inflicts minimal harm to the environment. Currently there exists no standard for this concept. 164 USA Today. “Money: A Whole New Ballgame in Grocery Shopping”, August 3, 2005. http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/food/2005-03-08-wholefoods-cover-usat_x.htm . Accessed on September 22, 2008. 165 Mergent Online, “Whole Foods Market, Inc. Company Details,” http://www.mergentonline.com/compdetail.asp?company=71872 . Accessed on September 21, 2008. 99 happy in the process. The company’s core values include providing high quality foods that adhere to freshness, taste, nutritive value, and even appearance. These are the reasons for Whole Foods’ success and growth. While the graphics, visual branding, and design of the store successfully communicate the core business position of the company, it is important to note the business model by which Whole Foods operates. Investigative magazine journalist Charles Fishman notes that

“Whole Foods Market is an upscale retailer with a hip twist -- a marketing formula that's worked miracles for ‘lifestyle’ companies such as Ben & Jerry's, Starbucks, and The Body Shop. But how the company positions itself is not nearly as compelling -- or instructive -- as how it manages its operations. Its values are soft-hearted; its competitive logic is hard-headed.” 166 Despite its position as the largest natural-foods grocer in the United States, what stands out as an organization to Fishman is the business’ experiment in democratic capitalism. Fishman notes that the cornerstones of the company’s business model and success have been Empowerment, Autonomy and Teamwork . “There's this notion that you can't be touchy-feely and serious,” says cofounder and CEO John Mackey. “We don't fit the stereotypes. There's plenty of managerial edge in this company -- the culture creates it.” 167

Safeway and Kroger are Whole Foods’ stock market competitors, but local grocers in a region also offer natural and organic foods. “While chains from Trader Joe's to Wegmans Food

Markets, Inc. are catering to the growing interest in organic and gourmet foods, no one has yet to match the ambience and selection of Whole Foods.” 168 Wild Oats, another of Whole Foods’ competitors, was bought by Whole Foods in 2007. With a more laid-back style, Trader Joe’s is positioned as the friendly neighborhood grocery store. The tone of the message that each chain

166 Fishman, Charles. 1996. Whole Foods Is All Teams. Fast Company 2:103 167 Fishman, Charles. 1996. Whole Foods Is All Teams. Fast Company 2:103 168 Business Week. “Eating Too Fast at Whole Foods,” October 24, 2005, http://yahoo.businessweek.com/magazine/content/05_43/b3956106.htm . Accessed on September 21, 2008. 168 See Neumeier, Marty. The Brand Gap. (Indianapolis, Ind.: New Riders Pub., 2003). 100 sends their customers is different. The Trader Joe’s website greets customers with a ‘Aloha!,’ with an endorsement of their products that reads, ‘Our Products Rock!’ If you are looking for directions to a

Trader Joe’s store, their website will ask you a simple ‘Where the heck are you?’ Apart from the difference in tone, the main difference in the two chains is the difference in company values. Trader

Joe’s holds that it promotes local foods, cuts out the middleman at every opportunity, and is not out to make a richer CEO. Whole Foods, on the other hand, holds tight to its core value of “creating

wealth through profits and growth.” 169

Despite successful branding strategies that connect to customers, employees, and stakeholders of the grocery store, the question remains what core values does a company truly have? How do these

values include the very people that their marketing targets to connect, and further how does it impact them? Brands, in the eyes of journalist and activist Naomi Klein, are the chosen weapon of the global nihilists- because they offer the illusion of choice to those who have the money, level of literacy, and available information to make purchase decisions. They create greater waste. “There is something undeniably seductive about these branded worlds. It has to do, I think, with the genuine thrill of utopianism, or the illusion of it at any rate. It's worth remembering that the branding process begins with a group of people sitting around a table trying to conjure up an ideal image.” 170

Are Brands Accountable Institutions?

Rita Clifton, Chairman of Interbrand, a global brand consultancy firm, argues that “brands are the ultimate accountable institution.” 171 She emphasizes that brands create substantial social as

well as economic value because of increased competition and pressure on brand owners to behave ethically and in socially responsible ways owing to their own economic interests. Through

169 Whole Foods Market. http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/ . Accessed on September 22, 2008. 170 Klein, Noami. No Logo: No Space, No Choice, No Jobs (New York: Picador USA, 2000). 171 See Clifton, Rita, Simmons, John and Ahmad, Sameena. Brands and Branding (Princeton, NJ: Bloomberg Press, 2003). 101 competition it fosters improvement and development of products and services. 172 Organizations

voluntarily take further steps to improve the quality of life for employees and their families as well as for the local community and society at large by a concept in business termed as Corporate Social

Responsibility 173 or CSR.

CSR is a concept whereby organizations consider the interests of society by taking responsibility for the impact of their activities on customers, suppliers, employees, shareholders, communities and other stakeholders, as well as the environment. This obligation is seen to extend beyond the statutory obligation to comply with legislation. Supporters argue that there is a strong business case for CSR, in that corporations benefit in multiple ways by operating with a perspective broader and longer than their own immediate, short-term profits. Critics argue that CSR distracts from the fundamental economic role of businesses. Others argue that it is nothing more than superficial window-dressing. Still others argue that it is an attempt to preempt the role of governments as a watchdog over powerful, multinational corporations. The retailer Target, for example, explicitly announces its dedication and commitment to serve the community. They advertise their strategy in the realm of social, environmental, and economic well-being. Kohl’s advertises its commitment to environmental conservation in every check-out registry. The mainstream know-how and adaptation to creating efficient systems is an interpretation that these stores represent. The social or cultural participation and community involvement are within the constructs as established by our contemporary consumer society.

On its website Whole Foods lists its core values as “Selling the highest quality natural and organic products available, satisfying and delighting our customers, supporting team member happiness and excellence, creating wealth through profits & growth, caring about our communities

172 See Clifton, Rita, Simmons, John and Ahmad, Sameena. Brands and Branding (Princeton, NJ: Bloomberg Press, 2003). 173 See Grayson, David and Hodges, Adrian. Corporate Social Opportunity! Seven Steps to Make Corporate Social Responsibility Work for your Business (Greenleaf Publishing, 2004). 102

& our environment and creating ongoing win-win partnerships with their suppliers.” 174 The altruistic motto of Whole Foods Market is also listed on The Corporate Social Responsibility Newswire as

‘Whole Foods, Whole People, Whole Planet’(TM) captures the company's mission to “find success in customer satisfaction and wellness, employee excellence and happiness, enhanced shareholder

value, community support and environmental improvement.” 175

Whole Foods promotes community citizenship and allows its consumers to participate in an

Our Community 5% Days event where an allotted 5% of the day’s profits are donated to local nonprofits. Further, Whole Foods’ social and environmental positions are spelled out on their

website. An entire section is even dedicated to animal welfare. Fact sheets highlight the basics of organics and genetically engineered foods and the company’s support of seafood sustainability. A

Green Action section has online resources for assisting in environmental renewal efforts as well as articles on how to ‘green up your life’ and a blog that encourages posting of green tips.

Adhering to core values, Whole Foods offers education on the topic. There are podcasts on topics ranging from cleaning tips to skin care advice, a nutritional reference library, and a parent- friendly section for kids and babies that suggests how to add more fruits and vegetables to children’s cuisine. It also outlines ingredients and spices used in other cultures in a section called the ‘Hungry minds.’

In April 2007, the company launched its ‘Whole Trade Guarantee,’ a label that deepens its commitment to the Fair Trade Movement. Fair Trade is a consumer-driven movement that promotes fair global market prices, reasonable working conditions, and sustainable development for economically disadvantaged producers of primary goods in developing regions. The movement advocates strict social and environmental standards in the production of a wide range of goods,

174 Whole Foods Market. http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/ . Accessed on September 22, 2008. 175 CSR Wire. “Corporate Social Responsibility Profile: Whole Foods Market, Inc.”, http://www.csrwire.com/profile/1954.html . Accessed on September 22, 2008. 103 especially exported coffee, cocoa, sugar, tea, bananas, honey, cotton, wine, fresh fruit, and flowers from developing countries to industrialized ones. The Whole Trade Guarantee is a buying program that emphasizes products from developing countries matching the criteria important to the socially responsible Fair Trade movement. These include fair prices for crops, higher wages, better working conditions for workers, and environmentally sound practices. Whole Foods says that it ultimately hopes more than half of its imported products from the developing world will get the Whole Trade label within ten years. In the long term, it hopes all such products will fall under the program, which

Trans Fair USA and the Rainforest Alliance will help to certify. 176

“Brands are often deemed to have a quality of ‘transferability,’ in that they “have the ability to transfer consumer loyalty between products, services and categories over time and to separate it from tangible production.” 177 Whole Foods participates in other projects that are beneficial to the larger community and environment. Whole Planet Foundation (WPF), a non-profit foundation providing grants to microfinance institutions in Latin America, Africa, and Asia, to help plant seeds of prosperity through micro-lending programs to help contribute to the eradication of global poverty. Promoting ‘green action’ or an option to make environmentally responsible choices as retailers, a commitment to purchasing renewable energy, green building, promoting organic agriculture and farming, biodegradable food packaging, biodiesel for their truck fleets, , right down to green cleaning supplies and printing practices. This fuels customer and stakeholder loyalty to Whole Foods as a grocery store and the brands that it supports.

While typical consumers in Whole Foods is engaged in a mode of buying food, they can also sustain the notion that they are engaged in authentic experiences of buying produce that is organic, natural, and local. While the organic movement of thirty years in the past now seems to be a big

176 The Motley Fool. “The Fair’s Fair at Whole Foods,” April 2, 2007, http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2007/04/02/fairs-fair-at-whole-foods.aspx . Accessed on September 22, 2008. 177 Haigh, David. Brand Valuation: Understanding, Exploiting and Communicating Brand Values (London: Financial Times, 1998). 104 business, a handful of farms supply their produce to Whole Foods. Pollan calls attention to the fact that in recent years Whole Foods has adopted the grocery industry’s standard regional distribution system and supporting small farms is not that practical. Big warehouses buy produce for dozens of stores at a time, which forces them to deal exclusively with big farms. In fact, two big corporate organic growers in California, Earthbound Farm and Grimmway Farms, are Whole Foods’ suppliers.

The Hidden Program Scorecard

The hidden program of the store follows the same logic as a typical supermarket. The

‘Factory Farm’ in this context changes to ‘Cal-organic Farm.’ 178 With the exception of some stores that buy local produce, Whole Foods is increasingly following the laws of production of traditional farms and food must still be transported thousands of miles to Whole Foods locations. People are still removed from the process of planting and growing, much like the experience of a typical supermarket. With a growing business and an increasing number of stores being opened, Whole

Foods’ ability to manage its supply-chain becomes a greater issue similar to most other retail grocery chains. It has eleven geographic divisions, each boasting its own autonomy and handling its own store network. This works for a regional player, but a company that aspires to have $10 billion in annual sales within the next few years requires a more centralized strategy. Right now, everything from transportation to product sourcing is local. They do not have a professional supply chain reported a consultant to Business Week Magazine. 179 Whole Foods is working on these logistical issues, but faces less pressure to be efficient because of premium prices. Whole Foods’ Chief

Executive John Mackey stresses that Whole Foods is not supply-chain driven. Quality of food that is affected by government subsidies to the agri-industry does not hold in this case.

178 Pollans call both Earthbound and Grimmway Farms ‘Ubiquitous’ organic brands in supermarkets. 179 Business Week. “Eating Too Fast at Whole Foods,” October 24, 2005, http://yahoo.businessweek.com/magazine/content/05_43/b3956106.htm . Accessed on September 21, 2008. 105

The national corporate ownership remains in the same context of the hidden program of a typical supermarket. This is the main issue in this case study, albeit a tricky one. While Whole Foods is owned by a corporate company, the trade practices that it engages in and the CSR efforts tends to

work in favor of a scale that measures community wellbeing that it has to offer. Some of its sourcing is local and this is indicated by its advertising, consumer responses, and reports. Its business operations, however, are corporate in nature. In a separate controversial press release by the

Washington Post, a mistaken leak by the Food Trade Commission (FTC) to a public court revealed some company trade secrets of Whole Foods. The FTC had objected to Whole Foods’ $565 million take over of Wild Oats Markets (a competitor to Whole Foods) in mid-2007. Among some of the details that were not meant to be released were information of how Whole Foods negotiates with suppliers to drive up Wal-Mart’s costs. Pollan goes on to say that while Whole Foods advertises the message of supporting local farmers, their business practices follow requirements of any chain of their scale and size. 180

Implications in Sustainable Architecture

The treatment of the site and the architecture as responsive to the local conditions of transit, scale, and materials used in the store on the exterior are all in keeping with this commercial district.

The eco-technic approach to sustainable architecture holds when it comes to the technological strategies in design. Despite being LEED certified, the excess lighting, cooling, and adherence to the same standards to keep the food fresh and the feeling of security that consumers have come to expect of grocery stores is unchanged. This is the norm and expectations of the design of a food facility.

An eco-cultural approach to design exists in the treatment of historic, transit, and local contextual issues. The Pasadena Whole Foods store, like other stores in this chain, is built with

180 See Pollan, Michael. The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals. (New York: Penguin Press, 2006). 106 considerations to the local history and conditions. Located in an historic and commercial district, it responds to the high-density requirement of Arroyo. It manages to integrate alternative modes of transportation. Working with the city, it retained parts of the existing building and some of its architectural features to create a contemporary, fully functioning facility.

In terms of the internal organization, a supporter of the supermarket model of rows of shelved products cannot be a critic of the Pasadena Whole Foods. In fact, it is the very opposite, “with its

30-foot ceilings and endless aisles, 280 subterranean parking spots and all those TVs flickering day and night, this place is neither. It’s more like the grocery store version of a hybrid SUV made by

Lexus or a 12,000-square-foot ‘green’ house with a swimming pool and six-car garage accompanying its solar panels and sustainably harvested decking.”181 The critique of the modern supermarket layout has taken a whole new dimension. The layout by no means discourages social interaction. In fact, amenities and equipment that encourages modern day consumer social interaction are implemented.

The question that could be asked is how successful are these opportunities of social interaction?

What roles do lifestyle or economic affordability play and are they restrictive? Does the use of technological innovations as a magnet to consumers, who are also local residents in the community, qualify as an Eco-Social approach in Guy and Farmer’s logics of sustainable architecture as a force that brings the community together, be it in a non-democratic process?

Sustainable Architecture Transcends Boundaries

Not everyone views the issue similarly. Commenting on environmentalism, “When large, profit-minded organizations with corporate philosophies seemingly as diverse as Whole Foods and

Wal-Mart embrace the same issue, you can be fairly certain the idea has transcended social, political

181 Los Angeles Times. “The Green Giant Whole Foods’ Local Flagship: The Supermarket as Hybrid SUV”, April 6, 2008, http://articles.latimes.com/2008/apr/06/magazine/tm-space6 . Accessed on September 22, 2008.

107 and cultural boundaries” 182 notes Mary Ann Lazarus, senior vice president and firm-wide sustainable design director at HOK. Her take is that concerns for the environment have evolved into a mainstream movement. These include concerns about climate change, rising energy costs, and the dwindling supply of natural resources, and have encouraged green ideas in the United States and throughout the world. The facilities arena has seen the most growth in environmentalism. According to the USGBC, more than eight hundred projects have been certified under LEED in less than ten years and more than 4,600 projects are registered to pursue certification. The USGBC, she notes, has an ambitious goal of achieving 10,000 LEED certified projects by 2010.

The criticism that this store faces is in the excess and exuberance in design that a company founded on environmental interests exhibits. While promoting green principles on a corporate and local level, the fundamental issue to be reconciled is to identify the limits of a corporate grocery chain adhering to green issues. How can a company stretch its store design to appeal to its consumers to increase sales while at the same time promote environmental ideas based on conservation and the commonsense approach of ‘less is more’ to increase any mode of efficiency

(energy, water etc.)?

While the company was founded on a core value of providing consumers with high quality natural and organic food options, its growth has been phenomenal in the past decade and a half.

Located on the same street as its main competition in the region of Trader Joe’s, the Pasadena store is also close to the train station and is accessible by pedestrians in the neighborhood. The scale and location of this retail is reflective of the commercial district in which it is situated. High-density,

walkable neighborhoods aside, when Whole Foods are located in commercial shopping malls they are considered a major anchor store and follow all rules of retail chains. Large planes of asphalt parking to support the auto-dependant consumers contribute to warming the micro-climate.

182 Many Ways for Facilities to go Green. http://www.facilitiesnet.com/bom/article.asp?id=6653 . Accessed on September 22, 2008. 108

Los Angeles Times staff writer Christopher Hawthorne takes the criticism of this store one step further in labeling the Pasadena store’s magnitude, extravagance, and excess as Vegas with organic,

gluten-free scones. He elaborates his experience in the store as follows: “The Whole Foods regional flagship in Pasadena, designed by the KTGY Group in Santa Monica, is an architectural monument to this idea [consumers want to buy healthy food but are not willing to compromise the excess].

Along with the Ecolution hemp shopping bags for $7.49 and the ‘Certified Organic’ cotton candy near the checkout aisle, the store has a salsa bar, a coffee bar, a nut bar, a noodle bar, a tapas bar

with 20 wines by the glass, a soup bar, a pudding bar and a charcuterie. And a chocolate fountain.

There is a sign promising ‘custom butters,’ the first time I have seen that word in the plural. On the

Sunday I visited, a group was settling down in the center of the second floor, just behind the pizza oven and not far from the roast-beef carving station, for a full-blown Champagne brunch. TVs hang everywhere so you can watch PGA golf (that's what was on when I was there) while you pick out fair-trade roses from Ecuador.” 183

Global Concerns with Local Realities

In 2006, Whole Foods wanted to open a 55,000-square-foot grocery store in downtown

Eugene, an area that city leaders have struggled to revitalize for years, but faced resistance from a

vocal contingent of local business owners and residents who made it clear that a publicly traded company was not welcome. One of their main concerns was that the company would force local stores out of business. They worried, too, that Whole Foods wouldn’t buy goods from local producers. 184 On September 24, 2008, Whole Foods announced that it would not go forth with the plan because of rising costs of construction and issues with parking. Browsing through University of

183 Los Angeles Times. “Pasadena’s Whole Foods Market: Is It Sustainable Design?”, April 6, 2008, http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/arts/la-tm-space6apr06,0,4087745.story . Accessed on September 22, 2008. 184 Organic Consumers Association. “Community Opposes Natural Foods Giant Whole Foods Building New Store in Eugene, Oregon,” May 28, 2006, http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_578.cfm . Accessed on September 22, 2008. 109

Oregon students’ blogs and other resident blog sites, it is clear that a Whole Foods store is not perceived the way a Wal-Mart store is in a community. “I believe the argument against Whole Foods

was that it was sustainable, but not local. (That's what I recall from reporting a few months ago).

Personally speaking, the line between conscious activism and perfect being the enemy of the good, is

when you can't distinguish between a company that's very bad for the local community (cough--Wal-

Mart--cough), and one that's good, but perhaps not AS good as another alternative. Whole Foods is expensive, from Texas, and much more megacorporate than it likes to let on. But if that's the worst you can say about them...?” 185

Whole Foods is a leader among its peers of chain grocery stores and branded retail chains in adopting corporate social responsibility and other ethical practices in the business. This study reveals the inherent challenges a corporation faces to sustain an ethical business. Local concerns, ecological place-making, culture, and other concerns are in conflict with corporate goals. It has been echoed in this study that there was more enthusiasm generated in the company when it was a single store with its initial method of conducting business that, after years of success, has led to the growth and success of the firm. As the chain store has gotten larger, however, we see a dilution of some of its practices and core business values to resemble typical corporations and the way they conduct business. Pollan sadly notes, “the organic movement was conceived as a critique of industrial values, surely there comes a point when the process of industrialization will cost organic its soul, when

Supermarket Pastoral becomes more fiction than fact: another lie told by marketers.” 186

185 Blue Oregon. http://www.blueoregon.com/2006/06/the_green_in_eu.html . Accessed on September 22, 2008. 186 Pollan, Michael. The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals. (New York: Penguin Press, 2006). 110

Chapter 7

The Benchmark Approach: Corporate Social Responsibility, Green-washing- Wal-Mart

Supercenter

Wal-Mart Adopts Greener Practices

“The healthiest foods in the supermarket are the very quiet fruits and vegetables, which don’t carry health claims” 187 notes Michael Pollen. In October 2005, CEO Lee Scott presented an environmental plan to boost energy efficiency, increase organic food sales, and reduce waste and greenhouse gases emissions. Clearly the premise or fundamental founding idea of both Whole Foods and Wal-Mart are different. Whole Foods is a business founded on an initial concept of providing customers an alternative to food in regular supermarkets- quality food that is farm fresh, organic, and natural. Wal-Mart’s inception was based on providing customers with products of the lowest price.

Illustration- 40: Wal-Mart site access from the highway.

Journalist Charles Fishman explains the overwhelming impact of the world’s largest company. “Wal-Mart has become a kind of economic ecosystem and anyone who wants to understand the forces shaping our world today must understand the company’s hidden reach.” 188

187 Pollan, Michael. The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals. (New York: Penguin Press, 2006). 188 Fishman, Charles. The Wal-Mart Effect: How the World’s Most Powerful Company Really Works- and How It’s Transforming the American Economy (New York: The Penguin Press, 2006). 111

Due to its drive to always provide its consumers with the lowest price in retail, it has adopted means that have been relentless in influencing employees, manufacturers, and retailers. Issues that Fishman bring to light include its labor practices, including long work hours, locking in employees, sex discrimination lawsuits, sweatshop lawsuits, and issues involving vacation time constraints. He also articulates Wal-Mart’s impact in global factories, including child labor and questionable codes of conduct exhibited by manufacturers. Wal-Mart’s environmental impact, both good and bad, is a force powerful enough to save large forests with a single packaging decision and one that sets the standards for salmon farming among its competitor retailers. Fishman articulates how the world’s largest corporation that is based on the principle of saving its consumers money on products, changes the world, causes difficulties, changes consumer price perceptions, consumer’s view of themselves, and market capitalism.

Amidst the negative press on its massive impact on the environment, Wal-Mart CEO Lee

Scot announced to his employees that, “Every company has a responsibility to reduce greenhouse gases as quickly as it can. He announced that Wal-Mart would reduce the greenhouse gas emission caused by its existing stores 20 percent by 2012. Wal-Mart still opens five (stores) a week in the

United States alone- (these stores) would be designed to use 30 percent less energy before 2010.

Wal-Mart opened two experimental stores, in McKinney, Texas and Aurora, Colorado that touted all kinds of environmental innovations: water-permeable pavement in the parking lots, solar- and wind- generated electricity...” 189

Sustainable initiatives of Wal-Mart included both strategies that address store design, supply chain and truck transportation, and other factors that have been proven to directly impact the environment. Scott told reporters that the world's largest retailer had to be a ‘good steward for the

189 Fishman, Charles. The Wal-Mart Effect: How the World’s Most Powerful Company Really Works- and How It’s Transforming the American Economy (New York: The Penguin Press, 2006). 112 environment’ and believed that adopting greener practices would also be good for business by cutting costs.

An Experiment in Environmentally Efficient Building: Aurora Wal-Mart

In November 2005, Wal-Mart announced the opening of its second experimental store,

which was LEED certified, incorporated eco-friendly technologies, and was featured in Building

Green. The new Wal-Mart building would contribute to the formation of a new prototype that will be 25-30 percent more efficient and produce 30% less greenhouse gas emissions than current stores

would. 190 Wal-Mart is the largest grocery retailer in the United States. The Wal-Mart Supercenters are

hypermarkets with an average size of 200,000 square feet. In addition to stocking everything that a

regular Wal-Mart store stocks, it offers a full service supermarket including meat, poultry, baked

goods, delicatessens, frozen foods, diary products, garden and fresh produce, and fresh seafood. The

brand positioning of Wal-Mart is ‘save money- live better.’ Wal-Mart provides basic groceries and

everyday necessities to thousands of Americans nationwide. In 2002, it was listed for the first time as

America's largest corporation on the Fortune 500 list, with revenues of $219.8 billion and profits of

$6.7 billion. It has remained there every year, except for 2006. 191 This Supercenter was built with the

intent to serve as the store representative for the current version of Supercenters that are being built

around the world at a rate of about one every day.

190 See Wal-Mart. “News Room”, http://walmartstores.com/FactsNews/NewsRoom/5484.aspx 191 CNN Money. “Fortune”, April 16, 2007, http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2007/fortune/0707/gallery.global500_top25.fortune/index.html . Accessed on July 15, 2007. 113

Illustration- 41: Aurora Wal-Mart: Exterior Photos.

Site

Located off of highway I-70, this store is like any big-box Wal-Mart warehouse that is typical of its 2,477 supercenters around the United States. 192 It is a single story, 206,000 square feet, big- box retail, and new construction building in a suburban setting. It is a full-service Wal-Mart that offers customers everything from groceries, beauty aids, electronics, tires, and everything in between.

Wal-Mart is one of the largest global retail companies in the world. The Aurora, Colorado Wal-Mart store was designed to feature more than fifty experiments set to affect future Wal-Marts. These experiments range from integrated pest management and bio-based interior finishes to efficient lighting systems and displacement ventilation. The roof is flat with three large southern-angled saw tooth-shaped sections that rise from the main roof plane. These sections hold the solar electric collectors on their south-facing surfaces and provide day lighting through clerestory windows on their vertical north-facing surfaces.

192 As of January 31, 2008, there were 2,447 Wal-Mart Supercenters in the United States. See Wal-Mart Stores. “Investors”, http://walmartstores.com/Investors/ . Accessed on September 22, 2008. 114

Illustration- 42: Aurora Wal-Mart: Photos.

This store’s description exhibits an elaborate list of ‘product features,’ including construction, materials, space conditioning and ventilation, refrigeration efficiency, and lighting efficiency features. The various engineering systems of this store are obviously very well worked out, adhering to baselines set out by the USGBC. The process of construction involving various members of design, construction, city officials, and even customers is also a model from which to learn. If seen as a product, the specifications of this store has been meticulously crafted and executed to be ‘environmentally responsive’ insofar as the technology of its engineering systems are

115 concerned. However, what begs to be examined is the store’s impact in sustainable architecture.

Further, what implications does planning of this nature have on society?

Eco-branding and Green-Washing

As an expert on architectural and sustainability issues, author Adrian Parr comments on the term eco-branding. To Parr, there is an active investment by consumers in green products, environmentally sound consumer activities, and socially sustainable ways of life. “As the social field begins to invest its energies in buying and supporting sustainable initiatives… this energy is a very real resource that can be exploited and reterritorialized onto the production-consumption model defining the axiomatic of capital. This is how eco-branding works.” 193 Parr explains that corporate

companies use the concept of the brand, but in a way so as to portray themselves as environmentally

responsible.

Eco-branding identifies interests as expressed by consumers and further codifies them. Parr

explains that it recognizes largely productive social energies and affects that find investment in

sustainability causes and taps into them to benefit the bottom line of the company. Green washing,

she explains, “is the method that large corporations use to preserve or expand their markets but in a

way that is fundamentally different from their capitalistic motives.” 194 Wal-Mart claims responsibility

to reduce greenhouse gasses and be environmentally responsible in the way that they build and

supply goods, when at the same time adopting practices in business that are inherently unsustainable.

Seen as a brand, Wal-Mart positions itself in a way that the consumers can find causes to remain

loyal customers with the reasoning that the company is good for the environment. Thus, consumer

interest that is invested in sustainable causes is reterritorialized onto the model that Wal-Mart

functions, which is the production-consumption model of the corporation.

193 Parr, Adrian. Hijacking Sustainability: Capitalism, Militarism and the Struggle for Collective Life (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, forthcoming). 194 Parr, Adrian. Hijacking Sustainability: Capitalism, Militarism and the Struggle for Collective Life (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, forthcoming). 116

Environmental Goals as defined by Corporations

In addressing the issue of what the legitimate expectations and responsibilities for corporations are as far as environmental goals are concerned, authors Bruce Hay, Robert Stavens, and Richard Vietors outline three perspectives: legal, economic, and corporate perspectives. 195 They reveal that corporate managers have wide latitude in discretionary spending. Hence, spending on the environment is similar to philanthropic donations, potentially profit-enhancing or at minimum difficult to show as being non-profit enhancing. Managers are assumed to know best and hence there is latitude allowed by law to let business judgment rule. An economic perspective of CSR outlined by the authors stress that the spending needs to exceed the minimum activities required by law and regulation. Doing more is a loose concept, but one that leads to partitioning. Two questions important to business are the normative “does it pay?” dimension and a positive “should it be done anyway?” dimension.

Corporate Social Responsibility

Business scholars Hay, Stavens, and Vietors note that in business, the evaluation of CSR in the “does it pay?” dimension is easily disposed of. In fact, there is no consistent evidence it does. A principal reason for this is the difficulty of quantifying environmental enhancements as well as the

variety of empirical techniques used in the sizable literature valuing firms. The positive dimension question, “should it be done anyway?,” results in the logic that if CSR might be efficiency-enhancing, even if not clearly profitable in corporate terms, yield a negative answer- for large expenditures at least.

Hay, Stavens, and Vietors also note that very little is as yet tied to consumer preferences. In particular, about 60% of British consumers have looked for products with ethical qualities and only

195 Bruce, Hay L, Stavens, Robert N, Vietor, Richard H. K. eds. Environmental Protection and the Social Responsibility of Firms: Perspectives from Law, Economics and Business . (Washington, DC: Resources for the Future, 2005).

117

5% have done so on a consistent basis. Another example is the lack of knowledge about the relationship between environmental performance and private production costs. “Every corporation has not only a legal character, but also a form of social character, that is, the character of public expectations of corporate performance. These expectations derive from the current set of societal

values and national goals; and, as these values and goals change so too will the social character of the corporation.” 196 The connection that needs to be made is the interaction between environmental standards and standard setting. If government regulation is responsible for most environmental improvements in recent decades, and regulations set the bar by which CSR is measured, then it is those regulations that are important. Yet, the private sector has a major and direct involvement in standard setting. In such settings, the true meaning of “social” is unclear.

There is a need for an expanded role of corporations and a more complex role that they undertake in corporate social responsibilities. Mainstream green building itself has established itself recently and in light of this corporate social agenda. There is a need to encompass considerations of local and regional design that step out of the comfort of a set process of creating a prototypical base

with no connection to societal and cultural realities of place. Learning from other LEED certified examples might help redefine the tight model that promotes mass productions of warehouse artifacts.

The commercial building market includes a diverse mix of structures and purposes – from small retail establishments to corporate office parks, from neighborhood schools to regional hospitals, and from multi-family apartment buildings to universities. Despite their differences, commercial buildings share a large and growing appetite for energy. They account for 18 percent of total U.S. energy consumption. 197 The U.S. Department of Energy acknowledges that new high-

196 Day, V. B. Business Priorities in a Changing Environment Journal of General Management in 1973. P. 48 197 U. S. Department of Energy. Commercial Buildings, “Building Types,” http://www1.eere.energy.gov/buildings/commercial/building_type.html . Accessed on September 15, 2008. 118 performance retail buildings can consume up to fifty percent less energy than comparable buildings.

According to the Energy Information Administration, there were an estimated 1,289,000 retail and service buildings in the U.S. in 1995, 198 of which strip malls, enclosed malls, and other retail constitute 55% or 704,000 buildings. 199 The percentages and numbers have only risen since then.

Finally, with evolving technologies of online retail, drive-through conveniences, mail orders, direct marketing, and other possibilities, the accepted formal treatments of big-box stores need to be challenged.

Implications of E-commerce in Shopping for Organic Foods

E-commerce is an up and coming trend in retail that might impact environmental implication of retail buildings. Simply put, e-commerce is the online transaction of business, featuring linked computer systems of the vendor, host, and buyer. 200 Standardized items that consumers are either familiar with or can choose online can be bought online. Recent studies conducted on the impact of e-commerce on the environment suggest that E-Commerce sales have a cost advantage and environmental benefits. 201 The website Local Harvest offers a list of farmers' markets, family farms, and other sources of organically grown food in an area where consumers can buy produce, grass-fed meats, and many other organic products. This is a response to the fact that people worldwide are becoming more aware and rediscovering the benefits of buying local food.

The website claims that “It is fresher than anything in the supermarket and that means it is tastier

198 Energy Information Administration. “Official Energy Statistics from the U. S. Government,” http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/consumptionbriefs/cbecs/pbawebsite/retailserv/retserv_contents.htm . Accessed on September 15, 2008. 199 Energy Information Administration. “Official Energy Statistics from the U. S. Government,” http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/consumptionbriefs/cbecs/pbawebsite/retailserv/retserv_contents.htm . Accessed on September 15, 2008. 200 U. S. Government Export Portal. “E-Commerce Toolbox”, http://www.export.gov/sellingonline/whatisecommerce.asp . Accessed on August 17, 2008. 201 The Net Effect. “Environmental Implications of E-Commerce and Logistics,” http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/iel5/7364/19985/00924525.pdf?arnumber=924525 . Accessed on August 17, 2008. 119 and more nutritious. It is also good for your local economy--buying directly from family farmers helps them stay in business.” 202

At this point, it is important to note that inherent in a Wal-Mart supercenter is the problem of big-box design. Large flat planes of asphalt are both an eyesore and contribute to issues related to environmental warming and flash floods. The problem created by big-box design is further compounded by the number of stores that are left vacant when new ones in the region are built.

Further, the implications of large warehouses that neither have nor reflect the cultural significance of the place contributes to a homogeneous environment with minimal humanistic connection.

It is also important to acknowledge the restriction in planning and scale as imposed by regulations and legislation. In particular, big-box retail enterprises and megastores are criticized for their lack of compatibility in scale with pedestrian-oriented neighborhoods. “The issue of megastore monopolization transcends the scope of any design theory.” 203 The creation of auto-dependent suburban conditions some attribute to a condition that caters to consumer preferences. Developers, in part, contribute to the condition of suburbia today. In theory, real-estate markets are exquisitely sensitive to consumer choice. 204 Urban design professor Cliff Ellis notes that consumers preferred the comfort of scale and space as long as their transportation and auto-dependency was affordable.

Building design in this experiment does not undergo a radical rethinking. The ‘big-box’ format that the store adopts functions fundamentally as a warehouse to store merchandise. Fishman notes, “The stores are so large- they do not fade away into the landscape the way that Starbucks and

Mc Donald’s do. The stores sit on vast aprons of asphalt parking, usually at a slightly different grade from the nearby roads, so they look dug into the ground or popped out of it. Wal-Mart stores are not just big inside; they present big, flat planes of concrete- sides and roofs- which catch the eye

202 Local Harvest. http://www.localharvest.org/ . Accessed on September 22, 2008. 203 Shils, Edward. The Shils Report: Measuring the Economic and Sociological Impact of the Mega-Retail Discount Chains on Small Enterprise in Urban, Suburban, and Rural Communities (Philadelphia, PA, Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, 1997). 204 Ellis, Cliff (2002). The New Urbanism: Critiques and Rebuttals , Journal of Urban Design, 7:3, 261 — 291. 120 because they are out of scale. You do not pass a Wal-Mart without noticing it. The stores have a gravitational force, bending the land, the circulation, the rhythms of the communities where they are planted.” 205

The issues of mass and scale that is maintained irrespective of community or local culture is a challenge that the design of the Wal-Mart store faces with trying to homogenize regional experiences with the setting up of the prototype. The warehouse format ignores the logic of every building being an “unnatural form of pure consumption interrupting the natural cycles of nature.” 206

Wal-Mart’s ecological footprint per store remains the same or even more, with no consideration or thought given to the fact that built form and parking lot form concrete planes that prevent natural cycles of interaction of soil, sun, and water.

Implications in Sustainable Architecture

Is it important to evaluate what impact a corporation and building of this sort has on the place where it is built. What are the larger implications on the constructs of culture, people, and place? Wal-Mart retains existing prototypes of store format, but integrates new methods of construction much like Guy and Farmer’s Eco-technic logic which assumes that “existing institutions can internalize and respond to ecological concerns and what is required is an integrative approach in which science, technology, and management take account of the environmental impacts of development.” 207 The Aurora Wal-Mart’s design, with impressive engineering experiments in building systems to improve efficiency, uses technology and an integrative design team to manage

205 Fishman, Charles. The Wal-Mart Effect: How the World’s Most Powerful Company Really Works- and How It’s Transforming the American Economy (New York: The Penguin Press, 2006). 206 Rees, William and Wackernagle, Mathis. Our Ecological Footprint: Reducing Human Impact on the Earth (Canada: New Society Publishers, 1996). 207 Guy, Simon and Farmer, Graham. Reinterpreting Sustainable Architecture: The Place of Technology. JAE Volume 54, Issue 3 , Pages 140 – 148. 121 the process of design, and approaches sustainability as a “progressive process of innovation [that] mitigates the adverse effects of development.” 208

Entities relevant to the local ecology like the plants in a particular region that facilitate xeriscape techniques including native grass prairie, urban forest, and , have been effectively integrated in the store design. As in the case of the engineering equipment in the store, the information facilitating xeriscaping is easily coded and hence this is a technique that Wal-Mart has successfully integrated in the design. Other codifiable information integrated in the design is the use of skylight techniques and the selection of materials in construction.

Ownership is a critical aspect of building and, owing to its corporate structure, the underpinning interests are visibly in conflict. The issue of sustainability is addressed in an eco- technical framework of logic as a corporation taking responsibility for sustainable issues and addressing it in the context that reflects environmental, technological and management concerns.

The creation of Wal-Mart realty, a website that features a frequently updated list of all available properties, is indicative of the corporate approach to recycling real estate. In addition to offering information regarding exact location, square footage, and listing status, each listing links to more detailed building information, a marketing package (which often includes site photos, location maps, and floor plans), and demographic information in five, ten, and fifteen mile radii from the site. While the issue of corporate responsibility is definitely addressed, what is lacking is an effort to promote a sense of place or creation of a context in the community.

Strategic considerations in lighting that contribute to better living environments, consumer and store staff comfort add to the list of incorporated technological innovations used in building construction. This strain of logic is reflective of a trend in the industry that follows the eco-medical logic that outlines the benefits of living in a healthy environment. This follows the eco-technical

208 Blowers, Andrew. Environmental Policy: Ecological Modernisation or the Risk Society? , Urban Studies 34/5-6 (1996)” 853. 122 logic in incorporating technology and even justifying the increasing use of technology in building to increase the well-being of occupants. Wal-Mart does admit that in addition to providing better quality of health for its employees, day lighting techniques facilitate saving money, which in turn cycles to saving the consumers money. “During the day, the skylights flood a Wal-Mart store with natural light; they give the store, and the shopping experience, a sense of calm. The skylights not only make the stores more appealing, they also save Wal-Mart money by reducing the electric bill.” 209

In its selection of materials for the store, Wal-Mart uses direct principles of green design that render the materials used in the building energy efficient.

The contrast in Wal-Mart’s approach to building in a locality can be attributed to the corporate setup of Wal-Mart that is fundamentally non-democratic: rather than engage residents of a community in a process that connects, energizes, and affects to provide jobs or engage residents.

Stores are products of a corporate function that ignores local cultures of the particular place or people. In responding to standards set by the USGBC and attaining LEED certification, what may seem as a happy marriage of capitalism and environmentalism, as William McDonough highlights, needs to be scrutinized with the implication that Wal-Mart stores have for a place. A sense of place that a building might encourage in individuals, as human attachments and belonging, are ignored as the corporation abandons old stores, simultaneously announcing the precise number of stores to open in the same region. What some consider a national epidemic when considered in its totality, is the fact that anywhere from 300-350 empty Wal-Marts exist in the nation at any given time. 210 The impact of these abandoned stores is both global and regional, yet remains unaddressed by Wal-Mart.

In the context of laying out the specifics of the experimental store at Aurora, Wal-Mart fails to

209 Fishman, Charles. The Wal-Mart Effect: How the World’s Most Powerful Company Really Works- and How It’s Transforming the American Economy (New York: The Penguin Press, 2006). 210 See Wal-Mart Realty. http://www.walmartrealty.com/. Accessed on April 2006. Wal-Mart Realty maintains a website that features a frequently updated list of all available properties. In addition to offering information regarding exact location, square footage, and listing status, each listing links to more detailed building information, a marketing package (which oft en includes site photos, location maps, and floor plans), and demographic information in five, ten, and fifteen mile radii from the site. 123 address issues of renovation or expansion in their sustainable strategy that existing stores are fully capable of facilitating.

There are diametrically opposing interactions with residents in the community . Fishman notes an example with statistics of “15% of Oklahoma City -actively dislikes Wal-Mart because of its impact on communities, wages and jobs. But by a wide margin, they are the second most frequent shoppers at the store- they go more than once a week.” 211 ‘Sustainability’ to the corporation ignores the practicalities and needs of the local people.

While the corporation is responsive to a global demand for and homogenization of process, it fails to integrate the regional potentials that local residents would benefit from as a celebration of their context in the region. Finally, for consumers to whom the materialistic experience of shopping itself is an empowering act, the store design is a disappointment. “My wife wants to explore, to be surprised and persuaded. She doesn’t want to

work while she’s shopping. She finds Wal-Mart harsh, disorienting, exhausting, and frustrating. For her, the prices aren’t worth the cost.” 212

The hidden agenda of this store is much like any other supermarket or supercenters in the

United States. Supply chain, the quality of food, corporate ownership, the socially non-engaging form and function of the store, location to be served by traffic artery, store organization, self-service layout, and artificial environmental conditions all remained unaltered. There is one exception though. Wal-Mart is just one among other retails that have adopted the LEED system as a means to improve its industry image and as a means to improve their brand name and image as an environmentally sensitive company.

211 Fishman, Charles. The Wal-Mart Effect: How the World’s Most Powerful Company Really Works- and How It’s Transforming the American Economy (New York: The Penguin Press, 2006). 212 Fishman, Charles. The Wal-Mart Effect: How the World’s Most Powerful Company Really Works- and How It’s Transforming the American Economy (New York: The Penguin Press, 2006). 124

After analyzing the hidden agenda of corporate grocery stores, Silverstein and Jacobson conclude that, “If we accept these basic patterns and their meaning in terms of human experience, then no amount of programmatic work is going to help. We can employ new building systems, rationalize the parking and pickup arrangements, harmonize materials with the style of the community, add a child-care center, and so forth, but we are still building a supermarket.” 213 To them, whatever contradictions were inherent in the original hidden program for the building will still exist in the new and improved form. They even argue that there is insidiousness about improving a form that is basically destructive. The improvements have the potential to mask the basic problems and dull people’s ability to recognize the contradictions embedded in the building.

213 Silverstein, Murray & Jacobson, Max 1985 "Restructuring the Hidden Program. Toward an Architecture of Social Change" in Wolfgang F. E. Preiser (Ed.) Programming the Built Environment , Van Nostrand Reinhold: NY., pp.149-164. 125

Chapter 8

Summary and Conclusion

Traditionally ecology and economy have been viewed as discreet entities but we find that if

“the operation of the subsystem, the economy, is not compatible with the behavior of the larger system- the earth’s ecosystem- both will eventually suffer.” 214 As a paradigm shift in scientific thinking and economic order, some envision an industrial transformation occurring now. 215

Economic, environmental, and social concerns are fundamental to sustainability and design solutions that integrate these to provide valuable solutions in the social, cultural, and ecological zones that drive practice and business interests. 216 Humans and their artifacts behave much like other complex adaptive systems in nature and they must obey the same laws of physics, chemistry, and evolutionary biology as any other complex adaptive system. 217 Given that sustainable architecture is an “essentially contestable concept,” 218 the term ‘green’ is wide ranging and covers many viewpoints that can be open to different interpretations.

LEED projects that Building Green showcases are in all forms and sizes. Given that this publisher is just one of the myriad of articles, reports, and books on the subject of green or sustainable buildings, we see the “bewildering array of contrasting building types, employing a great

variety of different technologies and design approaches, each justified by a highly diverse set of interpretations of what a sustainable place might represent.” 219 Given the large context of its design

214 Brown, Lester R. Eco-Economy: Building an Economy for the Earth (New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2001). 215 See Hawken, Paul, Lovins, Hunter L and Lovins, Amory. Natural Capitalism: Creating the Next Industrial Revolution (Little Brown and Company, 1999). 216 See McDonough, William and Braungart, Michael. Cradle-to-Cradle: Rethinking the Way We Make Things (New York: North Point Press, 2002). 217 See Jacobs, Jane. The Nature of Economies . (New York: Modern Library, 2000). 218 Cook, Sara J. and Golten, Bryn L. Sustainable Development: Concepts and Practice in the Built Environment , Sustainable Construction CIB TG 16, (Nov. 1994): 677-685. 219 Guy, Simon and Farmer, Graham. Reinterpreting Sustainable Architecture: The Place of Technology. JAE Volume 54, Issue 3 , Pages 140 – 148. 126 and implication, “a robust theory of ecological design is sorely needed.” 220 High performance green buildings are about developing a human environment that functions in a mutually beneficial relationship with its natural surroundings.

Simon Guy and Graham Farmer present the six logics of sustainable architecture, which have their roots in competing concepts of environmentalism. This forms a framework of analysis in this thesis. In practice, some of the logics of ecological place-making may merge, overlap, or not exist. In summary, these logics are:

1. Eco-technic Logic- Buildings and the Global Place:

This logic embraces worldwide views of environmental concerns. It includes the way policy makers view the issue on environmental challenges globally and the Brundtland definition of

“meeting needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet theirs.” 221 The role and context of sustainable buildings become prioritized in terms of global action and local reaction. 222 This logic tends to approach the issue of sustainability very quantitatively.

Success is measured by the energy consumption of buildings, amount of water conserved, waste that is recycled, etc.

2. Eco-centric Logic- Buildings and the Place of Nature

The Eco-centric logic is in sharp contrast to the Eco-technical. This logic suggests a rethinking of the underlying assumptions and values of industrial and governmental functions. In keeping with the concepts of Gaia 223 , considerations in design include whether to build itself or not.

In cases where building is essential, reduction of the ecological footprint is aimed. Inspirations to

220 Charles, Kibert J. Sustainable Construction: Green Building Design and Delivery (New York: John Wiley & Sons, 2005). 221 This definition of sustainability stems from the World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED). See Our Common Future (New York: Oxford University Press, 1987), p. 42. 222 Guy, Simon and Farmer, Graham. Reinterpreting Sustainable Architecture: The Place of Technology. JAE Volume 54, Issue 3 , Pages 140 – 148. 223 The concept of Gaia has evolved for 25 years since it was first introduced. Gaia is best thought of as super-organism. The concept of Gaia is entirely linked with the concept of life. See Lovelock, James. The Ages of Gaia: A Biography of Our Living Earth . (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1989). 127 design strategies tend to be based on natural and ecological systems that are efficient, closed, and cyclic processes.

3. Eco-aesthetic Logic- Buildings and the New Age Place

The role of sustainable architecture in the context of the Eco-aesthetic logic is metaphorical rather than focused on methods or materials. It is an iconic expression of societal values, and this logic is involved in redefining the culture of a new universal architectural iconography that strives to alter our consciousness of nature. Contrary to the traditional view of architecture based on an anthropocentric attitude to nature, “the entire direction in design suggest the development of a new paradigm in the building arts that [is] based on ecological models.” 224

4. Eco-cultural Logic- Buildings and the Authentic Place

This logic sustainable issues involves a rethinking of values that guide environmental and cultural choices. The aim of this logic is not the rethinking or creation of new cultures, but the preservation of existing ones with a shift in the reorientation of values. Authenticity and the need to more fully relate to the concept of locality and place are important. The emphasis is on place and this logic is an extension of the reaction to sterile modern spaces and the efforts of globalism of the

International Style.

5. Eco-medical Logic- Buildings and the Healthy Place

Sustaining individual health is the central theme of this logic. The benefit of good building design that relates to the improved health of humans is a driving force. “This logic utilizes a medical rhetoric to focus attention on the adverse impacts of the built environment and the causes of stress that engender health problems, both physical and psychological.” 225

6. Eco-social Logic- Buildings and the Community Place

224 Wines, James. Passages: The Fusion of Architecture and Landscape in the Recent Work of SITE. Architectural Design 67 (1997): 32–37. 225 Guy, Simon and Farmer, Graham. Reinterpreting Sustainable Architecture: The Place of Technology. JAE Volume 54, Issue 3 , Pages 140 – 148. 128

Eco-social logic is reflective of the political discourse that goes beyond individual concerns based on wide social factors. The tension between the structure and workings of democracy versus that of community is emblematic of this logic. Based on the principle of social ecology, 226 ecological destruction is a form of human suppression with the theory that the more oppressive the nature of society, the more likely that it will abuse and dominate the environment. Functioning of industrialized society is seen to be problematic and in order to be sustainable; this logic proposes its decentralization into smaller self-sufficient communal units.

Public markets that predate grocery stores in America were “essentially organized as socialized institutions.” 227 They thrived in an era when the American economic structure was highly local or regional. The rise and fall of public markets reflects the transition of the American political economy from local mercantilism to national corporatism. Originally a transplant from England and continental Europe, “Public markets [were] a significant American phenomenon, because they were the main food emporiums for the nation much longer than any other building type for food retailing in the U.S. history. 228 “For many people, public markets represent not only a shopping choice, but also a form of social life worth saving.” 229 Public Markets were replaced by supermarkets that were intended to bring “cheaper goods to the masses.” 230

A criticism of the supermarket has long been that “people are not simply disaffected with architecture as such; they are disaffected with the way of life that is sustained by Modern architecture.” 231 When architects do not have a say in the programming, they feel that the projects

226 Social Ecologists believe that “human domination and degradation of nature arises out of social patterns of domination and hierarchy, patterns of social life in which come humans exercise control or domination over others.” See Bookchin, Murray. The Modern Crisis (Philadelphia: New Society Publishers, 1986). 227 Mayo, James M. The American Public Market . Journal of Architectural Education (1984-). Vol 45. No. 1(Nov., 1991). 228 Mayo, James M. The American Grocery Store: The Business Evolution of an Architectural Space (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1993). 229 Mayo, James M. The American Public Market . Journal of Architectural Education (1984-). Vol 45. No. 1(Nov., 1991). 230 Zimmerman, Max M. The Super Market: A Revolution in Distribution (New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1955). 231 Silverstein, Murray & Jacobson, Max 1985 "Restructuring the Hidden Program. Toward an Architecture of Social Change" in Wolfgang F. E. Preiser (Ed.) Programming the Built Environment , Van Nostrand Reinhold: NY., pp.149-164. 129 are alienating, wrongly conceived, and socially reactionary. Eight patterns- the factory farm, government policy, national corporate ownership, the supermarket, the site, the store, artificial environment, and the self service layout, work together to form an integrated system called the supermarket. This, however, does not represent a happy image of a culture’s solution to the problem of marketing.

In recent years there has been an increased interest in what we eat. We want food to be ecologically sustainable, healthy for our bodies, and everything we consume to be good in its implications to the planet. “The organic industry is growing between 20%–25% annually, analysts say, reaching an estimated $5 billion in 1998.” 232 This trend, in conscious choice, is further extended to where we go to shop for food. As the general public grows increasingly aware of ecological issues, their expectations of corporate practices in facility design also increases. The focus in this thesis was on analyzing how sustainable facilities that provide natural, organic, and local foods as an alternative to the mainstream food offerings handle sustainable building. I used Guy and Farmer’s framework of the six logics of sustainable architecture as a lens to understanding the trends of an emergent culture of building. The four case studies selected were LEED certified buildings that represent different local conditions and forms of local knowledge and functions. All four in function provide organic, natural, and sometimes local produce to the community they serve. The Energy

Information Administration reported an estimated 226,000 commercial retail grocery stores in the

United States in 2003 233 and this number has since increased. The number of farmers markets in the

232 Escher, Catherine. The U.S. Health and Natural Foods Market . May 2000. Packaged Facts, a Kolorama Information product. 233 Energy Information Administration. “Official Energy Statistics from the U. S. Government,” http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/cbecs/cbecs2003/introduction.html . Accessed on September 20, 2008. See Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. Agri-Food Trade Service, "Overview of the Retail Grocery Market in the Pacific Northwest United States,” December 2005, http://www.ats.agr.gc.ca/us/4133_e.htm . Accessed on September 20, 2008. Supermarkets accounted for 55% of the American retail grocery market, followed by convenience stores with 16%, mass merchandisers with 9%, warehouse clubs with 9%, and dollar stores with almost 2% in 2004. 130

United States continues to grow, reaching a total of 4,685 in August 2008. 234 There are a total of 300 food cooperative grocers in the US. 235 Both farmers’ markets and cooperatives put together constitute less than 3% of the commercial retail grocery stores in the United States.

Hawthorne Valley Farm Store

Biodynamic agriculture is a method of organic farming that has its basis in a spiritual world-

view and is emblematically eco-centric . It treats farms as unified and individual organisms, emphasizing balancing the holistic development and interrelationship of the soil, plants, and animals as a closed, self-nourishing system. The philosophy extends to the design of the store as it reflects the attitude that “the earth not as a commodity to be bought and sold but rather as a community of

which humans are an integral part..” 236 As an extension of the fundamental philosophy of the farm, the store naturally exhibits an eco-centric logic in sustainable architecture.

Artificial lighting in the store is integrated with natural light through appropriate building orientation. This store uses sustainable materials, heat exchangers, wind energy, and partakes in an energy program in conjunction with the NYSPS Commission. In all this we see an attempt to

“internalize and respond to ecological concerns and an integrative approach in which science, technology, and management take account of the environmental impact of development.” 237 This is a strain of eco-technical .

Users of the former store that was housed in a barn mentioned symptoms of illness in the building. The owner and architect identified the building itself as potentially a dangerous environment. They understood that “the health of the individual [was linked to] an increasingly

234 AMS Farmers Markets Search. http://apps.ams.usda.gov/FarmersMarkets/ . Accessed on October 12, 2008. 235 See Cooperative Grocer. http://www.cooperativegrocer.coop/articles/index.php?id=158 . Accessed on October 12, 2008. 236 Lepold, Aldo. A Sand County Almanack (New York: Oxford University Press, 1949), pp.223-224. 237 Guy, Simon and Farmer, Graham. Reinterpreting Sustainable Architecture: The Place of Technology. JAE Volume 54, Issue 3 , Pages 140 – 148. 131 important condition: a healthy environment.” 238 Design consideration in pertaining to day lighting techniques and ventilation reflect an eco-medical strain.

Used by the community as a gathering place and to entertain and sell to visitors, the store is a gateway to the farm and community. It is located across from the school and they run in conjunction to programmatically support an extension of the school’s educational efforts in biodynamic training, hangouts for resident students, and education tours. The eco-social strain stresses that “ethical concerns stem from the creation of buildings that have the potential to help us forge a sense of individual and collective identity.” 239

The Hawthorne Valley Farm store does not stand out of place in the rural setting and it reflects the flavor of the hamlet and community for which it is a part. The adaptation of scale, peculiarities of place, the use of local materials, and an appropriate formal response to the climatic conditions, programmatic pattern, and building technique in this design reflects local evolution and use, emphasizing Eco-cultural logic.

People’s Co-op

What is inherent in People’s is a “radical approach to rethinking building design and production.” 240 In this sense, the eco-centric logic is evident in design considerations of the store

with the use of Cob , green roofs, respect for land, and other non-traditional building technologies.

The store uses a geothermal system to heat and cool the building, recycled water for plumbing, green roofs, and daylight use for interiors. While the store doesn’t possess an adaptive strategy to modern building production, it nevertheless maximizes the building efficiency and adopts elements

238 Lanthier, Isabelle and Olivier, Lawrence. The Construction of Environmental Awareness in Eric Darier, ed., Discourses of the Environment (Oxford: Blackwell, 1999), p. 65. 239 Guy, Simon and Farmer, Graham. Reinterpreting Sustainable Architecture: The Place of Technology. JAE Volume 54, Issue 3 , Pages 140 – 148. 240 Farmer, John. Green Shift: Towards a Green Sensibility in Architecture (Oxford. WWF, 1996), p. 172. 132

“of new technology that are more intelligent than the older ones and that benefit the environment.” 241 Here we see an eco-technical strain.

Cob contributes to the unique aesthetics and feel of a place. It is a humble material and prompts memories and images of huts and more temporary shelter. Inherent in the visual expression of the landscape and materials of wood and Cob used in the exterior of the building are the iconic expression that the building “should act to inspire and convey an increasing identification with nature and the nonhuman world.” 242 While this building’s aesthetics cannot be categorized as the

New Age Green Architecture, it breaks from the strictly formalist interpretations of architecture as representative of an anthropocentric attitude to nature and building based on ecological models. In this sense we see the strain of the eco-aesthetic logic.

Cob is a labor intensive but eco-friendly method of building and was facilitated with the help of many volunteers. Hundreds of community and co-op members had a hand in the creation of their

Cob walls and benches during several weekend work parties. The provision of a community room in the facilities draws in new people and provides opportunities for educational and well-being programs. This model mirrors the complex patterns of community life as integrated in built form. It addresses the ethical issues of the building that helps forge a sense of individual and collective identity. The eco-social logic embodies and expresses the notion of a social and ecological community in which democratic values such as full participation and freedom are the norm.

People’s co-op is indicative of the eco-cultural logic. The bio-regional approaches to design are sensitive to the authenticity, aesthetic consideration, and climatic implications of building design.

The use of Cob , Bioswales, and green roof strategies are site specific responses to sustainable issues and challenges of conservation, climate control, and alternate resources. It celebrates authenticity of place and locality in the design, construction, and use of the building. This is telling of the

241 Spaargaren and Mol, “ Sociology, Environment and Modernity ,” p. 335. 242 Wines, James. The Architecture of Ecology”. The Amicus Journal (Summer 1993): 23. 133 preservation of human culture and further sustains vital forms of regional culture that resists universalization typical of a modern techno centric culture.

Whole Foods Market

The treatment of the site and the architecture as responsive to the local conditions of transit, scale, and materials used in the store on the exterior are all in keeping of this commercial district.

The eco-technic approach to sustainable architecture holds when it comes to the technological strategies in design. Despite being LEED certified, the excess lighting, cooling, and adherence to the same standards to keep the food fresh and the feeling of security that consumers have come to expect of supermarkets is unchanged. This is the norm and expectations of the design of a food facility.

An eco-cultural approach to design exists in the treatment of historic, transit, and local contextual issues. The Pasadena Whole Foods store, like other stores in this chain, is built with considerations to the local history and conditions. Located in an historic and commercial district, it responds to the high-density requirement of Pasadena. It manages to integrate alternative modes of transportation. Working with the city, it retained parts of the existing building and some of its architectural features to create a contemporary, fully functioning facility.

In terms of the internal organization, a supporter of the supermarket model of rows of shelved products cannot be a critic of the Pasadena Whole Foods. In fact, it is the very opposite,

“with its 30-foot ceilings and endless aisles, 280 subterranean parking spots and all those TVs flickering day and night, this place is neither. It’s more like the grocery store version of a hybrid SUV made by Lexus or a 12,000-square-foot ‘green’ house with a swimming pool and six-car garage accompanying its solar panels and sustainably harvested decking.” 243

243 Los Angeles Times. “The Green Giant Whole Foods’ Local Flagship: The Supermarket as Hybrid SUV”, April 6, 2008, http://articles.latimes.com/2008/apr/06/magazine/tm-space6 . Accessed on September 22, 2008.

134

The critique of the modern supermarket layout has taken a whole new dimension. The layout by no means discourages social interaction. In fact, amenities and equipment that encourages modern day consumer social interaction are implemented. The question that could be asked is how successful are these opportunities of social interactions? What role does lifestyle or economic affordability play and is this restrictive? Does the use of technological innovations as a magnet to consumers who are also local residents in the community qualify as an eco-social approach in Guy and Farmer’s logics of sustainable architecture as a force that brings the community together, be it in a non-democratic process?

Wal-Mart Supermarkets

Wal-Mart retains programmatic and spatial implications of existing store formats, but integrates new methods of construction. Their global approach to environmental issues follows the eco-technic logic, which assumes that “existing institutions can internalize and respond to ecological concerns and what is required is an integrative approach in which science, technology, and management take account of the environmental impacts of development.” 244 The Aurora

Wal-Mart’s design, with impressive engineering experiments on building systems to improve efficiency, uses technology and an integrative design team to manage the process of design, and approaches sustainability as a “progressive process of innovation [that] mitigates the adverse effects of development.” 245

Entities relevant to the local ecology like the plants in a particular region that facilitate xeriscape techniques including native grass prairie, urban forest, and xeriscaping, have been effectively integrated in the store design. As in the case of the engineering equipment in the store, the information facilitating xeriscaping is easily coded and hence this is a technique that Wal-Mart

244 Guy, Simon and Farmer, Graham. Reinterpreting Sustainable Architecture: The Place of Technology. JAE Volume 54, Issue 3 , Pages 140 – 148. 245 Blowers, Andrew. Environmental Policy: Ecological Modernisation or the Risk Society? , Urban Studies 34/5-6 (1996)” 853. 135 has successfully integrated in the design. Other codifiable information integrated in the design is the use of skylight techniques and the selection of materials in construction.

Strategic considerations in lighting that contribute to better living environments, consumer and store staff comfort, add to the list of incorporated technological innovations used in building construction. This strain of logic is reflective of a trend in the industry that follows the eco-medical logic that outlines the benefits of living in a healthy environment. This follows the eco-technical logic in incorporating technology.

What some consider a national epidemic when considered in its totality is the fact that anywhere from 300-350 empty Wal-Marts exist in the nation at any given time. 246 The impact of these abandoned stores is both global and regional, yet remains unaddressed by Wal-Mart. In the experimental store in Aurora, Wal-Mart fails to address issues of renovation or expansion in their sustainable strategy. Sustainability in the view of the corporation ignores the practicalities and needs of the local people. While the corporation is responsive to a global demand for energy conservation and homogenization of process, it fails to integrate the regional potentials that would benefit local residents in celebration of their context in the region.

Conclusion

Guy and Farmer’s framework of the six competing logics of sustainable architecture helps identify society’s most influential affecting decision-making in food facility projects and the role of the designer in implementing and creating sustainable projects. While environmental design, as Guy and Farmer emphasize, is socially contested, supermarkets, supercenters, food co-ops, and farm

246 See Wal-Mart Realty. http://www.walmartrealty.com/. Accessed on April 2006. Wal-Mart Realty maintains a website that features a frequently updated list of all available properties. In addition to offering information regarding exact location, square footage, and listing status, each listing links to more detailed building information, a marketing package (which oft en includes site photos, location maps, and floor plans), and demographic information in five, ten, and fifteen mile radii from the site. 136 stores have unmistakable ownership and deciding rights when it comes to implementing sustainable design.

As a practitioner, student, consumer, and citizen, the Guy and Farmer model has been a useful tool for me in achieving a baseline understanding of sustainable issues in architecture.

Looking at sustainable architecture from this perspective allows an enlarged framework for understanding ecological place-making and the issues important in evaluating buildings. The case studies of this thesis have revealed that every logic is legitimate in accomplishing a step toward the same goal of building sustainable buildings. It validates the differences in approaches to sustainable design and helps understand the reasons behind them. This model also establishes a framework to criticize the authenticity of sustainable practices in food facilities.

Not only is the culture of shopping changing, consumers are now more aware of issues concerning food and, further, are paying attention and are willing to pay for products and services that they perceive as more ethical and environmentally responsive. The lack of opportunities for social integration and community participation has long been a critique of the supermarket program.

The contextual pattern of the hidden program consisting of factory farm, government policy, corporate ownership, the site, store, artificial environment, and self-service layout, is barely challenged in traditional big box or warehouse stores. The Hawthorne store, which is an outlet to the farm that is sustained by an ecologically sensitive community, also has a self-evident program to increase consumption and hence profits. People’s co-op’s hidden program is very different from traditional supermarkets given the difference in its ownership, method of obtaining produce, and the process of building that engages the community. In the Whole Foods stores we see some of the contexts of social isolation redefined to provide more community involvement, despite the motive of encouraging consumers to spend more time in the store and increasing consumption. Wal-Mart retains the hidden program of a typical supermarket.

137

As showcased examples of model LEED stores in Building Green, Hawthorne Farmers

Market and People’s gain publicity in local communities and the community of designers and architects interested in the implication of sustainable architecture. It is good press for owners and stores in their communities. These stores build ecologically sustainable buildings following their beliefs and practices. Rootedness in a history of sustainable causes and beliefs affects their choices of the food they sell and the way they build.

In current market trends of green-washing, LEED offers business a model they can adopt to communicate to their customers and stakeholders, an adherence to green building. This is an opportunity to make a significant difference in the environmental impact of buildings. Buildings are responsible for thirty-eight percent of total greenhouse gas emissions in the United States. “And there are projections that 75 percent of the nation’s built environment will be either new or renovated in the next 30 years.” 247 Additionally, LEED might be used by companies to differentiate them from the competition and to reinforce their branded image in the market. Ideological positions about environmental commitment affect connections with organic and natural food consumers. The danger is that this allows corporations to further push an increase in consumption, as the case study of Whole Foods depicts.

For companies like Whole Foods that are based on core values of organic and green principles, LEED can be a dangerous label. It is not environmentally sensitive or sustainable to build supersized store warehouses to increase consumption, or to increase commercial activity to raise company profit. It has been shown that 14,000 calories are spent to produce a meal of 400 calories.

The consumption model neither conserves nor sustains the ecology. Increasing production of

whole, natural, or organic foods can increase corporate profits. It becomes dangerous for LEED to

work with companies to design and certify prototypes, when this process becomes a tool whereby

247 Notes Mary Ann Lazarus (AIA, LEED AP), a senior vice president and firm-wide sustainable design director at HOK, providing education and resources to project teams. 138 companies can use the certification as a means to promote their building or brand. LEED can potentially provide the opportunity for companies to market differently from what they practice.

Often, consumers are not as knowledgeable about the details of certification and labels can be misleading.

As a residents and consumers, ultimately it is up to us to take the responsibility for choices

we make. Our lifestyle and how we choose to integrate with the community and how we shape the community in which we live is our decision to make.. As consumers, we need to take responsibility for the choices we make. While corporations provide many options and exist to make a profit, it is important to understand that consumers have the power of choice in a consumer driven society.

While there is a need for more education, the choice remains with the individual. There is great potential in making a personal lifestyle choice that modifies the nature of the consumer driven society. Consumer choice, preference, and needs are fundamental in product development.

Preferences and opinions of consumers are well researched, documented, and worked into company strategy, and this is a very real power of the masses. Choice is a tool of power and we as consumers and residents need to make them wisely.

A final insight of this study is that as designers and architects of sustainable buildings, it is

vital to consider the entirety of ecologically sustainable design. LEED certification ensures implementation of sustainable strategies in design that improves the efficiency of the building, and this approach follows the eco-technic logic of sustainable design. Sustainable architecture can be interpreted in more than a single logic or approach that is reflective of the owner’s attitudes and beliefs of sustainability. Guy and Farmer’s six logics of sustainable architecture are important in contextualizing the role of LEED and energy efficient buildings within a larger realm of sustainable architecture.

139

The architect can play an important role in enlarging the client’s framework of green architecture. Although the term assumes consideration to principles of ecological, social, and economic sustainability in architecture, clients oftentimes look to rating systems for certification as a

way to communicate their commitment to the concept of sustainable architecture to their customers, stakeholders, and others in the industry. Within this framework, it becomes easier to communicate alternative modes of thinking about sustainable architecture that stress local contexts, the relevance of place, people, and authenticity in design. This framework also goes a long way in architects themselves understanding their role in preserving local cultures. It provides legitimacy to traditional modes of construction and can help in the decision-making process in the pre-design and design phase of projects.

140

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Appendix Appendix-1:

The Whole Foods Market Arroyo Store has incorporated the following LEED criteria:

Source: Whole Foods Market. http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/stores/arroyo/ . Accessed on September 25, 2008.

Sustainable Sites

• The store's roof uses "cool" materials that reflect the sun's rays and deflect the heat absorbed by typical dark-colored roofs.

Water Efficiencies

• The plumbing fixtures in the bathrooms are considered "low flow" - they reduce water consumption by more than 40% as compared to conventional fixtures.

• For example, the urinals in the men's bathroom require only 0.5 gallons per flush instead of the typical 1.0 gallons.

Energy & Atmosphere

• The store's highly efficient HVAC (heating, ventilating and air conditioning) systems are free of ozone depleting CFC-based refrigerants.

• Skylights are located throughout the store to minimize the amount of electric lighting needed.

• A majority of the kitchen and office appliances in the store (computers, refrigerators, etc) are Energy Star™ rated.

• Whole Foods Market is a prominent supporter of Green Power and has worked with Renewable Choice Energy to purchase renewable energy credits to offset the electricity used in this store.

Materials & Resources

• Whole Foods employee and customers are encouraged to recycle and compost whenever possible. Receptacles are widely accessible throughout the store.

• Over 60% of the waste generated during the construction of this store was diverted from the landfill, and instead sent to a recycling facility.

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• Many materials in the store contain recycled content and/or were manufactured locally.

• For example, the tile used in the Seafood area is from Oceanside Glasstile, a San Diego-based company that uses, among other things, bottles from curbside recycling programs, to create their product.

• Some of the decorative wall hangings are made of Sorghum waste scraps, which would have otherwise been incinerated.

• A significant amount of wood in this store was certified by the Forest Council. The Forest Stewardship Council ensures that forests are sustainably managed. Please visit www.fscus.org for more details on FSC certification. Indoor Environmental Quality

• Paints, coatings, adhesives and sealants throughout the store where chosen for their low Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) content. Low VOC products are less toxic than their conventional counterparts.

• The store has implemented a green housekeeping plan in order to ensure that the janitorial practices and products used are safe for the environment as well as the occupants of the building.

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