Aluminium: Sympathetic and Powerful Towards Sustainable Cities R Michael Stacey Aluminium: Sympathetic and Powerful Towards Sustainable Cities International Aluminium Institute © Michael Stacey 2020 Front cover image The Hive, Wolfgang Buttress, Milan Expo 2015 While every effort has been made to check the accuracy and quality of the information given in this publication, neither the author nor the publisher accept any responsibility for the subsequent use of this information, for any errors or omissions that it may contain, or for any misunderstandings arising from it. Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication Title: Aluminium: sympathetic and powerful, towards sustainable cities / Michael Stacey. Names: Stacey, Michael, 1958- author. Description: Series statement: Towards sustainable cities series: 5 Identifiers: Canadiana 20200399039 | ISBN 9781988366364 (softcover) Subjects: LCSH: Architectural metal-work. | LCSH: Aluminum. | LCSH: Aluminum alloys. | LCSH: Sustainable architecture. Classification: LCC TH1651 .S73 2020 | DDC 693/.7722—dc23 ISBN 9781988366364 Published by Riverside Architectural Press, 2020 R The Voyagers were ready to be sent on their way Contents And the golden record mounted, with a needle to make it play They launched them in September [1977] from Cape Canaveral The furthest man-made objects They are out there moving still Beyond our solar system There is a golden calling card ….. Sounds of Earth One Introduction 6 1 Jim Moray (2017) Two Bees are the Sentinels of the Planet 42 Three Research and Architecture 60 Four A Building that Sings for All of Us – the National 82 Museum of African American History and Culture Five Thoughts from Kew 102 Six Maximising the Potential of Aluminium 144 (Endnotes) Seven Weston Library 234 1 J. Moray, (2017), Sounds of Earth, BBC Folk Awards 2017, CD, transcribed by the author. Voyager Two launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, USA on 20 August 1997, aboard a Titan-Centaur Eight Conclusion 260 rocket. Followed by Voyager One on 5 September 1977, also aboard a Titan-Centaur rocket, launched from Cape Canaveral. 310 Glossary 322 Bibliography 330 Image Credits 334 Acknowledgements 338 Symposium Contributors 342 Publication Series 1 J. Moray, (2017), Sounds of Earth, BBC Folk Awards 2017, CD, transcribed by the author. Voyager Two launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, USA on 20 August 1977, aboard a Titan-Centaur rocket. Followed by Voyager One on 5 September 1977, also aboard a Titan- Centaur rocket, launched from Cape Canaveral. ONE introduction Introduction Aluminium Sympathetic and Powerful is the fifth book of the The Towards Sustainable Cities (TSC) research programme Towards Sustainable Cities (TSC) research programme, following is structured around the primary benefits of aluminium as on from Aluminium and Durability, Aluminium: Recyclability and articulated by The Future Builds with Aluminium website, http:// Recycling, and Aluminium Life Cycle Thinking, and Aluminium: greenbuilding.world-aluminium.org and The Aluminium Story Flexible and Light. The objective of the Towards Sustainable Cities website, thealuminiumstory.com. The first four books: Aluminium (TSC) research, funded by the International Aluminium Institute and Durability, Aluminium Recyclability and Recycling, Aluminium (IAI), is to quantify the in-use benefits of aluminium in architecture and Life Cycle Thinking, and Aluminium Flexible and Light, can be and the built environment. The programme was initiated by Chris downloaded as PDFs via world-aluminium.org/publications. Bayliss, Deputy Secretary General of IAI, and Michael Stacey A primary aim of this research programme is to quantify the in- of Michael Stacey Architects in the spring of 2012. Research use carbon benefits arising from the specification of aluminium collaborators include the Architecture and Tectonics Research in architecture and the built environment, to complement Group [ATRG] of The University of Nottingham, B-Made at The the relatively well-understood emission savings from the use of Bartlett, UCL and KieranTimberlake of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, aluminium in transportation applications and through the recycling USA. The research programme is directed by Michael Stacey. of aluminium scrap. A vital goal of this research is to quantify Within this text, when a word or phrase is in bold, it is defined in the the potential contribution of aluminium towards the creation of Glossary; this occurs on the first entry only. sustainable cities – a key task now that over half of humanity lives in urban areas. 1 Lord Norman Foster has suggested that the city is the greatest invention of humankind, ‘the future of society is cities, but what makes a city work? The city is about values, about aspirations, they are enlightening as well as offering prosperity.’ 2 Dr James Fox discussing cities and in particular cities in Japan considers that: Fig 1.1 Students of studioMARS, from The University of Nottingham, School of Architecture experiencing the Peace Fig 1.2 Dr James Fox in central Tokyo, courtesy of BBC 4 Bridge (2011) in Derry/London Derry, Northern Ireland, designed by architect WilkinsonEyre, on a wet and stormy night, November 2014. 8 aluminium: sympathetic and powerful introduction 9 Fig 1.3 The Thames River in central London – aluminium has become the background material of our contemporary cities. I 10 aluminium: sympathetic and powerful introduction 11 ‘Over the centuries cities have inspired some of reached 30 trillion tonnes.5 Zalasiewicz and colleagues note: Japan’s greatest art. But they are themselves creations, ‘The technosphere comprises the interconnecting technological dynamic complex and often beautiful. This is a story of systems that underpin modern civilization’, citing Haff (2012).6 They Japan’s urban imagination and three great cities built continue, ‘and is a phenomenon that has now reached a scale its art and culture. sufficient to perturb the natural physical chemical and biological cycles of the Earth’ citing Rockstron et al., (2009). ‘This provokes In Kyoto the Japanese mastered beauty and elegance. ‘the suggestion of an Anthropocene Epoch’, citing Crutzon (2002).7 In Edo they found their often-mischievous voice and in Tokyo they turned destruction onto creation. And in the In a paper entitled Changes (2017),8 inspired by David Bowie’s process they helped define a country as it relentlessly song, released on 7 January 1972, ‘Time may change me, but I searched for itself. Cities are engines of cultural change, because they throw people together to compete and collaborate and innovate. It the case around the world, but I can’t think of many countries more defined by their cities than Japan.’3 Cities are now the home for over half of humanity, however this should not be a concern. It should mean that humankind hones its skills in designing and developing cities within climate change targets of carbon usage, whilst protecting the overall biodiversity of planet Earth. Fig 1.4 Extruded aluminium tubular This fifth book focuses on the role of aluminium in the built sections ready for straightening at Sapa, Tibshelf Plant, environment and how as a material, which offers durability yet can Derbyshire, England, architect, be almost infinitely recycled, it can be considered sympathetic to Foster Associates, 1973 I human ecology and powerful in its many applications. Chapter Six can’t trace time,9 Chris Bayliss’ observations include: reviews examples of maximising the potential of aluminium, rather In 1972, global primary aluminium production was 12 than the wholesale replacement of other materials in construction. million tonnes (Mt), and recycled production was around It highlights he benefit of using aluminium with other materials, 2.5 Mt, of which only 0.5 Mt was from post-consumer scrap combined with thoughtful design and careful detailing - from the – predominantly automotive castings. Semis shipments ability of an aluminium curtain wall extrusion to integrate silicone totalled around 14 Mt.10 [Noting that semis is an industry gaskets and gently retain a triple glazing unit, to the efficiency of shorthand for semi-fabricated or semi-finished products an aluminium road bridge deck with just a thin epoxy-wearing and is defined in the Glossary]. road surface. At a similar time, the seeds of European, North American The introduction to Aluminium: Flexible and Light explored whether and Japanese de-industrialisation were being sown,11 the present time period should, in geological terms, be defined as costs of energy and labour rose and early twentieth as the Anthropocene? This term describes an epoch where century production capacity came to the end of its natural humankind has altered the environment and ecology of Earth life. Similarly, new centres of production were being born to the extent that it is being recorded in the Earth’s crust, in the in the Middle East (Alba 1971; Dubal 1979), South America very rocks of planet Earth.4 Writing in The Anthropocene Review (Alcominas 1965; Aluar 1974), Australia & New Zealand (March 2014) Jan Zalasiewicz, Mark Williams and Colin Waters of (Kurri Kurri 1969; Tiwai Point 1971; Boyne Island 1979) and the University of Leicester with Anthony D. Barnosky and Peter South Africa (Bayside 1971), close to sources of long Haff, suggest the weight of the planet Earth’s technosphere has term, competitively priced energy and/or raw materials. 12 aluminium: sympathetic and powerful introduction 13 In summary, 2017 saw primary production shifting from to produce one kilogram