UNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATI
Date:______
I, ______, hereby submit this work as part of the requirements for the degree of: in:
It is entitled:
This work and its defense approved by:
Chair: ______
ARCHITECTURE OF INTERDEPENDENCE Reinforcing connections between society and nature
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 Architecture Thesis In the School of Architecture and Interior Design
Submitted April 2003 by:
Mark Siwek B.S.Arch University of Cincinnati, 2004
Committee Chairs: David Saile Gordon Simmons Robert Burnham
ABSTRACT
Because of our need for internal environments, set as evolutionary medium to the building as architecture creates a critical disjunction between the evolutionary medium. This thesis explains how built natural and built worlds. This disjunction establishes the form can also adapt to changing environmental and need for a new arena in which to study human society’s social conditions. Dynamic structures can effectively complex role within the natural world. The intention of educate occupants about the complex relationship this thesis is to investigate the potential for architecture between society and the environment through the direct to serve an important educational role within the context demonstration of necessary adaptations to changing of environmental research and instruction. conditions in a specific environmental/social context. Differing environments create unique means of This thesis also documents a case study of the adaptation to enable human comfort. To more fully author’s design for an environmental/cultural center in a understand our relationship with the natural world, we nature preserve on the south side of Chicago. Located must develop a better understanding of cultural within an area known more for its industrial implications of these adaptations. Architecture is one of contamination than for it’s ecological wealth, the site and the most significant artifacts of environmental and project reinforce the notion that we as a society need to cultural adaptation, and therefore plays an important role better integrate into our natural environments. in understanding our interconnectedness with nature. Through direct demonstration, architecture has the potential to become a significant factor in educational experience. An environmentally sensitive structure could enrich the human experience by conveying information about a specific local environment, global environmental concerns, and the way the built environment integrates itself into the natural landscape. Historically, vernacular architecture has successfully exemplified the role of society in a specific natural context because of a shared body of construction knowledge, which evolves under varying environmental and social conditions. Acknowledging that a return to vernacular models of practice is not feasible in modern society, this thesis proposes a shift from the construction knowledge
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ILLUSTRATION CREDITS ...... 2 CASE STUDY
INTRODUCTION ...... 4 SITE ANALYSIS ...... 32 Site history ...... 33 SOCIETY AND NATURE ...... 6 Detailed physical analysis ...... 38 Nature as material reality...... 7 Site precedent analysis ...... 43 Nature as cultural construct ...... 7 Culture as natural construct...... 8 PROGRAM ANALYSIS ...... 49 Historical relationship...... 9 Program selection...... 50 Environmental ethics...... 10 Space program summary ...... 51 Relationship diagram ...... 52 ARCHITECTURE AND NATURE ...... 12 Program precedent analysis ...... 53 Architecture as boundary...... 13 Impact of construction industry ...... 13 WORKS CITED...... 59 Historical perspectives ...... 14 Architecture as filter ...... 14 APPENDIX...... 61
PEDAGOGICAL ARCHITECTURE ...... 15 Architecture as communication ...... 16 Direct Demonstration ...... 16 What to filter? ...... 17
REFLEXIVITY OF DESIGN ...... 19 Environmental differentiation ...... 20 Vernacular as model ...... 22 Modern vernacular?...... 24
EVOLVING STRUCTURES ...... 26 Complexity/Pluralism ...... 27 Built form as evolutionary medium ...... 28 Movement and Structure ...... 29
[TABLE OF CONTENTS] 1
ILLUSTRATION CREDITS FIG. 1 ...... 6 FIG. 14 – Eastern boundary of site...... 39 www.gettyimages.com photographed by author
FIG. 2 ...... 12 FIG. 15 – Ford plant to the nort h of site...... 39 www.lineandspace.com photographed by author
FIG. 3 ...... 15 FIG. 16 – Ford rail yard to the east...... 39 http://www.nrel.gov/buildings/highperformance/o photographed by author berlin_gallery.html FIG. 17 – Small marina to the south...... 39 FIG. 4 – Sharing of model ...... 23 photographed by author Rapoport p. 91 FIG. 18 – Calumet River to west ...... 39 FIG. 5 – Learning from the vernacular ...... 24 photographed by author Rapoport p. 100 FIG. 19 – Land Use in Chicago ...... 40 FIG. 6- Kinetic sculpture by Santiago Calatrava ...... 26 http://www.nipc.cog.il.us/map%20gallery.html Tzonis 41 FIG. 20 – Map showing location of Lake Calumet...... 40 FIG. 7 – Rates of change ...... 28 www.cta.com - edited by author Rapaport p. 90 FIG. 21 – Land use in the Calumet Region ...... 41 FIG. 8 – Hegewish Marsh...... 32 www.illinois.sierraclub.org/calumet/ http://www.cityofchicago.org/Environment/fcec/ FIG. 22 – Aerial Photograph of Calumet ...... 42 FIG. 9 – Calumet Incinerator sign...... 34 www.mapquest.com - edited by author photographed by author FIG. 23 – Existing conditions at Vintondale…………….43 FIG. 10 – View of steel mill through wetlands ...... 35 http://greenmuseum.org/content/ photographed by author work_index/work_id-26__artist_id-15.html
FIG. 11 – Calumet National Heritage Area...... 36 FIG. 24 – Plan for Vintondale...... 43 www.lincolnnet.net/CEPA/map Lang Ho p. 80
FIG. 12 – View of Hegewish Marsh ...... 38 FIG. 25 – existing conditions...... 44 photographed by author Lang Ho p. 81
FIG. 13 – Existing conditions of site ...... 39 FIG. 26 – Aerial of existing River Rouge complex...... 45 photographed by author http://www.cr.nps.gov/nr/travel/detroit/aerial.htm
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FIG. 27 – River Rouge revitalization ...... 46 http://www.greenroofs.com/north_american.htm
FIG. 28 – Scuba divers practicing in old gas tanks...... 47 Brandolini p. 76
FIG. 29 – Rock climbing on concrete foundations...... 47 Brandolini p. 76
FIG. 30 – A factory converted into a museum ...... 48 Brandolini p. 76
FIG. 31 – Adjacency Diagram for FCEC Competition ..52
FIG. 32 – Center for Regenerative Studies ...... 53 Brandolini p. 76
FIG. 33 – Center for Regenerative Studies – Phase 1 .54 Lyle p. 303
FIG. 34 – Exterior terrace at Sonora Desert Museum ..55 Crosbie p. 106
FIG. 35 – Sonora Desert Museum Plan...... 55 www.lineandspace.com
FIG. 36 – Sonora Desert Museum entry ...... 56 Crosbie p. 106
FIG. 37 – Nature Museum floor plans ...... 57 Keegan p. 108
FIG. 38 – Nature Museum entry lobby...... 58 Keegan p. 110
FIG. 39 – Nature Musem exterior ...... 58 Keegan p. 108
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INTRODUCTION
While it is commonly agreed that the scarcity of architecture and the construction industry can express resources and contamination of the natural world have the cultural significance of the natural environment, had a profoundly negative effect on natural ecosystems, buildings could have the potential to serve as strategies for remedying the situation are far less educational tools, reinforcing positive cultural attitudes universally accepted. Human society has become about the environment. increasingly separated from the processes of local and In an attempt to more fully understand the role of global natural environments. This separation has architecture as an environmental instruction tool, we occurred both in physical and cultural realms, and must first, as a society and as designers, acknowledge destroys our ability to safely coexist within the framework the need to reemphasize our interconnectedness with of natural systems. We, as a society, need to reinforce our environment. In order to understand the impacts we our connection with nature, despite our desire to have had on the natural world, we must develop an separate ourselves from it, in order to ensure the understanding of our interdependence with the continued vitality of all life on Earth. environment. We must humble ourselves to realize the Because societies construct built environments variety of lessons that can be learned from nature. The with the intention of separating themselves from various intention of this thesis is to investigate the pedagogical harmful forces of the natural world (weather, disease, potential of architecture within this context of intruders), buildings serve as the primary physical barrier environmental research and instruction. between society and nature. The construction industry The first Chapter, Humans and Nature, explains has been one of the most destructive forces in modern society’s urgent need for a better understanding of the society because of this need for separation. The natural world. Focusing on the ways culture and nature materials used to build barriers and the energy used to are intrinsically interconnected, the chapter attempts to maintain comfortable interior conditions are significant establish an understanding of the current state of sources of pollution and resource depletion. environmental ethics. Architecture and Nature describes Additionally, the boundaries that we construct the role of architecture and the construction industry in are not simply physical, but cultural. As we are the separation of society and nature. This chapter also increasingly accustomed to life devoid of tangible natural examines the need to establish architectural practices in context, we develop a mentality that we are in fact harmony with the natural world. The third chapter, outside the control of nature. Because architecture has Pedagogical Architecture, shifts focus to the educational been a significant force in this alienation from nature, it is potential of architecture. By examining architectural possible that buildings can, in fact, help to reinforce solutions that serve to educate its occupants, this positive relationships with natural ecosystems. If chapter explores the potential for architecture to [INTRODUCTION] 4
establish a dialog between the built environment and the the way the built environment integrates itself into the user through direct demonstration. natural landscape. A building of this type could become Reflexivity of Design proposes that a significant tool in the education of the systems of the environmental architecture rooted in a more inclusive natural world. conception of environmental ethics must encompass a This thesis also documents a case study of the broader goal than the mere conservation of resources. author’s design for an environmental/cultural center in a By establishing architecture intent on creating nature preserve on the south side of Chicago. Located connections between the occupants and the natural within an area known more for its industrial environment, this chapter proposes that environmental contamination than for it’s ecological wealth, the site and differentiation serves as a significant means of using project reinforce the notion that we as a society need to architectural form as a tool in environmental instruction. better integrate into our natural environments. The Additionally, this section looks at the ways traditional documentation of this design process focuses building techniques and processes have historically specifically on establishing an architectural project that established a dialogue between the cultural and natural exemplifies the theories of this document. integration of a given region. Finally, Evolving The Case Study section of this paper covers the Structures describes the prospects of establishing site and program considered for this design project. The architectural practices that can facilitate an Site Analysis chapter focuses on the reasons for understanding of society’s continual adaptation to choosing the particular site, and how it relates to the differing environmental conditions. Acknowledging that themes developed in this document. The Program vernacular architectural practices are not appropriate in Analysis chapters focuses on the ways which an our modern socio/economic climate, this chapter environmental/cultural center both exemplifies the ideas examines the potential for dynamic structures, adapting of the project, and the needs of the region. to changing environmental/social conditions, to educate about the interdependence of society and nature. By creating structures that are designed to respond to their specific natural habitats, buildings can become an integral component of the research and instruction of natural systems. Buildings can achieve this significance through the gathering of information, and the expression of design intention. Essentially, an environmentally sensitive enclosure could provide the traditional functions of buildings while enriching the experience by conveying information about a specific local environment, global environmental concerns, and
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SOCIETY AND NATURE ‘One of the first conditions of happiness is that the link between Man and Nature shall not be broken.’
Leo Tolstoy
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An increasingly significant number of scholars NATURE AS MATERIAL REALITY have proposed that the resources of the Earth are being depleted at alarming rates due to unchecked rates of First and foremost, nature is an identifiable human intervention with, and exploitation of, the natural material reality. We can study nature. We can spend environment. It has been proposed that since ‘the mid time in the natural world. We can appreciate hiking in eighteenth century, more of nature has been destroyed the forest, walking along the beach, and climbing than in all prior history’ (Hawken 2). This substantial mountains because these natural features do exist. We loss of environment has caused the disruption of natural know that nature is a complex system of relationships, ecosystems. Many environmentalists insist that we must ranging from the cosmic to the molecular, of which make drastic changes in the way we manage our humans are intrinsically a part. These systems and resources in order to ensure that life, not just human life, processes continue to work without the need of human will have a chance to survive for generations to come. interventions or cultural interpretation of their existence. In order to establish a plan for redeveloping a While our relationship with the natural world can commensurate relationship with the natural world, it is dramatically alter the character of the environment, we first necessary to understand our relationship with it. As cannot alter the physical properties that define the Susannah Hagan points out in Taking Shape, defining material reality of nature, and our role within these ‘nature’ is not a simple task. One major problem in natural processes. establishing an understanding of ‘nature’ is that nature is NATURE AS CULTURAL CONSTRUCT both ‘a material reality and a cultural construct’ (Hagan 17). Complicating matters further is the notion that Human societies are constantly developing culture is not an entity removed from the natural world. impressions of nature, and consequently projecting Culture, after all, developed out environmental these views as ‘nature.’ Therefore the concept of pressures, evolving from a primitive state of survival. ‘nature’ will alter drastically between different cultures, Because culture is simultaneously constructing a ‘nature’ both geographically and chronologically. The western removed from material reality, to better understand the view of nature as resource, for example, contrasts with role of nature in society it is essential to study both the Native American view of nature, even though these nature as a construct of the cultural world and culture as two cultures simultaneously inhabited the same physical a construct of the natural world. The following three environment. sections take a brief look at these three core Although scientists attempt to understand the relationships. natural processes of the material reality of nature, they too are inherently part of the cultural construct of a given society’s view of nature. As we develop increasingly powerful tools of observation, our understanding of nature has been enhanced and altered to absorb these [SOCIETY AND NATURE] 7
new knowledge sets (Hagan 18). Therefore, even salsabil with carvings of waves on them for the knowledge based on scientific study of the natural world water to trickle over on its way to the fountain, you will find that they create culture. (Fathy is in fact part of the larger system of culture, which is p.15) continually adapting its notion of nature. Essentially, the environmental forces that we place CULTURE AS NATURAL CONSTRUCT within the realm of the natural world have, in fact, played a significant role in the formation of our cultural systems. ‘The roots of culture have of course always lain Recent study in the field of ‘evolutionary in nature, literally, in the way something like agriculture has transformed wilderness into psychology’ has further portrayed culture as an cultivated fields, and metaphorically, in the way adaptation of the human species to their changing nature has served, for example, as a model for environment. While there is much debate as to the the religious mythology of death and rebirth in degree of culture that can be attributed to evolutionary the coming of spring after winter’ (Hagan 19). processes, it is well acknowledged that human culture to Because human society and culture arose out of some extent can be explained by the adaptation of the need to establish social groups to combat the cognitive potential to overcome environmental dangers. dangers of our environment, it is the natural world that (Sterelny and Griffiths 324) While the environment has was the impetus and driving force behind our adoption of continually been altered, these imbedded features that cultural forms. Culture arose because of the need to have been essential to our cultural development are establish a competitive advantage in a hostile natural based on our adaptation to our natural environment in its world, and therefore is a product of that same unaltered state. Therefore, even as we move into large environment it was so trying to separate itself from. cities and live in a manner unimagined by our ancestors, Even today, as we have all but ‘successfully’ separated the genetic factors that control certain aspects of ourselves from our natural environment, we are thus still cognition, and therefore culture, are actually attuned to a a part of it. world devoid of significant human manipulation. Additionally, natural forces beyond the control of If culture, then, is not only constructing a model human society constantly alter culture. Seasonal of nature, but is also a part of nature, then the changes, in climate weather, and geographic isolation relationships between the two are incredibly complex have served as primary forces in the cultural evolution. and the line between the two are blurred to the point of Indigenous cultures, for example, have generally inseparability. It is precisely for this reason that the developed their cultural systems out of a more direct set interdependence of human society and the natural world of relationships with their specific environmental must be brought to the forefront of environmental conditions. thinking. [I]f you take the solutions to climatology in the past, such as the windcatcher, and the marble
[SOCIETY AND NATURE] 8
HISTORICAL RELATIONSHIP means for creating a more desirable artificial world. Precisely because we as a society have historically While this thesis is not intended to be a viewed nature as a system that we could separate comprehensive survey of the relationship between ourselves from, it was easy for the exploitation of natural society and nature, it is important to establish some resources to go unchecked for so long. background information on a few of the significant As a result of our historical conceptions of historical shifts this in this relationship. nature as wilderness and nature as resource, western In pre-industrial society, creating a barrier culture has been particularly devoid of direct connection between humans and nature was actually significant to the natural world. This separation from nature has means of increasing survival. Nature was often diluted our response to the damage we have caused to it portrayed in Western society as ‘wilderness’ because of as an industrial society. the understanding that humans are safer in controlled environments. Nature was something wild, something ‘It’s is precisely this condition of ‘apartness and dangerous, and therefore, something to be avoided. disconnectedness,’ this isolation of ecology from The domestication of crops and livestock developed as commerce, and Western civilization’s 3,000 year old notion of ‘conquering nature,’ which are the means of extracting aspects of nature, those essential to root of current environmental problems.’ (Wines our survival, from the wilderness and placing them under 1999, 112) human control. During the Renaissance and up through the Age Nature as complex systems of Enlightenment, increased scientific understanding Modern sciences and technologies, however, lead to a re-evaluation of nature. Curiosity about the have constructed a vision of nature that no longer sees natural order of the world created a view of nature as a the simplistic mechanical order of natural systems. rational set of processes. This further reinforced the Beginning with Einstein’s work on relativity, scientists notion that nature was an ‘other’: something that could have increasingly discovered the complexity of natural be viewed from outside the system. systems, and consequently our interactions with them. It In the age of the Industrial Revolution, the is no longer possible to view nature as a series of rules environment was seen as an untapped source of raw and simple patterns of interaction. materials for a cultural revolution. As human ingenuity As we develop more and more advanced means provided increased comfort levels for society, the means of study and analysis, it is becoming increasing obvious behind these new mechanical processes were seen as that even those systems we have taken as the most ancillary. Nature was no longer something to be simple and elemental components of an otherwise avoided, or studied from a far. Now that we better complex world are, themselves, more complex and understood natural processes, we were capable of relative than we otherwise would have ever thought developing artificial ones. The natural world was a possible.
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It is this increasingly present notion of reasons as to why we should do it. There are essentially complexity and relativity that reinforces our need to two different arguments for this question. The first view acknowledge our complex and continually changing is that nature is a valuable resource essential to life on relationship with our environment. We cannot separate this planet. The proponents of this philosophy argue that ourselves from the natural world physically, and to the value of nature we are destroying can never be ensure the well-being of our environment in addition to replaced, and human life will inevitably suffer the our society, we cannot attempt to separate ourselves consequences of our destructive behavior. The other culturally. argument, however, is that we as a society must protect the natural world because nature is an end in itself. ENVIRONMENTAL ETHICS They see nature as an incomprehensibly complex series of systems of which we are only a small part; something Understanding the potential benefits of beyond us. While both of these camps are essentially environmental awareness, it becomes essentially an arguing for the preservation of the natural world coupled ethical agenda to implement changes that aim to with a new society founded on a commensurate revitalize damaged ecologies. Natural conservation has relationship with the natural world, it is worthwhile to been one reaction to the widespread knowledge of the explain each view in further depth. diminishing natural ecosystems. By setting aside areas free from human interference and development, nature Nature as valuable resource preserves provide important areas for the sustained maturation of natural systems. Additionally, these areas One of the major reasons that environmental have the potential to serve as important educational concerns have become so prevalent in modern scientific resources. As researchers are able to monitor the discourse is because of a shift of society’s view of the natural systems that shape these diverse ecosystems, natural world. Because we have modified our view of they gather valuable insight into diverse fields of the nature to a source of raw materials, we are able to natural sciences. This research is essential to understanding the limits of the natural world. It is very developing a fuller understanding of the ways in which common for books that warn of the overuse of our human development has affected these natural systems. natural resources to project these dangers in quantifiable Furthermore, this research helps provide invaluable terms. This view of nature as commodity is adequately insight into ways we can strive to maintain a comfortable summed up in Hawken, Lovins and Lovins’ desire to re- human population in a symbiotic relationship with the evaluate economic systems based on the concept of natural world. ‘natural capital:’ the quantifiable notion of value given to More central to the question of environmental the natural resources of the world. They portray ethics, though, is not how we should revitalize the resource contamination and depletion as intrinsic, yet natural ecologies we have been destroying, but the often disguised, aspects of our modern society. Redefining bottom-line terms such as income, capital, [SOCIETY AND NATURE] 10
and economic progress in terms of their global and state that architects and designers have the ability to ecological implications, they explain that designing with help realign our human society within the framework of environmental consciousness is actually beneficial to the environment. Thus, by the careful use and both society and economies. This view hasn’t been understanding of nature, we as a society are capable of actualized on a large scale because, they argue, “the living in a parallel relationship with our environment. past two hundred years of massive growth in prosperity and manufactured capital have been accompanied by a Nature as an end itself prodigious body of economic theory analyzing it, all While the view of nature as capital is a based on the fallacy that natural and human capital have compelling argument for restructuring our relationship little value as compared to final output” (Hawken 3). with it, many argue that this is not enough. We cannot Essentially they, and their increasing group of followers, afford to protect nature simply for our own cultivation. argue that because our society has become so We must understand the significance of all components disconnected from nature, we are no longer effectively of the environment as essential components of systems able to realize the threat that we pose to it. beyond our understanding; systems of which we are a The educational benefits of the natural world part. have been further elaborated in Biomimicry, by Janine ‘At its simplest, environmental ethics maintain Benyus. By studying a series of scientists, designers, that the instrumental exploitation of nature as a and economists studying a wide variety of natural means to our ends must be replaced with a view processes, Benyus shows the considerable benefits to of nature as an end in itself; with its own imperatives from which we cannot stand apart.’ questioning our current industrial practices, using natural (Hagan 65) systems as the benchmark of good design. Given the benefits of preserving the natural It is the intention of this thesis to develop an word, it is then essential that society make drastic architectural manifestation of environmental ethics changes to incorporate this relationship. Cradle to based on the notion that the natural world and our Cradle, by McDonough and Braungart, suggests that relationship to it are complex systems beyond our industry and design can play a pivotal role in society’s powers of comprehension and analysis. The attempts to reconnect with the natural world. They conservation of the natural world is not seen as a need explain that products of all scales must be designed so to protect ‘resources’ as much as systems and as to allow humans to take full advantage of solar relationships. Thus, the architecture discussed further in income, to allow for closed loop cycling of materials to this thesis is not as directly concerned with the eliminate the concept of waste. These concepts come conservation of resources as much as further increasing directly from an understanding of the processes of the literal and figural connections between society and natural world. By designing within the framework of nature, and an understanding our place within a larger these natural processes McDonough and Braungart complex system of ecological interactions. [SOCIETY AND NATURE] 11
ARCHITECTURE AND NATURE ‘Our cities, our technology, and our architecture gives us the illusion of controlling nature when, in fact, it is nature that controls us.’ - Antony Brown Director ECOSA Institute
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We believe that our lives are so far removed from the ARCHITECTURE AS BOUNDARY pre-existing natural environment that we actually exist as a separate entity from it. Buildings inherently separate humans from the surrounding environment. It is architecture that provides the barrier between the built and natural environment, IMPACT OF CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY and therefore it is architecture that must work hardest to establish connections with the natural world. In addition to creating physical and mental Architecture and the construction industry since the barriers between society and nature, architecture also industrial revolution, however, have done little to reduce serves as a major detriment to the natural world through the severity of the disjunction between human society the way our current practices reinforce the notion that and the larger context of the ecological system of which the world is ours for the taking. Wasteful construction we are a part. Even though material innovations such as practices, increasing material demands, and energy- steel and glass have made possible large panoramic consuming environments have created a situation where views of nature from the interior, the need to the construction industry is currently one of the most mechanically maintain these spaces has removed the destructive human endeavors. interior environment from that occurring naturally. Even in the context of natural conservation § ‘According to the to the U.S. Department of Energy areas, where there is considerable potential for strong (DOE), buildings in the United States consume more connections to the natural world, the inhabitants of the than 30% of our total energy and 60% of our electricity annually’ (USGBC 1). built environment are traditionally removed from the natural environment. Researchers in these conservation § ‘A typical North American commercial construction areas, for example, study the natural world, but due to project generates up 2.5 pounds of solid waste per the requirements of human comfort and general office square foot’ (USGBC 1). technology, spend a considerable portion of their time § …building account for 49% of sulfur dioxide inside mechanically controlled environments. emissions, 25% of nitrous oxide emissions…10% of So, while architecture serves as our primary particulate emissions…[and] 35% of the country’s physical boundary to the natural world, is also serves as carbon dioxide emissions’ (USGBC 1) a significant mental boundary. Because we spend our The increasingly popular sustainable design lives inside of controlled environments, we have movement has brought the ideas of energy conservation developed a belief that the natural world is outside of our and ecologically conscious material selections to the daily life. We are convinced that our actions are forefront of architectural discussion. Additionally, the confined to the interior environments we have created. increased connection between humans and their natural
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context has been recognized as an essential correction In Western architecture, nature has always been to the variety of problems caused by the widespread a source of inspiration for architects and builders. proliferation of mechanically sealed buildings. Our Additionally nature can be seen as a justification for the current practices, however, have become so widely primacy of architectural style over time. Classical accepted as standards, that even the most progressive capitals are based on natural forms, gothic cathedrals strides towards reducing the impact of environmental were inspired by arboreal forms, ornamentation damage caused by the construction industry is generally The rise of Modernism reflects the view of viewed as little more than idealism. nature as universal space, devoid of a specific locale. It For there to be any significant improvement in is the disassociation with the local environment that has the way we construct buildings in relation to the resulted in the neglect for a developed understanding of environment, we need to develop a greater natural processes, and the means to more successfully understanding of the devastating effects of our current integrate our society into them. As we move into a practices. To generate the desire to establish more period where we understand the importance of our environmentally conscious practices, it is essential to relationship with the natural world, and acknowledge our express our need, as a society, to improve our destruction of it, our architecture should reflect a desire relationship with our natural surroundings. Architecture, to reinforce a positive connection with our environment. as an area desperately in need of improvement in this realm, can take substantial steps to accentuating our ARCHITECTURE AS FILTER interdependence with the natural world by We need to construct ways of presenting acknowledging the role buildings play in the destruction information about the natural world to users who are of it. Architecture, then, can greatly increase awareness often disengaged from their surroundings. Thus, our of the problem by establishing a dialog between the built and natural environments. need for internal environments creates an essential disjunction between the natural and built worlds. This HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVES disjunction creates the need for a new arena in which to research and convey the information we have gathered Architecture as a response to society’s from our study of the natural world. relationship with the environment is not a new concept. Even though buildings are a substantial Historically, societies have always realized the strong boundary, how can we construct them in such a way as connection between architecture and nature, and this to reinforce a positive relationship to our environment? understanding can be seen in the buildings of a given How can buildings control essential aspects of the era. The ways a particular group of people builds interior environment, while establishing a connection expresses their unique understanding of nature, and with the exterior environment? How can architects create their relationship with their surroundings. buildings that act as filters?
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PEDAGOGICAL ARCHITECTURE
‘But in fact, buildings and landscape reflect a hidden curriculum that powerfully influences the learning process.’ - David Orr
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Given the human need to reestablish experience. Because of this highly personal and non- connections with the natural world, and the significant prescriptive means of communicating information need for architecture and the construction industry to through architectural form, it is difficult to use reevaluate its relationship to the natural world, we must architecture as a means of educating specific sets of then study the ways architecture can have a measurable information. impact on the users of a space. While the resurgence of environmentally conscious architecture under the DIRECT DEMONSTRATION ‘sustainable design’ movement has adopted structures In The Nature of Design, David Orr proposes the that more adequately align with natural processes, can concept of “Design as Pedagogy”. In this, he proposes architecture serve a greater role than the decreasing of ecological destruction? Is architecture capable of that buildings, such as the Lewis Center he worked on for Oberlin College, can “instruct students and faculty in teaching those who occupy it? the arts of ecological competence and the possibilities of ARCHITECTURE AS COMMUNICATION ecological design applied to buildings.” (Orr 132). At a recent lecture, David Orr spoke of the changes that have Having established the need for a greater occurred in the curriculum due to the educational uses of educational role of architecture within the context of the new Lewis Center. Three years after the environmental research, it is important to understand construction of the building, existing courses have been what it means for architecture to communicate updated to include hands on learning within the building, information. Essentially, we must develop a greater and new classes have emerged that directly relate to the understanding of the ways architecture communicates examining of data collected by the many sensors in the information to the occupant, and how architects can building. Students, many who have come to Oberlin’s uses this dialog to establish a discourse on particular environmental studies program because of the information. Architects must acknowledge the ability of development of the Lewis Center, have taken an active the built environment to play a role in the positive approach to learning about the building’s relationship to reinforcement of a set of values in society at large. the environment. Architecture, as a visual art, is connotative in While architectural expression is not a strong expression. Because architecture is not a direct form of means of education, the potential for architecture to communication, but rather one that relies on symbols educate through direct demonstration provides a and interpretation, buildings are not a strong medium for powerful opportunity to create an educational experience directly expressing information. While an interpretative for those who inhabit architectural space. The Lewis approach to architectural expression can provide deep Center more clearly expresses the role of the building in and meaningful experiences, each individual develops the context of its natural environment through the direct their own unique meaning out of any architectural demonstration of the ways the building utilizes
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architectural vocabulary, mechanical systems, and WHAT TO FILTER? feedback loops to effectively align the built environment with natural processes. If architecture is to convey a set of information The elements essential to regenerative, site- based on design intent, it is imperative that architects specific design can be utilized so as to establish a understand that information which they wish to portray in discourse based on the enhanced sense of a given situation. All buildings do not have the same interconnectedness and responsibility toward the natural function, site, or occupants, and therefore it is important world on both the local and global scales. If the form of to develop an understanding of the specific context and the building and the specific elements that distinguish scale of intervention before developing any localized sustainable development from the typical building, were goals for architectural expression. This then poses the brought to the forefront of design, and the processes to important questions: What information do we want to maintain the building were put in the hands of those who filter? actually use the building, the occupants would be able to A major key to understanding what architecture develop a greater understanding of ways in which their should communicate in the context of environmental lives depend upon the alteration of the natural world. research and instruction, in particular, is look to the This increased knowledge, in turn, could translate into a reasons we have set aside the resources to maintain greater appreciation for the natural environment and an and research a particular natural environment. We must increased care for the ways in which human lifestyles understand the societal implications of the particular impact their surrounding environments. area in addition to the natural implications. It is essential When architecture adopts sustainable practices that our buildings speak of the significant cultural and makes a deliberate attempt to drive the form of the lessons learned in connection with a particular natural building out of desire to develop a connection to the local environment through the way they are constructed, environment, the public who occupy these buildings will inhabited, and maintained. become more likely to take an active interest in their If architecture is to teach the inhabitants of a natural environments. Likewise, If people are regularly given local environment, fundamentally it must address exposed to the processes necessary for building what it means to be part of that particular locale. “We maintenance, and are involved in the upkeep and energy recognize that all sustainability is local. We connect usage of the building which they inhabit, they become them to local energy flows, and to local customs, needs aware of the significance of their role as members of a and tastes, from the level of the molecule to the region larger natural eco-system. This increase of awareness itself.” (McDonough and Braungart 123). While the ultimately could help to increase society’s ability to apply questions of what it means to be native to a place could sustainable concepts to a variety of other problems. itself become the generator for a number of potential thesis discussions, it is at the heart of the notion that architecture can communicate to the occupant
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something about the a given place. Thus, in some way, about the environment of a given place it is imperative for a building to mediate between the natural world and that we also educate about the cultural significance of the occupant, it must first address how it can be native to the place, as the two are intrinsically linked in human the local environment. Essentially, to effectively educate society.
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REFLEXIVITY OF DESIGN
‘As long as environmental design permits the self- consciousness required of ideological critique only in the realm of ethics, and not aesthetics, then the possibility of environmental architecture that is cultural as well as environmentally effective will remain a question mark’ - Susannah Hagan
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Currently the buildings that are icons of about the importance of the natural world, and our environmentally conscious design often contain signage cultural place within our environment. within the building to explain to the user how the building differs in substantial ways from typical construction and ENVIRONMENTAL DIFFERENTIATION maintenance practices. Architecture can move beyond the annotation of significant aspects toward architectural One of the most direct ways in which expression that is able to speak of its own significance. architecture can educate those who inhabit and use it, is Architecture has the power to teach its relation to the through the differentiation of those elements whose environment and its significance to our society. function has derived out of environmental response. If
architecture can be portrayed as an integration of ‘A new sense of fusion with nature and attention to the interactive elements joining disparate environmental adaptations realized at a variety of scales, parts challenge every green architect today’ then the human intervention necessary for built (Wines 1999 p. 114). environments can be directly demonstrated through
architectural form. In this manner, architecture can use A major set back of current environmental its communicative potential to explain environmental architecture is the lack of reflexivity necessary to responses to those who occupy the building. successfully establish an architectural experience capable of educating the inhabitants of the built form. Climatic Design Because environmental design often focuses on Design for specific macro- and micro-climates conserving resources and decreasing environmental represents a particularly convincing approach to impacts, architectural expression and environmental environmental differentiation. As buildings are designed education often seem diametrically opposed. However, to maximize the potential benefit of particular climatic if the goal of environmental architecture is to educate the forces (sun, wind, geo-thermal factors, etc.), the form public through direct demonstration, a reflexive approach and operation of the building becomes a direct to architecture is necessary. expression of the nature of a specific place and If environmental architecture is intent on orientation. This direct expression becomes the educating the public, it cannot solely strive to minimize essential component of an architecture rooted in environmental impact, it must also attempt to fully utilize demonstration as a means of environmental education. architectural expression to develop a cultural connection As we understand the necessary adaptations to between society and nature. Environmental architecture conventional architectural form based on the specifics of is more than mere resource conservation; it is a more a given environment, we learn about the processes of inclusive expression of environmental ethics. It speaks the natural world.
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Our society has become increasingly dependent story behind the erection of the building, thus completing upon the mechanical maintenance of our interior a mental image of the history of the building from environments. We realize that the natural environment conception through construction into occupation. must adapt to a variety of changes in their surroundings. In buildings that are designed to mechanically regulate ‘…the steel beam mined and milled by another and buried somewhere in the concrete beneath our environment we lose the potential to use the building me is so removed from my experience as to hold as an example of this adaptation. For example, if the no message for my mind. The house carved out building is designed to make maximum use of passive of the forest contains the narrative of the battle’ climatic strategies, the building can tell the story of the (Glassie p. 273). adjustments necessary for survival in a given climate. Interior/Exterior relationships Bringing to light the workings of the building support In order to study the natural systems from system would express to the user the idea that we behind the membrane of an enclosure, it is essential to devise ways of adapting to less than ideal conditions. All analyze the ability of architecture, within the context of natural and cultural systems have to adjust to changing educational landscapes, to integrate interior with environment, and buildings have the potential to explain exterior. Therefore, in the context of environmental these adaptations. education, the goal of architecture is to make the user as
Site-Specific Construction Techniques closely integrated with their work despite the disjunction inherent in the need to separate oneself from it. There Environmental differentiation of a given region is are many ways that the design of a building can help to not only expressed by formal adaptations to climate, but improve the relationship between interior and exterior. A also by the materials and methods with which we couple of simple examples include the use of glazing to construct. Every region has materials that are common increase visual connections and the de-lamination of the and unique. All of these materials, in turn, imply a enclosure to blur the transition between interior and specific set of construction techniques. The use of local exterior. materials can explain the available resources for the As architecture attempts to express the inhabitants of a given environment, and demonstrate the interconnectedness of society and nature, it is essential ingenuity of constructing habitat in a given environment. for the educational experience of the building to result The construction techniques of local materials from the successful integration of the building with its can also lead to an increased connection between the natural context. As buildings are the result of complex user-group and the built environment through the interventions with any site, it is impossible to cleanly expression of the techniques used to construct the separate the built form from purely natural context. building. If the local materials imply a certain means of Therefore, the siting, landscaping, and terracing of the construction, the occupant begins to understand not only project can become significant factors in further the local implications of design decisions, but also the
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explaining the ecological impact of buildings. In addition VERNACULAR AS MODEL to helping to further integrate the building into its environmental context, landscaping can be utilized to Historically, vernacular architecture has been further express the actual impact of a building. Because seen as a successful synthesis of environmental and the natural systems altered by construction extend cultural forces. Because pre-industrial societies did not beyond the building footprint, the surrounding have the luxury of mechanically conditioned space, ‘constructed’ exterior elements can also explain how the highly sophisticated construction techniques, or readily building, both in its construction and its operation, available modes of trans-continental transportation, it requires the displacement of natural systems as well as was essential to make the most of climatic strategies, the input of raw materials. appropriate construction methods, and local materials. This is not to say that vernacular buildings are more Cultural differentiation environmentally responsive than contemporary construction. Instead, what vernacular architecture Further demonstrating the interconnectedness of successfully exhibits is the integration of cultural and the environmental and cultural realms is the notion that environmental forces to create an architecture of a climate has, in fact, played a significant role in the specific locale, and of a specific people. evolution of cultural differentiation throughout the world. Mete Turan, architectural professor doing on- As was discussed in the first chapter, environmental going research on vernacular architecture, proposes that differentiation not only serves as a means of expression vernacular architecture cannot be evaluated as a in natural realm, but also in the cultural realm. product alone. Instead vernacular architecture must be
‘Climate-specific design strategies, when viewed as a process by which the built form was combined with regionally-specific materials, can constructed. He argues that: produce environmental architecture that is visibly differentiated climate zone by climate ‘…a direct causal link between environmental zone’ (Hagan p. 115) needs and vernacular architecture is not what is
expressed because such a direct relationship By developing site-specific design strategies, does not exist. What is expressed is the architects can further develop a cultural connection with interaction between the economic basis and a place. By highlighting the site conditions of a given people’s ideas and values that result from the place and using architectural expression to explain the complex interactions of history, the contradictions between systems, and the logical human response necessary for successful integration of development of ideas and material facts’ (Turan human and natural systems, architecture can develop a p. 8). site-specific language that explains the cultural development of the region. Vernacular architectures developed climate- appropriate strategies through the evolution of similar
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forms over long periods of time. Because there was less specialization of trades, construction was a communal process. The buildings constructed in pre-industrial society represented not the will of an architect, but of the community. Because construction was largely a community process, the knowledge set gradually developed as new techniques and strategies were incorporated. Thus, vernacular architecture was much like a series of variations on a specific model. As these variations were tested, the model gradually evolved to incorporate those techniques that proved to be most successful. In vernacular architecture, the knowledge set of construction was an evolving body revolving around the notion of a model continually refined through the testing of many iterations of a shared model. Attempting to create a means of evaluating vernacular architecture based on objective criteria, Amos FIG. 4 – Sharing of model
Rapoport, one of the founders of environment-behavior Henry Glassie, professor and previous Because of the sharing of a studies, found that one of the major differences in president of the Vernacular Architecture Forum, further construction model was between contemporary and vernacular architectures was asserts that the major reason we value vernacular common in vernacular architecture, construction in fact the sharing of a construction model. Because of architecture is not because of the architectural product. knowledge was able to evolve the lack of information exchange in contemporary He proposes that the engagement in the process of over time as variations to the model were tested. architecture, variation is more common, but construction creates an understanding of the occupant’s environmental appropriateness is less directly relation to the environment and the built form. He states expressed. that:
‘The key to vernacular technology is engagement, direct involvement in the manipulation of materials and active participation in the process of design, construction and use. The product of engagement is knowledge’ (Glassie p. 276).
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MODERN VERNACULAR? practice is greatly linked not to industrial processes, but to a shift in economic systems. In modern architectural practice, a return to the vernacular approach to design seems far-fetched, as ‘…vernacular architecture as a reference has pre-industrial buildings are not particularly appropriate existed as a separate entity, perhaps since its split from institutionalized architecture with the for contemporary lifestyles. It is unreasonable to expect st beginning of labor specialization and the those people living in the 21 century to give up modern ensuing dawn of stratified society’ (Turan p. 3) comforts in exchange for architectural expression. Contemporary buildings given the aesthetic of Therefore, if architects are to strive for a greater vernacular structures, while more suitable for modern integration of environmental and cultural inclusion, a lifestyles, strip the architectural vocabulary of its return to vernacular sentiments may require a significant intended meaning because of their lack of concern for alteration of the vernacular model to incorporate those environmental and cultural appropriateness. cultural shifts that made the vernacular architecture all Instead of attempting to recreate the design but obsolete in the first place. sensibilities of vernacular based on the architectural product, the goal of contemporary practice should be to re-evaluate the process of vernacular architecture. Rapoport asserts that a process of learning by analysis will yield a more successful product than the mere adoption of architectural style (Rapoport 100).
The principles of vernacular architecture, however, may be even more difficult to translate into a modern equivalent. If vernacular architecture is seen not as variations of a particular aesthetic, but as an evolving body of knowledge dependent on the sharing of construction information, it is easy to see why the process of vernacular design is quite difficult to incorporate into contemporary architectural practice. Contemporary architectural practice, within the reference frame of a capitalistic economy, has a far greater emphasis on individuality and propriety, which directly FIG. 5 – Learning from the vernacular conflicts with the widespread exchange of knowledge. In ‘As technologies evolve to indirect techniques for the manipulation of materials and to isolation fact, it can be argued that the historical split between of segments of the creative process, the major vernacular architecture and modern architectural loss is the experience of engagement that
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produces the awareness of connectedness that enables people to evaluate their situation in the world and thus to be ambivalent about historical change‘ (Glassie p. 276).
Where do we go from here? Given our scientific and cultural understanding of nature, our current technology, and our social lifestyles, what is the appropriate way of developing an environmentally conscious architecture? There are a number of environmentalists who argue that vernacular architecture is, through a historical process of trial and error, the most ecologically sustainable building type for a given locale. This sentiment, however, does not account for modern lifestyles or modern technologies. Is a return to vernacular life appropriate for our modern culture? Should these vernacular building types be updated for life in modern times? Can a universal ‘modernist’ architecture adequately adapt to specific environmental contexts? Or, is it necessary to develop a new ‘vernacular’ architecture based on modern technology, social structures, and scientific and cultural understandings of the natural world?
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EVOLVING STRUCTURES ‘Through better design, is it possible to teach our students that our problems are solvable and that we are connected to the larger community of life?’ - David Orr
FIG. 6- Kinetic sculpture by Santiago Calatrava
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environmental appropriateness at various scales, but COMPLEXITY/PLURALISM also create a complexity of form. Implementing a variety of newly developed One of the major reasons that vernacular mechanical means, architects of the Modern Movement architecture is no longer appropriate in contemporary believed that architecture could now be stripped of all society is the inability for communal design processes to ‘unnecessary’ elements. Architects believed that new adequately incorporate the multiplicity of design factors high-strength materials and environmental control that have arisen in a world of increased complexity. As systems could serve in place of the historical we continually develop new technologies that allow for architectural reactions to environmental/cultural increased environmental control, we continue to pressures. increase the expectations of the built environment. As Modernism was, and still is, an architectural the requirements of any given project within our current manifestation of seventeenth century scientific notions of cultural system have become increasingly complex, the the natural world. Modern architecture still relies of the trades have been required to specialize, and notion of nature as clockwork, as was proliferated by construction knowledge has become increasing scientists of the ‘Age of Enlightenment’ such as decentralized. One of the main design problems of 21st Descartes and Bacon. Our new scientific understanding century architecture is dealing with the complexity of the of the natural world, and consequently our cultural built world. projection of it, sees nature not as clockwork, but as a
complex interrelation of oft-chaotic events. How can ‘There is a paradox: how to become modern and to return to sources; how to revive an old architecture, then, convey this new understanding of dormant civilization and take part in universal nature? civilization (Ricoeur, 1965:276-277 in Hagan p. 120) ‘[I]t seems difficult to me to attempt to express the sensibilies, customs, aesthetic awareness, Given this new cultural/economical climate that distinctive culture, and social traditions of a has evolved since the Industrial Revolution, is there any given race by means of an open, international way architecture can successfully evolve to vocabulary of Modernism (Ando p. 138). accommodate the duality of environmental and cultural High-Tech mechanical solutions have proven to appropriateness as epitomized by vernacular be both one of the root causes of, and the perceived architecture? solution for architectural response to varying climatic and It is important to note that vernacular cultural systems. The International Style proposed that architecture itself was actually an appropriate response mechanical systems would lead to the end of a need for to complexity. By creating a model and implementing cultural differentiation of built form. However, we can the model with variations on a small-scale, case-by-case now see the environmental consequences and the banal basis, vernacular buildings develop both an [EVOLVING STRUCTURES] 27
architectural expression that have resulted from the desire to unify the world through the use of mechanical systems.
BUILT FORM AS EVOLUTIONARY MEDIUM
If contemporary architecture does not have the capacity to develop an evolving knowledge set, is there a way for contemporary architecture to benefit from an evolutionary process of increased adaptedness to changing conditions? One potential lies in a shift in evolutionary scales such that the individual building becomes the medium of evolutionary change. Given the increasingly complex requirements of a modern construction project, it is appropriate that the building itself can adapt to changing conditions in the physical FIG. 7 – Rates of change and cultural worlds. If the building could actually adapt Contemporary architecture is capable of to changing environmental conditions or cultural increasing rates of change because the design of constraints, the knowledge set of the individual building buildings is not the result of a community process, but could transform, mimicking the evolutionary nature of the the will of a designer. As such, the designer has more knowledge set of vernacular construction. freedom to design a variety of solutions to a number of One significant advantage of modern architectural problems. Therefore, while the ability to architectural practice over vernacular techniques is the develop an evolving body of knowledge is greatly limited ability for greater change and alteration because of the in contemporary architectural practice, the ability to lack of an overarching model. This increased variety in create variations of form has greatly been increased. design strategies can be utilized to experiment with This ability of society to absorb a constantly changing different forms and relationships. Furthermore, the built environment means that there is potential for implementation of feedback loops and adaptable buildings that are capable of changing over time. building components could establish an architectural design strategy that takes full advantage of these ever- Building within complex systems increasing rates of change. In an attempt to develop a new approach to building that effectively responds to a variety of complex and ever-changing systems, it is important to understand
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what it means to be the creator of complex systems. and/or enclosures provide the necessary means to Kevin Kelly, editor of Wired magazine, has examined the develop an architectural vocabulary derived out of the notion of a ‘neo-biological’ society based on creating interaction of simple systems designed to accommodate artificial systems made to react much like natural ones. specific He argues that in natural systems a multitude of simpler The work of Santiago Calatrava is consistently systems work together to create increasing complex concerned the ability of structures to move. While we systems. generally think of structures and buildings as static objects, Calatrava’s use of dynamic forms and moving ‘The only way to make a complex system that components creates architecture capable of adaptation. works is to begin with a simple system that Alexander Tzonis, and architectural critic writing on works…Complexity is created, then, by assembling it incrementally from simple modules Calatrava’s work, states that it should not be so counter- that can operate independently (Kelly p. 469). intuitive to think of structures in motion.
Buildings are subject to complex environmental ‘But for structures, of course, movement is a and cultural systems, but they are also complex systems basic fact of life. They are never at rest. The in themselves. They continually regulate an interior more we know about the behavior, the more we environment by mitigating a changing exterior realize how, although apparently immobile, they undiscernibly although perpetually move’ environment. As with a complex system, a building (Tzonis p. 15). designed as one entity cannot be expected to effectively respond successfully to all environmental pressures. While Calatrava’s work is generally not directly Thus it makes sense, from the view of building as attempting to express movement as a means of complex system, to design buildings as a series of environmental adaptation, his use of movement allows interventions that serve specific environment functions. for a building to continually re-establish a relationship These simple systems would then react to a small with it’s surroundings as the building changes. In the portion of environmental pressures, and would Milwaukee Art Museum, for example, the louvers over effectively combine to create a building capable of the main gathering space open and close like the wings adapting to changing conditions. of a bird allowing for differing levels of light and solar gain to penetrate into the interior. Buildings designed in this manner could, either actively or passively, adapt to MOVEMENT AND STRUCTURE changing conditions. The continual transformation of the building would directly express, to the user, the ways we One of the ways architecture can successfully as a society need to adapt to continually changing evolve over a period of time is to allow for movement environmental conditions. such that the building can in some way be altered to accommodate necessary changes. Dynamic structures
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Similarly, work done on ephemeral structures provides a foundation for establishing more environmentally dynamic architectural forms. Ephemeral structures have been frequently discussed in environmental architecture because of their ability to provide shelter when necessary with a minimal amount of material and energy costs. In the context of reflexive environmental design, however, ephemeral structures provide a means for establishing an architectural language capable of change. Through the creation of a overarching frame on which components of differing materials can be added, changed, and moved, the building can effectively evolve under changing conditions. Dynamic structures can effectively educate occupants about the complex relationship between society and the environment through the direct demonstration of necessary adaptations to changing conditions in a specific environmental/social context.
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CASE STUDY Ford Calumet Environmental Center Hegewish Marsh, Chicago IL
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SITE ANALYSIS Hegewisch Marsh Chicago, Illinois
‘The scenery in the Calumet region is filled with opposing images of environmental neglect and survival. The natural remnants of the once vast marsh system are scattered among the remains of an industrial age which forever changed the region.’ - Illinois Sierra Club Site selection -
FIG. 8 – Hegewish Marsh
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Architecture of interdependence, as proposed in context so as to no longer associate themselves as this thesis, involves the careful understanding of a biological beings within a larger ecological framework. particular locale and a multileveled reading of the natural Chicago is an appropriate location for context. It requires the architecture to become so fully intervention of this type because of Mayor Daley’s integrated into a particular site that its architectural expressed desire to establish the Chicago as the expression grows out of its environment. In addition to ‘greenest’ city in the country. Over the past four years, the understanding of the local environment, it also Chicago has placed an emphasis on improving the requires a clear understanding of the essential balance ecological sustainability of public buildings and between environment and culture. That is to say, the infrastructure. Focusing on energy conservation, the importance of the site should go beyond natural beauty; majority of these efforts have interpreted ‘environmental’ it must also enhance the relationship between society in the global sense; greenhouse gases are causing and nature. global warming, water conservation decreases demand For this reason, it is important that the site be at peak times, local materials consume less embodied located in an urban context, as this is where the energy, etc. Very little, however, has been done to connection between society and nature is most increase residents’ understanding of the natural world. frequently misunderstood. One particular area on the South Side of Chicago provides a unique opportunity to integrate ‘Among urban dwellers, nature is perceived as a unique and valuable natural setting with the highly complex force that most deem important, requirements with human development. In the Lake but not important enough to override such technocentric and anthropocentric concerns as a Calumet region, Chicago’s largest concentration of booming economy, job security, and government industrial land resides alongside some of the most entitlements. The natural environment, in diverse ecological settings of the Midwest. This region simplified terms, is seen as a place where they also contains a number of abandoned sites that have drive on the weekends.’ (Wines 1999, 111) been severely contaminated by their industrial pasts. By The urban environment is so frequently devoid of showing the adverse affects of industrial society coupled distinguishable natural features, and it is very easy for with site-conscious redevelopment, this site has the those who are constantly surrounded by the built potential to provide considerable insight into the topic of environment to feel as if they are disconnected from the our interdependence with nature as expressed through many natural processes. The problem of our architecture. understanding of nature in the urban environment is not that urban dwellers feel as if nature should have more of SITE HISTORY an importance in their lives. The problem is that urban ‘Once one of the largest wetland complexes ni dwellers are likely to be so far removed from natural lower North America – supporting an almost unimaginable diversity of animal and plant life – [SITE ANALYSIS] 33
the 20 square mile area located on Chicago’s far initially prevented the local ecosystems from being southeast side has undergone radical change altered by human settlement, it proved disastrous at the wrought by 120 years of intensive advent of the Industrial Revolution. New technologies industrialization, pollution and waste disposal.’ that had made it possible to fill in and drain marshes, - Chicago Department of the Environment coupled with the increasing need for railroads and industrial facilities caused the Calumet region to become Ecological Diversity a prime target for new industrial development. As Prior to the settlement of Chicago, this region at railroads, slaughterhouses, and manufacturing centers the southwest tip of Lake Michigan was a series of rapidly populated the site, the ecology greatly suffered. shallow marshes and wet prairies, scattered with dunes, As early as 1893, the commander of the Army Corps of ridges, and beaches. Additionally, the site is at the Engineers said: intersection of the temperate forest of the northeast and ‘keeping the Grand Calumet River clean was a the tall grass prairies of the west. Because of the fruitless exercise because it filled up so rapidly by slaughterhouse refuse and filth from adjacency of various ecosystems, an incredible wealth of manufacture establishments and solid matter biological diversity could be found throughout the region. from the sewage poured into the dead stream’ (Illinois Sierra Club). Industrial Contamination By 1925, the City of Chicago authorized the conversion of Lake Calumet into an industrial harbor, based on the local Alderman’s opinion that the lake was ‘nothing more than a breeding place for mosquitoes and mud turtles.’ As late as the 1980’s the Illinois Port District filled in 9,400 acres of wetlands to create a golf course. It was not until the plans for an airport in the Calumet wetlands was proposed in the early 1990’s that the desire for ecological revitalization was publicly expressed. By now, however, the ecological fabric of the region has been greatly damaged from inconsiderate use of the land by various industries. The industrial development has so greatly altered the physical environment of the region that of the 22,000 acres of the FIG. 9 – Calumet wetlands that originally comprised the region, there are Incinerator sign As Chicago was settled, the majority of the only 500 acres remaining. (Illinois Sierra Club). Calumet region was left undeveloped because of the difficulty of developing land in marshland. While this [SITE ANALYSIS] 34
In an attempt to understand the true impact of biodiversity is capable of surviving. Essentially, a the industrialization of the site, the EPA conducted an number of small natural areas will not contain as much environmental study a decade ago to determine the biodiversity as one large park of the same total size. ’All extent of the damage, and the potential for significant else being equal, one large protected area will be more repair. In July of 2000, 200 acres of land adjacent to valuable than a number of small ones’ (Sterelny and Lake Calumet, abandoned since the late 1970’s, have Griffiths 183). An important manifestation of this been designated as an EPA superfund site. principle is the establishment of an ecological plan of action for the entire ecological corridor stretching from Lake Calumet to the Indian Dunes National Lakeshore. It is for these reasons that that the Calumet National Heritage Area has been proposed to create a ‘green corridor’ to link all of the protected wetlands across state boundaries. The Lake Calumet region will become one of the two major end nodes to this ‘green corridor.’ The Chicago Department of Planning and Development’s Calumet Land Use Plan recommends 3,000 acres for industrial redevelopment, and 3,000 acres to be set aside as the Calumet Open Space Reserve. (Chicago DOE). One of the major plans for the
Post-Industrial Revitalization superfund sites is the development of a new ‘energy farm’ based on the establishment of renewable energy While the damages caused to the site have technologies to be implemented in conjunction with the been significant, it is important to note that based on ecological restoration of the area. The plans for feasibility studies of redeveloping these areas it has Hegewish Marsh, specifically, include restoration of the been determined that the majority of the environmental marshland, which is contaminated by runoff from damages are surmountable. Therefore, swift action to contaminated sites, and the establishment of an preserve the biodiversity in the region could reap various environmental center to tell the story of the Calumet ecological rewards. It is important that the various Region. The site for this thesis is based on this agencies that have expressed interest in the site move in proposal, currently being developed by the Ford Calumet such a manner so as to fully realize the potential of the Environmental Center competition. site before any more damage occurs. One important aspect of Chicago’s plans for An important concept for the revitalization of the Calumet Lake Calumet is that it proposes not only ecological but area is the species-area effect. This explains that the FIG. 10 – View of steel mill also economic revitalization of the area. This creates an smaller the area of continuous habitat becomes, the less through wetlands interesting dialogue between two seemly contrasting
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goals created by stimulating an area simultaneously with nature and industry. That is to say, the city believes that the natural and cultural forces of the region are strong enough to propel a renewal of interest in complementary ways. Daniel Burnham, proposing master planning for the entire city of Chicago in 1909, understood the importance of the integration of the nature and industry in this particular region when he anticipated a ‘lake park set in one of the greatest manufacturing districts in the world.’
FIG. 11 – Calumet National Heritage Area
This map shows the proposed environmental revitalization sites around Lake Calumet, including the Ford Calumet Environmental Center (labeled 10 on the map)
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Cultural Investigations It is precisely this desire to develop an The Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago understanding of the commensurate relationship has been actively seeking educational opportunities in between natural ecology and the cultural/economic the Calumet region. In addition to learning about the manifestations of society that has sparked my interest in fragile eco-systems of the community, they are very pursuing an environmental/cultural center on this site. interested in developing a social/cultural understanding of the human residents of the region. The Center for Cultural Understanding and Change (CCUC), part of the Field Museum, has been conducting ethnographic research in the region. Specifically, they look to address the following questions, among others:
§ Why do people continue to live in a place that has been characterized at various times as a ‘ghost town,’ the ‘armpit of the city,’ or ‘surreal?’
§ How are residents and other interested parties defining environment and ecology in this region?
§ What is the relationship between different residents’ uses of and concerns for the environment and the biodiversity effects?
§ What are the ways in which people are constructing place in relation to the changing landscapes of the paradoxical region?
§ [What are the connections] between the environmental and economic concerns held by residents of the region and those of external interested parties?
§ [How can] increased understanding of how and why people use particular places [illuminate] and reduce barriers to effective participation in the conservation and sustainable use of natural areas, particularly in the urban context?
[SITE ANALYSIS] 37
DETAILED PHYSICAL ANALYSIS
Built context Climatic design priorities (as laid out in Lechner) The Calumet region is primarily comprised of 1. Keep heat in and cold temperatures out in the large industrial factories. While there are not any winter structures within the 110 acres, the site is bordered to 2. Protect from the cold winter winds 3. Let the winter sun in the north by the Ford Motor Company plant, and to the 4. Keep hot temperatures our during the summer west by Ford’s rail yards. On the east is the Calumet 5. Protect from the summer sun River, and to the south is a small boat yard, and tavern. 6. Use natural ventilation for summer cooling
FIG. 12 – View of Hegewish Marsh
[SITE ANALYSIS] 38
FIG. 13 – Existing conditions of site FIG. 15 – Ford plant to the north of site FIG. 17 – Small marina to the south
FIG. 14 – Eastern boundary of site FIG. 16 – Ford rail yard to the east FIG. 18 – Calumet River to west
[SITE ANALYSIS] 39
FIG. 19 – Land Use in Chicago The Calumet region contains one of the highest concentrations of both ecological and industrial parcels in all of Chicago
FIG. 20 – Map showing location of Lake Calumet Because of the wetlands in the area, the grid of roads dividing the rest of the Chicagoland area never continued into Calumet.
[SITE ANALYSIS] 40
FIG. 21 – Land use in the Calumet Region
[SITE ANALYSIS] 41
FIG. 22 – Aerial Photograph of Calumet
Site of Ford Calumet Environmental area is outlined in orange
[SITE ANALYSIS] 42
SITE PRECEDENT ANALYSIS Vintondale, Pennsylvania AMD&ART
This rural valley 60 miles east of Pittsburgh has suffered from decades of coal extraction and acid mine drainage (AMD). Funded by the EPA, a 40-acre art park has been established which relies on the restoration of natural habitat for passive decontamination of the site. The site contains an environmental education center, interpretive art, trails, wetlands, and fields. This park, conceived as collaborative effort of a land artist, landscape architect, hydro-geologist, and historian, intends to bring the processes of water remediation into public view. The water begins the water treatment process in a limestone-settling pond, bright orange because of acid mine drainage. As this contaminated water is cleaned up it moves through a series of large gravity-fed water treatment ponds lined with crushed limestone to neutralize the pH and remove toxic metals. Described as the ‘Litmus Garden,’ this incremental decontamination process is visible in the color of the water as it slowly shifts from orange to blue.
The landscaping of the surrounding areas also reflects this shift in color. The water continues through bioremediation ponds and into an educational History Wetlands, which contains wetland restorations within the footprints of the existing industrial buildings. Finally, the FIG. 23 – Existing conditions at Vintondale purified water joins a nearby river. FIG. 24 – Plan for Vintondale
[SITE ANALYSIS] 43
This park not only serves the purpose of water ‘The point is to make give new life to the area in remediation, but also becomes a visual and education a natural manner, while still making the transformative process legible – and thus serve experience explaining the damage and subsequent as a reminder of the site’s industrial heritage.’ clean-up of the site. Thus the project speaks not only about the environmental problems of a particular site, Vintonondale, Pennsylvainia si not only an isolated 40- but also the larger roots of those problems. AMD&ART acre portion of ecologically revitalized-land, it is also a express that: symbol for the our ability to reform relations with the ‘Abandoned mine drainage is only superficially a environment through the environmental and cultural water problem: more deeply, it is emblematic of expression of the damage and renewal. the malaise of economic and environmental desolation that is coal country.’
FIG. 25 – existing conditions
[SITE ANALYSIS] 44
Ford River Rouge Plant Dearborn, Michigan William McDonough + Partners
Henry Ford’s historic River Rouge plant has been hailed as a revolutionary manufacturing facility. An innovative full service production facility, raw materials enter on one side of the plant and completed cars leave from the other end. In the 100 years since its creation, however, the site is more likely to be associated with environmental destruction. Recently this historic facility has undergone a massive overhaul focused on implementing passive water remediation as a means of eliminating the need for extensive active water collection and treatment infrastructure. The most visible element of the renovation is the installation of a 10-acre vegetative roof (the largest installation of its kind in the world). The benefits of the green include the restoration of native habitat, effective thermal and acoustic insulation, and improved air and water quality. The addition of light monitors throughout the facility increase the presence of natural light, and reduce a significant portion of the electrical load. This project is relevant to this thesis because it showcases a successful example of industry and nature co-existing. The environmental degradation of the River Rouge was reduced, not by eliminating the heavy industry that created the problems, but by rethinking the FIG. 26 – Aerial of existing River Rouge complex way industry can relate to the site. The greatest success of this project is that the ecology and economy of the site have all been preserved, while showcasing the significant cultural history of this immensely important manufacturing region.
[SITE ANALYSIS] 45
FIG. 27 – River Rouge revitalization
[SITE ANALYSIS] 46
Emscher Park The Ruhr Region in Germany Peter Latz
Another site with a heavy industrial past, this entire region has slowly been transformed into a vibrant area featuring new parks, industrial facilities, and residential communities. Rather than tearing down the dilapidated industrial structures, the designers decided to utilize the cultural potential of the factories as large- scale cultural remains, playfully integrated with modern- day functions. A significant project in the region was the conversion of a large steel mill into an open-air museum and recreation park. At Emscher Park, a former wasteland has been transformed into a sort of modern day industrial theme park. In addition to the creation of a series of parks, the natural environment of the region has been greatly revitalized. Waterways have been reestablished and rehabilitated, the soil has been significantly decontaminated, and native plantings have been successfully re-integrated.
FIG. 28 – Scuba divers practicing in old gas tanks
FIG. 29 – Rock climbing on concrete foundations
[SITE ANALYSIS] 47
The walkways, plantings, and other functions structures are linked to the cultural identity of the region. are integrated with the old cranes, blast furnaces, and The residents of the region now find beauty in those very drainage channels. The giant concrete towers are now structures that have laid dormant for so long. It is this used for playgrounds and sports facilities. Now, children integration of ecological redevelopment, imbued with and adults alike play inside the remains of the industrial cultural significance that makes this project so relevant past of the region. The rehabilitation of this site to this thesis. increases social awareness as these industrial
FIG. 30 – A factory converted into a museum
[SITE ANALYSIS] 48
PROGRAM ANALYSIS Environmental and Cultural Center
‘After all, the ‘environment’ is more than just the biosphere, into which we must now fit or die. It is also the ‘built environment,’ a cultural as well as physical identity.’ - Susannah Hagan
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obstacles to the implementation of sustainable design on PROGRAM SELECTION a broader social scale. Based on the site, the proposed environmental This thesis explores the ways in which center for Hegewisch Marsh is a logical fit. The facility architecture can be an educational tool to reemphasize would serve as an educational resource for both social the interdependence between society and nature. In and environmental disciplines. Additionally, the housing order to express the educational potential of the of both functions creates the potential for increased architecture, the program is such that the success of the understanding of the interconnectedness of the two project is dependent upon the process of educating disciplines. The program for this thesis is based on the those who inhabit the space. Thus it is intrinsic that Ford Calumet Environmental Center (FCEC) Design learning from nature be central to the program. Essential Competition , released on November 21, 2003. The to this success is manifestations of both the natural and competition brief is as follows: cultural interpretations combining in the creation of the ‘An international design competition for the Ford building. Calumet Environmental Center in Chicago, Specifically, a small environmental research Illinois is underway. The building will be an facility, which would also service as a community educational resource focuses on the industrial, educational center, could provide the potential to cultural and ecological heritage of the area. It will serve as an operational base for research incorporate the main ideas of the thesis. A center of this activities, environmental remediation and would allow the building to teach a variety of age groups ecological rehabilitation as well as a base for and educational backgrounds. Due to the integration of volunteer stewardship throughout the area.’ various levels of educational experiences that could occur, the interaction between groups would establish a discourse that could work to overcome a number of
[PROGRAM ANALYSIS] 50
SPACE PROGRAM SUMMARY
Interior Spaces External Spaces Public Spaces 29. Terraces variable 1. Lobby/Reception 600sf 30. Paths variable 2. Main Exhibit Space 2,500sf 31. Signage variable 3. Temporary Exhibit Space 1,000sf 32. Information Kiosks variable 4. Exhibit Storage 750sf 33. Lab Viewing Area variable 5. Media Orientation Center 800sf 34. High Viewing Areas variable 6. Auditorium 3,900sf 35. Benches variable 7. Auditorium Storage 900sf 36. Picnic Area variable 8. Classroom #1 1,350sf 37. External storage/maintenance variable 9. Classroom #1 Storage 200sf 38. Parking (40 spaces) variable 10. Classroom #2 1,350sf 39. Vehicle Drop-off variable 11. Classroom #1 Storage 200sf 40. Entry Court variable 12. Children’s Room 1,000sf 41. Service Entry variable 13. Lunchroom 1,000sf 42. Bicycle Rack variable Total 15,550sf
Work Spaces For more detailed descriptions of each space, including 14. Staff Offices 1,000sf function, capacity, adjacencies, furnishings, equipment and 15. Director’s Office 100sf 16. Conference Room 450sf other notes, see Appendix. 17. Volunteer Workspace 800sf 18. Lab 600sf 19. Lab Office 200sf Total 3,200sf
Ancillary Spaces 20. Coat Room 240sf 21. Field Trip Storage 150sf 22. Kitchenette 200sf 23. Pulic Toilet Rooms 500sf 24. Staff Shower/Toilet 150sf 25. Supply Room 100sf 26. Server Closet 50sf 27. Building Maint. Room 150sf 28. Services 2,000sf Total 3,540sf
Net Area 22,900sf Circulation grossing increment (15%) 3,540sf Gross Area 25,634sf
[PROGRAM ANALYSIS] 51
RELATIONSHIP DIAGRAM
FIG. 31 – Adjacency Diagram for FCEC Competition
[PROGRAM ANALYSIS] 52
. PROGRAM PRECEDENT ANALYSIS
Center for Regenerative Studies
California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, California Dougherty + Dougherty 14,000 sf
Conceived as a facility for an environmental education program at California State Polytechnic University, The Center for Regenerative Studies integrates research, teaching, and living in an environmentally sensitive structure. Intended to be a self-sufficient community, the center is an experimental community of 20 people with the goal of studying the relation of humans and nature. Constructed as an on- going community project, the first phase consists of 14,000 square feet, including housing, kitchen and dining commons, work rooms, lecture and seminar rooms, and administrative offices. The next phase will expand the academic functions, and introduce agriculture facilities. All of the pubic spaces of the complex are With programs in solar buildings, reclaimed located on the south side of the buildings and contain full-height glazing with operable windows to provide both water systems, aquaculture, and environmental agriculture, the building and landscaping serve as an visual and physical connections with the exterior. The exterior trellises will be covered in native plantings to integral component of the educational experience FIG. 32 – Center for provide shade for the building, as well as create a center. As the center is intended to study the potential Regenerative Studies for integrating human systems more compatibly with pleasant atmosphere for student and faculty use. A porch with trellis shades the natural world, the building itself, then is a test the building from unwanted subject in all experiments. By developing a clear heat, and creates a connection to the understanding the processes of the building, and the surrounding landscape. impact they have on the relationship between the user
[PROGRAM ANALYSIS] 53
and their natural environment, the center is a significant successfully integrates the two. resource in establishing architecture that more
FIG. 33 – Center for Regenerative Studies – Phase 1
[PROGRAM ANALYSIS] 54
Arizona Sonora Desert Museum
Tucson, Arizona Line and Space 20,000 sf.
This addition to the Arizona Sonora Desert Museum, containing a new restaurant, gift shop, and special events area, was designed with the intention of expressing the environmental factors that have shaped the unique culture of the desert. Inspiration for the detailing of the structure came from an understanding of traditional Mexican colonial architecture. The use of bold colors, native materials, and an architectural expression dominated by the presence of thick stone walls recall the vernacular architecture of the region. The architects, however, did not take the use of vernacular architecture as a stylistic approach to the building. Instead, they used the vernacular as a means of expressing the ways cultural traditions of the region developed out of the need for adaptation to particularly harsh climatic conditions. ‘…we have the opportunity to create a metaphorical exhibit on appropriate desert architecture that relies on environmental response as its primary determinant instead of some sort of prescribed Southwestern image.’ Line and Space
FIG. 34 – Exterior terrace at Sonora Desert Museum
FIG. 35 – Sonora Desert Museum Plan
[PROGRAM ANALYSIS] 55
The understanding of environmental/cultural more comfortable. Additionally the structure utilizes influences is particularly relevant because the goal of the recycled components and gray water harvesting to museum is not only to showcase the biological diversity demonstrate the potential for a symbiotic relationship of the desert ecosystem, but also the need to adapt between the building and the land. From the without further damaging the fragile ecosystem. The understanding of appropriate materials, local climate, building uses microclimatically tempered outdoor dining and the land, the architects have created an experience areas, and transition areas between interior and exterior derived from expressing the implications of living in a that help prevent harsh visual and thermal shocks as specific environmental context. means of passively making the human environment
FIG. 36 – Sonora Desert Museum entry
The entry to the building is articulated through the use of shading devices
[PROGRAM ANALYSIS] 56
Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum
Chicago Academy of Sciences Chicago, Illinois Perkins & Will 73,000 Sq. Feet
Located in Lincoln Park, this nature museum is Chicago’s most recently completed nature center. The mission of the Academy of Sciences is to make accessible the natural history of the Midwest. This project was designed with the intent of integrating this mission with urban residents, who are often removed from the natural world. The design focuses on the integration of natural and artificial environments by evoking the history of the setting. The building consists of angular masses that recall the sand dunes that existed before the settlement of the lakeshore. This reference to the pre-settlement natural conditions through the use of the built form helps to establish a dialog between society and nature. Furthermore, the entry to the museum is through a dramatic incision in the landscape. This cut into the parkland stresses our ability to form the natural world, and creates a physical connection between the entry sequence and the ravine landscaped with native plantings adjacent to the lobby. The landscaping surrounding the building consists of groupings of ecosystems native to the Chicagoland area, including ponds, a wetland, and prairie.
FIG. 37 – Nature Museum floor plans
[PROGRAM ANALYSIS] 57
Additionally, the use of terraces and balconies ‘The museum is an educational tool and a that overlook the natural setting of the area, the building metaphor for the relationship between man and nature.’ also uses the careful placement of glazing to create a sense of uninterrupted natural surroundings from the -Perkins & Will website interior. The transparency also allows the museum to directly relate the exhibits with the nature visible outside.
FIG. 38 – Nature Museum entry lobby
FIG. 39 – Nature Museum exterior
[PROGRAM ANALYSIS] 58
WORKS CITED
Ando, Tadao. Tadao Ando: Buildings, Projects, Writings, edited by Kenneth Frampton. New Fitch, James M. “Vernacular paradigms for a post- York: Rizzoli, 1984 industrial architecture.” In Vernacular Architecture, edited by Mete Turan. Adershot: Benyus, Janine. Biomimicy: Innovation Inspired by Averbury, 1990. Nature, New York: Perennial, 2002. Glassie, Henry. “Vernacular Architecture and Brandolini, Sebastiano. “Paradise Found.” Society.” In Vernacular Architecture, edited by Architecture [November 2000]: 75-77, 147. Mete Turan. Adershot: Averbury, 1990.
“Calumet National Heritage Center.” Hagan, Susannah. Taking Shape: A New Contract
“Calumet Region, The.” Hawken, Paul, Amory Lovins, and L. Hunter Lovins.
Crosbie, Michael J. Green Architecture: A Guide to Kelly, Kevin. Out of Control: The Rise of Neo- Sustainable Design. Rockport, Mass: Rockport Biological Civilization. Reading, MA: Addison- Publications, 1994. Wesley, 1994.
Czanecki, John E. “From the Roof of City Hall to Kirkwood, Niall. Manufactured Sites: Rethinking the Rows of Bungalows, Chicago Goes Green.” Post-Industrial Landscape. London: Spon Architectural Record [February 2003]: 02. 77- Press, 2001. 78. Knopf, Fritz L., and Fred B. Samson. Praire Fathy, Hassan. Natural Energy and Vernacular Conservation: Preserving North America’s Most Architecture. Chicago: University of Chicago, Endangered Ecosystem. Washington D.C.: 1986. Island Press, 1996. 59
Lang Ho, Cathy. “Waste Not, Want Not.” Rapoport, Amos. “Defining Vernacular Design.” In Architecture [November 2000]: 80-81, 149. Vernacular Architecture, edited by Mete Turan. Adershot: Averbury, 1990. Lechner, Norbert. Heating, Cooling, Lighting: Design Methods for Architects. New York: John Sterelny, Kim and Paul E. Griffiths. Sex and Death: Wiley and Sons, 1991. An Introduction to the Philosophy of Biology. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1999. Lyle, John Tillman Lyle. Regenerative Design for Sustainable Development. New York: John Turan, Mete. “Vernacular Design and Wiley and Sons, 1994. Environmental Wisdom.” In Vernacular Architecture, edited by Mete Turan. Adershot: McDonough, William. The Hannover Principles: Averbury, 1990. Design for Sustainability. New York: William McDonough Architects, 1999. Tzonis, Alexander. Structures in Movement: The Architecture of Santiago Calatrava. Dallas: McDonough, William, and Michael Braungart. Meadows Musesum, 2001. Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the way we make things. New York: North Point Press, 2002. U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). LEED Reference Guide v 2.1 Second Edition. 2003 Mendelsohn, Betsy. “Rustbelt Hell or Redevelopment Heaven? Lake Calumet: Land Wines, James. Green Architecture. Köln: Taschen, of Contrasts. 2000.
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APPENDIX Program Document
Sponsors
this is a project of the