SUSTAINABLE ARCHITECTURE Between Measurement and Meaning Edited by Carmela Cucuzzella Concordia University, Canada and Sherif Goubran The American University in Cairo, Egypt Series in Built Environment Copyright © 2020 by Cucuzzella and Goubran. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of Vernon Art and Science Inc. www.vernonpress.com In the Americas: In the rest of the world: Vernon Press Vernon Press 1000 N West Street, Suite 1200, C/Sancti Espiritu 17, Wilmington, Delaware 19801 Malaga, 29006 United States Spain Series in Built Environment Library of Congress Control Number: 2020942562 ISBN: 978-1-64889-047-5 Product and company names mentioned in this work are the trademarks of their respective owners. While every care has been taken in preparing this work, neither the authors nor Vernon Art and Science Inc. may be held responsible for any loss or damage caused or alleged to be caused directly or indirectly by the information contained in it. Every effort has been made to trace all copyright holders, but if any have been inadvertently overlooked the publisher will be pleased to include any necessary credits in any subsequent reprint or edition. Cover designed by Maddy Capozzi. TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES v LIST OF TABLES ix ABOUT THE EDITORS xi ABOUT THE CONTRIBUTORS xiii ABOUT THE FOREWORD AUTHOR xvii FOREWORD Walking the wire – sustainability + design in an uncertain ethos xix Brian R. Sinclair University of Calgary ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS xxiii INTRODUCTION Caught between measurement and meaning 1 Carmela Cucuzzella Concordia University Sherif Goubran The American University in Cairo CHAPTER 1 Zoom-in, Zoom-out – Sustainability in the Scale(s) of Architecture 14 Anne Cormier Université de Montréal CHAPTER 2 Sustainable architecture as facticity, perception, and potential 24 Carmela Cucuzzella Concordia University CHAPTER 3 Technological trajectories: Assessing the role of sensing in design 46 Nada Tarkhan Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) CHAPTER 4 Recognising effectiveness in sustainable design 70 Tom Jefferies Queen’s University Belfast Laura Coucill Manchester School of Architecture CHAPTER 5 Connections of immaterial to sustainable tectonics 98 Izabel Amaral Laurentian University CHAPTER 6 Intentions and Consequences: Prototyping and Appropriate Technology 118 Ted Cavanagh Dalhousie University EPILOGUE 143 Carmela Cucuzzella Concordia University Sherif Goubran The American University in Cairo INDEX 147 LIST OF FIGURES Figure 2.1 Bibliothèque du Boisé. St. Laurent, Montreal, Canada - 2014 30 Figure 2.2 The Centre for Sustainable Energy Technologies. Ningbo, China - 2008 31 Figure 2.3 Médiathèque François Villon. Bourg-la-Reine, France - 2014 33 Figure 2.4 Ningbo History Museum. Ningbo, Zhejiang, China - 2008 34 Figure 2.5 SOF - Danish National Maritime Museum. Helsingør, Denmark - 2013 35 Figure 2.6 Ballard Library. Seattle, Washington - 2013 38 Figure 2.7 Water and Life Museum complex. Hemet, California - 2008 39 Figure 3.1 Scalar analysis 47 Figure 3.2 Cycle of innovation and market adoption in the wellness field 54 Figure 3.3 Sensor kit for indoor environmental parameters 56 Figure 3.4 Preview of the online web-tool’s dashboard 57 Figure 3.5 CO 2 measurements in old and new office for one working day 58 Figure 3.6 Daily circadian lighting operation 59 Figure 3.7 Lighting equivalent melanopic lux (EML) measurements for one working day 60 Figure 4.1 Visualising the complex relationship between data and space in order to demonstrate the limitations of efficiency-driven approaches to sustainable design 71 Figure 4.2 Electricity sub-station building converted into Coffee Shop, Alexandria, Sydney NSW 80 Figure 4.3 Infrastructure Space: An examination of the spatial requirements for wind and solar energy in the Scottish Highland region 82 Figure 4.4 Infrastructure Space: An examination of the spatial relationship between renewable energy production and demand in Cornwall 82 Figure 4.5 Infrastructure Space: Dispersed Urban network analysis of the Scottish Highland region in 2015/16 84 Figure 4.6 Infrastructure Space: Cornwall Garden City. Connectivity and Networks analysis of Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly 86 Figure 4.7 Winning scheme, Whitefield Housing international Housing Competition (2006). Whitefield, Nelson, UK 87 Figure 4.8 Infrastructure Space: Patterns of Power - Visualising pattern types which generate cultural landscapes; buildings augment and reveal latent contextual correlations. 88 Figure 4.9 Infrastructure Space: Patterns of Power - Geo-thermal power plant, Penzance UK 90 Figure 5.1 Tridimensional diagram summarizing Gottfried Semper’s theory 102 Figure 5.2 First-year Studio assignment, study on the notions of Roofwork and Earthwork – 2018 106 Figure 5.3 The performance Dancing Geometry presented at the 3 rd Nuit Blanche. Sudbury, Ontario - 2019 107 Figure 5.4 The building activities for the Ice Station. Sudbury, Ontario - 2018. 110 Figure 5.5 Ice Station’s structural details. Sudbury, Ontario - 2018 111 Figure 5.6 Ice Station constructed and in its context. Sudbury, Ontario – 2018. Author’s photo. 112 Figure 5.7 Details of Jean-Marc Dalpé’s engraved poem on the Ice Station’s horizontal boards. Sudbury, Ontario – 2018. Author’s photo 113 Figure 6.1 Le Petit Cercle, Children’s Theatre – 2004 119 Figure 6.2 Marché Fermier, Farmers’ Market – 2014 120 Figure 6.3 Design and construction experimentation for the two featured projects 121 Figure 6.4 A map for critical clarification between prototyping and appropriate technology – focusing on the factors of the two featured projects 122 Figure 6.5 Wood cribs containing rock ballast in “Le Petit Cercle” - 2004 126 Figure 6.6 The creation of “Le Petit Cercle”, showing the crib work and curvature - 2004 127 Figure 6.7 Negotiating the location of “Le Petit Cercle” on the site in reference to the existing slide - 2004 128 Figure 6.8 The ‘noded-out’ base connection of “Le Marché Fermier”- 2014 129 Figure 6.9 The double curvature in the plan of “Le Marché Fermier”- 2014 129 Figure 6.10 Physical model for “Le Marché Fermier”- 2014 130 Figure 6.11 Digital model for “Le Marché Fermier”- 2014 131 Figure 6.12 “Le Marché Fermier” in place - 2014 131 Figure 6.13 “Le Marché Fermier” in use - 2014 132 LIST OF TABLES Table 2.1 General distinction between facticity, potentiality, and perception as means for sustainable architectural design inquiry 27 Table 2.2 Examples of concerns within ontological categories of facticity, potential, and perception for a sustainable architecture project 41 ABOUT THE EDITORS Carmela Cucuzzella is the chairholder of the Concordia University Research Chair in Integrated Design, Ecology, and Sustainability for the Built Environment (IDEAS- BE). She is also an Associate Professor in the Design and Computation Arts department in the Faculty of Fine Arts, at Concordia University. Sherif Goubran is an Instructor at the Department of Architecture at the School of Science and Engineering at the American University in Cairo (Egypt). He is also a PhD candidate in the Individualized Program at Concordia University and a Vanier Scholar (SSHRC). His interdisciplinary research is focused on sustainable building practices within the fields of design, building engineering and finance. ABOUT THE CONTRIBUTORS Anne Cormier Principal at Atelier Big City, Montreal Canada Professor, School of Architecture - Université de Montréal Ms. Cormier is co-founder of Atelier Big City (Cormier, Cohen, Davies, architectes), a group of Montreal architects recognized for the quality of its architectural and urban projects. Founded in 1987, Atelier Big City received the Prix de Rome in Architecture from the Canada Council for the Arts, the Governor General’s medal and the grand prize in architecture from the Ordre des architectes du Québec. The group has presented and shown their work in Quebec, Canada and abroad and has been invited to teach at Cornell University, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, University of Toronto and University of Calgary. Anne Cormier is also a Professor at the School of Architecture at Université de Montréal, where she has served as director from 2007 to 2015. She is affiliated with the Laboratoire d’étude de l’architecture potentielle (LEAP), an inter-university group dedicated to research on the design process in architecture. She is a member of the National Capital Commission’s Advisory Committee on Planning, Design and Realty in Ottawa. She regularly sits on other committees dedicated to excellence in architectural and urban projects and on architectural juries. Carmela Cucuzzella Associate Professor, Design and Computation Arts, Faculty of Fine Arts, Concordia University Concordia University Research Chair in Integrated Design, Ecology, And Sustainability for the Built Environment (www.ideas-be.ca) Carmela Cucuzzella is an Associate Professor in the Design and Computation Arts department and is a holder of the Concordia University Research Chair in Integrated Design, Ecology and Sustainability for the Built Environment (www.ideas-be.ca). Her research work is framed within the broad domain of design studies where she investigates questions of sustainable design for urban living. Her varied background and expertise in environmental and social life cycle analysis, in green building rating systems, and in design and architecture, allow her to adopt