CLADmag 2015 ISSUE 1


Richard Meier’s Jubilee Church uses self-cleaning cement inspired by photosynthesis


in New York, an experimental tower built entirely of bricks made from mycelium (the vegetative part of fungus), hemp and corn stalks. Made by a company called Ecovative, the bricks grow naturally into shape in fi ve days. Benjamin sees them as a jumping-off point for a more elaborate fusion of biology and architecture. “Biological systems have amazing properties like adaptation, self-or- ganisation, self-healing, and regeneration,” he told Inhabitat blog last year. “Imagine our buildings having the same properties.” Biomimicry has found its way into some of the biggest architecture fi rms in the world. Hong Kong-based practice Aedas sees sus- tainability as one of the key components of its design process. "Clients think that sus- tainability is expensive, but most effi ciency comes from synergy," says Benny Chow, the fi rm's director of sustainability. Engineers


CLADmag 2015 ISSUE 1


collaborate with architects from the begin- ning of each project, rather than at different stages of design. "It costs you zero in terms of extra budget," he says. That process came in handy when Aedas was asked to design a mixed-use develop- ment in Nanjing. Like many Chinese cities, Nanjing suffers from severe air pollution, so Aedas decided to turn the development's centrepiece, a large observation tower, into a device that scrubs pollution from the air. "We were inspired by photosynthesis," says Chow. More specifi cally, it's a process called photocatalytic purifi cation, also known as the Honda-Fujishima Effect, which decomposes pollutants into simple compounds that can be converted into oxygen. The tower enables the process through surfaces nano-coated with titanium dioxide, a widely-used compound found in products as diverse as sunscreen and


David Benjamin’s experimental Hy-Fi tower fuses biology and architecture


CLADGLOBAL.COM 51


PHOTO: SCOTT FRANCES/OTTO


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