CLIMATE CHANGE 85
Angeles is very different than the appropriate response in Miami or New York. Nationalised building codes that target local conditions and are updated as climate change occurs are the most effective approach to designing for climate change, as codes are enforceable by law and cannot be circumvented for cost savings or construction convenience.’ In some parts of the world building
codes are political hot potatoes. According to HOK’s Landreneau: ‘Codes do change, they are updated every three years, but we are not building for the events we have in front of us.’ When she sat on an energy codes development committee she was dismayed to find heavy representation from housebuilders and interference from a gas association, which eventually sued to get the provisions of electrification that had been placed in the
code overturned. ‘Developers say they can’t afford to build better, but we can’t afford not to. We are not going to air-condition our way out of climate change,’ she says. Brian Penschow believes that architects
need to hold developers – and themselves – to account: ‘We get stuck in the mindset that this is the way the world is – we have produced so much poor architecture, and it’s really a product of capitalism. Developers are monetised to build things cheap and less sustainable – building more sustainably pushes the costs up front, but developers prefer to build cheaply and transfer the costs to the end user, the owner. As architects we need to be more willing to say ‘no’ to the ugly and the cheap. ‘We like to think our way out of a
problem – the more difficult the problem, the more intellectual resources and
technical knowledge we need to solve it, but that’s not true in this case. Te answers and techniques are already there and in use around the world – like building on stilts to prevent flooding, or building earth berms for example. As architects we need to step away from hubris and building glorious monuments to ourselves and we need to get back to what’s essential.’ In the end, says Adam Mitchell at
CambridgeSeven, it’s everyone’s responsibility to persuade cost-cutting clients that resilience against climate change is worth investing in: ‘It is essential that design professionals, as leaders, take a central role in educating our clients and the wider public about the necessity to design for our new climate, for resilience to increasing hazards, and the reduction and eventual elimination of fossil fuel use.’
PROJECT MANHATTAN FLOOD DEFENCE
During Hurricane Sandy in 2012, 69,000 New York homes were flooded. After, the US Department of Housing and Urban Development launched a Rebuild by Design competition for innovative solutions, and architect Bjarke Ingels designed a scheme, the initial stages of which completed last year, that used new riverside parks to discreetly protect the city. The key to the project, Ingels stated, was that people will not notice the flood barrier: ‘You won’t see it as a flood wall that separates the life of
the city from the water. When you go there you’ll see landscape, you’ll see pavilions, but all of this will secretly be the infrastructure that protects Manhattan from flooding.’ His first priority was to protect Manhattan’s East Side, which is home to more than 110,000 low-income residents. The project strengthens the coastline while re-establishing public space and improving waterfront accessibility.
Architect Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) Client City of New York
PROJECT THE LUMINARY HOTEL
When Hurricane Ian battered Fort Myers with 150mph winds and a storm surge flooding much of the town, the resilient architecture of the Luminary Hotel meant that it was undamaged and able to function as an emergency response centre. The hotel was built on a plinth, nearly 3.0m higher than ground level, so no water entered the building, and its design, with a slight bend in its massing, gave it additional stability without using any extra materials. The simple frontage, without alcoves or recessed, prevented the wind from putting additional stress on the building, while hurricane-proof glass stood firm against debris.
Architect HOK Client Marriott Hotels
PHOTO: BJARKE INGELS GROUP (BIG)
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116 |
Page 117
