Abstract: If, as I have argued elsewhere, architecture and archaeology share homological correspondences of common origin thus enabling analogical relationships of creative juxtaposition, then it becomes possible to characterise those correspondences through their representational drawing practices as they are embodied in the products of those practices and in the instruments which make those products. This characterisation is the subject of this paper, first by examining architecture and archaeology as disciplined suites of practices nurtured and developed within the constraints of their parent profession, and then through the examination of particular drawing techniques and instruments—techniques and instruments either common to each discipline or abandoned by them. These commonalities and abandonments reveal their undisciplinary nature. This loosening of disciplinary constraint is further examined through the analysis of “undisciplined drawing” case studies.
Abstract: This paper is a study of the photovoltaic (PV) systems in the buildings’ design of the Battery Park City (BPC) residential development, in New York. The BPC development is the first in the US to mandate, through the 2000 Battery Park City Authority (BPCA) guidelines, the use of PV as a renewable energy generation system in its individual buildings. The scope of this study is to show how PV is integrated in the BPC buildings’ design process, and what can be learned for future PV applications. The study draws directly from the design decision making sources, investigating on the concerns and suggestions of the BPCA director of sustainability and the BPC architects and PV installers. It attempts to contrast a theoretical approach that sees PV as a technology to domesticate in architecture and bring, through grounded research, PV industry closer to the architectural design process. The findings of the study suggest that while stringent environmental mandates help, in the short term, to kick-start the use of PV systems in buildings, it is the recognition of the PV’s primary role as energy provider, its assimilation in the building industry, and its use in a less confining building program that allows for its evolution in architecture.
Abstract: This paper discusses collage as a means to explore spatial ideas. It concerns the practice of drawing-as-research, the spatiality of drawing and the nature of paper. It questions the homogeneity of digital tools in contemporary practice. It is introduced with a discussion of architectural representation and space with a historical trajectory. It questions an understanding of space-as-geometry and discusses the potential role of non-perspectival drawings and non-digital drawing in current practice. The collage studies focus on the late nineteenth century. Working in the tradition of the collage novel, and with original engravings from the popular French newspaper Le Grande Illustré (1904), the collages work with the thematic structure and spatiality of Stéphane Mallarmé’s revolutionary poem Un Coup de Dés written a few years earlier. In this paper, the spatial and thematic content of Mallarmé’s poem are visualized for the first time. The conclusions of this study concern the role of non-digital drawings in the profession, and the potential of creative “paper technologies” to engage the material imagination at the early stages of a design process. It opens new ground as a study of the spatiality of text, the relationship between dramaturgy and architecture and on the nature of topological drawings.
Abstract: Manchester Civil Justice Centre is a striking contemporary 14 storey court building which has won awards for many different aspects of its design, construction and sustainability. From November 2002 to July 2005, the author was a key member of Denton Corker Marshall’s London project team having responsibility for key areas of design development, integration of technology and sustainable design including the East elevation’s “environmental veil”. This paper tracks the procurement of the building, describing its low energy features and their performance in practice. The paper reviews the low carbon elements of the design (daylight and natural ventilation systems) in the context of similar buildings and the buildings operational performance. The building has a mixed mode ventilation system which is managed centrally; the paper describes the ongoing relationship between the Facilities Management and the building’s users and their expectations of comfort and offers an explanation as to why the building’s energy performance is not as good as predicted at design stage. A case is made that this building is a significant example of low energy design and would form a good example for a detailed Post Occupancy Evaluation. The energy performance of the building could be studied in more detail to encourage the users (judges, staff and the public) to improve the building’s energy performance and to share knowledge within the construction industry. Institutional and commercial barriers to the more mainstream adoption of Post Occupancy Evaluation are discussed with respect to the Manchester Civil Justice Centre.
Abstract: The benefits of choosing refurbishment over new build have recently been brought into focus for reducing environmental impacts of buildings. This is due to the fact that the existing buildings will comprise the majority of the total building stocks for years to come and hence will remain responsible for the majority of greenhouse gas emissions from the sector. This paper investigates the total potentials of sustainable refurbishment and conversion of the existing buildings by adopting a holistic approach to sustainability. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and questionnaires have been used to analyse the environmental impact savings (Co2e), improved health and well-being, and satisfaction of people living in refurbished homes. The results reported in the paper are based on a two year externally funded research project completed in January 2013.
Abstract: This paper presents energy and environmental performance analyses, a study of summer indoor temperatures and occupant behavior for an eight story apartment building, with the goal to combine high energy efficiency with low environmental impact, at a reasonable cost. Southern Portvakten building is built with prefabricated timber elements using passive house principles in the North European climate. Energy performance was analyzed through parametric studies, as well as monitored energy data, and complemented with analysis of occupant behavior during one year. Results show that airtight, low-energy apartment buildings can be successfully built with prefabricated timber elements in a cold climate. The monitored total energy use was 47.6 kWh/m2, excluding household electricity (revised to a normal year), which is considerably lower than of a standard building built today in Sweden—90 kWh/m2. However, the occupancy level was low during the analyzed year, which affects the energy use compared to if the building had been fully occupied. Environmental analysis shows that the future challenges lie in lowering the household and common electricity use, as well as in improving the choices of materials. More focus should also lie on improving occupant behavior and finding smart solar shading solutions for apartment buildings.
