Winners 2014
Urban development
Elemental, Santiago (CL), for “Pres Constitution” – sustainable reconstruction master plan
In 2010, an 8.8 Richter scale magnitude earthquake hit Chile. We resisted the earthquake well but not the tsunami that came with it. Almost 500 people died. After the natural catastrophe, we were given a 100 days to come up with a strategy of how to rebuild the city of Constitucion, located 400 kilometers south of Santiago, which was almost completely destroyed.
The design process had to be participatory. For us, participatory design is not co-designing but asking people to precisely define their needs and focus on establishing priorities. Most importantly, the community had to feel empowered to exert pressure on the authorities during implementation. All major changes in cities occur over a period of time that is longer than the terms of political administrations. By being involved, residents can guarantee that the next administration implements the agreed design for the city.
One critical question was how to best protect the city against future tsunamis. Our strategy, was that instead of resisting the energy of nature, we should dissipate it: a geographical answer against a geographical threat. We proposed planting a forest to protect the city from tsunamis. For this approach, we had not only mathematical models and laboratory tests, but also empirical evidence. When the waves first hit Constitución, they were 12 meters tall; a forested island to the north of the city dissipated their energy and, by the time they reached the city center, they were only 6 meters tall. Our idea was therefore to protect the city by redeveloping the riverfront with trees. This alternative was the most challenging, politically and socially, because it required the city to expropriate private land.
People voted for the third one citing three reasons: public forest would increase access to the river (before, the plots around the river were, at that time, privately owned, making the river inaccessible to most people). Residents argued that there was a lack of public space in the city. Before the tsunami struck, there were only 2.2 square meters of public space per person, with riverfront forest that would increase to 6.6 square meters. Finally, people said that, though the next tsunami might not happen for a long time, the city would surely flood each winter because of the rain. Soo for them, the other alternatives, particularly the second, would further exacerbate the problem of flooding.
Building
Studio Tamassociati Architects, Venice (IT), for “Port Sudan Paediatric Centre” – children’s hospital
The Port Sudan clinic is located in a large desert between two settlements of huts - a very poor area with a large concentration of refugees. This clinic is one of the few health outposts providing free health care to children of this large region. The building is designed for Emergency, an Italian NGO who provides free, high quality medical and surgical treatment to the civilian victims of war, landmines and poverty.
In the extreme conditions, simplicity was used as a strategy without losing the perspective of qualified medical and architectural standards for the project. The result involves the use of new and old technologies for cooling, air treatment, recycling, reallocation of local materials, landscape design and energy saving in an innovative attitude to perform architecture and sustainability in beauty.
The one-story building has three outpatient clinics, a 14-bed ward, a dispensary, spaces for diagnostic exams and service areas. The building adopted the settling principles of Arab houses, minimising sun-exposed sides and opting for a hollow space conformation. As the Sudanese climate is extreme (50° C, sandstorms) a natural air treatment called badgir (inspired by Iranian traditional systems) was adopted and integrated to a system of mechanical cooling. The reduction in electricity consumption for air conditioning estimated at about 70%. The building is made of bricks produced in local klins, using ventilated cavity walls. For the main cover brick vaults called jagharsch were used. The building is protected from direct solar radiation with a secondary metal roof, which creates a ventilated air space between the two structures. In the main facade we embedded the walls with fragments of the traditional coral stone from a demolition site. The need to purify wastewater from the clinics presented an opportunity to build public gardens - the only public spaces around: a beautiful landscape is part of the healing process and the green areas, irrigated by waste water treatment system, represent the true social catalyst sort of social revitalisation of the whole area.
Studio:Studio Tamassociati, architects, Venice, Italy
Copyright:
Courtesy of Massimo Grimaldi and Emergency ngo
Applied Innovations
Arup Deutschland GmbH for “Solarleaf” in Hamburg (DE) – photo-bioreactor façade system
The façade system was developed by Arup Deutschland in collaboration with SSC Strategic Science Consult GmbH and Colt International GmbH, with subsidies from the federal research initiative ZukunftBau. The system was first installed in a four-storey residential building that was designed by SPLITTERWERK architects for the 2013 International Building Exhibition (IBA) in Hamburg.
It showcases the first Solar-Leaf façade: a building integrated system absorbing CO2 emissions, while cultivating microalgae to generate biomass and heat as renewable energy resources. The environment for photosynthesis is provided by glass photobioreactors installed on the southwest and southeast elevations.
The SolarLeaf façade utilises the bio-chemical process of photosynthesis for energy efficient buildings and building clusters. There are three main benefits of the system: a) Generation of high-quality biomass for energetic use or as a resource for food and pharmaceutical industry (urban farming), b) generation of solar thermal heat and c) the use as a dynamic shading device. Cultivating microalgae in flat panel photobioreactors requires no additional land-use and is largely independent from weather conditions, allowing installations in urban environments. A floatation device harvests the BIQ’s algal biomass automatically. The carbon required to feed the algae is taken from a combustion process in proximity of the façade installation to implement a short carbon cycle, preventing carbon emissions to contribute to climate change. Microalgae contain high-quality proteins, vitamins and amino acids that make it a valuable resource for the food and pharmaceutical industry.
The BIQ project is a milestone in opening up this value chain and creating a subsequent infrastructure. The developed bioreactors also capture solar thermal heat with an efficiency of approx. 50%. At the BIQ the heat is extracted by the use of heat exchangers and the temperature levels of the excess heat can be increased by using a heat pump for the supply of hot water or heating the building or stored geothermally. The system comprises bioreactor panels, associated mechanical services and the control unit to link the mass flows and optimize the efficiency of the building. The BIQ plays an important role in establishing surplus energy and zero carbon building clusters for the future.
Studio:Arup Deutschland GmbH, Berlin, Germany
Copyright Fotos:
Colt, SSC, Arup
Winners 2012
Built environment
Butaro Hospital, Butaro, Burera District, Rwanda, MASS Design Group
In the Built Environment category, the US-based not-for-profit architectural practice MASS Design Group won the Zumtobel Group Award for its Butaro Hospital project.
Burera was one of the last two districts in the country without a functioning district hospital and its population of over 340,000 lacked access to a single doctor. MASS Design Group was brought in 2008 to help plan and design a first-rate facility that would reverse both the economic and health conditions of the community. MASS sought to create a more holistic model of architecture that included the design of an appropriate, state-of-the art hospital, while also fully choreographing the building construction to employ and educate the local community in the process.
As the project evolved, MASS and the community learned from each other and wound up designing a facility that did much more than fit the necessary programs and beds within its walls; it brought a new realization that this hospital could be a landmark for empowering a community, building capacity, and addressing the core public health and infrastructure needs of the country.
The Butaro Hospital was designed to function as off-grid as possible. The incorporation of naturally ventilated techniques and outdoor areas, while important for infection control, also engender lower maintenance requirements and costs. Furthermore, the skills that were taught to workers during the construction process, such as highly crafted masonry, are currently being sought-after by new employers throughout Rwanda.
Research & Initiative
R-URBAN - participative strategy for development, practices and networks of local resilience, atelier d’architecture autogérée (AAA): Constantin Petcou, Doina Petrescu, Paris, France
The award in the Research & Innovation category went to the French architectural practice atelier d’architecture autogérée (AAA) for their integrated research project R-URBAN in Colombes, a socially deprived suburb in the Greater Paris area.
R-Urban is a participative strategy based on the setting up of locally closed ecological cycles which activate material and immaterial flows and between key fields of activity which exist or are implemented within the exiting fabric of the city.
The project starts with a number of pilot facilities including a recycling and eco-construction unit (Recyclab), a cooperative housing unit (Ecohab) and an urban agriculture unit (Agrocité), which will work as a network and set up the first spatial and ecological agencies in the area.
The first phase of the project in Colombes was conceived for a period of 4 years (2011-2015). In March 2012 the first site was opened and the construction of the first pilot unit Agrocité was started. The construction of the second unit Recyclab, will start in autumn 2012 and the Ecohab will be built in 2013.
R-Urban addresses environmental issues (CO2 reduction, waste recycling, ecological footprint reduction) but also social, economic and cultural issues (re-skilling, job creation, diverse economies).
Winners 2010
Built environment
Harmonia // 57 Office Building Sao Paulo, Brazil
The architects' brief was to create an innovative hybrid space to house artist's ateliers. It had to be versatile and allow spontaneous changes in layout and use and balance high water levels at the site. The resulting building is located in a creative neighbourhood on the west side of São Paulo where the local climate is essentially tropical with high temperatures and heavy seasonal rainfall.
Harmonia // 57 is a building divided into two main blocks joined by a metal footbridge above an internal plaza. The front block is raised and floats off the ground on pilotis, whereas the rear block is solid and has a bird house-like volume positioned on the roof. Large windows, shutters and terraces give a feeling of lightness.
The whole building has a planted façade irrigated by a misting system. The dense walls are made of an organic concrete that absorbs water and has pore-like niches to hold a variety of plant species. This external vegetal layer acts like an additional skin buffering the interior against external noise and heat. The choice of plant species for the walls was dictated by practical as well as aesthetic considerations: Some species create shade while others crawl over the surface of the building providing a buffer of humidity for other plants.
Harmonia // 57 also has a fully integrated, yet technically simple, hydro system of pipes, collectors and tanks that are part of the architecture itself - in the form of handrails for example - allowing the buildings' rainwater and grey water to be re-used for the irrigation system and toilets, and preventing uncontrolled runoff into the ground. A green roof helps generate fresh air and provide good thermal conditions inside the building, reducing the need for air conditioning.
Research & Initiative
New York City Resource & Mobility, New York, USA
This research project is a conceptual masterplan for the ecological future of New York City. Areas of investigation include waste, water, food, mobility, energy and habitat needs. It examines urban infrastructure and urban resources on a colossal scale and tests the limits of the city's capacity to become fully autonomous and self-reliant. The research applies the economic model of resource exchange, not just to the production of goods and services, but also to the environmental performance of the city as a whole.
New York City can do much to reduce its own footprint. Key measures include harvesting energy from the sun and wind, greening the city to cool it down, collecting rainwater, reconstituting waste for habitation, growing large amounts of food, softening vehicles and giving streets back to pedestrians. Terrefuge also proposes: technologically advanced vehicles, re-imagining work on the basis of the continuous replacement of materials, restructuring neighbourhoods to provide all of the needs of daily life within walking distance, abandoning zoning by use in favour of ubiquitous areas, re-using aged buildings into new ones, and thinking about every single aspect of planning in design with the aim of maximal interdependence.
Transformation is proposed via a radical strategy: the reversal of figure and ground, of public and private property. The immediate transfer of half the street space from the vehicular to the pedestrian realm will mean that the old fabric will be replaced both by an abundance of productive green space and a new labyrinth of irregular blocks. Fast movement will be accomplished underground in a highly modernised subway and along the rivers and new cross-island channels and waste materials will be mined from trash dumps to build seven new islands the size of Manhattan using automated, robotic threedimensional printers.
Winners 2007
Built environment
San Francisco Federal Building
Broadly understood, this project has developed around three primary objectives: first, the establishment of a benchmark for sustainable building design through the efficient use of natural energy sources. Second, the redefinition of the culture of the workplace through office environments that boost workers' health, productivity, and creativity. And third, the creation of an urban landmark that engages with the community.
A slender eighteen-story tower punctuates the skyline, and a public plaza and four-story annex connect to the scale and fabric of the city. The large, open plaza is a valuable asset in a district identified by the city as deficient in public space. The placement of the freestanding cafeteria pavilion and the public nature of the facilities housed within the tower's lower levels (including a conference centre, fitness centre and day-care centre for both local residents and employees) enliven the urban plaza with a steady stream of visitors.
The redefinition of circulation and vertical movement paths provides opportunities for chance encounters, a critical mass in circulation, and places for employees to gather across the typical confines of cubicles, departments or floors. The democratic layout locates open work areas at the building perimeter, and private offices and conference spaces at the central cores. Skip-stop elevators, sky gardens, tea salons, large open stairs, flexible floor plans and the elimination of corner offices endow the tower with a "sidewalk life" of cross-sectional interactions.
Many of the same design decisions that create high-quality workspace also maximize energy efficiency. The Federal Building is the first office tower in the United States to forgo air-conditioning in favor of natural ventilation. As a result of the tower's narrow profile and strategic integration of structural, mechanical and electrical systems, the building provides natural ventilation to 70 percent of the work area in lieu of air-conditioning, and affords natural light and operable windows to 90 percent of the workstations. A folded, perforated metal sunscreen shades the full-height glass window wall system, and a mutable skin of computer-controlled panels adjusts to daily and seasonal climate fluctuations.
With an energy performance that surpasses U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) criteria by more than 50 percent, the project sets new standards for applications of passive climate control, while physically democratizing the workplace and enhancing employees' health, comfort and sense of control over their environment.
Research & Initiative
Solar Updraft Tower
Sensible technology for the widespread use of renewable energy must be simple, reliable and accessible to technologically less-developed countries that are sunny and often have limited raw material resources. It should not need cooling water and should be based on environmentally sound production from renewable or recyclable materials. The Solar Updraft Tower meets all these conditions.
In a Solar Updraft Tower, air is heated by solar radiation under a low, circular, transparent or translucent roof open at the periphery; the roof and the natural ground below it form a solar air collector. In the middle of the roof is a vertical tower with large air inlets at its base. The joint between the roof and the tower base is airtight.
As hot air is lighter than cold air, it rises up the tower. The tower must be high enough to create a strong updraft. Suction from the tower then draws in more hot air from the collector, and cold air flows in from the perimeter. During the day, the ground under the collector is heated, functioning as a natural energy store. At night, this heat is released again into the air under the collector. As the plant's prime mover is the difference in air temperature - and the resultant difference in air density - between the air in the tower and the ambient air, lower ambient temperatures at night help to maintain the updraft in the tower during the night, making for round-the-clock solar power generation.
The energy contained in the updraft is converted into mechanical energy by turbines at the base of the tower, and into electrical energy by conventional generators. The Solar Updraft Tower principle has been proven by building and operating an experimental plant in Spain between 1982 and 1988. Currently, Schlaich Bergermann Solar are planning to realize a Solar Updraft Tower with a capacity of about 30 MW in Fuente el Fresno, Spain. The tower will be 750 meters high, with a diameter of 70 meters and a collector diameter of roughly 3 kilometers. One factor that is highly supportive in realizing the project is a special feed-in tariff in Spain for electricity from solar thermal power plants.
Image Copyright Kieran Timberlake Associates, Philadelphia, USA