AIA 2008 COTE Top-10

The recently announced winners of the 2008 AIA COTE Top Ten Winners unearthed some fantastic projects - and a whole lot of sustainable features and some Vegetated Architecture as well. In honor of Earth Day 2008, we thought it appropriate to showcase those verdant and green selections here.

The Yale University Sculpture Building and Gallery by Kieran Timberlake Associates features sustainable landscape in a number of ways: "The green roof on the gallery and native plant landscaping, which includes mature trees, serves as a connective habitat patch for avian species moving through the urban corridor between these parks."

:: image via ArchitectureWeek

The next selection is the Aldo Leopold Legacy Center in Baraboo, Wisconsin. Previously dubbed the "Greenest Building in the World" via Treehugger and some reported hyperbole via Rick Fedrizzi. The work of The Kubala Washatko Architects features some great features and is the first 'carbon neutral' operating building recognized by LEED. Some site features include wood harvested from on-site trees, rainwater scuppers, and a greater idea of fitting the greater landscape context - something Leopold would have appreciated.

:: images via Treehugger

The Ceasar Chavez Library in Phoenix by Line and Space featured sustainability with desert style - with rainwater harvesting and storage in a nearby lake - as well as high efficiency landscape irrigation system to cut water use by over 50%. Additionally (via AIA Top Ten): "Water from patio and foundation drains is piped to trees surrounding the library, and condensate from rooftop mechanical units is used to irrigate the vegetated island of the new parking lot."

:: image via AIA Top Ten

Closer to home, the Discovery Center at South Lake Union by MillerHull is a great example of design for deconstruction and reuse amidst native PNW landscaping. It is interesting to see how temporariness and deconstructabilty lead to a very light touch in regards to landscaping - but I guess that makes sense rather than invest in significant landscaping that will be ripped out eventually (but this building is in a park so that's definitely a debatable issue).

:: image via Treehugger

The Pocono Environmental Education Center by Bohlin Cywinski Jackson is located in Wilkes-Barre, Pennslyvania for the National Park Service, and involved a creative reuse of materials and simple details. From AIA Architect: "The design is a layered solution in which visitors pass through the forest, cross a wetland, enter the building through an opening in the dark north wall, and cross through a bar of service spaces into the bright, sun-lit main room. The jury said they were impressed by the economy of the project and applauded the use of simple materials and simple details... The jury also said they loved the creative use of the discarded tires reclaimed from the site for use as walls."

:: image via AIA Architect

Other projects that have garnered awards this year include:

:: Garthwaite Center for Science & Art, by Architerra (Boston, MA).

:: image via AIA Top Ten

:: Lavin-Bernick Center for University Life by Vincent James at Tulane University.

:: image via Tulane

:: Nueva School Hillside Learning Complex by Leddy Maytum Stacy.

:: image via AIA Top Ten

:: Macallan Building Condominiums by Office dA and Burt Hill in Boston, Massachusetts

:: image via AIA Top Ten

Finally, one of my favorite projects of the year so far, is the Queens Botanical Garden Visitor Center in Flushing, NY by BKSK Architects has been featured on L+U previously, with a wide range of sustainable features and vegetated architecture - including a native plant green roof, innovative stormwater management, and a mountable sloping vegetated rooftop to ground connection.

:: image via Wired New York

Check out more on this project here. Overall, it's interesting that these projects, the cream of the green crop is starting to evolve into the realm of integrated site and building, with some inventive irrigation systems and green roofs but there still seems to primarily be the standard disconnect between green building technology and how this interacts with landscape. It's going to be an interesting trend to see how vegetated architecture continues to drive these award winning projects. Should be even more exciting in years to come.

Reading List: Inspired by Nature: Plants

This past weekend, I swung by my local mecca of all things printed word, and as always was both struck and disappointed with the selection of architectural titles. One they had in the newish 'green building' section at Powell's was 'Inspired by Nature - Plants: The Building Botany Connection' by Bahamon, Perez, and Compello (published by WW Norton). I had seen something about this and bookmarked it for future use, but decided to pick it up. And for anyone whom appreciates the metaphorical abstractions of architecture and vegetation would do well to pick up this one. (NOTE: most images below are not from the book, but are examples and diagram similar to the projects shown therein)


:: image via Amazon

The book was published in Spain originally in 2006 and thus is penned by a trio of Spaniards - Alejandro Bahamon (architect), Patricia Perez (landscape engineer) and Alex Campello (architect and landscape architect) - which makes it a truly interdisciplinary endeavor. The overall conceptual framework is not Vegetated Architecture as much as it is a primer on organic architecture source material and it's potential inspirations for architectural form. Drawing from a number of vegetal sources and architectural examples. "Accompanying the images of built examples... are botanical drawings and an explanation of why natural forms make good models for structure."

:: Botanical Diagram Analog - image via Unified Worlds

This direct connection between architecture and building is extrapolated in the Introduction by Perez - who proposes that: "...the observation of nature and experimentation have long served as tremendously valuable methods in designing architectural forms." She proposes that "...the main objective of this book is to reveal the analogical similarities that can exist between contemporary architecture and the vegetal kingdom as a result of adaptation processes." Continuing: "...the diverse formal, structural and physiological attributes proper to the vegetal element will be analyzed on the basis of the relationship between plants and their surrounding space and environment, comparing the most relevant adaptation and survival methods with those reflected through architecture."

The introduction continues to discuss ideas of plant evolution, as well as delving into some of the analogies between the botanical world and architecture. One idea that is prevalent is the idea of a building as a tree - and particularly the idea of immobility, efficiency, and competition. This spreads beyond form to the arrangements of elements, an analogue that draws the following summary: "Urbanism in architecture and plant sociology in ecology are are disciplines that, as well be demonstrated here, can offer parallel readings of the different forms of coexistence that occupy the planet."

The intro ends with a overview of the structure of the book, which essentially becomes the functional analogues that are taken from plants and applied to buildings:

:: Light and Spatial Arrangement

:: Water Control

:: Temperature Control

:: Extreme Conditions

:: Defense

:: Homologies

This is really the meat of the book - and probably the more successful of the parts of the book (compared to the actual project examples). Most of these are self-explanatory, and drawn from scientific processes that are the language of botany and agronomy. For instance, homologies, which "...refers to the general and quite ancient observation of similarity of form seen in the biological world of animals or plants...", and the "...anatomical correspondences between different species..." is a common scientific evolutionary function.

:: Plant Homologies - image via Berkeley Understanding Evolution

This translation of function to form is a great methodological lesson - which is applicable to not only aesthetic ideas, but functional aspects as well. In this way it bridges the art/science question, and becomes a sort of code-book to applied Vegetated Architecture. Some of the other notable projects featured in the book illuminate these ideas a bit more. For instance, the Fire and Police Station by Sauerbruch Hutton Architects in Berlin - which features multi-hued movable glass panels that elicit a parasitic relationship to the more austere existing structure.

:: image via Picassa album by Rich

A further analog is drawn between the idea of plant canopy and the concept of interception and water capture in the World Birding Center by LakeFlato Architects in Mission, Texas.


:: image via LakeFlato

Another idea is the concept of season variation and leaf fall - epitomized in the transitional facade of the Somis Hay Barn by Studio Pali Fekete Architects in Somis, California. The peeling away of the hay bales creates temporal change and constant evolution: "At the end of the fall when it is stacked, the hay is freshly cut and green in color. Over the following months and after the hay has dried and adopted a yellowish color, it is removed and used to feed the cattle."

:: image via Architectural Record

The elegance of some of the vegetated abstraction is subtle, using forms of nature in artistic ways by modifying or perforating the surface material. One elegant example is the Sfera Building by Claesson Koivisto Rune in Kyoto, Japan. The pattern of cherry blossoms is evocative of Japanese concepts of patterned screens and woodcut engravings.


:: image via Build Blog

There are many more, and I do really like the ideas, but perhaps something is lost in the cultural translation of the 'buildingbotany connection' as some of the examples were slightly forced, or less relevant when analyzed further. Also, there was definitely a fair amount of reliance on discrete metaphor to make these links (i.e. building as a tree) - such as Alsop's Sharp Centre for Design...


:: Sharp Centre for Design, Ontario - image via Archidose

...or quite literal used of plant forms - such as the use of abstract panels and other facade treatments evocative of plants, of which there are many examples in the book, including the Dutch Embassy in Poland by Erick van Egeraat.

:: Dutch Embassy, Poland - image via Architektura

These are definitely some original ideas (or at least a methodology for presenting them) that have gained even more traction in recent months and have been featured here on L+U - as examples such 'Sakura' by Mt. Fuji, Mcdonough's 'Building as a Tree' or Maynard's 'Tattoo House' offer some great additional ideas. The other concept I think interesting is the fact that the book is set up as a potential series... Inspired by Nature - with a range of other ideas to include - as there are a catalogue of potential options to run out this theoretical thread.

One final thought... in perhaps an example of Lost in Translation came in reading the bibliographic reference is the Spanish title 'Arquitectura Vegetal: Analogias entre el Mundo Vegetal y La Arquitectura Contemporanea' - which from a quick translation is roughly, gasp!... "Vegetal Architecture: Analogies between the Vegetal World and Contemporary Architecture."

Familar and Brilliant... totally brilliant... and from the sound of it, maybe even more brilliant in the original Spanish...

Go: West 8 Young Man

I try to hide my distaste or love for things landscape+urbanist in the quest for some sort of neutrality (um, ok, not really). Without critical evaluation and dialogue - we lack the capacity to expand our thinking and examine our interventions in ways that are beneficial to us individually and collectively. Or in short, we have taste, and like certain things, and dislike others. In this vein, I have a hard time controlling my joy of seeing anything done by West 8 both for it's whimsical graphics and heady, but grounded ideas (read more about the firm and said philosophy here). This will be an on-going referential discussion about their work, so check back for more down the road.


:: Cow - Horizon Project - image via West 8

A recent competition win for W8 was the much publicized design for NY Governor's Island... which had still competition from a number of high-powered multi-disciplinary teams. From an overview via West 8: "Imagine an extraordinary new public park that embraces all New York Harbor, its ecology, its history, its culture, its magnificent beauty. Surrounded by water, steeped in the natural and cultural history of the estuary, Governors Island will re-emerge as the next great "world park": an icon for the city, a beacon in the harbor. West 8 proposed an extensive and coherent design for this 2nd park for New York."


:: Overall Site - images via West 8

The following is a series of images from the competition, which I believe pick up on these threads of representational techniques that will, or likely already has, redefine landscape architectural communication. These are not necessarily West 8 creations (as others use them equally as often and well) - but it's become one of the synonyms for edgy design/landscape urbanism for this type of technique.




:: Governor's Island - images via West 8

Gone are the soft-focus colored pencil techniques, or illustrative cartoonery that has so dominated the field and it's expression. While not veering into the photo-realistic, these digital montages provide both evocations of materials, use, feeling, and most importantly - and actual place.




:: Governor's Island - images via West 8

Ok, it's obvious I'm smitten with the techniques, but let's delve a bit deeper into some of these techniques. For instance, all of the following images look tacitly fake (i.e. representational). But, let's look at some of the communication techniques. In the first image, there is the massing crowd, stage-setup that evokes the ability to gather and provide entertainment (i.e. revenue) and activity (i.e. success). Also, the background Statue of Liberty connects to place, and the smattering of vegetation (esp. the swath or red flowers, and craggy butte) connects this to other on-site activity zones. Finally the foreground shows us hanging out with some hip park users, with the dress and tattoo actually becoming implicit in the design of this space - design via the art and action of the inhabitants.


:: image via West 8

A more representational landscape is below, with somewhat abstrated fields of red amidst pathways. Hard to discern from a distance, the foreground clues into the vegetated monoculture that is forming these patterns. Also the user groups (humans=kids + families) as well as habitat (extreme foreground butterfly/moth).


:: image via West 8

A similar representation of the rocky crag pathway evokes a more determined park user in a verdant forest canopy, climbing the switchback path as exercise or climbing and sliding in a more playful manner. The stone, the lush ground plane, the overstory letting rays of light slip in - and again, the habitat butterfly pairs evoke nature as well as play and mystery, all essential landscape components.


:: image via West 8

Perhaps it's less about place, as I previously mentioned, and more about experience. These series show context, design, use, program, flexibility, and ecology while being engaging. These are also devoid of some of the data-heavy diagramatic graphics that also populate a good amount of LU / competition imagery. This experience can be rendered for different users, times of day, and seasons.




:: Jarvis' Slip - images via West 8

While never far from originator Adriaan Geuze as a marquee headliner for the firm, West 8 has acheived some pretty amazing success as of late. Not that it is all the most fantastic design and theory in my opinion. There are probably better designers - and much more cogent theorists - but that it is more often than not edgy, thoughtful and meaningful. It will be interesting to see more work as it actually turns into real projects - and see if that can hold through the implementation process. Much like a beautifully rendered building that is underwhelming in reality - the build-out of these landscapes are subject to much more constraint as budgets, materials, and well, just plain reality kick in.


:: Schouwburgplein (1991) Rotterdam - image via West 8


:: Interpolis Garden, Tilburg - image via West 8


:: Kröller Müller Museum Scupture Garden, Otterlo - image via West 8


:: Chiswick Park, London - image via West 8

The previous showed a few examples of this via the West 8 website. There is definitely a disconnect between visual and physical representation, but I think these are definitely high-end build outs. To be clear this is not an overt criticism - as I have no referent for whether these are successful or not, but just that perhaps it is a double edged sword of landscape architecture that there is a disconnect between design illustration and physical implementation.




:: Falconplein, Antwerp (image + construction) - images via West 8

I can think of two reasons. Time necessary for growth, and constant evolution through seasons. Unlike a building, which arguably is not static, a landscape is NEVER static... and thus a 2D represetation of a snapshot in time is one milli-second in the lifespan. Paving is also something more immediate, as are structures, but landscape is tough to capture in any media. I'm sure you could capture the life of the renderings if you were patient... hovering around a space for many days waiting for these impromptu moments. But design wise- it is success, as these containers definitely make it possible. But more often than not, you will find organic use, growth in various stages, and well, flexibility.


:: Kröller Müller Museum - image via West 8

What sent me along this path of West 8 adoration were a few recent sources. One was the recent publication of West 8 in the AD Landscape: Site/Non-Site, as well as my getting my hands on their latest monograph. Also, a poignant moment was some analysis by the super-observant and always compelling Eikongraphia. The site took on some of the work of West 8 in terms of symbolic representation (landscape as icon) and it made me re-evaluate some of my earlier knee-jerk reactions with some new understanding.

Stay tuned for more about these sources and aspects of West 8 and their work in coming weeks...