Green architecture for biophiliacs

Goethe Institut Green Architecture exhibit at MaRS

Sustainable architecture and ecological building are currently in the focus of public interest and discussion. Our cleantech practice focuses on this area of innovation extensively. But sometimes it can be hard for you and I to understand what that means.

The Goethe Institut’s exhibit Ecology.Design.Synergy is currently on display in the  MaRS Atrium. It provides you with insight on sustainable architecture and illustrates the driving vision.

The Ecology.Design.Synergy exhibit presents recent collaborative work by Behnisch Architekten, the distinguished Stuttgart-based architectural firm and Transsolar ClimateEngineering, the Stuttgart-based environmental engineering company. It documents 10 innovative, aesthetically refined, energy-efficient and sustainable building projects in Europe and the United States including RiverParc, a green, mixed-use, residential and arts neighborhood in downtown Pittsburgh, developed by the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust and Concord Eastridge of Washington, DC.

Behnisch Architekten and Transsolar ClimateEngineering share the belief that quality is not a quantitative measure. Their collaborative design approach utilizes natural resources, highlighting their value.

Ecology.Design.Synergy is organized around six key topics—temperature, air, sound, light, material and human scale. Each topic is explored through two recent or current projects and includes working methods, the results of previous collaborations and prospects for the future on the subject matter. Examples include a natural light collection system at Genzyme Corporate Headquarters in Boston, Massachusetts, that uses heliostats and mirrors mounted on the roof to redirect sunlight into the building’s atrium. A “double façade” of glass on Hannover, Germany’s Norddeutsche Landesbank protects against noise as well as vehicle emissions, offers wind protection, and serves as an air supply duct to adjacent offices. The 120-foot high flower-like structures in the Senscity Paradise project provide both shade and cool air to the park beneath them by pumping water through the hollows in the structures’ leaf forms, creating an evaporative cooling effect.

The work of Behnisch Architeken and Transsolar is noteworthy for its ability to connect infrastructure and technology to human scale. A human silhouette, the installation’s graphic identity, guides visitors through the exhibition.

The Ecology.Design.Synergy exhibition is scheduled to tour across America. But this is its ONLY stop in Canada… and apt that it be at MaRS.

Like you I am a biophiliac. I like the aesthetic of design and form, from Lalique, Frank Lloyd Wright, Eames, Bugatti, Frank Gehry, Chagall and the many artists, designers and architects who have dared to challenge the norm. The MaRS Centre is an environment that encourages innovation. It inspires and fosters people to challenge themselves on a daily basis. This exhibit is a reminder or testament to that challenge. We are fortunate to have this  level of collaborative-inspiration displayed within the MaRS Atrium. I welcome you to come and have a look — it will be here until July 11th.

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