Big & Green: Toward Sustainable Architecture in the 21st Century

January 17, 2003 - June 22, 2003

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3D-Garden, 2001, Hangelo, Netherlands. MVRDV’s design for a multi-story apartment house, the apartment block stands in for a tree trunk and balconies resemble branches.

Courtesy MVRDV

Many cities around the world are experiencing intense, even explosive growth that often poses a significant threat to the natural environment. The skyscrapers and other "megastructures" that are commonly built to accommodate such growth consume enormous amounts of energy in their construction and day-to-day use, place great burdens on water and sewer systems, and typically isolate occupants from natural light and air.

Nonetheless, many architects, engineers, and planners believe that large, densely-packed urban buildings, when properly designed and constructed, represent an inherently "sustainable," or "green," form of development. That is, they can actually minimize negative impacts on the environment while protecting the health and well-being of their occupants. To achieve these goals, building professionals are increasingly resurrecting strategies that were routinely employed in smaller structures in the past - such as natural ventilation and shading devices to reduce heat gain - and adapting them to larger and more complex buildings. Meanwhile, they are exploiting new technologies, from solar power cells to sophisticated wind turbines, to create a new breed of large-scale buildings that are both comfortable and environmentally benign.

Big & Green: Toward Sustainable Architecture in the 21st Century explores five categories of issues that design and building professionals are addressing in order to reduce the deleterious environmental impact of skyscrapers and other megastructures: Energy; Light and Air; Greenery, Water and Waste; Construction; and Urbanism. The exhibition demonstrates that, through thoughtful design and careful management of the construction process, even the largest structures can further the cause of a more harmonious integration of the built and natural environments.

Architecture Unplugged: ENERGY

Ventiform Experimental Project (2002) designed by Foster and Partners was an attempt to integrate an electricity-generating wind turbine into a mixed-use, high-rise building.

Photo by Nigel Young; courtesy Foster and Partners.

The profligate consumption of fossil fuels is one of our biggest environmental problems today. The insatiable demand for fossil fuels results in air pollution, water pollution (due to oil spills), and often. We may think of cars and factories as the most obvious enemies of the environment, but buildings consume more than half the energy used worldwide. Mechanical networks that supply air-conditioning, heating, lighting, and other building systems are now being redesigned to consume less energy, while alternate sources of energy are also being developed. As more and more communities are offering building owners the opportunity to purchase energy made from renewable or clean sources like the sun and wind, many architects are now designing buildings that generate their own energy.

Buildings that Breathe: LIGHT AND AIR

The Eastgate building in Harare, Zimbabwe (1995) designed by the Pearce Partnership.

Before the development of efficient artificial lighting, heating, and cooling systems in the 20th century, access to fresh air and daylight was a primary determinant of building form. In the last fifty years buildings have increasingly relied on mechanical systems for their light and air. Some contemporary architects, however, are once again promoting the importance of natural systems. They are designing large-scale buildings illuminated by the sun and naturally ventilated with double-skin windows that let in air but keep out noise and heat. Strategies for natural ventilation and illumination are now becoming more widely accepted as architects and engineers develop advanced techniques for providing natural air-conditioning in buildings of unprecedented size in the hottest of climates, as well as reviving older, forgotten strategies.

We Can Rebuild It: CONSTRUCTION

The materials used to construct large-scale buildings-concrete, steel, wood, plastics-all create environmental problems because of the energy used to fabricate them, the toxic chemicals that make them attractive, waterproof, or fireproof, and the energy needed to transport them. Some architects and engineers concerned with environmental sensitivity are now employing a variety of strategies to limit the environmental impact of building construction. Among these solutions is the reuse of existing buildings through adaptive reuse, which is a form of recycling on an architectural scale. For new construction, architects can better control the use of materials and reduce waste by utilizing materials that require little energy to produce and ship, are renewable, modular and prefabricated.

Green Giants: GREENERY, WATER AND WASTE

GAP’s 901 Cherry Offices, Corporate Campus, 1996, San Bruno, California. Designed by William McDonough + Partners, with Gensler (Interior Architect of Record).

Courtesy of William McDonough + Partners

Greenery inside and outside of buildings is a crucial part of the cycle of water consumption and waste. Understanding this relationship is important, as architects attempt to curb water consumption, reduce waste water, and use natural plant materials to mitigate the impact buildings have on their surroundings. Large buildings can consume millions of gallons of water a day, while during a single rain storm millions of gallons can be lost, as untreated water runs off into sewers or the ground. Engineers and architects are now collaborating to develop ways of using this run-off as undrinkable "gray" water in sinks and toilets. Greenery cleans our air by converting carbon dioxide into oxygen, and cleans our water by filtering run-off water before it is released into the surrounding environment.

The Emerald City: URBANISM

Cities are themselves complex systems, and there is no one formula for making cities vibrant and livable. Strategies to manage growth, to preserve green space, and to regulate building to promote environmentally sensitive development are finally beginning to appear in American cities. One notable example is the sustainable development codes written for the Battery Park City Authority in New York, which regulate energy conservation, air quality, water conservation, and material use, and promote pedestrian activity and public transit use.

To complement the Big & Green exhibition, the Museum has developed a lecture series. For further details visit the Big & Green Lecture series webpage. Audio files of the lectures in this series and illustrated summaries of selected lectures are also available.

Curator Credits

CURATOR: David Gissen
CONSULTING CURATOR: Susan Piedmont-Palladino
CHIEF CURATOR: Howard Decker
CURATORIAL ASSOCIATE: Alisa Goetz
CURATORIAL ASSISTANT: Armand Graham
EXHIBITIONS ASSISTANT: Deborah Sorensen
LEARNING ROOM DESIGN: Elizabeth Kaleida
EXHIBITIONS COORDINATOR: Hank Griffith
EXHIBITIONS PREPARATOR: Christopher Maclay
INSTALLATION TEAM: James Matthews, Michael Kirby, Allan Sprecher
COLLECTIONS TEAM: Dana Twersky, Cecelia Gibson, Shelagh Cole
INTERNS: Charlotte Barrows, Alice Buggy, Koshiro Hatori
INTRODUCTORY VIDEO: Lisa Grossman
KIOSK TEXT EDITOR: Sasha Nemecek
HORTICULTURALIST: Amy M. Knotts
SCRIPT EDITOR: Noel Millea
EXHIBITION DESIGN: James Hicks
EXHIBITION GRAPHIC DESIGN: Pure+Applied (Paul Carlos, Urshula Barbour)

Exhibition Chairs

Jeffrey S. Abramson
Douglas Durst
A. Eugene Kohn, FAIA, RIBA, JIA

Advisory Committee

Betty Arndt
Johnson Controls, Inc.
William Browning, Rocky Mountain Institute
Randall Croxton, Croxton Collaborative
Bruce Fowle, Fox & Fowle Architects
Robert Fox, Jr., Fox & Fowle Architects
Christopher Gordon, Kishimoto.Gordon PC
Kriz Kizak, SITE
William McDonough, William McDonough + Partners
William Odell, Hellmuth, Obata + Kassabaum, Inc.
Paul von Paumgartten, Johnson Controls, Inc.
Ashok Raiji, ARUP
Gerald Sigal, SIGAL Construction Corporation
Kendall Wilson, Envision Design PLLC
James Wines, SITE

Curators' Acknowledgments

The National Building Museum gratefully acknowledges the extraordinary assistance of the following individuals: Guy Battle, Battle McCarthy; Michael Braungart, McDonough Braungart Design Chemistry; Drury Crawley, United States Department of Energy; William McDonough, William McDonough + Partners; Kimberly Pexton, James G. Davis Construction Corporation; Nina Rappaport, Yale School of Architecture and City College School of Architecture; David Serlin, Bard College; Kendall Wilson, Envision Design PLLC; and James Wines, SITE.

The National Building Museum gratefully acknowledges the groundbreaking research of Ashok Raiji, whose insights into sustainable technologies and building practices shaped the development of the exhibition. Mr. Raiji is a principal at ARUP, an engineering firm specializing in sustainability.

The Museum thanks the following organizations and individuals for their contributions of goods or services to Big & Green: Bergey WindPower Co., James G. Davis Construction Corporation, Envision Design PLLC, Expanko Cork Company, Josef Gartner GmbH, Johnson Controls, Inc., Lees Carpets, Herman Miller Inc., Tate Access Floors, Inc., TimberGrass Fine Bamboo Flooring & Panels, and the many others who have contributed to the Office Environment and Learning Room.

Big & Green: Toward Sustainable Architecture in the 21st Century

January 17, 2003 - June 22, 2003

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