SPRINGER New Technologies for Adaptive Architecture

New Technologies for Adaptive Architecture Santina Di Salvo Abstract Since the 1980s, the bioclimatic architecture has had the historical merit of having raised public and experts’ awareness on the importance of designing buildings with the purpose of solving the problem of energy saving. Nowadays, in the light of the most recent energy strategies policies, in force on an international and European scale, codified in EC Directive 31/2010 concerning the implementation of the Nearly Zer-Energy Buildings (NZEB), (Deru et al. 2006), the need for a new approach to redevelopment that focuses on environmental, climate and energy objectives with innovative technological solutions emerges, aimed at optimizing the passive bioclimatic behaviour of a building. In the world of architecture, from the beginning of the 1990s to today, it has been possible to witness the appearance of structures able to adapt their form, shape, colour or character responsively (via actuators), reflecting the environmental conditions around them. These skills, which redescribe the architectural relationship with the space and the surrounding environment, fall within the scope of what is commonly called “Responsive Environment”. In this new scenario, we explore the possibilities offered by the latest technologies in support of traditional architecture. This article, in an attempt to interpret the culture of our time, aims to advance in the field of “Responsive Environment” through the creation of an “intelligent”, dynamic and adaptive architecture which redefines the common perception of the environment. Keywords Adaptive envelope Sustainability Bioarchitecture Efficiency Innovative technology



S. Di Salvo (&) Department of Architecture, University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy e-mail: [email protected] 1 The Challenge of Sustainable Design The originality of this contribution consists in attributing importance to new objects of investigation still neglected in traditional studies and reflecting on the new possibilities offered by new technologies. Why are the quality and sustainability of buildings so important? First of all, we spend about 90% of our time in the whole building and 30% of them do not provide adequate living comfort; then, buildings consume around 40% of the total energy we use; finally, it is possible to build healthy and comfortable buildings with a very low impact on the environment (Jäger 2017). The article highlights that the challenge of sustainable design is to optimize at best natural resources, which are variable and inconstant, and to create sensitive buildings with variable behaviour, in dynamic energy balance with climate and environmental control: organisms capable of self-regulation and mutation, in terms of offered performance levels and external configuration. Recent community rules on the energy performance of buildings impose increasingly stringent measures for the control of energy consumption, which oblige us to rethink the formal and technical-constructive choices integrated into the project of new buildings and the recovery of existing one, having as goals the maintenance of a certain degree of comfort, an increased feeling of well-being, health and quality of use of the inhabitants (Santiago Fink 2011). Through the examples discussed, we highlight how focusing on adaptive architecture is possible, by integrating traditional architecture with innovative technologies, according to a new holistic approach to the project, that goes beyond the mere adjustment of energy expenditure and environmental performance, and includes many other aspects, such as architectural and construction quality assurance, flexibility and adaptability of space, safety, life cycle costs and social repercussions (Marvaldi et al. 2016). This is because energy efficiency is only a piece of a more complex mosaic, which should evaluate and monitor the © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020 H. Bougdah et al. (eds.), Urban and Transit Planning, Advances in Science, Technology & Innovation, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-17308-1_41 457 458 S. Di Salvo environmental, economic, functional and social aspects in a synergistic way. Therefore, a design based on criteria of sustainability must be oriented towards the definition of non-static and immutable architectural organisms, but capable of adapting and implementing performance, according to the conditions of the environmental context, to select and calibrate different design strategies in the best possible way. To respond to this change, it is necessary to conceive flexible and changeable structures and systems, able to repeatedly and reversibly change own functions, shapes, features or behaviour over time in response to changing performance requirements and variable environmental conditions. By doing this, the building shell effectively seeks to improve overall building performance in terms of primary energy consumption while maintaining acceptable thermal and visual comfort (Loonen 2010). And the building envelope is today the material and metaphorical place on which the technological and expressive innovation of architecture and society is concentrated. The building envelope separates the internal space from the external one, and it can be seen as a kind of transformer on which a certain number of phenomena act (the climate); these actions move more or less modified, according to the nature of the wall considered and the conditions inside the building. The building envelope, as well as “Closing Element”, can be considered as the “Skin” of the building, the “Dynamic interface” between the inside and the outside, “place” of the exchanges (Harris and Wigginton 2002). The envelope of a building must answer to many needs: (1) to reduce as much as possible the heat exchange between the interior and the exterior; (2) to dampen the most rapidly variable effects of the climate with its own inertia; (3) to ensure with its own “permeability” the hygrometric balance between the inside and the outside; (4) to ensure temperatures of the internal surface acceptable for the purposes of human well-being. Focusing on adaptive architecture due to new technologies is possible, by integrating traditional architecture with the latest technologies, also due to the help of computational and parametric systems, sensors, control systems and actuators that are radically changing the approach to the project, offering the possibility to achieve important results in terms of energy efficiency. Adaptive buildings can draw on the concepts of adaptability, reconfigurability and evolvability by combining the complementary benefits of active and passive building technologies. 2 Case Studies The building components susceptible with potential for adaptation to the context of the building belong mainly to the building envelope. An exemplary case is represented by shielding systems, which often cover the entire vertical envelope and, thanks to movable or openable elements, or green essences with deciduous leaves, transform the building into a hybrid and changing organism. Precisely, the shielding envelope, an element in which the prefect synthesis between the form and the energetic function is to be realized, has become the hallmark of famous contemporary buildings, up to express the formal essence and to represent them in the common imaginary. 2.1 Seine Musicale Several adaptive concepts imitate tropism: plants’ directional growth or rotation in the direction of certain environmental triggers. Both phototropism (i.e. changing in response to light) and heliotropism (i.e. changing in response to the sun) have been transformed effectively into adaptive concepts, enabling timely collection and rejection of solar energy (Siragusa 2009). Adaptive buildings can draw upon the concepts of adaptability, multi-ability and evolvability by combining the complementary beneficial aspects of both active and passive building technologies. As the case of the Seine Musicale (Devedjian 2017). From the point of view of a new approach to the project, an original example is that of the Seine Musicale in Paris, a spherical building whose envelope covered with photovoltaic panels rotates like a sunflower. It is inspired by a ship set in the waters of the Seine, even if the Parisians have already renamed it “the egg”, the latest futuristic project by the Japanese archistar Shigeru Ban, a citadel of music set on the tip of the Île Seguin, in the western suburbs of the French capital. La Seine Musicale (Figs. 1 and 2), this is the name of the work, winds over an area of over 36 thousand square metres, where once stood the Renault factories, abandoned in the 1990s. Since then this suburb of Paris has experienced a profound crisis. Enclosed in a glass and wood shell, the structure culminates in a large 45-m-high sail wrapped in a layer of photovoltaic panels (Thorpe and Blossier 2017). Every fifteen minutes, the sail moves to follow the sun, which provides the whole complex with all the energy it needs. Inside, a changing mosaic, which changes from green to red, decorates the acoustic envelope, while for the ceiling of the auditorium wood strips, paper and cardboard have been assembled, to draw a dense and harmonious pattern. To complete the work, mainly made of concrete, there are also spaces for artists, commercial activities, restaurants and offices, all connected by the large foyer that runs through the entire structure. Finally, the latter joins the mainland through two promenade: one mineral, reaching towards Boulogne, the other green, towards Meudon. The end result is a symphony of sinuous waves and pointed edges, green and grey, wood and concrete. New Technologies for Adaptive Architecture 459 Fig. 1 La Seine Musicale, external view of the solar panels @Laurent Blossier 2.2 Vertical Forest in Milan To create a new environmental and social balance, it is hoped that many cities will be converted into green cities in the near future, with a decisive impact on pollution levels (Figs. 3 and 4). Vertical forest is a model for a sustainable residential building, metropolitan reforestation that contributes to the regeneration of the environment and urban biodiversity, without implying the expansion of cities. The first example of vertical densification of greenery was made in the centre of Milan (Boeri 2015). It is a vertical forest, designed by architect Andrea Boeri, consisting of two residential towers of 110 and 76 in height, which houses 900 trees in the two terraces and over 20,000 plants between shrubs and flowers, distributed according to solar exposure in facade. In terms of urban densification, the vertical forest is the equivalent of an area of a single-family house of nearly 75,000 m2. The huge green facade, created by plants, reduces CO2 in air suspension, produces oxygen and fights acoustic pollution and heat island effect. In essence, a vertical forest helps to create an urban ecosystem where a different type of vegetation in a vertical environment can also be the attraction of birds and insects, thus becoming a symbol of a natural reconstruction and livability of the city. This innovative project, winner of many awards, including the Highrise International Award in 2014, shows how creating a series of vertical forests in the city can create a network of environmental corridors and create parks, combining spaces of avenues and gardens and Intertwining the different areas of spontaneous vegetation (Giacomello and Valagussa 2015). A vertical forest, designed in all major cities, as well as contributing to the mitigation of microclimate, becomes a landmark that can be today representative of new, changing landscapes that change their appearance to the alternation of seasons, offering a revised vision and version changeable of the metropolitan city. 460 S. Di Salvo Fig. 2 La Seine Musicale, interior of Auditorium @Laurent Blossier 2.3 Modern Vernacular Architecture Architectural innovation often looks at traditional construction techniques revisiting them in a modern way. In fact, tradition teaches us to exploit natural resources with the construction of buildings capable of reacting to the evolution of external climatic conditions. If once this happened only thanks to the use of specific shapes and materials, now technologies allow to achieve even more optimized results, thanks to models and systems that start from the idea of a dynamic envelope that allows to perfect the contribution of light and heat, reducing the energy consumption of buildings. This is the case of the so-called Lunar Complex (Studio Habibeh Madjdabadi, project 2018), a mixed-use structure built along a road connecting the ghazvin to the rasht, in the heart of an arid and warm region of the Iranian plateau (Figs. 5 and 6). The building, built by the Iranian studio Habibeh Madjdabadi, includes a petrol station, accommodation, a restaurant, a parking lot and a number of local craft shops and food stores. The zoomorphic shape of the lunar profile of the structure was inspired by the morphology of the surrounding territory, with which it integrates perfectly and also by the vernacular architecture, typical of those areas of Iran, characterized by a very torrid climate (Articles on Iranian Architects 2011). Inspired by the traditions, the architect has created a structure that minimizes the openings, in order to reduce the heat input in indoor environments. Habibeh Madjdabadi said he designed the shadows rather than the light, explaining how the adaptive envelope of the complex was designed in order to create shadows on the exterior facade and modulate the natural light that comes from the ceiling and enters into the interior spaces. Even the colour of the structure is in perfect harmony with the surrounding land. Pigmented cement was used to make the building, but it is reminiscent of a local natural material such as kahgel made of clay and straw. The Iranian building establishes a relationship with the surrounding environment very tightly, while focusing on some concepts of adaptive and dynamic architecture. 2.4 Adaptive BIPV Facade System With the transfer of photovoltaics into a new architecture, the building organism has got the ability to perform, in addition to the traditional requirements, the capture of solar energy, which arises in a synergistic and complementary way to the New Technologies for Adaptive Architecture 461 Fig. 3 Panoramic view of the vertical forest, Milan passive strategies of bioclimatic design, delineating at the same time new design paradigms and innovative potentials to the project operators involved in this new challenge. There are many researches in this field, such as the Italian one on the Adaptive BIPV façade system, where the use of home automation systems would optimize energy production and modulate the degree of shading by adapting to the climatic conditions. The adaptive BIPV façade system invented by architect Alessandro Turina,1 is a project chosen for the originality of combining shielding functions with those capturing photovoltaic panels, overcoming, through the accordion movement, the disadvantages of current systems that are fixed and not allow a versatility of use. Thanks to the extraordinary capacity of the new photovoltaic technologies, which also work with artificial light sources, the system can 1 Alessandro Turina, an architect, is inventor of an innovative adaptive facade system. This innovative patented system creates new possibilities for architects and designers to create new and efficient buildings, while fulfilling the need to restyle entire facades of existing buildings with an infinite range of colours and patterns to create the screening and capturing PV layer, providing a more efficient and creative architectural integration BIPV solution to renewable energy systems. generate energy even in the semi-packaged configuration and at night. It consists of a glass façade equipped with a wide range of semi-transparent solar modules (thanks to the distance between the crystalline silicon photovoltaic cells), custom-designed and customizable, but with the particularity of being industrially manufactured. The façade is suitable for both existing buildings and new buildings and allows significant energy savings (Figs. 7 and 8). It has been installed as a “second skin” in the existing office building of the Glassbel Lithuanian glass systems manufacturer. The exceptional size and weight of the modules proved to be particularly challenging during the production process, but thanks to the innovations and tests carried out by the project partners, the installation was finally a success. Photovoltaic becomes the new “garment” of the building envelope, architectural and technological element with which the recovery intervention becomes the opportunity to re-confer a new image to the building as well as to make an electric power of over 50 kWp operational on all 4 sides, including balconies. The project showed how the solar facades designed to meet the architectural and energy needs of the building are not only an aesthetically appealing solution, but also a financial means to achieve ever more ambitious energy 462 S. Di Salvo Fig. 4 Bottom view of the vertical forest, Milan and climate goals. It represents an innovative adaptive BIPV façade system that could transform existing buildings into nearly ZeroEnergy ones. 3 Conclusions There are many interesting projects that in recent years and in every part of the world have focused on optimizing the adaptive envelope in order to achieve energy selfsufficiency. The adoption of strategies for the containment of consumption should not be considered by designers as a constraint of the formal solutions available, but rather must become a stimulus to amplify horizons of research and experimentation towards new forms and architectural organisms compatible with the objectives of sustainability of the built and with the landscape (Marvaldi et al. 2016). The challenge is to achieve important results, “democratically” divisible among all users, in the dual perspective of a part of optimizing energy efficiency processes, and on the other hand of an improvement in environmental comfort, particularly in the summer, a real contemporary challenge of building and living consciously, especially in warm climatic contexts. We need to be aware that when we try to achieve something that satisfies the need for “eco-sustainability” that also wants to attract the interest and participation of operators and the public, we need to make an intellectual effort to conduct a game of subtle balances that are often hindered New Technologies for Adaptive Architecture 463 Fig. 5 “Lunar Complex”, external view. Studio Habibeh Madjdabadi, project 2018 Paris from the fact that today the attention of each of us is stimulated, even programmed, to make us be amazed only in the face of “sensationality”. It is possible to design in a conscious way, without thinking only of the aesthetics of the new building, but using materials as a tool to give quality to space and architecture. The case studies described here show with a joint methodological approach of architects, technologists, urban planners and researchers also that of citizens engaged in “regeneration from below”, the results determined by the importance of insisting on innovation in the context of adaptive buildings through which it is possible to change the face of the cities. 464 Fig. 6 “Lunar Complex”, internal view. Studio Habibeh Madjdabadi, project 2018 Paris Fig. 7 View of the Adaptive BIPV Facade System in office building of the Glassbel Lithuanian glass systems manufacturer S. Di Salvo New Technologies for Adaptive Architecture 465 Fig. 8 Details of the Adaptive BIPV Facade System in office building of the Glassbel Lithuanian glass systems manufacturer References Articles on Iranian Architects, Including: Farshid Moussavi, Habibeh Madjdabadi, Mir-Hossein Mousavi, Hossein Amanat, Alireza Sagharchi, Hadi Mirmiran. (2011). United States: Hephaestus Books. Boeri, S. (2015). Un bosco verticale. Libretto di istruzioni per il prototipo di una città foresta. Musante, G. (Ed.). Mantova: Corraini Edizioni. Deru, M., et al. (2006). Zero energy buildings: A critical look at the definition. National Renewable Energy Laboratory. Retrieved May, 2017 from https://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy06osti/39833.pdf. Devedjian, P. (2017) La Seine Musicale/Shigeru Ban Architects. ArchDaily. Giacomello, E., & Valagussa, G. (2015). Vertical greenery: Evaluating the high-rise vegetation of the Bosco Verticale, Milan. Chicago: CTBUH. Habibeh Madjdabadi Architecture Studio. (2018). 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