One of my favorite retail facades in Beverly Hills is this small fashion boutique, Maison Martin Margiela.
Maison Martin Margiela, Beverly Hills, California, by Johnston Marklee & Associates (left photo from, right photo from ) Constantly changing like the glistening sign of the Sparkletts truck, this building’s façade ripples in the wind. Architecture has made visible what is typically invisible: the movement of air. The exhibited facade captures the movement of the wind. Some architecture has been designed to be as striking as the art and sculpture movement known as Kinetic Art, an exploration that started in the early 1900’s. Brisbane Airport Parking Garage with kinetic aluminum façade by installation artist Ned Kahn, Australia (photo from ) Unlike a stadium’s roof retracting in a banal utilitarian way, this theater’s roof opens like an unfolding piece of paper, similarly to a fortune teller’s origami contrivance-letting in the sky and the stars, as if the building itself is part of the performance. Bengt Sjostrom Starlight Theatre, Rockford, Illinois, by Studio Gang (photos from ) Being that the above example is a project in Japan, I see the inspiration as the popular Transformer toys.
Saitama Super Arena, Tokyo, Japan Aecom, left: (photo from ) right: (photo from )įor example, a sports building can be designed to transform for basketball vs. Whether the intimate scale of a home or of a massive public building, the architectural environment can be designed to move, to change throughout the day according to the user’s needs. Note: I am not referring to a house that has a prosaic automatic garage door. But why not? Sharifi-ha House, Theran, Russia, by Nextoffice (photos from )Ī small segment of our design industry explores architecture as a kinetic thing, a building that moves. Architecture is mostly a building made of sticks and stones, steel and glass. Similarly, architecture is not performing arts, but the theater that houses the performing arts. Rather, architecture is thought of as the neighborhood street.
Generally speaking, architecture is the design of a fixed object, not of something that moves-such as a car speeding down the neighborhood street. It is uncommon to think of buildings as anything other than static.
KIEFER TECHNIC SHOWROOM WINDOWS
Also when the windows on each side of building are open air can flow from east to west without being obstructed by the walls, as ventilation panels allow for cross ventilation.Kiefer Technic Showroom, Gleichenberg, Austria, by Ernst Giselbrecht + Partner (photos by Ernst Giselbrecht + Partner) The same happens when the air inside is cooler except the air inside is replaces with cool air. The stack effect means that when the air outside is warmer then the air inside the warmer air will float out the top of the solar flue being replaced by cooler air at the bottom. There is also natural ventilation throughout the building as air can freely flow through the solar flue which displays the stack effect. The east façade of the building consists of two layers, creating a buffer, and is ventilated on each floor. The colored panels on this side of the building can be opened and closed by the occupants in order to let in or shut out light however, they can also be controlled by management in order to prevent overheating. The west façade of the building consists of three layers that create the solar flue. The solar shading system and the solar flue were designed with the use of the computational fluid dynamic (CFD) analyses which allowed for the room temperatures throughout the year to be observed.
The GSW Headquarters in Berlin by Sauerbruch Hutton is designed with a low energy concept and uses systems of ventilation, heating, and lighting in order to reduce the energy consumption.