Learning From Nature

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3XN has recently completed a pavilion – dubbed ‘Learning From Nature’ – as part of the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art’sGreen Architecture for the Future’ architectural exhibition , intended to showcase design possibilities when using cutting edge, intelligent and sustainable materials.

The Pavilion has given us the opportunity to showcase the possibilities which exist in building with sustainable and intelligent materials. Our objective has been to show that Green Architecture can be dynamic and active.  We often think that we need to minimize use of resources at all costs. Instead of focusing on consuming the least amount of energy, we need to focus on producing and using energy and materials in a more intelligent way than is the case today.

~ Kim Herforth Nielsen, Founder and Principal of 3XN

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With a form derived from the mobius strip, the pavilion is essentially a showcase for these materials, technologies, and strategies – which I’l cover quickly here, so you can get an idea of what’s going on.

- the structure is biodegradable, so it can be decomposed after use

- synthetic materials have been replaced with biological/reusable ones, such as a bio composite made from flax fibers cast in biological resin for the outer shell of the structure, and cork sheets for the core

- 1mm flexible solar cells have been placed on the top face of the structure, which, in combination with piezoelectric materials in the floor that generate an electric current from the weight of the visitors, allows the pavilion to be energy self-sufficient [it powers integrated LED lights]

- the pavilion is coated with nanoparticles that make the surfaces self cleaning, and with a coating that adds ‘air cleaning properties’ to the structure through a chemical process called photocatalysis [air quality is improved within an 8-feet radius of air cleaning surfaces - for both effects, think titanium dioxide, altho I'm unsure if that's what they used]

- the building retains heat using phase-changing materials, which retain energy when heated by the sun, and then release this energy as heat later in the day when the air cools

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This right here is what I’m talking about – fight climate change, pollution, and energy consumption issues with siiick science + technology. I mean, imagine if all buildings were coated with self cleaning + air-cleaning materials – and the floors of all public spaces [and roads, maybe?] utilized piezoelectric materials to generate some electricity. None of these will single-handedly solve any of our current problems, but I’m down for a ‘death by thousand cuts’ solution to out climate and energy problems.

I would advise actually following some of those links for the materials – some really interesting stuff there, even though the links only scratch the surface of the potential uses.

::all info, images + quoted text provided by 3XN::

::photos by Adam Mørk::

Posted: July 9th, 2009
at 12:02pm

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Categories: featured ninjas, green arch, installation

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South Face, by Massimo Iosa Ghini

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Sustainable but beautiful: this is the goal I have pursued in all of my projects for years. South Face is the outcome of this constant quest for sustainable design that engages with actual production systems found on the market.

An installation designed by Iosa Ghini Associati for the 2009 Interni Design Energies, Milano, ‘South Face’ provides informal, sheltered seating for passers-by. Constructed of an insulated modular wall of hollow panels made from an eco-cement, the façade  of the installation provides some thermal insulation for the small space it encloses – while using the south-facing façade as a ‘vertical garden’, intended to absorb a limited amount of carbon dioxide from the local environment.

South Face 02

The designers make the argument that “sustainability is usually associated with sterile forms in which aesthetics are often overlooked”, and therefore their project aims to “create spectacular aesthetic effects, making sustainability both beautiful and feasible”. While I would say that many sustainable projects are both ‘green’ and ‘beautiful’ [obviously], I think that there remains a need to push this argument that projects aren’t ‘good’ simply because they’re ‘green’. I’m slightly concerned that while sustainability will survive the economic downturn and this apparent current trend against the ‘architecture of excess’, that this new trend isn’t appropriately concerned with aesthetic value. Cameron Sinclair isn’t Mies, arguing for a form-follows-function approach that lends itself to ‘beautiful’ design – rather, we’ve entered into a conversation seemingly built upon the idea that the aesthetics aren’t important, which seems to be little more than an excuse for bad design.

.:some additional technical info -> via Interni Magazine

::images + quoted text provided by Iosa Ghini Associati::

Posted: July 7th, 2009
at 1:29pm

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Categories: architecture, green arch, installation

Comments: 3 comments


New Theme, New Day

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[Look, if tequila and plantain chips don't help your creative process, you're probably just not a ninja]

Well, it’s official – after about 2 weeks of prep, and a marathon 12 hour push by the HNIC [AKA black octagons, the eight-sided darkness] and myself, the entire myninjaplease network has been upgraded, updated, retrofitted, and reinvented as MNP 2.0.

You’ll notice that the site as a whole is a bit crispier, and that the ’sidenotes’ in the middle column finally work [no more clicking titles of posts for links!]. We’re also using the new theme to attempt more cross-site promotion between the various MNP pages – most noticeably with the RSS feeds in the right sidebar [don't sleep on the rest of myninjaplease!].

I would say things are about 85% done – so if you could wait a week or so before you pass judgment, things should be in working order [we know how ninjas are about tossin' their opinions around]. Let me know what you think, if you have any suggestions/comments, and [especially] if you notice something that isn’t working right by dropping me an email at architecture@myninjaplease.com – or by leaving a comment.

Hope you like the new look – thanks for reading!

Posted: July 3rd, 2009
at 1:35am

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Categories: architecture

Comments: 4 comments


Guerilla Architecture

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Our ninja Ivan Hernandez Quintela of Ludens [our first 'Ninja of the Month'] contacted AMNP last week about new projects he’s worked on since the NotM feature – specifically, “The Box” @ MUAC. In addition to his own work, Ivan shared work done by student who participated in a “Guerilla Architecture” course which he taught at the Universidad Iberoamericana in Mexico City.

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Ivan’s students were asked to produce temporary shelters that would meet the needs of one of several ‘homeless profiles’ that the class recognized, and then construct and test the design. Both designs featured here attempt to “make evident that the homeless are not inactive people, but actually are extremely mobile, nomad by nature” – creating solutions that take into account this mobile nature of many of the homeless.

The idea was that the homeless citizen would wear the kimono during the day and would remove it during the night to create his temporary shelter.

A garment that could be worn by day, and then reassembled into a tent structure – the first design uses lines to attach to nearby objects in order to create a shelter from wearable materials, rather than using poles or other rigid, harder to carry methods. The homeless citizen then wears her shelter on her person, saving the energy and space needed to transport something larger/heavier.

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Next we have a design that combines this idea of mobility and need for shelter with the additional need – in some cases – for storage.

The students generated a vehicle, which was activated in a very similar manner as a wheel chair, so it required quite an athletic user, where two huge truck wheels were recuperated from a dump site and assembled in such a manner that in the middle is the navigating chair, and each wheel is used either as a resting spot or as a can container.

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::all images, info, and quotes courtesy of Ivan Hernandez Quintela::

Posted: June 30th, 2009
at 4:22pm

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Categories: Ninjas of the Month, architecture, featured ninjas, housing, student

Comments: 1 comment


Quote of the Day

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[Image: Iterations: Kunst-Haas, May 24th 2009]

I’ve been kind of ‘on record’ as being deeply unhappy, and deeply uncomfortable about that kind of situation ['starchitect' title]… because I think every name describes a content, and the content of ’star architect’ – compared to the content of ‘architect’ – is limited. Nobody thinks the star has good intentions. A star walks over you – a star is indifferent to what people think. My hope is that also, through the current complexity, that the title will exit discreetly and disappear.

~ Rem Koolhaas in CNN interview, which can be seen here.

Posted: June 29th, 2009
at 3:26pm

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Categories: architecture, quote of the day, starchitects

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MNP Goes LEED Double Diamond

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The MNP fam has decided that it was finally time we ‘officially’ went ‘green’ – even tho ninjas have obviously always lived in perfect harmony with their environment. With that in mind, AMNP was kind enough to grace the USGBC and GBCI with our membership – and my becoming a LEED AP. For us it was little more than an early morning diversion and a few hundred bucks lost – but now these LEED organizations can claim an association with the shogunate, which will surely improve public perception of both groups. You’re welcome, USGBC and GBCI – no big thing, really.

With this in mind, we’ve decided to go for a LEED rating here at MNP. For AMNP specifically, this means that I will be recycling 100% of future content from other blogs and websites within a 500 mile radius. I’ll also be creating a graphic for the top of the page advising visitors that the site is best viewed with your monitor off, to save electricity.

I’ve also presented plans to the rest of myninjaplease to take the network to LEED Double Diamond status – which is lightyears ahead of Platinum, for those that didn’t know – by constructing the new dojo in a paralel dimension that has no impact on our own, accessed from an urban brownfield site we’ll be converting to a public park.

Posted: June 29th, 2009
at 11:52am

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Categories: MNP, architecture, green arch

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Ninjas on the ‘Net

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It’s Monday! Which of course means that many of you are back at work, staring blankly at your computer screens and trying to shake off the weekend. That said, with the current state of things, many of you are probably barely aware of what day it is – staring at the 2 new job postings that went up this week and wondering just how many other people are going to be applying for them, too [I'm there also]. But hey, that’s why we have the internet – to distract us from ‘the Mondays’ and from dreary job searches [contrary to popular belief, the web is for more than porn and Youtube videos, apparently - who knew?]. So zone out and enjoy some linkage, which will hopefully occupy you through lunch.

As always, if you come across an article you think I should post a link to, or a project AMNP should feature, drop me an email at architecture@myninjaplease.com.

- Guggenheim original color suggestions from FLW, plus early designs [NY Times]

- Slideshow of Guggenheim drawings / proposals [NY Times]

- an interview with John from Archidose [I Dream of Architecture]

- is Dharavi a slum? pt 1 + 2 [Where]
- here’s how a firm should run their network/internet, like it was the 21st century [Architect Magazine]

- track stimulus money and plan accordingly [Architect Magazine]

- green buildings: lovely, except for the acoustics? [Scientific American]

- a post related to the one above on green acoustics, from ‘07 [CityofSound]

- NYC, 1966, and John Lindsay’s vision for the city [triplecanopy]

- horrifying coloring books [Mockitecture]

- BIM promotes sustainability [construction.com]

- will Beantown get a fleet of shared/rentable bicycles, like zip-car with pedals? [MA High Tech Business News]

- as always, don’t sleep on the myninjaplease.com main site

That wraps up this week’s Ninjas on the ‘Net. On your way out, remember to visit all our ninjas in the sidebar – support AMNP fam!

Posted: June 29th, 2009
at 11:39am


Categories: Ninjas on the 'net

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Koolhaas on CNN [seriously]

::Video Sundays, or VS, is a weekly feature here on AMNP. For more architecture-related videos, click on any Sunday in the sidebar calendar – or on the ‘videos’ category in the ‘archjutsu’ section. And don’t hesitate to submit suggestions for video features to architecture[at]myninjaplease[dot]com::

Posted: June 28th, 2009
at 6:19am

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Categories: architecture, starchitects, videos

Comments: 6 comments