Meeting with Kirsten Childs

Kirsten Childs, the Director of Facilities Planning & Interior Design for Croxton Collaborative Architects, is joining our class tonight to share with us her sustainability agenda. The soft-spoken woman comes around to exchange a handshake and a warm introduction. She has been involved in the initial development of the LEED rating program and her work in the field of sustainability has been recognized nationally and internationally. Her architecture company now stands as a pioneer in the field of sustainable design and was responsible for the renovation of the century old National Audubon society building back in 1991, a model of environmental architecture and design. Childs points out that the concept of “sustainable design” did not exist during this project and it was difficult to name the new approach of designing with the environment in mind.

The designer starts the dialog discussing the circadian cycle and how paramount it is to design for people to have access to daylight and the seasons. Her approach to any project starts with “the givens”:  the existing environment, solar orientation, wind orientation, waterways, local fauna & flora.

She describes how an interior designer’s role is to enhance human well-being, thermal comfort and daylight. These are paramount concerns in the design of our built environment. Therefore the transient pattern of sunlight in relation to the building is a main instrument in her design approach. As an advocate of Biophilic design, I could not agree more.

To illustrate her point, the designer reviews a few projects she has worked on including the gut renovation of a bankrupt “big box” store, turned into Library- community center. To optimize the site assets and opportunities, the once unsustainable shopping center was totally reclaimed to address two important needs of the town:  the first one being the restoration of the biodiversity of the land and water. The second being the need for the community to flourish and for children and adults to meet, relax, read, and study. I wish we had more great examples like this one showing the real potential at the fate of consumerism era giants.  I personally rejoice in the idea of seeing the end of fake cheap shopping.  As we all know, there is no such thing as cheap and eventually we must pay the price for “everyday-low-price” consumption. We are beginning to see this now with the lack of durability in our products that need to be replaced frequently, or the environmental disasters we frequently experience today due to our overuse of “cheap” oil. 

While Childs points out the importance of safeguarding endangered species, potable water resources, as well as enhancing indoor environmental quality and daylight access, she also has a holistic approach to design. Her method of designing in the built environment raises questions such as: Can it be built on a compromised land? How can I maximize the natural asset of the site? What is the cultural and historic significance of the place?

To conclude her presentation she reminds us of not only the importance of LEED but also the necessity of humane design. She believes that the ­­­successes of these concepts usually does not depend on architects but on interior designers and WE are the ones who must take a stand to achieve such design. 

Well... Thank you Ms. Childs for taking a stand for us!

Research Matters!

The MA of Sustainability for the Interior Environment was launched at FIT during summer 2011, with a small group of 10 Design professionals.  But it really began months before when we were contemplating the idea of starting a Master in sustainability and each of us asked ourselves: why do we care? And what can we do about it? While for most of us it was a career move, it was mainly a strong conviction that there must be a more responsible way to design and build. The urge to seek this out is what brought us together here.

The program began with a good dose of healthy debates over the societal impact of design. These discussions exposed both our common and conflicting ideals of sustainable design. Throughout the course of the first semesters, the program challenged our sustainable design assumptions by showing that simply taking a stand for the environment and the people who live on the planet is not enough. Design lives within a context that includes more than just materials and aesthetics. The program pushes us past the limits of conventional design practices by exploring literature related to such areas of study as behavioral research and policy studies revealing the incredible connectedness that takes place between design, people and the natural environment.

Being an FIT Graduate student certainly keeps us on our toes.  The classes give us the broad and big picture strategies about how we can make a difference. But it is the back and forth between expansive personal research and the collaborative approach in class that encourages discussions and fast forward thinking. Collectively we constantly ask ourselves: what resonates with us? What information do we select? What do we report on?

As working professionals that dedicate our time outside of our work-week toward this MA we are constantly navigating the inevitable hurdles of time-consuming research.  This same struggle is reflected in the real world. Behavioral Research and Policy analysis is lacking in the business of interior design…. And the reason, it’s time consuming. Interior design is a service-based industry that depends as much on market economics as any other service. But it has failed to recognize the value of these research initiatives. The business of interior design largely centers primarily on aesthetics. While it may be difficult to find conversations about Behavioral Research within most interior design firms we must take into account that these tools exist in other industries solely to increase profits. It works! So if these multi-national corporations successes can be attributed to the extensive social research then we can take this same model to impact the growth of sustainability and build a healthier environment.

While we are here to explore what “endures”, we have to break the current modus operandi to better illuminate both the themes and pillars of sustainable design: Environment, Economy, Equity and expose how these three E’s are not enough.  Research is what sheds light on how we have to look at the pillars of cultures, what Jane Jacobs identified as education, community, sciences, family and governments.

I feel that the MA program at FIT gives us the tools and resources to bring behavioral research and policy analysis to this field of study. As a result sustainable design is no longer a sysphean mission. And while we can’t predict the future, we hope we can set the pace for research to take place in the interior design field.

Revolution of Technology

I spent my evening at the Material Connexion Showroom. I was blown away by their material library: Photocatalytic powder coating that purifies the surrounding air, "Styrofoam" made of fungus (100% cradle to cradle), bio-based resins to name a few...   if you have not been there before I encourage all of us to go there. Note that as FIT students we are automatically members and this is a great opportunity! I spoke with Caroline Berna, account manager, who is looking forward to hearing from us.

To be continued...

“First, Do No Harm”

While pondering over how the Hippocratic oath would apply to research in SIE, I thought about the responsibility of designers to create spaces that no only safeguard the survival needs of the users (both physiological and physical safety) but also meet their needs of comfort, cultural identity, creativity etc… I thought that there was even more to it: What about the nurturing and restorative aspect of our design? Healthy buildings can be wonderfully comforting and lead to creating an emotional climate in which people can flourish and express their identity freely. 

Similarly when proceeding with experimental studies for design research, we owe our subjects to not judge them and respect their cultural differences and identity. in a nutshell, our experiments should be designed around concerns for the dignity and welfare of the participants.  Subjects should not only feel respected but also accepted for who they are and know how significant their testimony is for the experiment. As Nora mentioned in class, “refusal is data”.  Meaning, we must be open to and take into account our participants rights (and maybe duty) to refuse to go further in the experiment.    

When taking the subway I often think of a study Nora mentioned in class last semester: students (who were actually not the subjects of experiment that I know of) were asked by their professor to go up to strangers in the subway and to ask them to give up their sit for no reason whatsoever; the study found out that once in the field, the students could not get themselves to do it. They could not ask someone to just get up and give up their seat.  Their ethics is what stopped them from doing the experiment. Identically the meaning of this refusal, just like the controversial Milgram’s study on obedience to authority, is very relevant in regards to ethics in research;  results were certainly disturbing - our ability to obey authoritative figures or actually inability to say no to “orders” – but what was for me mostly disconcerting was the stress under which the participants were put. 

We don't want our participants to tell us what we want to hear and certainly not obey commands; with that in mind, we must remember to conduct our survey with full awareness that we must remain unbiased and praise our participant’s performance and remind them hat they are free to take responsibility for their action. 

On this last note, I think we (as class) are on good track: When we decline filling out a form that aims to grade one another, we fully know we are "disobeying” the board of education system.  Yet, for some of us, we feel we have to follow our codes and ethics: "First do no harm"; because we support one another to achieve the best of our capacity, we don't need to judge and rank each other. And that's ethics as well. 

Cook + Fox: A biophilic office for sustainability leaders

On Wednesday April 10^th, our field trip takes place to the office of the architecture firm responsible for the renowned Highline restoration and Leed Platinum certified One Bryan Park tower, the greenest skyscraper in the world.  Cook + Fox, which reads Cook plus Fox, is located in the landmarked lady’s mile district of Manhattan.  While modern, the design does not feel overly high tech as one could anticipate from such a fast-forward thinking company. I personally like how humble the place actually feels.

When walking in the office space we first notice that the architectural firm has preserved the original details of the interior of the space including a dramatic array of windows laid out as a semi-circle on one whole side of the office. In a city where most of the office workers are alienated from nature, it is good to see that from each workstation, one can see through a window. By offering not only daylight to the creative staff but also a view of NYC and 600 square feet of extensive green roof terrace, the office prides itself in following the biophilia philosophy.  And it shows!  Starting with the carpet tiles from the innovative company Interface that are laid out randomly to resemble a forest ground.  As the visit proceed, we also enjoy highly filtered air and I have to say overall the office “feels good”. There is a calming effect that I have not experienced in an office set up before. The combination of careful use of indoor sunlight, natural and artificial ambient and task light is “just enough”; I actually notice that it reinforces the balance between prospect and refuge of the space.  In terms of materials, the custom made plywood-base furnishings was finished to show the grain of the wood.  Thanks to the choice of the flexible materials the architects were able to create a spatial layout that feels organic and “natural” with curving forms and nooks (as opposed to typical lined up desks and cubbies). Interior plantings are striving across the office, adding to the biophilic features of the space.  

Overall the successful office proves again that the practice of biophilic design and connecting people with nature does provide not only comfortable but very productive places.

Connect the dots

Hi all,
While we are all connecting the dots with our research readings, surveys, questionnaires, behavioral mappings etc. others are "connecting the dots" on climate change around the world. As we all know already, these past years every country has seen "The worst of ... in its history"- fill in the blank: floods, drought, fires, famine... 
May 5th is the date to pencil in our calendar.  See this video and share it (You can also "like" in on Facebook)
http://www.climatedots.org/thingshappen/
Let's help with connecting the dots.  Tell people it's time to move away from fossil fuels and demand clean energy.  Though at this point, I don't think we have time to create an event, it would be nice if we could stand in solidarity: Think "butterfly effect"! Spread the word and drop a note about sustainability and climate change, or post a powerful picture on your Facebook page. And if you have something else in mind, share it with the rest of class. Thanks all! 

41 Cooper Square: biomorphic but not biophilic

Our Seminar class took us on April 6^th to a well-anticipated field trip location:  Thom Wayne’s new academic building for the iconic private college, Cooper Union, located at 41 Cooper square.  Conveniently situated kitty corner from the Italianate brownstone, the stainless steel construction facade is not what you would expect from the historic neighborhood (and I can only imagine that there was some neighborhood opposition to the futuristic project.)

The bold architecture building, which replaces the centenary Hewitt building, is located on the crossover between SoHo and East village;  everyday for about a year I had hopped on my bike and passed by the rapidly developing construction site.

So here I was for once inside the phantasmagoric building I had been watching growing.  The edifice, which had appeared to turn more like a space ship than a school building turned out to be not as uncanny as I anticipated.  But interestingly enough the first thing that came to mind, when walking into the atrium-like lobby, was the feeling of being inside the belly of a beast which was revealing its white biomorphic armature like a giant rib cage.

Following a shy introduction, we followed our tour guide to the top floor via elevators; these are programmed to stop at only few floors in order to encourage student’s physical activity. We then proceeded with the visit going downward the edifice, while itemizing the expansive and expensive innovative technology that had earned the building a platinum LEED certification.

As we arrived on the 4^th floor, and the top of the great staircase, I was expecting a magnificent vantage point if not a spectacular view of the city, but none of that was there. Not only the green roof and outdoor terrace were not accessible (for security purposes), I felt like the building was lacking of biophilic qualities. As we were regrouping, conversation with our tour guide took an interesting twist when asking him how he felt about the efficiency of the edifice. The 5^th year architecture student admitted that he did not think the building was built to “properly” meet true sustainable principles. He added that if it were not for the high tech equipment (sun sensitive operable panels, green roof, storm waster collection system…) the building would not meet any sustainable practices.

For my part I was surprised to hear that the building was built in lieu of a campus, a place for the student community to connect. A consternating surprise was that there was very little incentive for this to happen. The great staircase where we were standing and which was built for the students to circulate and mingle, looked more like a steep terrain impossible to crawl to the top than a meeting area. As a matter of fact it was entirely deserted. As we’ve been saying in class, if people don’t enjoy a place then it does not really matter how “green” it is. 

Even Apple cannot compete with sustainability!

So in the end even the Alpha brand of technology, Apple, cannot compete with sustainability....music to my ears! That's according to the NY times article How the Love Affair With Apple Might End by Alice Rawsthorn (click on title to enjoy the article); indeed the Godly brand will not get away with lack of responsible design anymore. We have heard it for a while now that Apple's success was built not only on innovative design but also on unethical practices: Obsolescence by design, workers abuse (in China), no recycling or reclaiming programs to name a few...
So my point is, after all, consumers are finally getting it: good design means sustainable design. And what really pleases me here is that it proves that if we want to change our criteria when choosing a brand then corporations are going to have to stay on their best behavior.  Because, today the consumer does have the power to make changes. The irony being that's probably thanks to the latest technology! 
 

Can good design of public space be the mechanism to change a culture?

Last Monday, during our EBR class, we met with Shaun O’Rourke for an informative presentation on the city’s efforts to develop parklets and public places in New York.

So here we were, we had completed our observations on the parklets, posted them on our blogs and for the most part we seemed to agree that they were generally pretty successful. But what was it that made them successful?  Was it a gut feeling? An impression based on how we think the city should be or look like? Did we feel different depending on where we were coming from? Probably. 

Larry made an interesting comment about the “success” of the TKTS roof-steps where people were enjoying reading a book in the heart of the most visited tourist attraction in the world, Times Square. Now, we all see how contradictory it is to pick up a book and relax in the busiest crossroad of the town. But the facts were here. Who could predict the drastic change of culture in a commercial square known for its (now gone) pornographic theaters and neon illuminations? In any case to answer the question “Can good design of public space be the mechanism to change a culture”, I can’t say that the ingenious steps were entirely responsible.  the bottom line is that good design did not change the culture of Times Square rather the “clean up” that Ed Koch and city councilmen initiated. Design is more of an expression of change not the reason for change. In this case, there is no causal relationship. Design is an expression of whatever is being promoted.  If we look at Paris in its present form, we see the Haussmann Plan which was a modernization program of the city of Paris. It was designed to support the rise of economic growth and industrialization. Can we tell that the design changed the culture or is it industrialization that changed the culture? and iIs the design of the city an expression of that change? I believe design movements like Bauhaus, constructivism, or post-modernism are movements that are more the result of an ethos that is expressed by the people, and/or charismatic leaders and/or governments.  

The history of cultures shows that landmark historical changes are usually the result of strong charismatic leaders that have expressed a common ideal among a culture to enact change. Examples include MLK, JFK, FDR, Miterrand, Napoleon, etc.  

To further illustrate the role of urban design in cities, we looked at how NYC developed the parklets with for vision making a complete experience for all user groups (car, pedestrians, bicycle riders), and not designed for a single purpose. There were quite a few positive news about the parklets; And beside the “out’s and about’s” of pedestrians on the highlighted (painted) delimited so called areas, we were in shock to hear that reducing the speed of cars did not actually reduce the number of cars going down Broadway. 

Though I was not sure if this was good news or not. The good news was that we can have safer places for pedestrians without compromising car traffic. Now what about bicycles traffic? Though bike lanes have been developing extensively in the past decade, there seem to still be a “grey” area when it comes to who should be using them. Bikes still don’t have their own status: pedestrians think of them as great places to stroll and cars love double parking on them.  Is this the result of bad design or just the lack of reinforcement?

For my part, I was majorly disappointed about the fact that we had failed with dissuading people from driving through the city. Identically, when looking at examples of parklets in DUMBO, Brooklyn, where small parking areas were replaced by planters and chairs for pedestrians, I was also let down by the fact that the project had only moved the cars to another area of the neighborhood. 

Now Mayor Bloomberg almost succeeded in enforcing new laws to reduce the number of cars in the landscape of the city but the people (council) voted against it. I guess NYC long history of relationship with the car is not about to change so quickly.  Unfortunately, I also agree with Jane Jacobs “Not TV or illegal drugs but the automobile has been the chief destroyer of American communities.”

What can I say, I love NY and I want a “greener, greater NY”!

Meeting "artist-architect" Sara Caples

Source: Caples Jefferson Architects http://capjeff.com/

Last Wednesday we had the inspiring experience of meeting with artist-architect, as she describes herself and her partner, Sara Caples from Caples Jefferson architects. As we introduce ourselves, the New York based sustainability maven architect unveils a 15-year-old friendship with Grazyna, chair of the MA of sustainability for the Interior Environment at FIT.   When asked what made her decide to embrace sustainability she answers “it was never a question! Part of our ethos, we wanted to be part of the people who were doing this.”

Caples starts her oration with what she calls a principle that she and her partner had when they started the firm in 1987:  “perform at least 50% of their work for public community based projects and specifically neighborhoods undeserved by designers."

The firm has indeed kept its promise - which is a pretty impressive accomplishment already.  Her presentation starts with an original approach to a museum "visitor center" that celebrates the visitors' cultural heritage and continues with the ingenious design of "light shafts" in a building reclaimed for ex-prisonners. Overall the connectedness with the communities and the natural environment is really the  driving force of the designs; and this is what is impressive.

The first project she uses to illustrate her design approach is the Weeksville Heritage center in Brooklyn NY scheduled to open in 2013.

This community-oriented project is typical for the firm: it is a museum center located on an African American heritage site in Brooklyn.  There, located on the city block delimited by Buffalo Avenue, Bergen Street and St Marks Avenue, historic houses (literally "time capsules") were rediscovered in the 1960’s. The agglomeration, called the Freedsman village, has survived the 19^th century for 150 years.  Though located in a rough neighborhood, a local community got together to create a House museum.  Because the houses were naturally not designed for a "bus school full of kids" (they can take 10 kids at a time) the archtiects proposed that the visitors undergo a "pre-experience" before entering the historical houses. For this to happen an Afro-centric museum located on the same city block had to be designed.

Caples explains how they  approached the extent of the landscape between the museum center and the row of houses and defines it as “a continuum within the landscape, to the architectural structure, to the interior of the buildings.” Indeed her philosophy when creating a space is about “Capturing the natural forces: harvesting the daylight, breezes, to make it available to the people”.  Here again the sense of connectedness is fundamental for the design to be successful according to speaker.

The design is based on sustainable practices and Caples lists features such as: Geo-thermo wells, motorized blinds to prevent heat gain, and the orientation of the building which is so fundamental to the architecture in order to not only be functional to the users but also energy efficient; offices are facing east and west, the gallery is on the south side with entirely closed rooms so the archival materials and textiles which require a specific cooling and humidity system control can be protected form the outside ultra violets.

But the most fascinating part of the museum resides in the implementation of characteristic of the African culture and heritage which are woven into the building: indeed the architecture is embedded with colors, patterns, textures and paving patterns from the western African palette in the very glass of the building.

Furthermore, Caples explains again the importance of harvesting the sun to render the kinetic aspect of the sun/shade thought the skylight: "Earth going around the sun".  in addition details throughout the building such as a cast iron Fence, which is water-jet-cut, is an example of locally made architectural details. Though originally planned to be made in china for cost reduction, after reviewing the design, the firm was able to produce it only 500 miles away from NY.  On that note, the architect encourages us to “let the contractor bring his experience into sourcing because there may be detail you didn’t think about during the design process”.  She also reminds us “When designing sustainably, the driving force of sustainable design should always be health. This is the factor that is the biggest bridge for the clients: the number one reason why they would decide to have you design with sustainability in mind- so build health into the building.”

The second project Caples presents us is the Heritage, Health and housing headquarters in New York, NY. Built on an extremely low budget, the colorful cladded façade project, also typical for the firm, was designed for people just out of prisons. In its previous life the building had been a garage and a social club and the 2 were combined to make the building one center. When gutting the place, the basement was moldy and funky and had to be treated and bleached. But that was not enough. Luckily, when inventively inserting 4 light shafts equipped with 3x3 skylights, the design invited light into the building: the miracle of UV’s happened and finished off the clean up of the mold.  The architect stresses on how important it was to work with the builder’s skill-sets to make the place constructible. But the most moving side of the story is when she concludes with a revealing experience: when told by the users, ex-prisoners, that at a certain time of the day the rays of light from the shafts were falling through the building, they had to stop working and watch and pray. The light effect really spoke to the users to the point of having a spiritual effect on them; 

“Design has the ability to touch people in their heart” is how she describes the communication between people and design.

Pedestrianizing experiment

This week our EBR assignment was to study the "cultural landscape", the landscape made by humans, of an urban lot designated by Parklets. 
So I went to 34th street Herald Square to snap some pictures of the newly revamped Broadway: the parklets outside shopping landmark Macy's where shrubs, bistro tables along with umbrellas are stationed.  
- Topography and history: This once car-oriented section area falls into one of the busiest shopping area of Manhattan. Now tourists, commuters and locals mix in these busy arteries. The now giant pedestrian zone area serves as a resting and safety island as well as a bike friendly lane. The parklet, one of 3 on this portion of Broadway, works as a "road diet" for the car traffic in order to allow this highly pedestrian area of Manhattan to be safer. 

Day: President day- 2/20/2012

Time: 6:30 pm - 6:45pm

Temperature: 34 degrees (felt like 20!)

Behavioral evaluation: : 

-Demographics: all ages. shoppers, tourists, couples, families, etc...
-Users patterns:  the preferred area is under the umbrellas on the periphery and then in the center area

-Occupation: reading, resting (from shopping sprees), having coffee, taking a phone call, having a smoke, eating a quick bite or enjoying a hot beverage.

-Comments: people do use these parklets: they love it! They stop there for a few minutes just time to enjoy a "time out". I was there for 15 minutes and saw people coming and leaving all this time. Most were not speaking English (French, Arab, Italian, Spanish) and seemed to be visitors/tourists. 

The city has successfully reclaimed the streets for the people - yet the only big minus is the bike lane which I don't think it was a success. I can see how mindless pedestrians don't pay attention to the cyclists  and constantly intrude the lane. I actually saw only one cyclist daring to use the bike lane and he had to get off his bike to cross the parklet.

Rehousing the American Dream

This week my curiosity took me to the MoMA to see the exhibition: "Foreclosed: Rehousing the American Dream"


Reinventing the American dream is quite a daunting task and I really wanted to check what the MoMA had to say about this. Do these elite architects have a real alternative to what took us to the mess we are in today?  We are talking about the MoMA  here, so I was really expecting to be blown away by at least some of the 5 design projects. Well instead I kind of felt like I was at some 1950's World's fair show (The Jetsons even came to mind)  Why this sensation of deja vu? Weren't these proposals supposed to fill me with novel ideas about the future of the built environment and prompt me with optimism for our communities? So I looked closer, reading everything I could but it seemed like "Rehousing the American dream" meant putting a band-aid on these cities and suburbs instead of rethinking the problem altogether. Had architects missed an important piece of the puzzle: Connectedness? The connection within the communities and the natural environment made sense in the writing but weirdly none of the designs proposed conveyed these ideas. The renderings of the buildings (which looked like the unfinished renderings from an undergrad class) were not conveying any sense of intimacy or belonging. Further along, I was looking at funky shapes in crayola colors (art?) that did not have any cultural relationship with the local or regional culture of the inhabitants.  Another proposal, which was developed with an ecologist on board (good start!) suggested "re-wilding" :  blending with the natural habitat and even suggesting the importance of reintroducing the predators of an ecosystem; but all I saw was buildings that were forced under the turf of artificial forests... and last a flower shaped reflecting pools (biophilia?).
I was lost. In the end, I was the one who did not connect with the MoMA.

Top Poll of 2011

Here is to start 2012 with some positive news: According to the RMI, Rocky Mountain Institute, the most popular poll of 2011 asked, "Why should business invest today in the new energy era?"

31 %: Driving durable competitive advantage
24 %: Environmental stewardship
23 %: Creating jobs
17 %: Winning the global clean energy race
5 %: Enhancing national security

What's your reason?

Wrapping the semester, saving music and the planet

The semester is coming to an end and as I am wrapping up my blog and thesis proposal I feel more hopeful than ever about the trajectory sustainability is taking. With Occupy Wall Street as an example all along the way during the semester, I was reassured that we could make a difference in this time of global crisis. I've learned that to change the world it takes patience but also determination. If people believe in it and pour their heart into making a difference then we'll get there.  While I want to take part in building physically and mentally healthier places to live,  some share their passion to save classical music:  Dale Henderson plays Bach on the NYC subway platforms.  I was very lucky to "find" him in my station on my way home tonight.  Henderson believes that if people hear and enjoy classical music (sometimes for the first time) then maybe there is a chance to save it. “From the first time I ever started Bach in the Subways, I had a sense of conviction of the value of what I’m doing [...] I think that Bach in the Subways is providing something meaningful to the people who hear it,” Henderson says. The same way we need to design something that is meaningful to the people. If we design space where people can experience the “healthiness” in sustainable design and connect to the natural environment then they will begin to demand more of it. Like Henderson, I am an optimistic. If we love what we do, it will become contagious.

If you can bear with the commercial, listen to this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TmyWJsr-3KQ

Have a great holiday break!