Living in voluntary moderation
It isn’t just about consideration for the environment, but also saving space for living or in urban planning, budgeting and operational costs. “A notable feature of many projects is that their users or participants learn to live in voluntary moderation. It’s as if architecture could determine the direction in the fumbling economic climate of Western Europe or the USA while also being a starting point for many developing economies,” explains Dan Merta, co-organiser of the whole Green Architecture II project, following on from a highly successful exhibition which opened four years ago in the reconstructed premises of the Jaroslav Fragner Gallery.
Three exhibitions in the National Technical Library (NTL) Gallery in Prague-Dejvice are persuasive proof that a considerate approach, which doesn’t rule out comfort, is now fully established in all styles and forms of architecture. Ecological principles can be found in a new bus garage in Vienna, they are the boast of countless houses and public buildings from the Alps to the Finnish countryside, the façade of Sao Paulo Museum of Art, community centres in sub-Saharan Africa, or in many masterplans and ground plans all around the world.
Three approaches, the same aim
Visitors to NTL can compare three different approaches to Green Architecture: the exhibition Form & Energy shows 70 exemplary considerate constructions in Austria; the section Wooden Boxes uses an imaginative method to confront the approach of Finnish and Austrian architects to weekend houses: the greater exhibition space presents the most successful concepts in sustainable approaches in architecture, which were successful in the international competition Zumtobel Group Award 2010.
Architecture comes up in discussion
“The Green Architecture II Project will continue throughout the year. At the end of spring we will give more space to Michael Reynolds, known under the nickname of the Junk Architect, while in autumn we will present Czech examples of sustainable architecture. Throughout the whole year the programme will include many talks and “round table” events, e.g. on 15th February architect Peter Riepl will answer questions along with Adolph Stiller, curator of the Form & Energy exhibition,” says Dan Merta.
Further information at www.gjf.cz or www.techlib.cz.
About exhibition
The most extensive of the three exhibitions is Form & Energy - a compilation of exemplary projects in considerate architecture carried out since 1990 in Austria. It comprises of 72 projects divided into seven categories and following main thematic lines: e.g. Basic Energy focuses on the use of biomass or hydro-electric plants in industrial operation, Transport Energy introduces sustainable projects in the field of highway construction, while Ecological Construction accentuates one of the major directions in Austrian architecture – visually and technically perfect use of wood and wooden elements as well as straw, glass fibre concrete and of course numerous other renewable materials.
The Austrian connection can also be found in another exhibition, Wooden Boxes, which presents the modern architecture of wooden buildings from Finland and Austria. Although both groups of architects meet in the same discipline (weekend or summer residence), the results are very different: whereas the Finnish designers, in the spirit of good Scandinavian tradition, stick to simplicity and perfect integration with nature, often without the need for electrical energy or hot water, Austrian projects develop fabulous wooden buildings providing perfect technological comfort and convenience.
The third part of the Green Architecture II project presents the results of the internationally followed competition Zumtobel Group Award 2010, a biennial event whose aim is to seek out and appraise constructions and projects which bring advances in sustainable architecture. In two categories, “Built Environment” and “Research and Initiative”, tribute is paid to the designers of architectonic, engineering and urban developments and the creators of ideas and proposals; the work of NGOs and university students is not overlooked. As well as the winning projects, the exhibition also presents other highly interesting projects, such as the spectacular California Academy of Sciences by Renzo Piano.
