Architects to design expo 'invisible' green buildings

The two architects who built Taiwan's first green certified library in the suburban Taipei City district of Beitou have now been contracted by the city government to design three pavilions at the planned flower show, and their aspirations for the new buildings go far behind their goals for the library.

While the Beitou Library was simply designed to “breath,” Kuo Ying-chao and Chang Ching-hwa of Taipei-based Bioarch Formorsana architects hope the expo pavilions in Xinsheng Park will mesh seamlessly with the environment and imitate nature.

“The buildings will be landmarks that will not be for people to see but for people to feel,” say the two, whose vision of sustainable architecture is to eschew the traditional pursuit of visually striking landmarks like the Eiffel Tower or Sydney Opera House.

“We try to build structures that are as invisible as possible and leave a minimal footprint on the land,” Kuo says.

The buildings designed by the architects — the Pavilion of Dreams, Pavilion of Life, and Pavilion of the Future — are among six new buildings the city is constructing for its first-ever international horticulture exposition recognized by the International Association of Horticultural Producers — but the only three that will carry the “green label” at the flower show.

Unobtrusive from ground level, the halls are oddly configured, both to conform to their natural surroundings and for symbolic reasons.

Kuo and Chang wanted to avoid uprooting native species of trees on the site and thus designed the buildings around the natural growth that was already there and shaped them like butterflies at different stages of life because they are the creatures closest to flowers — the theme of the show.

As a result, the Pavilion of Dreams has been shaped like a butterfly pupa and the combined Pavilion of Life and Pavilion of the Future is shaped like a swallowtail butterfly's wings. Aside from the buildings' symbolism, Kuo and Chang also stressed that they be “sustainable, environmentally friendly, and energy efficient” because they will remain on the site after the expo ends in April 2011 to serve as galleries or exhibition centers.

And that means going green. Although it complicated the design of the project and put added pressure on an already tight construction schedule, Kuo and Chang applied for the buildings to be diamond certified under Taiwan's unique EEWH Green Building Assessment System.

Thanks to their determination, the pavilions, scheduled to be completed in March 2010, were approved as candidates for the country's highest honor in green buildings, but they will have to be inspected after completion to be formally given the diamond certificate.

Taiwan became the fourth country in the world to institute a green building assessment system when, in 1999, it launched the EEWH standard, which stands for ecology, energy saving, waste reduction and health.

Buildings are graded on nine indicators within those four categories: foliage; water soil content (infiltration and retention); energy savings (for the building envelope, lighting and HVAC — heating, ventilating, and air conditioning); carbon dioxide emissions reduction; construction waste reduction; water conservation; garbage and sewage improvements; biodiversity; and indoor environmental quality.

Their scores determine which of the five levels of certification — diamond, gold, silver, bronze and certified — the building earns.

1|2|Next Page>>

SharePrintEmail

Write a Comment

Terms

Enter your comments - 3000 characters max

Type in image code

Submit

 Receive China Post promos
 Respond to this email