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The water ‘in’ and ‘around’ the building: the integration between bioclimatic, water-saving, and aesthetic aspects
Renewable Energy 19 (2000) 1±5 www.elsevier.com/locate/renene
The water `in' and `around' the building: the integration between bioclimatic, water-saving, and aesthetic aspects G. Peretti*, F. La Rocca Dipartimento di Scienze e Tecniche per i Processi di Insediamento, V. le Mattioli 39, 10125, Torino, Italy
Abstract By means of the experiences and the researches recently developed that show an integrated approach to the problem, it is possible to draw a series of indications for an ecological management of the urban water cycle. However, it is crucial to remember that the task of the architect is also to experiment an integration between eco-technologies for the re-naturalisation of the cycle of water and the image of the building. It is possible, actually, to use technologies related to water, tailored to the local conditions, for a result that integrates functionality, aesthetics, environment sustainability and thermal comfort. # 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved. Keywords: Eco-technology; Hydrologic cycle; Water
The history of the European city is strictly related to the relationship between water in all its forms and the control over this primary resource by each society. In the medieval European city the water is the topographic, economic and social basis of the territory. The use of the dynamics of water is intensive and craftwork technologies are localized on river banks as they require running water. The most interesting aspect is the complement of trades revealed by craftwork topography; it develops as if the organization of work was born not by chance, but through a tacit agreement which coordinates the position of each craftsman around water. * Corresponding author. Tel.: +39-11-5644377; fax: +39-11-5644374. 0960-1481/00/$ - see front matter # 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved. PII: S 0 9 6 0 - 1 4 8 1 ( 9 9 ) 0 0 0 1 0 - 5
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G. Peretti, F. La Rocca / Renewable Energy 19 (2000) 1±5
The `Antico Regime' city (the city between the Middle Ages and the modern era) is isolated behind its thick bulwarks of land and water: the moat surrounding the walls gets larger, thus slowing down the kinetics of rivers and also causing the local stagnation of water. The society abandons craftwork activities based on running waters in favour of others based on stagnant waters. The Antico Regime city is a very polluted one, but the slow current caused by the enlargement of the moat favours anaerobic puri®cation: the city experiences what it means to live in a closed and limited system together with waste and the recycling of them [1]. The modern city puri®es itself by simply discarding its industrial and civil waste elsewhere, on an eco-system which is believed to be able to selfregenerate. The river that cuts through the city is thus only a vehicle which carries away all the rejects, and which may eventually run underground. In this way the water progressively disappears from the image of the city, losing its meaning as an aesthetic and a symbolic element. The positivistic need to make water `work for us' has led to an ever increasing regimentation of this element, until now, when one is seeking new strategies for re-naturalisation of the urban water cycle. Currently it is possible to detect a series of well known disproportions and alterations, which can be classi®ed as: pollution of underground water beds; problems of hydro-geological disorder; pollution of river and sea waters; problems of drought and scarcity; and heavy damage due to rivers ¯ooding. From a global point of view these inter-connected problems may have an answer only if dealt with by coordinating all the dierent specialities and competencies. We have, therefore, to develop liveability technologies, reintegrating arti®cial and natural processes. But the ecological problem of the renaturalisation of the water cycle does not involve only quantity and service aspects. The mistake of the Enlightenment engineering culture, which sought a unifying model for the management of water supplies, has led to the modern phase of water burying and underground canalization. So, in contemporary urban environments this element comes forth under extremely fragmented and reduced forms, becoming almost a hidden element. It is unlikely that one single system can solve all future problems related to the water. Eco-technologies tailored to the dierent cultures and local conditions must be used to have an impact on the crisis of water resources. The versatility of water and the numerous possibilities it oers at project level, on the other hand, make the problem of the water cycle a proper instrument to experiment and carry out the idea of the ecology of the project in a global view. Technologies for re-equilibration and re-naturalisation of the water cycle have greatly developed in the last years, but their diusion, both at building scale and at city scale, has to be increased. The problem of water resources will have a prominent role in drawing up future city-planning projects. In Italy, for instance, the Preliminary Project of the Master Plan of Reggio Emilia pays great attention to the problem of reduction of city areas which are not permeable by water. Strategies which can be adopted at city level include the following:
G. Peretti, F. La Rocca / Renewable Energy 19 (2000) 1±5
. . . . . . . . . . .
3
Facade and roof greening Wetland and forest creation Surface de-sealing and rain water permeability Safeguarding of the ground water supplies Decentralised treatment plants Systems with source separation Reduction of subterranean piping Re-opening streams Reduction in drinking water use Re-use and multiple use of waters Installation of water-saving equipment
There have been several experiments and realizations of a combination of ecotechnologies for water, at building, block or district level. The Waldquelle ecological settlement project for 450 inhabitants in Bielefeld, Germany, for instance, is currently one of the most advanced projects in terms of the implementation of a decentralised water cycle in Europe. None of the technologies used are new, but the extent to which they have been employed and combined is unprecedented and oers an eective ecological and economical option for further development [2]. However, the most interesting goal consists in reaching an integration between these technologies and the architectonic appearance of the building. It is desirable that technology should move toward an integration between eco-technologies for the re-naturalisation of the water cycle and the image of the building. It is here that the peculiarity of the role of the architect lies, as opposed to that of the technician or the sanitary engineer. This integration between the image of the building and water technologies may be found in some works in which water has a bioclimatic function, as in British Pavilion projected by Nicholas Grimshaw for the Seville Expo '92 and Prospecta '92 projected by Shoei Yoh for the Japan Exposition of Toyama. However, it is very dicult to ®nd a building that shows a real integration between bioclimatic, water-saving, and aesthetic aspects. It is not dicult to indicate works of contemporary architecture in which water is a highly remarkable aesthetic element, both when introduced into the building or ¯owing around it, thus contributing to establish a signi®cant relationship between architecture and environment. In this regard, we can refer to three works, the Querini Stampalia Foundation by Carlo Scarpa, The Water Temple by Tadao Ando and the Salk Institute by Louis Kahn. In the project of renovation of the Querini Stampalia in Venice, Scarpa, instead of protecting the building from high tide which besieges it, by sealing the building to the water, makes it permeable by the ¯ow, so that water can easily go in and out of it. The stairs placed in the watergate are a great celebration of the ritual of arrival by water and the original formal entrance of the building, also acting as an informal water-level check. The drain visible in the centre of the ¯oor in the room near the entrance central space emphasized the vulnerability of the room to inundation. Another element visible on the
4
G. Peretti, F. La Rocca / Renewable Energy 19 (2000) 1±5
front facade are two steel gargoyles high up on the gutter which throw rainwater directly into the centre of the canal [3]. This project, besides its undeniable aesthetic value, constitutes an important lesson of strategy, which is valid also at territorial level. `Hard' techniques of regimenting rivers through bank cementation, for instance, have revealed their intrinsic inadequacy in comparison with bio-engineering techniques which are more respectful of the natural tendency of water to over¯ow. In the Water Temple, Ando chooses to substitute the massive roof of the Japanese Buddhist templeÐits most visually symbolic elementÐby water and living lotus plants. The oval manmade pondÐ40 m long and 30 m wideÐis placed on a blu, and the temple hall underground beneath it. People have access to the temple through the stairs contained in a long narrow opening on the surface of the stretch of water. In addition to its aesthetic value and its function of thermal storage, we can easily imagine the functional potential of this arti®cial pool, for instance, as a basin for rain-waters that are subsequently destined for irrigation. In the Salk Institute a water line, which begins at the entrance of the courtyard and ¯ows through its whole length, culminates in a fountain on the west boundaryÐa symbol of the closeness of the Paci®c Ocean. The thin water canal is a discreet presence, but remarkable from an aesthetic point of view. This formal use of water integrates the complexity and the ¯exibility of the services system of the Salk Institute with its aesthetic function. There are, in fact, additional systems, necessary to a research laboratory, such as a 2000 gall/day reverse osmosis system that provides high-quality distilled water to each laboratory sink. Steam is also needed for sterilization purposes. It is produced via two steam generators from energy available in the high temperature hot water loop. After it is used for sterilization, the steam condenses, and is pumped back to the central plant, where it is either recycled into the steam generators once again, or dumped into drains, depending on its water quality. The thin water rill may symbolically represent the state of the remaining water, slowly ¯owing at the end of the complex thermodynamic cycles to which it has been subjected. Khan quoted in reference to our cities, looking into the urban underground, like a spider's web of pipelines: `I do not like ducts; I do not like pipes. I hate them really thoroughly, but because I hate them so thoroughly, I feel they have to be given their place. If I just hated them and took no care, I think they would invade the building and completely destroy it' [4]. The planner who intends to employ technologies which respect the natural cycle of water has therefore to study their integration with the building image to avoid a gap between the technological level achieved and the result in terms of architectonic and environmental global quality. On the other hand, as much of the city-planning of years to come will concern city renewal rather than ex novo building, application strategies are needed which are suitable for speci®c cultural, climatic and social situations of cities, and suciently ¯exible technologies have to be developed in order to ®t the dierent features of constructions.
G. Peretti, F. La Rocca / Renewable Energy 19 (2000) 1±5
5
References [1] Guillerme A. Les temps de l'eau. La citeÂ, l'eau et les techniques. Seyssel: Champ Vallon, 1983. [2] AA VV. Water-saving strategies in urban renewalÐEuropean approaches. Berlin: Dietrich Reimer Verlag, 1997. [3] Murphy R. Querini Stampalia Foundation. London: Phaidon Press, 1993. [4] Steel J. Salk Institute. Louis Khan. London: Phaidon Press, 1993.
The water `in' and `around' the building: the integration between bioclimatic, water-saving, and aesthetic aspects G. Peretti*, F. La Rocca Dipartimento di Scienze e Tecniche per i Processi di Insediamento, V. le Mattioli 39, 10125, Torino, Italy
Abstract By means of the experiences and the researches recently developed that show an integrated approach to the problem, it is possible to draw a series of indications for an ecological management of the urban water cycle. However, it is crucial to remember that the task of the architect is also to experiment an integration between eco-technologies for the re-naturalisation of the cycle of water and the image of the building. It is possible, actually, to use technologies related to water, tailored to the local conditions, for a result that integrates functionality, aesthetics, environment sustainability and thermal comfort. # 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved. Keywords: Eco-technology; Hydrologic cycle; Water
The history of the European city is strictly related to the relationship between water in all its forms and the control over this primary resource by each society. In the medieval European city the water is the topographic, economic and social basis of the territory. The use of the dynamics of water is intensive and craftwork technologies are localized on river banks as they require running water. The most interesting aspect is the complement of trades revealed by craftwork topography; it develops as if the organization of work was born not by chance, but through a tacit agreement which coordinates the position of each craftsman around water. * Corresponding author. Tel.: +39-11-5644377; fax: +39-11-5644374. 0960-1481/00/$ - see front matter # 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved. PII: S 0 9 6 0 - 1 4 8 1 ( 9 9 ) 0 0 0 1 0 - 5
2
G. Peretti, F. La Rocca / Renewable Energy 19 (2000) 1±5
The `Antico Regime' city (the city between the Middle Ages and the modern era) is isolated behind its thick bulwarks of land and water: the moat surrounding the walls gets larger, thus slowing down the kinetics of rivers and also causing the local stagnation of water. The society abandons craftwork activities based on running waters in favour of others based on stagnant waters. The Antico Regime city is a very polluted one, but the slow current caused by the enlargement of the moat favours anaerobic puri®cation: the city experiences what it means to live in a closed and limited system together with waste and the recycling of them [1]. The modern city puri®es itself by simply discarding its industrial and civil waste elsewhere, on an eco-system which is believed to be able to selfregenerate. The river that cuts through the city is thus only a vehicle which carries away all the rejects, and which may eventually run underground. In this way the water progressively disappears from the image of the city, losing its meaning as an aesthetic and a symbolic element. The positivistic need to make water `work for us' has led to an ever increasing regimentation of this element, until now, when one is seeking new strategies for re-naturalisation of the urban water cycle. Currently it is possible to detect a series of well known disproportions and alterations, which can be classi®ed as: pollution of underground water beds; problems of hydro-geological disorder; pollution of river and sea waters; problems of drought and scarcity; and heavy damage due to rivers ¯ooding. From a global point of view these inter-connected problems may have an answer only if dealt with by coordinating all the dierent specialities and competencies. We have, therefore, to develop liveability technologies, reintegrating arti®cial and natural processes. But the ecological problem of the renaturalisation of the water cycle does not involve only quantity and service aspects. The mistake of the Enlightenment engineering culture, which sought a unifying model for the management of water supplies, has led to the modern phase of water burying and underground canalization. So, in contemporary urban environments this element comes forth under extremely fragmented and reduced forms, becoming almost a hidden element. It is unlikely that one single system can solve all future problems related to the water. Eco-technologies tailored to the dierent cultures and local conditions must be used to have an impact on the crisis of water resources. The versatility of water and the numerous possibilities it oers at project level, on the other hand, make the problem of the water cycle a proper instrument to experiment and carry out the idea of the ecology of the project in a global view. Technologies for re-equilibration and re-naturalisation of the water cycle have greatly developed in the last years, but their diusion, both at building scale and at city scale, has to be increased. The problem of water resources will have a prominent role in drawing up future city-planning projects. In Italy, for instance, the Preliminary Project of the Master Plan of Reggio Emilia pays great attention to the problem of reduction of city areas which are not permeable by water. Strategies which can be adopted at city level include the following:
G. Peretti, F. La Rocca / Renewable Energy 19 (2000) 1±5
. . . . . . . . . . .
3
Facade and roof greening Wetland and forest creation Surface de-sealing and rain water permeability Safeguarding of the ground water supplies Decentralised treatment plants Systems with source separation Reduction of subterranean piping Re-opening streams Reduction in drinking water use Re-use and multiple use of waters Installation of water-saving equipment
There have been several experiments and realizations of a combination of ecotechnologies for water, at building, block or district level. The Waldquelle ecological settlement project for 450 inhabitants in Bielefeld, Germany, for instance, is currently one of the most advanced projects in terms of the implementation of a decentralised water cycle in Europe. None of the technologies used are new, but the extent to which they have been employed and combined is unprecedented and oers an eective ecological and economical option for further development [2]. However, the most interesting goal consists in reaching an integration between these technologies and the architectonic appearance of the building. It is desirable that technology should move toward an integration between eco-technologies for the re-naturalisation of the water cycle and the image of the building. It is here that the peculiarity of the role of the architect lies, as opposed to that of the technician or the sanitary engineer. This integration between the image of the building and water technologies may be found in some works in which water has a bioclimatic function, as in British Pavilion projected by Nicholas Grimshaw for the Seville Expo '92 and Prospecta '92 projected by Shoei Yoh for the Japan Exposition of Toyama. However, it is very dicult to ®nd a building that shows a real integration between bioclimatic, water-saving, and aesthetic aspects. It is not dicult to indicate works of contemporary architecture in which water is a highly remarkable aesthetic element, both when introduced into the building or ¯owing around it, thus contributing to establish a signi®cant relationship between architecture and environment. In this regard, we can refer to three works, the Querini Stampalia Foundation by Carlo Scarpa, The Water Temple by Tadao Ando and the Salk Institute by Louis Kahn. In the project of renovation of the Querini Stampalia in Venice, Scarpa, instead of protecting the building from high tide which besieges it, by sealing the building to the water, makes it permeable by the ¯ow, so that water can easily go in and out of it. The stairs placed in the watergate are a great celebration of the ritual of arrival by water and the original formal entrance of the building, also acting as an informal water-level check. The drain visible in the centre of the ¯oor in the room near the entrance central space emphasized the vulnerability of the room to inundation. Another element visible on the
4
G. Peretti, F. La Rocca / Renewable Energy 19 (2000) 1±5
front facade are two steel gargoyles high up on the gutter which throw rainwater directly into the centre of the canal [3]. This project, besides its undeniable aesthetic value, constitutes an important lesson of strategy, which is valid also at territorial level. `Hard' techniques of regimenting rivers through bank cementation, for instance, have revealed their intrinsic inadequacy in comparison with bio-engineering techniques which are more respectful of the natural tendency of water to over¯ow. In the Water Temple, Ando chooses to substitute the massive roof of the Japanese Buddhist templeÐits most visually symbolic elementÐby water and living lotus plants. The oval manmade pondÐ40 m long and 30 m wideÐis placed on a blu, and the temple hall underground beneath it. People have access to the temple through the stairs contained in a long narrow opening on the surface of the stretch of water. In addition to its aesthetic value and its function of thermal storage, we can easily imagine the functional potential of this arti®cial pool, for instance, as a basin for rain-waters that are subsequently destined for irrigation. In the Salk Institute a water line, which begins at the entrance of the courtyard and ¯ows through its whole length, culminates in a fountain on the west boundaryÐa symbol of the closeness of the Paci®c Ocean. The thin water canal is a discreet presence, but remarkable from an aesthetic point of view. This formal use of water integrates the complexity and the ¯exibility of the services system of the Salk Institute with its aesthetic function. There are, in fact, additional systems, necessary to a research laboratory, such as a 2000 gall/day reverse osmosis system that provides high-quality distilled water to each laboratory sink. Steam is also needed for sterilization purposes. It is produced via two steam generators from energy available in the high temperature hot water loop. After it is used for sterilization, the steam condenses, and is pumped back to the central plant, where it is either recycled into the steam generators once again, or dumped into drains, depending on its water quality. The thin water rill may symbolically represent the state of the remaining water, slowly ¯owing at the end of the complex thermodynamic cycles to which it has been subjected. Khan quoted in reference to our cities, looking into the urban underground, like a spider's web of pipelines: `I do not like ducts; I do not like pipes. I hate them really thoroughly, but because I hate them so thoroughly, I feel they have to be given their place. If I just hated them and took no care, I think they would invade the building and completely destroy it' [4]. The planner who intends to employ technologies which respect the natural cycle of water has therefore to study their integration with the building image to avoid a gap between the technological level achieved and the result in terms of architectonic and environmental global quality. On the other hand, as much of the city-planning of years to come will concern city renewal rather than ex novo building, application strategies are needed which are suitable for speci®c cultural, climatic and social situations of cities, and suciently ¯exible technologies have to be developed in order to ®t the dierent features of constructions.
G. Peretti, F. La Rocca / Renewable Energy 19 (2000) 1±5
5
References [1] Guillerme A. Les temps de l'eau. La citeÂ, l'eau et les techniques. Seyssel: Champ Vallon, 1983. [2] AA VV. Water-saving strategies in urban renewalÐEuropean approaches. Berlin: Dietrich Reimer Verlag, 1997. [3] Murphy R. Querini Stampalia Foundation. London: Phaidon Press, 1993. [4] Steel J. Salk Institute. Louis Khan. London: Phaidon Press, 1993.