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Friday 22 October 2021

Garden added to Fiat's Lingotto building rooftop test track

Italian architect Benedetto Camerana and landscape designer Torino Stratosferica have created a rooftop garden called La Pista 500 with over 40,000 plants around an electric vehicle test track on the roof of the Fiat's iconic former car factory.

The public garden is located on top of the Lingotto building in Turin, a former Fiat manufacturing plant that was converted into a multi-use space by Italian architect Renzo Piano in 1994.

Garden on the Lingotto building — La Pista 500 is located on the rooftop of the modernist Lingotto building in Turin

The building, which functioned as Fiat's headquarters from 1923 and to the early 1980s, is topped with a test track and was featured in the 1969 film The Italian Job.

Camerana and Stratosferica's garden is located on the rooftop test track, which was previously used to assess all Fiat vehicles and is now being used to test Fiat's 500 Electric vehicle range.

La Pista 500 on Lingotto building has blue painted elements across the roof — The garden is comprised of 28 green islands spread across the test track

"Because of its memory, the idea of a test track has been preserved and transformed into a contemporary one, open only to electrical vehicles," Camerana told Dezeen.

"So the silent clean cars can drive gently in between the green islands, looking for a new harmony between mobility and nature. The E-track blends in the garden."

Large planter style islands house shrubs and trees — It is host to almost 40,000 indigenous plants

The garden was informed by Manhattan's High Line by James Corner Field Operations and Diller Scofidio + Renfro, as well as the Environment Park in Turin by Camerana, Emilio Ambas, Giovanni Durbiano and Luca Reinerio.

"The space is designed from the start to be public," Camerana told Dezeen.

"It's not just a contemplative garden, we designed it with public functions in the sport and relax areas with learning activities related to edible and colour-dyeing plants areas, to be organized with Pinacoteca Agnelli."

Arranged on the 27,000-square-metre rooftop, the garden was formed through a collection of 28 green "islands" that are dispersed around the test track.

The green islands cover 6,000 square metres and are host to over 300 indigenous species of plants totalling almost 40,000 shrubs, trees and herbaceous plants.

La Pista 500 has views across the city of Turin — The garden surrounds high-tech volumes which were added to the Lingotto building by Renzo Piano

"The 300 species and varieties are chosen with Il Giardino Segreto under my guideline of being truly indigenous species, rooted in Piemonte and northern Med areas, with no space for exotic plants at all," said Camerana.

"Just local biodiversity in a full-colour all-seasons palette. As an example, in front of Pinacoteca, we have two islands dedicated to a 'noccioleto', a hazelnuts field as you can easily find in the Langhe area," he continued.

"Some other peculiar plants are the Cotinus aka 'smoke-tree' which has a strong CO2 absorbing power or the large family of Graminacee species, long perennial and ornamental herbs. But the list can go on all day."

Perennials and grasses are housed in the planters on the Lingotto building's test track — The space can be used for social events, wellness activities and to see views of the distant Alps

Around the green islands, the building's industrial features – including large blue-painted pipes – extend above the perennials and indigenous shrubbery.

Blue strips, to zone different paths, were painted across the test track, tying the paths to the pipes and the large blue-hued dome that Piano added to the roofscape.

The building also houses an exhibition space that can be accessed from the rooftop garden.

Detail image of grasses and flowers on Lingotto building — Plants are set within slightly raised planters

Earlier in 2021, Twelve Architects unveiled plans for an elevated park in Manchester that will occupy a disused viaduct.

A high line-style structure in Camden is also planned by New York High Line designer, James Corner Field Operations and will stretch across a disused railway.

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Build: Architecture 2021 online event to explore frontiers of real-time 3D rendering

Zaha Hadid Architects' Twinmotion project

Dezeen promotion: Zaha Hadid Architects, BIG, HOK and Foster + Partners are among the architectural practices giving presentations at Build: Architecture 2021, an event exploring innovative uses of real-time rendering.

Build: Architecture 2021 is a two-hour showcase of projects that will launch on 2 November 2021, demonstrating how some of the world's leading architecture firms are using real-time technology to create and present their work.

The event is being put on by Epic Games, the creator of Twinmotion and Unreal Engine – the two most popular real-time rendering tools for architectural visualisation, according to the 2020 CGarchitect survey.

Initially built for video games, Unreal Engine has been increasingly adopted by architecture firms for 3D visualisation in recent years, with high-end features including real-time ray tracing, high-resolution textures and automatable optimisation.

Its follow-up, Twinmotion, has a more easy-to-use interface and faster workflow and has been favoured by BIG for some of the practice's large projects.

Mass rapid transit 3D model for Wellington by Buildmedia — The tools allow for the creation of digital twins, for modelling data in the virtual world. Photo by Buildmedia

These real-time technologies open the door to new kinds of architectural visualisation, because traditional 3D rendering has typically taken hours, days, or even weeks of processing time.

With real-time tools, creations such as interactive virtual-reality experiences are possible, because when the user wearing VR goggles turns their head in a new direction, the newly visible area of the 3D model can be rendered in milliseconds. This allows clients to visit buildings in virtual reality during the design phase.

Unreal Engine and Twinmotion also enable the creation of digital twins – virtual representations of real-world buildings and even entire cities.

In this fast-growing arena, data from sensors in the real world provides a way to analyse elements such as traffic flow, movement patterns and comfortable environments via the virtual model.

HOK architects' Twinmotion project — Architecture firm HOK is among the users of Twinmotion for real-time renderings. Photo by CENTRUS

Another use is product configurators, where, for instance, sofas are changed from red to blue at the click of a button. While this is usually done on a product level, Zaha Hadid Architects is one of the practices applying it on rooms and buildings too for real estate sales.

On the development side, these tools allow for collaborative real-time design.

In addition to ZHA, HOK, Foster + Partners and BIG, Build: Architecture 2021 will feature presentations from Pawel Rymsza, 3D Repo, Buildmedia, Cannondesign, Pureblink, Vectorworks and Vouse.

These will be followed by virtual "dev lounges" where the audience can ask questions of Epic Games' experts and the presenters.

Registration for Build: Architecture 2021 is via the Unreal Engine website.

Partnership content

This article was written by Dezeen for Build: Architecture as part of a partnership. Find out more about Dezeen partnership content here.

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Remi Connolly-Taylor creates her own glass brick-walled London home

Architect Remi Connolly-Taylor has designed Maryland House in London, which features a glass brick enclosed staircase, as her own home and studio.

Set at the end of a row of terraced houses in east London, the brick house was designed as a home that has a dedicated workspace for Connolly-Taylor, who is the founder of London studio Remi CT.

Modern brick house designed by Remi Connolly-Taylor — Maryland House was designed by Remi Connolly-Taylor

"When I returned from New York, I noticed the current housing market didn't reflect my needs," Connolly-Taylor told Dezeen. "I started Remi CT in 2017 and like most young professionals, needed a space to work and create from home."

"Maryland House's core concept was the desire to shine a light on other lifestyles in London as the traditional layout does not reflect the diversity of the city and functional homes are lacking for young professionals," she added.

Basement kitchen in London house — The kitchen is located in the basement

The home's functions are stacked vertically with two bedrooms located on the ground floor and an open-plan kitchen, dining and living space placed in the basement.

The entire top floor of the house is given over to a dedicated studio space that opens onto a small balcony with a glass brick balustrade.

Studio with glass brick balcony for Remi Connolly-Taylor — A studio space is at the top of the house

"The traditional hierarchy of the home was challenged during the development of the design," said Connolly-Taylor.

"Usually, traditional home layouts place emphasis on larger kitchens or family sitting rooms. We wanted to speak to the younger generation and young professionals through this design," she continued.

"We focused on creating a workspace that wasn't an afterthought. We wanted the space to be a destination within the home that one would want to work from."

Connolly-Taylor designed the home around a red, statement staircase that is wrapped in a glass-brick wall.

This allows natural light into the home and, along with a lightwell, helps to make the basement feel like a bright space.

"The glass blocks were a strategic design choice," said Connolly-Taylor. "The dwelling's mass was curated around how the natural light would enter the home."

"I wanted to create a naturally-lit staircase that acts as a spine to the house," she continued. "We needed to maintain natural light standards to the adjoining neighbours and within the home so the glass blocks were able to allow light to filter through while creating privacy."

Red metal staircase — The red metal staircase adds colour to the interiors

Overall Connolly-Taylor aimed to create a calm, pared-back series of spaces that are punctuated with "grand moments", like the staircase.

"Beauty in minimalism and creating grand moments on an 8.5 by nine-metre plot were also very important to this build," said Connolly-Taylor.

Golden kitchen — The golden kitchen also adds a moment of grandeur

"For instance, when standing in the living room you do not feel like you are standing in a traditional basement," she continued.

"Natural light floods down from the skylight, garden, and staircase creating an illusion you are above ground. Elements of grandeur are felt by the 3.1-metre ceiling heights in the basement, and the open staircase views to the first floor."

Other recent London houses featured on Dezeen include a row of "ghostly" terraces designed by Fraher & Findlay, a home by Satish Jassal Architects that peaks above a brick wall and a compact house on the site of a former garage.

Photography is by James Retief.

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Buildings could "definitely" be made exclusively from plant-based products says biomaterials CEO

Architects could soon be designing homes and other buildings using nothing but biomaterials, according to Biobased Creations CEO Lucas De Man.

De Man believes that natural products such as timber, hemp, straw and mycelium could completely replace polluting, non-renewable materials such as steel, plasterboard and cement.

Buildings "definitely could be" made exclusively from plant-based products plus natural mineral materials such as earth and lime, said De Man, whose company is behind an all-natural showhome built at this year's Dutch Design Week.

The project aims to prove that biomaterials can be used to build houses at scale and features 100 different plant-based or natural materials that are commercially available already or launching soon.

According to De Man, the same materials could be used to build large-scale buildings such as offices and schools.

"For bigger skyscrapers, I think you still need concrete for the foundations," he said after giving Dezeen a tour of the showhome, which is called The Exploded View Beyond Building. "But the concrete can be without cement, so the impact is way less."

"Practically it is already possible"

However, the construction industry will need a radical overhaul to achieve this, according to Pascal Leboucq head of design at Biobased Creations.

"Right now only three per cent of materials are bio-based, so there's a long way to go to get to 100 per cent," Leboucq said.

Pascal Leboucq head of design at Biobased Creations — Pascal Leboucq is head of design at Biobased Creations

But De Man predicts a radical shift towards plant-based and natural materials as people increasingly demand more sustainable buildings and legislation to reduce carbon emissions is introduced.

"Practically it is already possible [to build with biomaterials]" he said. "There will be more attacks on CO2. It will be impossible to keep on going the way we are going now."

"I think we have to embrace the fact that things are temporary"

De Man also believes that the construction industry will eventually embrace the principles of the circular economy.

"I think the biggest shift will be our concept of time," he said. "Now we want to build everything forever, for eternity. I think we have to embrace the fact that things are temporary."

Based in Amsterdam, Biobased Creations works with biodesigners to showcase natural materials at events and festivals.

The showhome at Dutch Design Week in Eindhoven also features materials made from algae, bacteria, jute, linen, food waste and sewage. The products used are listed on the projects' website.

In 2019 the studio produced The Growing Pavilion, a small temporary performance space at Dutch Design Week that was made of mycelium.

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UK net-zero strategy "totally lacking in ambition" say architects

Architects Climate Action Network Protest in article about UK net-zero strategy

The UK's strategy for achieving net-zero emissions by 2050 "does not go far enough" and ignores embodied carbon according to the RIBA and other industry groups.

More funding plus regulations to establish embodied carbon targets are needed, they say.

RIBA president Simon Allford said the proposals are "overshadowed by the lack of adequate funding and the absence of vital embodied carbon targets for new buildings."

The plans "fall far short of the action needed to realise the objective of net-zero" added James Rixon of Architects Climate Action Network (ACAN).

Michael Pawyln of climate action group Architects Declare added that "much more radical thinking" would be needed to avoid a climate catastrophe.

"The approach that the UK government is taking involves doing enough to persuade the population that they are taking the problem seriously while, in reality, not doing anywhere near enough to prevent collapse," Pawlyn told Dezeen.

"We need to rethink the fundamental purpose driving our economy, our relationship with the rest of the living world and the way we design, plan and operate our built environment."

Growing calls for embodied emission regulation

The government released its net-zero strategy on Monday ahead of the COP26 climate conference, which the UK is hosting next month.

The document outlines how the country aims to reach its goal of becoming net-zero by 2050 in line with Paris Agreement targets, at which point it hopes to no longer contribute any additional carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

Currently, the built environment accounts for roughly 40 per cent of the UK's carbon footprint, which is addressed in the government's new dedicated Heat and Buildings Strategy.

But architects have critiqued the UK's approach for focusing solely on operational emissions from electricity and heating while failing to set rules around the embodied carbon footprint derived from material sourcing and construction, which accounts for around half of a building's lifecycle emissions.

"After over a year of waiting, this strategy does not go far enough," said RIBA's Allford.

"Positive references to 'fabric first' and 'whole building' approaches are overshadowed by the lack of adequate funding and the absence of vital embodied carbon targets for new buildings."

"Moving ahead, we hope for tighter regulation, substantial and sustained funding and adaptation of tax mechanisms to encourage 'able to pay' homeowners to retrofit their homes," he added.

RIBA joins a growing number of industry voices that are calling for mandates around calculating and reducing the embodied carbon footprint of a building including architect Andrew Waugh and advocacy group Part Z.

Green heating strategy could leave "people living in cold homes"

The government's roadmap set out plans to cut down operational emissions by having the entire country run on renewable energy and banning the sale of gas boilers come 2035.

Instead, the goal is to install only low-carbon heating systems such as heat pumps from that point, which absorb the warmth stored in the ground or air around a building rather than relying on natural gas but which are generally more expensive.

To make the technology affordable, the government will be giving 90,000 households across the country a £5,000 grant over the next three years, in the hope that this will increase demand and ultimately drive down the price for the wider population through economies of scale.

However, the UK's independent Climate Change Committee has forecast that around five times as many heat pumps would need to be installed by 2025 to hit emissions targets.

"Bolting on a new heat pump or hydrogen boiler will not resolve the issues of heat and thermal inefficiency that are present in our existing housing stock," argued Rixon of ACAN.

"While heat pumps use less energy to provide the same amount of heat as gas boilers, electricity currently costs about three times more than gas," he continued.

"Without significant improvements in energy efficiency, householders with newly installed heat pumps will face significantly higher bills for heating, increasing rather than reducing the risk of unaffordable energy prices, leaving people living in cold homes."

While the net-zero strategy sets out aims for all UK households to reach a medium energy efficiency rating in the
next 14 years, Rixon argues that the policy offers little financial support for achieving these improvements.

"The government's target of achieving an energy performance rating of EPC C by 2035, caveated 'cost-effective, practical and affordable', is totally lacking in ambition," he said.

"It is providing some additional funding for improving the energy efficiency of social housing and low-income households but no support for homeowners. The government should introduce fiscal changes, including reducing VAT on home improvements, to incentivise investment in upgrading homes."

Regenerative approach needed to restore nature

Pawlyn from Architects Declare added that more systems-level changes are required to avoid runaway climate change, as we need to fundamentally need to redesign buildings to regenerate the natural environment rather than simply reducing the amount of harm they do.

"We need change at a systemic level if we are to rise to the challenges of the planetary emergency," he said. "We need to urgently shift from a sustainable mindset to a regenerative one and that requires much bolder thinking than is currently evident."

Currently, the government considers efforts to restore the UK's natural ecosystems as separate from its built environment strategy, with £625 million designated for planting trees and restoring peatlands so they can serve as natural carbon sinks.

The roadmap also sets out aims to engage 75 per cent of UK farmers in regenerative farming practices come 2030 to cut down emissions from agriculture and help lock away atmospheric carbon in soil.

At the same time, a billion-pound carbon capture and storage infrastructure fund will be established with the aim to pull 20 to 30 million tonnes of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere every year by 2030.

Globally, an estimated 10 billion tonnes of CO2 would need to be removed from the atmosphere annually by 2050 through technologies such as direct air capture and mineral carbonation to stabilise global warming as close to the crucial 1.5-degree threshold as possible.

Main image is of ACAN members at the Global Climate Strike in 2019. Photography by Joe Giddings.

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