Skyline Comparison

This post is going to be a bit image-heavy. I have found many interesting photos of skylines from around the world which I would like to share with you. But the post is not only about some nice pictures. It is also about facades and the status of climate adaption in modern architecture.

Toronto: humid continental climate Dfa/ Dfb (1)

Chicago: humid continental climate Dfa (2)

Similar or unique?

You may have noticed that I have arranged the photos according to the climate zone the depicted cities belong to, from rather cold (Toronto) to hot climates (Singapore). The climate descriptions and the associated letter symbols in the captions are based on the Koeppen Climate Classification, one of the most widely used climate classification systems.

I have tried to make the photos look as similar as possible: I have only used pictures taken at daytime and at nice weather conditions, showing only skylines with a waterfront. I retouched and cropped the pictures to give the them a similar scale.

Critical viewers may find some of the depicted city centres replaceable. However, the photos still don't look exactly the same. You can probably identify at least some of the cities just by looking at the photos. Each of these cities have their landmark buildings, some of which have become iconic images inseparably connected to their cities.

In addition, shape, size, colour and materials of the buildings indicate the time of their creation or give hints about the predominant design preferences of the place. Often, the shape of the building or the layout of the facades reveal its function and use (real estate, office, look-out or television tower, etc.).

New York: humid subtropical climate Cfa (3)

Shanghai: humid subtropical climate Cfa (4)

Climate Adaption

But what about climate adaption? Can you also identify the climate zone the city belongs to just by looking at the buildings? Does the amount and size of the windows provide an indication of the climate? Or the ratio of opaque and transparent building skins? Are different facade materials used in the different climate zones? Or can you distinguish more sun-shading devices on the buildings in hot climates? Can you, for that matter, identify any visible measures of climate adaption in these photos?

I'm afraid that the answer to most of these questions is 'no'. Climate adaption seems to be a widely neglected subject in modern architecture (9).

Hong Kong: humid subtropical climate Cwa (5)

Dubai: hot desert climate BWh (6)

 Respiration exacte

Le Corbusier's words of the "respiration exacte" aptly describe these circumstances. In a lecture held in Buenos Aires in 1929 he proposed "...one house for all countries, the house of exact breathing" instead of houses built "...in response to climate" (10).

Le Corbusier's words were guided by a strong belief in technological progress, but they have since then proved to be very true. The achievements of modern technology - in this case of modern HVAC systems - seem to have eliminated the need for a facade design that takes the climate into account.

All around the world, modern buildings are constructed by using almost identical "construction sets". Once the building is completed and in use, energy-intensive building services must compensate the shortcomings of the design. Only recently, as negative impacts of rising energy consumption have become more and more obvious, such concepts are put into question.

Abu Dhabi: hot desert climate BWh (7)

Singapore: tropical rainforest climate Af (8)

It is interesting that Le Corbusier has run a completely different path in his later works. The facades of his buildings in India designed in the 1960s have many features responsive to the local climatic conditions. Many of these strategies can also be found in the traditional architecture of these climate zones (see also this post).

All in all, it seems that traditional buildings often provide more sophisticated climate-responsive design strategies than modern buildings. I plan to deal with these traditional strategies in more detail in one of my next posts.

References

(1) "From Hanlan's Point" by BriYYZ , CC-BY-SA-2.0 (altered: retouched, cropped)
(2) "Loop skyline from the lakefront, Chicago, IL, USA" by J. Crocker , license details
(3) "NYC Mini Cruise 2014" by Liz Novak , CC-BY-2.0 (altered: retouched, cropped)
(4) "Shanghai on the Bund The Pudong skyline" by Matt_Weibo, CC-BY-SA-2.0 (altered: retouched, cropped)
(5) "Hong Kong Skyline" by Daniele Cardone, CC-BY-2.0 (altered: retouched, cropped)
(6) "dubai-600870" von dbenthien, CC0-1.0 (altered: retouched, cropped)
(7) "Near Heritage Village @ Abu Dhabi" by Guilhem Vellut, CC-BY-2.0 (altered: retouched, cropped)
(8) "Singapore skyline" by Bryan Allison, CC-BY-SA-2.0 (altered: retouched, cropped)
(9) cf. Harmann, Ralph E. Urban Space, Building Orientation and Design, p. 202 et sqq., in: Hindrichs, Dirk U., Daniels, Klaus (ed.), Plusminus 20/ 40 Latitude. Sustainable Building Design in Tropical and Subtropical Regions,  Stuttgart et al. 2007
(10) Le Corbusier. Precisions sur un état présent de l'architectureet de l'urbanisme, Paris 1960, p. 64, quoted from: William W. Braham, Daniel Willis. Architecture and Energy: Performance and Style, London 2013, p. 136

I'm looking for modern examples of climate-responsive building skin design. If you know one, please write me!

Building geometry and sun-shading

When it comes to reducing solar energy input into buildings, external sun shading systems are one of the most efficient measures. In most cases, fixed or operable shading devices are placed in front of the glazed areas. A clever alternative is the use of the building geometry itself for sun-shading. Here are some examples.

Niterói Contemporary Art Museum, Brazil

Brazilian archiect Oscar Niemeyer (1907 - 2012) can be regarded as a true virtuoso of building envelope design. During his career which lasted for more than 70 years he explored all varieties of facades and sun shading systems especially for hot climates. The Niterói Contemporary Art Museum is one of his more recent projects. It was completed in 1996.

The Niterói Contemporary Art Museum sits like a landed UFO on a cliffside at Guanabara Bay, Brazil (2)

The sloping glazed facades reduce the solar radiation input drastically. The solar transmission is further reduced by the use of dark-tinted absorption glass. In addition, the sloping facades face towards the sea and offer a nice panoramic view of the sea shore below the museum.

The roof is exposed to most of the solar radiation. Its white colour reduces the heating of the roof surface by increasing the transmission and at the same time reducing the absorption of the solar radiation. The mechanical area below the roof serves as a buffer zone between the outside and the main floor of the museum.

Hanoi Museum, Vietnam

The Hanoi Museum combines several sun-shading strategies (3)

This building is located in the Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam. It was designed by German architects GMP and completed in 2010. The cantilevering floors serve as shading devices for the floors below. The top floor has protruding horizontal aluminium louvres. In addition, all glazed areas are covered with perforated elements who resemble the traditional Arabian Mashrabiyas (see also this post).

 

Two examples from the seventies

The Tempe Municipal Building has the shape of an inverted pyramid (4)

The City Hall of Tempe, Arizona dates back from 1971 and was designed by architects Michael Goodwin and Kemper Goodwin. The basic design of an inverted pyramid is quite obvious in this case.

Like all examples shown in this post, the roof is exposed to the bigger part of the solar radiation. The sloping facades are protected from the midday sun by the protruding building top. In addition, the inclination of the facade reduces the sunlight transmission through the glazing.

The Dallas City Hall was designed by I. M. Pei and completed in 1978. The concepts of stepped and non-stepped inverted pyramids are combined in this building.

Dallas City Hall by I. M. Pei (5)

Buildings shaped like an inverted pyramid seem to have been quite popular in the seventies because of their strong formal expression. In these two cases - both located in the south of the U.S. - their shape has without doubt a positive impact on the energy consumption of the air conditioning, too.

Update (2015-04-08)

My colleague from the old days (thanks, Mihail!) has pointed me to two other examples that match well with those shown here.

Slovak radio building in Bratislava (6)

The Slovak Radio Building was designed by architects Štefan Svetko, Štefan Ďurkovič and Barnabáš Kissling and completed in 1983 (the project started already in 1967). The British "Telegraph" has included the building in its list of the 30 ugliest buildings in the world (7). Together with buildings by Frank Gehry and MVRDV, which also appear in this list, the Slovak Radio is not even in bad company...

St. Petersburg Pier, Florida/ USA (8)

Another example of an inverted pyramid is the St. Petersburg Pier in Florida, USA. Although you can't really tell by looking at the building, it was completed more than 40 yeaers ago, in 1973 (architect: William B. Harvard, Sr.). Unfortunately, there seem to be plans to demolish the "Pier" and replace it with a new building (9).

References

(1) "Niterói Contemporary Art Museum" by Rosino, CC-BY-SA-2.0 (altered: reference number added)
(2) "Niterói Contemporary Art Museum" by Rosino, CC-BY-SA-2.0
(3) "Hanoi Museum, Hanoi, Vietnam" by Daaé, public domain
(4) "The Tempe Municipal Building in Tempe, Arizona" by Visitor7, CC BY-SA 3.0
(5) "Side view of City Hall" by Daniel Lobo, CC BY 2.0
(6) "Slovak Radio" by Dushan Hanuska, CC BY 2.0 (altered: cropped)
(7) cf. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/property/pictures/9126031/The-worlds-30-ugliest-buildings.html?frame=2875010
(8) "st-petersburg-pier-1024x768-2653" by Texx Smith, CC BY 2.0
(9) cf. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Petersburg_Pier


Do you know other examples of building geometry and sun-shading combined? Leave a comment!