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21st Century Ideal Buildings
Design Sustainable Architecture with the contribution of Art
A research proposal submitted to the Urban Studies and Planning Program
University of California at San Diego
Au, Ho Chung (Howard)
USP 187
hcau@ucsd.edu
January 10th, 2011
Abstract
Recent studies suggest the importance of sustainability when designing buildings and
architecture. This paper identifies a new and ideal form of buildings for the near future:
green buildings with the contribution of art. The result from interviews and surveying
shows that people think art can make a significant difference from green buildings that
have not considered any artistic element, and they want urban planners and architects to
pay more efforts to design artistic sustainable architecture. The findings from analyzing
case studies illustrate the role of art in designing buildings can contribute in two
sustainable aspects, environmental sustainability and social sustainability. First, art can
be used as a design tool to construct environmental sustainable architecture by putting
artistic elements into sustainable concepts. Second, the key factors to successfully use art
are to listen from the public, understand the function of the architecture itself, have a
group of professional with different expertise in the project in order to balance various
features, and be creative. This study proposes that urban planners and architects should
place art into a vital position when they are designing sustainable architecture.
Key terms: Architectural Design, Artistic, Green Buildings, Green Technology,
Sustainability
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Introduction
What is an ideal building? There is no certain answer, or there are too many answers to
interpret. In different eras, architects have different opinions about buildings and architecture.
Sustainable buildings are the latest trend for architecture, because environmental issues like
global warming and pollution problems are occurring in many places especially in cities, and
people want to find solutions to deal against the harm on the Earth. Recent studies show us that
living in a sustainable way let human beings on the Earth last much longer, and basically, many
newly constructed architectural designs are sustainable. “Green Buildings have become
integrated into architecture and development professions and are a dominant focus of research
and practice in those fields” (Retzlaff 2009). At the same time, an ingenious architect would not
satisfy with buildings only focusing on sustainability but neglect the artistic factors of the
architecture. In a result, designing contemporary architecture requires the skills of integrating art
and sustainable techniques in order to fulfill architects’ aggression, which is to construct perfect
architecture.
This research project is about the relationship between art and sustainable architecture.
The research question of the project is: What is the role of art in a green building and how can
artistic design contribute to sustainable architecture? The definition of the terms I used in the
research project is very important as different definitions might bring out a totally different
content from the project. Sustainable development “is a development that meets the needs of the
present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” (World
Commission on Environment and Development, 1987, 43), in other words, it is the key to open
the door to a future with a high quality of life. Sustainable architecture is the architecture that
satisfies the principle of sustainability, as well as provides a nice living environment to human
beings. On the other hand, the term “art” has much more diversity to define, but this study used
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the definition from Rites of Zhou (a book written in over 2000 years ago in China). In the article,
it described art as “the intellectuals creates, the brilliant interprets, preserves. For all arts are
Great Masters’ creation. They craft metal to create blade, craft earth to create pottery, craft
vehicle to travel, and craft boat to sail. These are all creations of Great Masters. With the right
climate, appropriate geographic location, fine ingredients, and excellent craftsmanship, art is
created” (Tong, Weblog). Hence, the main focus of the research is to study the role of art in
sustainable architecture means to explore how can these master’s creation art work contribute
into architecture that can provide a quality living environment to us.
The study conducted four main different research methods. Firstly, the research
concluded reviews on related topics or issues from other scholar’s journal and article, which
helped me to get more rounded background knowledge on current issues like sustainability in
different aspect. Secondly, four case studies were chosen to study in order to get to know how
architects practically due with the problem when they want artistic design with sustainable
features. Casa Mila (better known as La Pedrera) by Antonio Gaudi, a famous housing project in
Barcelona in the early 20th century, the Hong Kong International Airport, built in the late 1990s,
the Millennium Tower in Tokyo, the imaginary architecture by Sir Norman Foster, and the
awarded environmental friendly skyscraper, the Bank of America Tower in Manhattan, are the
four cases as a very proper examples for art contribution in sustainable architecture. They apply
the skill of green technology combining very imaginative architectural design to construct
sustainable architecture, and art here makes a significant role for sustainability.
Thirdly, an online survey was conducted for the research, with twenty-five questions
about art, architecture and sustainability. The survey primarily targeted people who use
computers nowadays, as they are mostly in the range 18 to 25, and they will be future masters of
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the society. Therefore, targeting them for the survey benefited my study on the 21st century ideal
buildings, as they will be the major users. Last but not least, two significant interviews are done
for the research projects. Professor Susan Peerson from UCSD Urban Studies and Planning
Department and Professor Daniel Lopez-Perez from the USD Architecture Department are the
two interviews. Their expertise in different fields provided comprehensive opinions and advices
to the study.
The result from the research is very exciting. It tells that art has the function on
architecture, not only for aesthetic perception, but also on social sustainability and environmental
sustainability. The key factors to successfully use art are to listen from the public, understand the
function of the architecture itself, have a group of professional with different expertise in the
project in order to balance various features, and be creative.
Literature Review
Researches about architectures, urban design and urban planning are not unfamiliar in the
field. Critics explore issues about the fields and bring out different results have connections with
this research. Nasser (2003) examined the preservation of heritage places and how can they
change to other uses. He argued that heritage places have its value, and they would be
sustainable. One suggestion was to change the uses into tourist spot, as “if tourism is to
contribute to sustainable development, it must be economically viable, environmentally
sensitive, and culturally appropriate” (Nasser 2003, 474). He analysis gave a clear path for this
study, as he proved that the art value of the architecture could be a part of sustainability.
Hill (2001) analyzed the relationship between architects and users and how did they
affect each other. He argued that users of the architecture are creative and they can change the
buildings when they are using it (Hill 2001). He believed there is an interaction between the
users and the architects through the architecture, and he thought even “architects have reasons to
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define the user as passive, some allow more generous and complex understandings of the user to
affect the way the design” (Hill 2001, 355). Therefore, architects’ designs should fit the demands
of people, in other words, the designs from the architects should be human-oriented. His research
result provided the base of this research, which is architects should design human-oriented
architecture, as the users of the architecture are ourselves. Art and Sustainability are two
elements we want to be included in buildings, therefore, from the result of Hill’s research,
brought out the value of this study.
As green buildings can be found in many places and they usually claim themselves
sustainable, these green buildings can increase the sustainability of the building itself and the city
development, also decrease negative impacts on the human life (Retzlaff 2009). Retzlaff (2009)
examined the relationship between planning and green buildings with concepts about building
assessment system. Buildings had their own life cycle, and through the cycle they used energy
and resource to be created and for their maintenance (Retzlaff 2009). Therefore, green buildings
became a trend since they can save money by their lower cost of constructing and longer
lifetime.
Moreover, the research done by U.S. Green Building Council discussed about the
importance of green building as well. Green Buildings created a better environment for people to
do their daily activities such as work and play (Pyke 2010, 5). Green buildings also benefit
humans’ health. According to Retzlaff, “many people who are concerned about the public health
impacts of conventional development are turning to green buildings because of their benefits for
human health through improved indoor air quality and decreased energy use,” (Retzlaff 2009, 4),
so these are the reasons why green buildings and sustainable architectural designs is a hot topic.
Furthermore, Retzlaff suggested plans for Green Buildings and the building assessment system,
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which is to rate on buildings to by examining their performance and the sustainability (Retzlaff
2009).
In another Retzlaff’s research, she discussed about the Leadership in Energy and
Environmental Design (LEED). The study looked at the policies used in the LEED system and
the impacts on building Green Buildings, which are sustainable architecture that meets the
measurement of sustainability, and they would be a solution to environmental problems such as
air pollution, energy and water usage (Retzlaff, 2009). Because now green buildings are so
important, LEED establishes policies about green buildings. However, planners and architects
decide to use the LEED system is not because of the content, but because of the convenience.
There was lack of knowledge of other resources, and too much to learn from other systems.
Consequently, she suggested, “planners have an important role in administering green building
polices because they address issues beyond building design and construction and require a
holistic and integrative perspective” (Retzlaff, 2009). This research was highly related to my
project, as the LEED system is always an important reference to know more about the
possibilities of the role of art on green buildings.
On the other hand, Langdon (2007) stated that buildings going to be sustainable had more
value, and “non Green buildings will decrease in value” (Langdon 2007). His research was about
defining good green buildings and what is driving green strategies; indicates the initial impacts
on construction costs and the cost of buildings that is “not going green” (Langdon 2007). He also
set up a system on rating green buildings with four, five and six stars. These rating systems
indicated the green level of the buildings, which not only benefited the dwellers or the users of
the buildings, but also guided architects and engineers to construct a more sustainable
architecture indirectly. Relating to my research on architectural design skills on integrating art
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and technology, the rating systems they have developed becomes a very useful reference on my
research as well. Langdon had also another work at the same year, focusing on the cost of
Sustainable Design of architectural projects. He found out that there is actually no significant
difference for the average cost of constructing green buildings and non-green buildings (Langdon
2007). Langdon analyzes the data from LEED, and the result of the research is both green
buildings and non-green buildings can have a high cost or low cost, in other words, the cost of a
building is not related to if the building is green or non-green. Therefore, he strongly encourages
architects and planners to construct green buildings, by meeting the requirements of the LEED
points.
John, Clements-Croome and Jeronimidis (2004) talked about the sustainable building
solutions. They thought though the development in the biological and engineering field,
sustainable building can be a part of natural world, or in other words, the natural world fits into
the world of sustainable buildings (John, Clements-Croome and Jeronimidis 2004), it is because
“Sustainable buildings can be defined as those buildings that have minimum adverse impacts on
the built and natural environment, in terms of the buildings themselves, their immediate
surrounding and the broader regional and global settings” (John, Clements-Croome and
Jeronimidis 2004, 2). They suggested the building materials should be using materials in the
natural world. Some designers are lack of sense on chemicals, and they should have a better
knowledge on the physical and mechanical behavior of a material. They also suggested
environmental consideration when designing architecture. “Since buildings are responsible for
half of the nation’s energy and hence carbon dioxide emissions, the design construction and
operation of buildings is vitally important for people now and in the future” (John, ClementsCroome and Jeronimidis 2004, 6).
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Duerk (1993) discussed about the concept of an architectural design. She stated, “a
concept is a statement of an ideal set of relationship among several of the elements under an
architect’s control such as form (dimension, direction), material, texture, color (hue, value,
intensity), and adjacency” (Duerk 1993, 60). Within the concept, architects could use their
creativity to design different amazing architecture. Concepts can always be diagrammed and
there are different kinds of concepts, mainly in Through Circulation, Radial Circulation and “H”
Circulation (Duerk 1993). Her studies on the concepts of architectural designs was a very good
collection of knowledge in order to use in my research project on planning sustainable designs.
Marcus and Sakissian (1986) listed 254 site design guidelines for medium-density family
housing, which all of them are very meaningful for not only housing site planning, but also
normal urban planning are architectural design. For instance, design guideline number 69 was
the sidewalk activities: design sidewalks as part of community space, which is about to balance
the street’s vehicles and people and increase the walkability of the place; number 33 is
component replacement, which states the doors, windows and balconies should be in standardsize so that if there is any damage, it is easier to get repaired and fixed, which in fact benefits the
sustainability of the housing units (Marcus and Sakissian 1986). Therefore, these design
guidelines are highly related to the research project and can be a greatly reliable reference when
designing sustainable architecture.
Wit-Paul (2009) had a very close topic to this study. She argued, “the current fashion [of
architecture and interior design] is based on the word Sustainability” (Wit-Paul 2009, 1). She
believed architecture is an art form, constantly changed by the trend of fashion. By separating the
fashion indicator into four concepts: thriving on urgency, celebration of the immediate, tension
between individual expression and social pressure, and indicator of economic prosperity,
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architectural design is more efficiently apply on sustainability (Wit-Paul 2009). The buildings
will be more green and environmental friendly in the near future, as the buildings are being
changed based on LEED or Energy Star.
Research Strategy
There are four main research strategies done in the study, which are literature review,
cases studies, an online survey and two interviews respectively. It is necessary to do four
different research strategies in the research project, since these four strategies bring out various
outcomes in many aspects. From these findings and results I am capable to make a more
comprehensive analysis and then a complete conclusion.
Literature Review
The first research strategy I used in the study is literature review. The literature sources
are generally online scholar articles and journals, or books in the library, with urban planning
and architecture contents. The benefits to the study from other scholar’s work are noteworthy
even though their works are not the same as this study. Most of other scholar’s works discussed
about the sustainability in the world, green buildings or sustainable planning guidelines gave me
other point of view to the study. They may not directly relate to my subject or give accurate
answers to the project, but this gives me another way to look at the question from the research
project.
Case Studies
The second research strategy is case studies. Making the case studies useful to the study I
picked four artistic and sustainable structures over the world as the four cases, to see how the art
design contributing to sustainability. In addition, I selected four common factors of
sustainability, which are adequate of daylight, efficiency, transportation and materials to focus
on. The art of each case study contributes to each of these four factors: the adequate of daylight
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in Casa Mila, the efficiency of Hong Kong International Airport, the creative transportation
system from Millennium Tower and the material used in Bank of America Tower.
Among the cases, I had direct observation on Hong Kong International Airport and Casa
Mila. The reason to have direct observation is I can get the exact information from the
architecture directly related to the study. The data is valuable for the research as this is first
person feelings and opinions. Moreover, the research found much information about four cases
from online database and books. Combining my direct observation and the analysis from other
sources, the cases studies provided great examples for the study, and they are the vital references
on the role of art in sustainable architecture.
Online Survey
The third research strategy is the online survey. Doing an online survey aims for the
public is different from other three research strategies. The survey is mainly sent out via
Facebook, including my social network and some architecture fans page. Although the
respondents are mostly with age range 18 to 25, and that is not representing the general
population of the world, they are the future masters of the world and will be the users of “21st
century ideal buildings”, so their response is very important for the study. The content of the
survey included a brief info and abstract about this study, such as the definitions of some key
terms. Information of some cases is also given for the respondents as a reference to help them to
select their answer. Questions in the survey are generally about sustainable features, art related
knowledge, and the four cases, like comparative questions among the cases. The survey started
sending out in mid-December 2010 and ended in late-January 2011. It is very interesting that the
sources of the data from the other three research methods are professionals who related to the
architecture or urban planning field, but the source of data from the online survey, the
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interviewees are varied, since they could be from any field. Unlike the urban planning/
architecture professionals, people who did the online survey might not have the background
knowledge about sustainability, art or architecture. A total of 125 individuals took the online
survey, and the only common situation among them is they are all the “users” as mentioned
above. Hence, their views are imperative.
Interviews
The fourth research strategy is two interviews with professionals. I interviewed Professor
Susan Peerson and Professor Daniel Lopez-Perez. Professor Peerson from UCSD is an expert in
the Urban Planning and Design field, while Professor Lopez-Perez from USD is an expert in
architecture field. Their knowledge in these two areas gives me much information and more
importantly, opinions from experts on my research project. Comparing to the survey, the
interview questions was more specific and complicated. Although in the interviews I decided to
Findings and Analysis
Since there are four main research strategy conducted in the whole study, there are four
different findings after researching by these methods. As mention in above, much information
gather from other scholars’ journals, and the analysis are written in the Literature Review
section.
Case Studies
In the case studies, these four different structures not only have artistic architectural
designs, but also contain sustainable features. Furthermore, these sustainable features are well
associated with the art elements of the architecture. Starting from the oldest architecture among
four cases, Casa Mila is a famous residential housing unit (part of it became museum today) in
Barcelona. The famous Catalan Architect Antoni Gaudi designed it in 1910. Casa Mila is
illustrious because of its unique Catalan architecture style and the design. However, the part most
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impressed me by the architecture is how Gaudi’s design smartly creates a great living
environment for dwellers. His idea on designing the structure is to let as most natural light come
into every single apartment as it can. Natural light is important for a green residential building
since dwellers can consume less energy to get adequate light, and create a more comfort living
environment in the building. Gaudi noticed the importance of lightness, so he designed an
extraordinary self-supporting façade, not only for the beauty of the structure, but also increase
the lightness in the structure by having a façade without any support function for the building
(Regas 2010). He also designed the entrance gate as “a wrought iron framework with organic
forms inspired by a turtle’s shell and hollow with glass panes. The larger panes were higher up
on the doorway to obtain maximum light from outside and the smaller ones were below to
provide more protection against breakage” (Regas, 185). After studying the construction ideas,
histories and the technique Gaudi used in Casa Mila, it shown that creativity is a central
component on combining art and sustainability.
The second case study is a large project in Hong Kong by Foster + Partners, which is the
Hong Kong International Airport. Studying the airport, the research examined creative
architectural design that use for increasing the efficiency and the sustainability of a structure.
The Hong Kong International Airport was built in 1998 in order to replace the tiny old Hong
Kong Airport, because the old one could not afford the workload of the daily’s airplane
transportation. The design of the new airport centers on the efficiency, which increases the
sustainability of the airport. Foster was so clever as to design the terminal into a Y shape behind
a horizontal main lobby buildings. It looks like an airplane when you have an aerial view of the
airport, and at the same time, this Y form of design plus a people mover in the underground can
easily transport passengers to their destination (e.g. from main lobby to airplane gates)
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conveniently. From my experience, the time needed from the main lobby to the gate 80 is only
approximately 7 minutes, which helps me to reduce the traveling time inside the airport. Because
of this ingenious and people-centered design, Hong Kong International Airport has been always
claimed as one of the three best airports in the world (Passenger’s Choice Award 2010). Foster
figured out what people needed in an airport brings out a successful design. Therefore, putting
art elements into sustainable feature, it is necessary to know what are people demanding on the
architecture.
The third case study is an imaginary project, which also designed by Sir Norman Foster,
the Millennium Tower. The project was designed in Tokyo in 1989. It was a mixed-use structure
capable of housing a community of up to 60,000 people, generating its own energy and
processing its own waste (Norman Foster Website). Foster believed transportation would be a
problem in the future so he figured out to build a huge structure with everything inside. The
design of the tower was an innovative idea for solving the problem of mass transportation. Foster
designed the tower in a conical structure with the height of 840 meters. This building looked
very modern and would definitely become a landmark of the city by its height and smart-looking
façade. At the same time, the height of the tower allowed foster to have designs “according to the
function it is to fulfill be it a hotel or large retail center” (Garreta 2004, 12). Inside the tower
there is it’s own transportation system, which is a very high speed vertical metro circulating the
structure. This setting is ideal for solving the transportation problem we are facing such as the
heavy traffic problem in cities and increase the sustainability of cities. The idea of the project is
fascinating, but in this situation, foster must have a group of professionals, especially structural
engineers, to put his idea altogether, and solve the obstacles in order to bring it into reality.
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The fourth case study is the Bank of America Tower, a very new building in New York
Not only the appearance of the building looks smart, but also it is a very sustainable building by
using many types of new technology (Durst). The idea of the artistic design of the building is a
respond to the dense urban context and tries to restorative green spaces (Cook+Fox). There are
many green features in the buildings, and one of the most significant features is the 35% of the
building is recycled materials. The design of the façade is smart and sustainable. “Through the
building’s exquisitely clear façade, the natural elements are experienced in an immediate and
almost sensory way; from the outside, the façade changes with the sun and sky” (Cook+Fox).
This becomes a win-win design for both art and sustainability as the architects create the
environmental friendly in the style of contemporary architectural design with green features,
which is very successful to integrate art and green technology.
Online Survey
Different from case studies, the findings from the online survey are majority statistics,
and the answers from the questions are collected as essential data. In the online survey, there are
125 respondents in total, with 72 males, 40 females and 13 did not response. 88% of the
respondents are from the age range from 18 to 25, and 10% are 26 or up, which means most of
the respondents are adults and they have the ability to do the survey. 70% of the respondents are
now students, and majoring in various subjects, such as urban planning, architecture, economy,
psychology, nursing, engineering, etc. For the first question in the survey: how important is
sustainability in nowadays, in a scale from 1 to 10, 1 is least, 10 is most. There are 84 responses
in total, with a mean of 8.4 points. Interestingly, two respondents pick 3 for the importance of
sustainability while most of respondents choose from 7 to 10. A similar result is shown for the
second question: how important is sustainable buildings nowadays? This reflects that although
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most people think sustainability is important nowadays, there are some other voices disagreeing
with it. The response from the question no.3 is very interesting. The question is: Do you agree
today most buildings are sustainable, in a scale from 1 to 10, 1 is least, 10 is most (Fig. 1), and
the contribution of the responses is very diverse:
#
Answer
Response
%
1
1
7
8%
2
2
7
8%
3
3
12
14%
4
4
13
15%
5
5
13
15%
6
6
14
16%
Min Value
1
7
7
9
11%
Max Value
9
8
8
6
7%
Mean
4.76
9
9
4
5%
Variance
4.75
10
10
0
0%
Standard Deviation
2.18
Total
85
100%
Statistic
Total Responses
Fig. 1 Do you agree today most buildings are sustainable, in a scale from 1 to 10, 1 is least, 10 is most
Within 85 responses, none of the numbers has more than 16% select rate. Most people select 3,
4, 5, and 6, which means they think there are some sustainable buildings, but they do not agree
that most buildings are sustainable. 8% respondents select 1 for the question while 5%
respondents pick 9. The mean value is 4.76, which means in average not all buildings are agreed
as sustainable. This result is actually a warning that although the public advocates sustainability,
not every building is echoing to the issue.
As the survey questions go deeper to the thesis question, responses get more interesting.
In the question: Do you like art, in the scale 1 to 10, there are 84 responses, with the mean value
7.08, which reflects the 18 to 25 age range people pretty interested in art, with most of them are
interested in music or drawings. In another question: do you agree that architecture is one kind of
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Value
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art? The mean value is 8.60, which means the majority agrees that architecture is a type of art. In
addition, the mean value of the importance of the artistic design of a building is 7.29. These
couple results shows that youngsters do not only want buildings with sustainable features, but
also contain art elements. As for the use of art in architecture, more respondents (49 out of 78)
think that it is more related to social sustainability, for example, art as a positive social force,
while the rest respondents think art can be used as environmental sustainability. Although it
seems these future society masters like art pretty much, more than 75% of respondents would
rather choose a sustainable building without visual artistic design than an artistic building which
does not benefit to sustainability. This reflects in their mind, sustainability in architecture is more
important than art attributes. However, they think both artistic design and sustainable features
would increase the value of the building itself, since the mean values are 8.14 and 8.16
respectively.
From this first part of the survey, it is easy to see that nowadays young adults, regardless
of the major, aware about the need of sustainable architecture. They like artistic designs as well
but the major concern of buildings all along is how green can the buildings be. Even though there
is sustainable architecture, young adults do not satisfy with amount percentage of green
buildings. From their responses of the questions about buildings’ value, it seems they believe
both art and sustainable features are both benefits the buildings and architects should find ways
to have these two important elements to complement each other.
In the second part of the survey, the questions are related into the four cases study. For
the public architecture, Los Angeles International Airport is used to compare with Hong Kong
International Airport. For the commercial buildings, the GE Building in New York, which is a
part of the Rockefeller Center complex, is used to compare with Bank of America Tower. Last
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but not least, for the residential architecture, I choose the rest of the two cases, Casa Mila and
Millennium Tower and compare with each other. In the survey, 87% from 77 respondents like
Hong Kong International Airport more than Los Angeles International Airport. As mentioned
above, Hong Kong international is famous for its efficiency and epochal architectural design. In
contrast, Los Angeles International Airport although has also beautiful designs, the slow
efficiency does not fulfill the requirements of a good airport. Although few respondents think
that it is not necessary to build a sustainable airport since they are not going to spend much time
or go there often, the mean value of the importance of the sustainability for an airport is 8.08.
This result does not surprise at all, as one of the respondents said, “airport design is more on flow
emphasis, [I] had a problem b4 [before] with an airport where I don’t know where am supposed
to exit, I mean signs can do that, but not everyone have the same languages, so [it would be]
better if an airport is efficiently design” (Online Survey). On the other hand, the importance of
the art design for an airport to the respondents is only rate 6.84 in average, which implies that
artistic design is not the major concern of an airport, or some public institutional structure, but it
is always good that to have a nice building.
In the second comparison is GE Building versus Bank of America Tower, Both
commercial buildings is located in New York City, having different strengths, but turns out that
83% out of 77 respondents select Bank of America Tower rather than the historical landmark GE
building. The importance of the sustainability for a commercial building is rated 7.84 in average
while the importance of the art design for a commercial building is rated 7.39 in average. From
the above result, the difference between sustainability and art design values in commercial
buildings is much smaller than the value difference in an airport. This result reflects the public
may have different opinions when constructing unlike architecture. Architects should listen to
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the needs of the public to balance the two elements before design the architecture. For instance,
when designing mass infrastructure construction, the public is more concern about the function
of it, but the artistic design might be less important. On the other hand, the public’s requirement
in commercial buildings designs is more equally focusing on both features. The third comparison
is two creative residential building, Casa Mila and Millennium Tower. From the survey, the
average rating for the architectural design for Casa Mila is 7.64 in 74 total responses. Most
selected rating is 9, picked by 16 respondents. On the other hand, the average rating for the
architectural design for Millennium Tower is 7.01 in 73 total responses. Most selected rating is 8,
picked by 15 respondents. This means respondents think the design of Casa Mila is slightly
better than Millennium Tower. Furthermore, one of the most interesting results is these young
adults are more willing in the old Casa Mila building rather than the new high-tech Millennium
Tower after providing a brief information section in the survey. The mean of the willingness to
live in Casa Mila is 7.08, while the mean of the willingness to live in Millennium Tower is 6.12.
As a respondent who picked Casa Mila said, “I love the design of Casa Mila, and after reading in
the info, I feel the design is very brilliant”, while another one who chose Millennium Tower
responded, “Booth seems to be green, but I concern more about the living experience, so the
“reduced travel time” is very important to me” (Online Survey). From 74 total responses, 54%
like Casa Mila better, and 46% like Millennium Tower more, which is a pretty close result. Both
landmark residential buildings carry art elements and sustainable features, and each has his likes
and dislikes. Some say Casa Mila is more beautiful with nicer living environment, but on the
other hand, some say Millennium Tower is more modern with an efficient living experience.
In the second part of the survey, the result brings out that these young adults respondents
usually adjust their opinions of the buildings after they understand the function of it. For
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example, they believe infrastructure such as airport, should be more concerned about the
functional design, which is the efficiency, rather than the artistic design. For commercial
buildings, the sustainability and the art elements is equally important, especially when the art
elements in the buildings can successfully contribute into the sustainable features, such as the
Bank of America Tower. As for the residential buildings, they are looking forward to a quality
living environment. Casa Mila and Millennium Tower both demonstrate very innovative
examples for ideal buildings, which the contribution of art in designing sustainable architecture.
Interviews
Last but not least, the two interviews also benefited the research very much by the views
and the experiences from two professionals. Both interviews were conducted in an open flow
way. There are six questions in total but their uses are more likely to be the introductive
questions, which leads to a further discussion on the topic. Professor Susan Peerson is expertise
in the urban planning field, and she also knows well about sustainability. From the interview, she
agrees that art can be a role that contributes in sustainable architecture. She suggested an
example in San Francisco, the California Academy of Science. It is a museum design by a worldknown architect Renzo Piano. The best part of the design of in the building is he uses a green
roof above the architecture (Fig. 2).
Fig. 2 The overview of California Academy of Science, Source: Inhabit Website
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The green roof not only functions for bringing out the aesthetic perception for the architecture,
but only functions for sustainability. Professor Peerson said that sustainability is now grained in
architect’s checklist. Many architecture firms are now following LEED to do their designs, and
they do very well. Another example is the rainwater sculpture in the Mills College designed by
EHDD architecture, which is an art piece successfully uses the energy and resources efficiently.
These are just some of the examples, but the fact is, every architect is making his design green.
Professor Peerson thinks designing should not be separated, but is a work with a group including
architects and sub-consultants, such as engineers and landscape architects. One thing that is
significant to how green would the building be is actually chose by the clients. The function of
the designing group is to complete the client’s demand from imaginary to reality.
As for the function of art, Professor Peerson thinks that art could be in both social
sustainable and environmental sustainable category. However, public’s education level in social
sustainable is yet to reach a high standard. It is getting there, but still needs to get popularized.
Especially she thinks that art is the quality of materials that could help architect to promote
sustainability. She concluded that architecture is not only one building, but also a whole process
of city planning. It requires urban design to make the whole picture better, while urban design is
a product of art plus science. Therefore, art has the power here, in urban designing and
architectural designing.
The opinions made by Professor Lopez-Perez are also very original. First of all, he
believes sustainability will not be an issue anymore. The public does not need to concern if the
architecture is green or not, since every single building will be sustainable in the future, and this
is an unstoppable trend. He believes every newly built architecture is sustainable, and the only
difference is the degree of sustainability. Apparently some would have higher standard, such as
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those designs that follow the LEED standard, particularly the awarded exceptional projects, but
pretty soon all projects will meet the LEED standard.
Professor Lopez-Perez thinks that not only art can contribute into sustainability, but also
vice versa. In the 1960s-70s, sustainability is an aspect for the way that building functions. These
aspects was looked as engineering in the project. Nowadays, these sustainable aspects of the
project do not only have to do with functions or the forms, but to have more roles with it, such as
art. Designers and architects should take part in sustainable designs, but not only engineers. He
argues that architects see sustainability as the performance of the building. They care about art
very deeply, and they concern with the environment, and the energy consumption, etc. In his
opinion, there are two aspects of design. One of them is to making what you have more
intelligent, for example when you are designing a new housing unit, you want to make it more
intelligent than the houses that came before. This is more related to engineering, like to make the
house use less energy and oriented better. The other aspect is to design it more interesting,
creative and unique. For instance, Frank Gehry is good at using his design skills to create iconic
buildings. The exterior of his projects are exaggerated, but the interior sections are very
conventional. The costs of constructing his buildings are always cheap, and any place when
Frank Gehry puts the building, it generates the micro-economy by tourism, which brings millions
dollars of revenue. For instance Guggenheim Museum Bilbao was worth less than a hundred and
fifty million dollars, and the Spanish government pay it in less than a year because of the
incredible amount of tourists attracted to the building. This shows that the art features on the
architecture itself are very economically functional and sustainable. People always say that
architects is an acrobat, to need to balance culture and social difference, with material nature,
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spatial nature and environment, and Frank Gehry is a very fine acrobat, to deal with these factors
by adding his creative ideas.
Conclusion
What is an ideal building? As I said before, there is no certain answer. However, from the
research, it is figured out that art is actually highly related to sustainability in architecture,
instead of separated from it. Designing sustainable architecture with the contribution of art is a
task that architects are now facing. To conclude, there are several ways that could help architects
to do so in order to create quality architecture. First, architects must listen to the voice from
public, because the public is always the users of the buildings. LEED standard is only a reference
for architects to follow, but the public is the one who judge if the building is good to
environment or in low quality. Like an acrobat, architects need to balance many elements in a
building, such as sustainability, art factors, construction cost and the expectation from the norm.
Then, architects could meet the requirements suggested by the public.
Secondly, before designing, understand the function of the building and factors they are
holding are important. There is architecture debatable or controversial, because when designing,
the architect did not think clearly about the function of the structure itself. They should use the
architectural factors wisely, such as art, materials, and resources. For instance, art can be used as
social sustainable or environmental sustainable. Architects should consider which one is better to
put art into their project, to make their project as bright as they can. The design of the Bank of
America Tower is a smart example that architects used what they had, which is green materials,
to design the tower. No matter which aspect, sustainability or aesthetic perception, the Bank of
America Tower performs excellent. The third key is to design as a group, with professionals.
Architecture is not made by a single person, but many people with their minds to do designing,
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calculations, researching and estimating, etc. Recognize what the client want from the structure,
discuss and solve the obstacles by the group will be very helpful during the design.
The last but the most important key, is to be creative. Creativity is architect’s basic
instinct. From the case study, none of them has an uncreative design or idea. The Guggenheim
Museum Bilbao brings out economic succeed is not a fortune, it is because of the innovative idea
by Frank Gehry, to create the museum as a sculpture, in order to be an iconographic architecture
in Spain to stimulate tourism. This is a very good reference about one of the role of art in
sustainable architecture. Art can be anything. It can be a tool to help out the economy, a tool to
protect the environment, or a tool to make the world peaceful. When we use it cleverly, it
certainly is a best tool to contribute in sustainable architecture.
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Bibliography
Retzlaff, Rebecca C. "Green Buildings and Building Assessment Systems." SAGE Publications
24.1 (2009): n. pag. Web. 17 Oct 2010. <http://jpl.sagepub.com/content/24/1/3>.
World Commission on Environment and Development. Our Common Future. Oxford: Oxford
University Press, 1987. Print.
Tong, Adriel. "ART." Ceramics & Stuff.. blogspot.com, 03 JAN 2011. Web. 10 Jan 2011.
<http://adrieltjy.blogspot.com/2011/01/r-t.html>.
Nasser, Noha. "Planning for Urban Heritage Places: Reconciling Conservation, Tourism, and
Sustainable Development. " SAGE Publications (2003):n. pag. Web. 1 Dec 2010.
<http://jpl.sagepub.com/content/17/4/467>.
Hill, Jonathan. "The Use of Architects" SAGE Publications (2001):n. pag. Web. 1 Dec 2010.
<http://usj.sagepub.com/content/38/2/351>.
Retzlaff, Rebecca C. " The Use of LEED in Planning and Development Regulation." SAGE
Publications 24.1 (2009): n. pag. Web. 17 Oct 2010.
<http://jpe.sagepub.com/content/29/1/67.refs.html>.
Pyke, Chris, Sean McMahon, and Tom Dietsche. "Green Buildings & Human Experience." U.S.
Green Building Council® (2010): n. pag. Web. 17 Oct 2010.
Langdon, Davis. "The cost & benefit of achieving Green buildings." Davis Langdon (2007): n.
pag. Web. 17 Oct 2010. <www.davislangdon.com>.
Langdon, Davis. "Cost of Green Revistied." Davis Langdon (2007): n. pag. Web. 17 Oct 2010.
<www.davislangdon.com>.
John, Godfaurd, Derek Clements-Croome, and George Jeronimidis. "Sustainable building
solutions: a review of lessons from the natural world." Science Direct (2004): n. pag.
Web. 10 Jan 2011.
Duerk, Donna P. Architectural Programming: Information Management for Design. Canada:
John Wiley & Sons. inc., 1993. Print.
Marcus, Clare Cooper, and Wendy Sarkissian. Housing as if people mattered. Berkeley, United
States of America: University of California Press, 1986. Print.
Wit-Paul, Alissa de. "Sustainable Fashion in the Building Design Professions." (2009): n. pag.
Web. 11 Jan 2011. <http://www.inter-disciplinary.net/wpcontent/uploads/2009/08/witpaper.pdf>.
Regas, Ricard. Visual Guide to the Complete Work of Antoni Gaudi. Barcelona, Spain: Dos de
Arte Ediciones, S.L., 2010. Print.
Garreta, Ariadna Alvarez. Skyscraper Architects. Barcelona, Spain: Atrium Group de ediciones y
publicaciones, S.L., 2004. Print.
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“Foster + Partner – Millennium Tower.” Foster + Partners Website.
<http://www.fosterandpartners.com/Projects/0504/Default.aspx> (Assessed October 16,
2010)
“Passenger’s Choice Award - World Best Airport.” Passenger’s Choice Award Website.
<http://www.worldairportawards.com/Awards_2010/Airport2010.htm> (Assessed
October 16, 2010)
“Durst – One Bryant Park – Bank of America Tower.” The Durst Organization Inc. Website.
<http://durst.org/properties/one_bryant_park.php> (Assessed October 17, 2010)
“Bank of America Tower at One Bryant Park.” Cook+Fox Architects. Website.
<http://cookplusfox.com/ice_print.php?id=1018&img=2069> (Assessed November 2,
2010)
“Inhabit.” Website < http://inhabitat.com/california-academy-of-sciences-unveiled/> (Assessed
January 22, 2011)
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Appendix
The Online Survey
Personal Info
Sex:
Age:
Occupation:
(Put N/A if non-applicable)
Major:
(Put N/A if non-applicable)
Survey
Some Info before doing the survey:
Abstract of the Research:
Recent studies suggest the importance of sustainability when designing buildings and
architecture. Unlike emphasizing artistic design in the past, architects are now more concerned
about the sustainable technology. This proposal examines the ideal buildings for the near future
and finds the balance between art and green technology, and more important, to examine how art
design contributes to sustainable building. The concentration of the proposal is based on the
motivating question: What is the role of Art in a green building and how can artistic design
contribute to sustainable architecture? The study is conducted with a focus on scholarly journals
and successful cases of architecture designs all over the world recently and the research strategy
will be examining their design methods and approaches used in the buildings. The study will
contribute to the literature on sustainable design methods in the Urban Planning and Architecture
Field. The results will also be shared to the public in the hope that the findings will help
designing ideal buildings.
Note:
There are many kind of art in different divisions, but art in here represent the visual artistic
architectural design, which is the art no matter it is classical or modern, but the artistic design we
can see it very nicely from the architecture.
Sustainable Architecture is a type of sustainable development, which “meets the needs of the
present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” (World
Commission on Environment and Development, 1987, 43).
1. How important is sustainability in nowadays?
1-10; 1= Not Important at all, 10= Most Important
2. How important is sustainable buildings in nowadays?
1-10; 1= Not Important at all, 10= Most Important
3. Do you agree today most buildings are sustainable?
1-10; 1= Disagree most, 10= Agree most
4. Do you agree the house/ apartment you are living is sustainable?
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1-10; 1= Disagree most, 10= Agree most
From the answer of #4, why? (A Sentence or two is enough)
5. (For UCSD Students/ Alumni/ Staff) Do you think UCSD’s buildings are sustainable?
6. Do you like art?
1-10; 1= Not interested in it, 10= Very interested in it
7. What kinds of art do you like/ pay attention to? (Specific answer, e.g. drawings, photography,
music, etc.)
8. Do you agree that architecture is one kind of art?
1-10; 1= Disagree most, 10 = Agree most
9. How is the importance of the artistic design of a building to you?
1-10; 1= Not important at all, 10 = Most Important
10. (For UCSD Students/ Alumni/ Staff) Do you think UCSD’s buildings have good artistic
architectural design?
1-10; 1= Disagree most, 10 = Agree most
11. Which one do you think art (in architecture) is more related with?
12. When comparing:
A) a sustainable building without visual artistic design and
B) an artistic building which does not benefit to sustainability, which one would you pick?
13. Do you think the value of the architecture would be higher if there is visual artistic
architectural design?
1-10; 1= Disagree most, 10 = Agree most
14. Do you think the value of the architecture would be higher if it is sustainable?
1-10; 1= Disagree most, 10 = Agree most
Los Angeles International Airport is controversial from the comments by the public. Although it
is one of the busiest airport in the world with a long history when comparing to other airports,
the operation system of the airport is not good at all. The architecture design of the control tower
of the airport is very beautiful, however, the terminal design is a disaster. Places are difficult to
access due to the unfriendly terminals and passengers' time is wasted during finding the spot they
want to go. Therefore, some media ranks LAX as one of the worst airport in the world, no matter
how beautiful is the control tower.
Source: http://www.allbusiness.com/north-america/united-states-californiametro-areas/8382721.html
Hong Kong International Airport:
The Hong Kong International Airport was built in 1998 in order to replace the tiny old Hong
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Kong Airport, because the old one could not afford the workload of the daily’s airplane
transportation. The design of the new airport centers on the efficiency, which increases the
sustainability of the airport. Foster was so clever as to design the terminal into a Y shape behind
a horizontal main lobby buildings. It looks like an airplane when you have an aerial view of the
airport, and at the same time, this Y form of design plus a people mover in the underground can
easily transport passengers to their destination (e.g. from main lobby to airplane gates)
conveniently. Because of this ingenious and people-centered design, Hong Kong International
Airport has been always claimed as one of the three best airports in the world (Passenger’s
Choice Award 2010).
Source: “Passenger’s Choice Award - World Best Airport.” Passenger’s Choice Award Website.
<http://www.worldairportawards.com/Awards_2010
/Airport2010.htm> (Assessed October 16, 2010)
15. Comparing these two structures, Los Angeles International Airport and
Hong Kong International Airport, which one do you like better?
16. How importance is the sustainability for an airport to you?
From the answer of #16, Why? (A sentence or two is enough)
17. How importance is the art design for an airport to you?
From the answer of #17, Why? (A sentence or two is enough)
The GE Building is an Art Deco skyscraper that forms the centerpiece of Rockefeller Center in
the midtown Manhattan section of New York City. The GE Building is one of the most famous
and recognized skyscrapers in New York. The construction of this building was made possible,
from the legal point-of-view, by the combination of all of the land in Rockefeller Center into one
zoning lot, so that there was enough "air" space around the building.
The Art Deco decoration of the building follows the heroic and mythical themes, combined with
praise of modernity and visualized in form of classical figures at work or gods and goddesses of
specific virtues. The Rockefellers, in fact, employed the mind of consultant philosopher Hartley
Burr Alexander
who defined the ideological theme for the Center.
Source: <http://www.in-arch.net/NYC/nyc2b.html#40>
The Bank of America Tower is a very new building in New York. Not only the appearance of the
building looks smart, but also it is a very sustainable building by using many types of new
technology (Durst). The idea of the artistic design of the building is a respond to the dense urban
context and tries to restorative green spaces (Cook+Fox). There are many green features in the
buildings, and one of the most significant features is the 35% of the building is recycled
materials. The design of the façade is smart and sustainable. “Through the building’s exquisitely
clear façade, the natural elements are experienced in an immediate and almost sensory way; from
the outside, the façade changes with the sun and sky” (Cook+Fox). This becomes a win-win
design for both art and sustainability as the architects create the environmental friendly in the
style of contemporary architectural design with green features, which is very successful to
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integrate art and green technology.
Source:
“Durst – One Bryant Park – Bank of America Tower.” The Durst Organization Inc. Website.
<http://durst.org/properties/one_bryant_park.php> (Assessed October 17, 2010)
“Bank of America Tower at One Bryant Park.” Cook+Fox Architects. Website.
<http://cookplusfox.com/ice_print.php?id=1018&img=2069> (Assessed November 2, 2010)
18. Comparing these two commercial buildings, GE Building and Bank of America Tower,
which one do you like better?
19. How importance is the sustainability for a commercial building to you?
1-10; 1= Not important at all, 10= Most important
20. How importance is the design (such as the façade) for a commercial building to you?
1-10; 1= Not important at all, 10= Most important
This is Casa Mila, a residential building (now part of it is a museum) designed by architect
Antonio Gaudi in Barcelona in the early 20th Century.
21. Do you like this architecture, in a perspective of its architectural design?
1-10; 1= Disagree most, 10 = Agree most
A brief info of Casa Mila:
Casa Mila is famous for its artistic elements and the lightness of the architecture itself. Lightness
is important for a green residential building since dwellers can consume less energy to get
adequate light, and create a more comfort living environment in the building. Gaudi noticed the
importance of lightness, so he designed an extraordinary self-supporting façade, not only for the
beauty of the structure, but also increase the lightness in the structure by having a façade without
any support function for the building (Regas 2010). He also designed the entrance gate as “a
wrought iron framework with organic forms inspired by a turtle’s shell and hollow with glass
panes. The larger panes were higher up on the doorway to obtain maximum light from outside
and the smaller ones were below to provide more protection against breakage” (Regas, 185).
Notice that in that era people still did not have a clear sense of sustainability, Gaudi is really a
longsighted architect.
Source: Regas, Ricard. Visual Guide to the Complete Work of Antoni Gaudi. Barcelona, Spain:
Dos de Arte Ediciones, S.L., 2010. Print.
22. Are you willing to live in this building?
1-10; 1= Not interested in it, 10 = Very interested in it
This is Millennium Tower, an imaginative residential and mixed use building designed by
architect Sir Norman Foster in Tokyo in the late 20th Century.
23. Do you like this architecture, in a perspective of its architectural design?
1-10; 1= Disagree most, 10 =Agree most
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A Brief Info of the Millennium Tower:
Tokyo is among the megacities forecast to exceed populations of fifteen million by 2020. The
Millennium Tower challenges assumptions about such future cities. It presents a timely solution
to the social challenges of urban expansion on this scale and to the particular problems of Tokyo,
with its acute land shortages. The tower is capable of housing a community of up to 60,000
people, generating its own energy and processing its own waste. With its own transportation
system, this vertical city quarter would be self-sustaining and virtually self-sufficient. The lower
levels accommodate offices, light manufacturing and clean industries and the above are
apartments. A high-speed metro system - with cars designed to carry 160 people – tracks both
vertically and horizontally, moving through the building at twice the rate of conventional express
lifts. Cars stop at intermediate sky centres at every thirtieth floor; from there, individual journeys
may be completed via lifts or escalators. This continuous cycle reduces travel times - an
important factor in a vertical city, no less than a horizontal one.
Source: Foster + Partners http://www.fosterandpartners.com/Projects/0504/Default.aspx
24. Are you willing to live in this tower?
1-10; 1= Not interested in it, 10 = Very interested in it
25. Which one do you like better, Casa Mila or Millennium Tower?
From the Answer of #25, Why?
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