Conserving Everyone’s Energy but His Own
The New York Times, November 23, 2003
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London's city hall is also a reminder of how far the European attitude toward energy conservation and reduction of greenhouse gasses has progressed beyond America's, which remains mired in mid-1980's norms. Along with many talented American architects who would like to turn their artistic skills to environmentally sustainable design, Lord Foster finds the United States only sporadically fertile ground for innovation. In New York, he has designed an intriguingly faceted structure for the Hearst Corporation, but the developer did not ask the firm to use the energy-saving techniques it had pioneered in Europe.
Analogous to London's city hall in its aspiration to gather people together, however, is the James H. Clark Center for medical, engineering and scientific research at Stanford University in California. Dedicated last month, it is intended to promote rapid innovation through the cross-fertilized efforts of some 23 scientific and humanistic disciplines.
In London, Foster & Partners are pushing their ecological program even further in the undulating shape and curved exterior profile of the 10-story Albion Wharf, an office and residential complex under construction next to the firm's Thames-side offices. In the financial district, the suggestive shape of 30 St. Mary Axe, a tower for Swiss Re (for Reinsurance) that will open early next year (see article below), came about from the same kind of sun-angle analysis undertaken for the city hall.
A combination of government incentives and stricter energy regulations in Europe are pushing Lord Foster and his competitors even harder, producing designs Mr. Shuttleworth cannot yet reveal, but which may prove even more spectacular. Perhaps we'll see a Foster & Partners skyscraper in the form of a wind turbine akin to one proposed by another London firm, Future Systems.
While the transparent-government metaphor has particularly motivated Lord Foster, energy conservation lies at the heart of the creative resurgence in European architecture today. Many American architects want to get in on this action; right now they're looking on with envy from the sidelines. Admittedly, enacting a strict energy-conservation regime to make it easier for architects to design interesting buildings is putting the cart before the horse. But it can make what may become the chief architectural project of the next few decades-reducing carbon emissions-go down a great deal easier.
In Europe, after all, the resurgent environmental-building movement started only recently, but it has already gained considerable traction. As Mr. Shuttleworth observes, "My 9-year-old won't even let the tap run when she's brushing her teeth."