Page 25 - Built Expressions - Online Construction Magazine - November 2014 Issue

Tech - Bytes Paris museum used 19,000 Concrete Panels See more at: http://www.archdaily.com/555694/ fondation-louis-vuitton-gehry-partners/ he Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris, designed by Gehry TPartners, was built using white blocks, or icebergs, clad in fber-reinforced concrete. The structure features 12 large glass archdaily.net “sails” that give it a sense of movement and transparency. A total of 19,000 concrete panels were used to create the museum’s facade, and the building holds a Haute Qualite Environmentale certifcation classifed as Tres Performant, similar to Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Gold. The project has been a catalyst internationally for innovation in digital design and construction, setting a new standard for the use of advanced digital and fabrication technologies. More than 400 people contributed design models, engineering rules and assembly constraints to a common web-hosted 3D digital model, The structure of the glass roof allows the building to which intelligently adapted itself to design requirements. More collect and reuse rain water and improves its geothermal than 3,600 glass panels and 19,000 concrete panels that form power. Besides, the Fondation has attained its overall goal the facade were simulated using mathematical techniques and to reach HQE (Haute Qualite Environmentale) certifcation molded using advanced industrial robots, all automated from the noted as Tres Performant. The steps taken to achieve this shared 3D model. New software was developed specifcally for level of certifcation could be considered equivalent to sharing and working with the complex design. LEED Gold. BE A New beach House, Powered by the Ocean’s waves Source: www.fastcoexist.com ; all images: Margot Krasojevics hen surfers in South Africa wanted to build a kinetic energy and transform it into electricity. Wnew house on the coast, their architect decided “The clients approached me to design a beach house for their use, to give them renewable energy. But instead of just which made me think of tidal power,” says architect Margot Krasojevics. hooking up some solar panels, she created a design “[I’m] using this dynamic in a similar way to how surfers choreograph that foats in the water and harnesses the waves. movement through water, only in this case it is stationary.” The house will The outer shell of the house, which will be also have solar panels, but adding wave power has unique advantages. constructed next year, will be made of concrete and Tides, Krasojevics points out, are far more predictable than solar and anchored into the rocky coastline. Inside the concrete wind energy. Though cutting edge sustainable technology and smarter bunker, an inner shell made of aluminum will foat in materials are beginning to become more common in industrial and the waves--and every time a wave breaks, two types of commercial buildings, Krasojevics says that residential architecture has turbines embedded in the house will generate collect been a little slower to innovate. “Renewable energy and sustainability are still not an inherent part of the design criteria and process within architecture. It is a polite afterthought at best,” she says. Ultimately, twimg.com the architect believes that tide-powered homes could become common along coastlines-perhaps with some foating completely in the water to better adapt to rising sea levels. The key, she says, will be for architects to collaborate more with engineers working on the newest technology. “The way in which we live is changing at a much faster rate than merely a couple of years ago,” she says. “Land and life is being lost as a result of rising water levels ... climate change and fnancial pressures affect all of us and we need to adapt, this will involve new environments to claim. The face of the built environment is changing, and with it, so should buildings.” BE Vol: 3 Issue: 11 November 2014 Built Expressions PG 25