Green chic
Actor Brad Pitt is fronting an eco-show on WETA, Washington DC’s PBS Channel tonight, featuring an off-grid house by a German architect.
The shows PR says it will cover some of the smartest recycled, energy-efficient, materials-conscious buildings on the planet
It is buildings not cars, says Pitt, that are the worst eco-offenders. They “use 40 percent of the world’s energy and emit 50 percent of its greenhouse gases.”
The show travels to Boston, Chicago, New York and China — where developers develop new kinds of urban development that don’t mimic the “energy unconscious” American lifestyle.
The documentary ends by looking at a radical glass house in Germany that was engineered to be fully recyclable. (The Werner Sobek house is on view in the National Building Museum’s “Green House” exhibition.)
Washington is all but alone in showing the series in one night, a decision made by Kevin Harris, WETA vice president and television station manager.
“I love the show,” he says. “It’s beautiful. It says everything that you want a show like that to say.”
Susan Szenasy, editor of Metropolis and an early advocate of green design, describes “sustainable” features as “the new poetry of buildings.” The Washington Post says: The film’s superior visuals — cityscapes and action footage, as well as brilliantly orchestrated interviews — convey excitement about largely hidden and technical features, as well as infrastructure, to purify water and air and reduce reliance on carbon fuels.
Pitt reduces the technology and engineering to a mantra for the movement: “Imagine buildings that make people feel better.”
Already regarded as an architectural icon comparable to Mies van der Rohe’s Barcelona Pavilion or Farnsworth House, Werner Sobek’s glass house R128 (Rmerstrasse 128) in Stuttgart is residential technology taken to the highest possible level of sophistication. Sobek’s open-plan cube wrapped in a glass shield is an ecological show-house of precise minimalism. There are no walls and no closed rooms. The house provides its own energy. Recognizing Sobek’s voice, the front door opens if called. R 128 is a prototype. R 129 is already being planned.
One could unscrew his house, named R 128 and cleanly segregate all components for recycling. But the assumption is that this won’t be happening in a hurry because the conservation authorities would veto it. The house is already regarded as an icon of 20th century architecture, comparable to Mies van der Rohe’s 1929 Barcelona Pavilion or his 1946 Farnsworth House. If architecture means taking shape, construction and residential technology to the highest possible level of sophistication and then to refine it even further, then Sobek’s house is a masterpiece. If construction means creating a functioning, comfortable home, then it is a rigid artefact that is quite unsuitable for day-to-day use.
Its an architectural Signpost for the Future
Ten tons of steel was all it took to manufacture the supporting frame, which was prefabricated with machine precision and erected on site. A flight of stairs connects the open-plan spaces on four levels, a glass shield wraps around the cube-shaped building and photovoltaic panels are integrated into the roof. There are no walls and no closed rooms, aside from the two toilets. Furniture is scarce: a yellow set of shelves on the ground floor; a bed, a movable bathtub and a cube with a matte sheen (a wall unit) on the first floor; a group of chairs, a Le Corbusier recliner, a red set of shelves and hi-fi speakers on level two, and a fitted kitchen unit (no upper cupboards due to the lack of walls) and dining table on the upper level.
Naturally, every item in the house is computer-controlled and monitored, if required, externally via internet. The front door has a voice-recognition feature and opens if called; the doors to the toilets require only a manual signal. Water faucets are switched on and off by sensors while ambient temperature, lighting and windows are controlled via a touchscreen. If Sobek thinks something is useful, it is installed; useful features that don’t yet exist are commissioned.
Having dispensed with light switches and door, window and wardrobe handles, curtain rails, skirting boards and the like, Sobek’s architectural purism goes far beyond that of Mies. The philosophy also stretches to Mr and Mrs Sobek’s day-to-day lives – there is no room for knick-knacks. Storage space is rare, and in the absence of a cloakroom visitors simply drape their coats over the railing. It is probably a question of getting used to living without all the stuff that tends to accumulate in a house.
If there is one reason why an estimated 95 per cent of people would not feel comfortable in this fascinating house with its grand view of Stuttgart’s city centre, it would be because it does not provide any comfort or intimacy. While no one can see into the house, it is as if one lived outdoors, surrounded by nature, at the mercy of the weather. The moon is a bedfellow, and winter storms appear to sweep through the living room. In the evening it is a pleasure to sit in the bathtub in the dark and watch the city lights.
R 128 sounds like a prototype, and justifiably so. The Sobek family is testing this prototype, empirically piloting a residential lifestyle for the third millennium. It is an ecological show-house, with its incredibly strict minimalism representing an architectural manifest – a house that shows the way, but is not the final destination. R 129 is already being planned and will take the journey one step further.
Werner Sobek founded Werner Sobek Ingenieure (WSI) in 1992, a structural engineering and design consultancy operating on a global basis. Its work focusses on design and high-end engineering but WSI is also engaged in traditional engineering tasks.
Professor of Engineering at University of Stuttgart since 1995, Werner Sobek merged the two renowned chairs of Frei Otto and Jorg Schlaich at the University of Stuttgart into the Institute for Lightweight Structures and Conceptual Design (ILEK) in 2001.
He is co-author of “R128 by Werner Sobek”, “Steel Construction Manual”, “Glass Construction Manual”, “Stahlbau Atlas”, “SOM Journal2”,and “Archi-neering”, and subject of “Werner Sobek: Ingenieurkunst / Art of Engineering” by Werner Blaser.
https://www.wernersobek.com
Design e{+2}: The Economies of Being Environmentally Conscious (three hours) debuts tonight at 8 on WETA (Channel 26).
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3 Responses
I can’t wait to see Brad Pitt’s new movie that is suppose to be coming out this summer, entitled “Inglourious Basterds”. The preview of it looks pretty good. To Brad, you’re totally amazing! Keep it up!
In Hawaii, consistent trade winds offer sustainable solutions to combat global warming. A new form of deep-sea fishing is being developed off the island of Maui. Kite For Sail is not only breaking ground with new sailing techniques using kite-sails for power, they are using their kiteboat to troll for open ocean fish such as ono, mahi mahi and tuna. These fish are caught while trolling across the wind. Kite-sails harness higher winds above the water, reduce wetted surface with a lifting force, and improve hull stability. Kite power can be used on all vessels to reduce fuel consumption.
After years of kite system development, Dan Tracy and Ian Fisher decided to have some fun and go fishing. They arrived at a small protected bay with their 24-foot kite fishing vessel. The conditions looked perfect as the light trade winds were picking up. The kite system took only 15 minutes to set up. Using a small outboard engine, they motored out of the calm bay and into the brisk winds where an eighteen meter kite was launched.
Immediately the boat powered up as the kite reached operating altitude. The engine was lifted and the boat began to sail at 8 to 10 knots, a perfect trolling speed.
Several lures were deployed and set into a tempting pattern. Unlike conventional sailing rigs, kite-sails stabilize the hull with a lifting force. Dan and Ian kicked back to enjoy the smooth stable ride as they sailed out into the Pacific Ocean.
Birds were spotted diving into the water as they devoured small fish being forced to the surface by hungry tuna below. The boat was directed through the feeding frenzy. Suddenly, one of the top poles with a small lure took a strike and a small aku was quickly reeled in. The lures were reset as they continued up the coast to a spot that had produced large fish before.
Upon reaching this area more birds were spotted and the short lure took a massive strike. Immediately the kite was maneuvered overhead and the kiteboat was steered windward to slow its speed. The other lines were cleared and soon the silver color of an ono appeared under the boat. The fish was leadered in by hand and a gaff was used to bring the fish on board.
Dan and Ian felt fortunate to have caught such beautiful fish and attributed their success to the quiet running of the boat. A few more fish were caught before they sailed downwind, back to the bay. The fishermen were pleased because they had caught fish and trolled for three hours with no engine.
The potential kite power vessels will have many applications for fishing, powering ferryboats, and barges, to providing emergency power to motorboats. The sky is the limit for the future of kiteboating; the ocean is waiting.
Aloha, my name is Dan Tracy. Kite For Sail LLC. https://kiteforsail.com/ is taking action bye developing advanced sail systems for ships and boats This year our kite sailing team is sizing up with bigger boats and kites. Our 5 year plan is to kite sail in Hawaii to the mainland USA and around the world promoting sustainability for the future. The idea of boats powered by kites has a strong content appeal, and is media worthy. Kite power can be used on all ships and boats to reduce fuel consumption. Our eco friendly operation will be viewed by millions in person, from other boats, on the discovery channel, world news, local news, and on the internet. Our research and development will lead to fuel reduction, new technology, new jobs and a cleaner environment.
Sincerely Dan Tracy