Media-ICT by Actar Publishers

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Marta Albiñana

Mark Burry

Andreu Català

Xavier Monteys

Agustí Obiol

Josep Miquel Piqué

C T

Ramon Folch

Daniel Giralt-Miracle

Jeremy Rifkin

Manuel Royes

Jordi Hereu

Aurora López

Enric Ruiz-Geli

Artur Serra

0 ALIGNMENT Letter from Jordi Hereu, mayor of Barcelona Letter from Manuel Royes, special delegate of the State in El Consorci de la Zona Franca de Barcelona 11 Comments: Jordi Hereu, mayor of Barcelona Manuel Royes, special delegate of the State in El Consorci de la Zona Franca de Barcelona Jordi William Carnes, chairman of 22@ Francesc Narváez, Sant Martí district councillor 4 6

1 EL CONSORCI DE LA ZONA FRANCA, CITY AND VALUEADDED 13 18

Marta Albiñana, El Consorci: the city’s motor and promoter Aurora López, The 22@ plan: Transformation of Poblenou industrial area

2 ICT-PROGRAMME 27 Josep Miquel Piqué, 22@Media-ICT: The innovation eco-system 30 Artur Serra, The city as a living lab

36 Enric Ruiz-Geli, E E E towards E

3 PROJECT PARAMETERS 55 Cloud 9 precedents Exhibition Expovida Homes Habitat Headquarters Fatronik Damascus zoo Hotel Prestige Forest 58 Spatial organisation

4 CAD/CAM DIGITAL PROCESses 87 Agustí Obiol, Media-ICT structure 96 Model: structure, façades, flowers, lighting, bioluminiscent structure 102 Structural calculations and elevations 106 Construction details 120 Metal structure production 124 Structure assembly 140 Mark Burry, Courage and convictions 154 Structure, building façades

5 URBAN LANDSCAPE 161 Daniel Giralt-Miracle, The Media-ICT building, the digital Pedrera 166 Concept and façade development 196 Xavier Monteys, Tic Cat

6 ENERGY, ENERGETIC EFFICIENCY 199 Jeremy Rifkin, The third industrial revolution and a new social Europe in the 21st century 210 Executive memo of the final energy rating 222 Media-ICT ETFE 222 Façade details 236 Smoke evacuation system 240 Structural analysis 250 Light control through fog 252 Prototype of the fog system 256 Applus fog system certification 259 Ramon Folch, Appearance, physiology and sustainability. Architecture and the challenge of sustainability

PERFORMATIVE ARCHITECTURE

265 Andreu Català, Social technology at Media-ICT 270 Iwan Baan, One day and one night 302 Luis Ros, Media-ICT 330 Visits 332 Social comic strip 334 DVD navigation diagram

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10 air in

1 9

11 air

0 ALINGNMENT The Media-ICT building enhances the model of a green and sustainable city promoted by Barcelona city council and which El Consorci de la Zona Franca is contributing to make a reality. It is a step forward in the construction of the city of knowledge encouraged by 22@ district. This convergence of interests gives the building the essential attributes to be a model of the city of the future

Jordi Hereu

Manuel Royes

Mayor of Barcelona

Special delegate of the State in El Consorci de la Zona Franca de Barcelona

The Media-ICT building is a symbol because it houses large and small companies that need to grow. It also offers public space that is open to citizens. The mix is very attractive.

The Consorci has taken the initiative by promoting and developing unique buildings for the knowledge industry, in which recognised architecture is as much a part as economic aspects.

Jordi William Carnes

Francesc NarvĂĄez

Chairman of 22@

Sant MartĂ district councillor

Media-ICT is a project that symbolises the new economy, the economy of innovation, education and enterprise. It is the way forward for the Barcelona of the 21st century and faces an optimistic future.

Every unique district has a distinct and easily recognisable architecture that establishes a relationship with the unique character of its residents. 22@ has its own identity, the result of its unique buildings and its recognisable presence on the Barcelona skyline.

E E E towards E: Energy Environment Experience towards Empathy by ENRG

When the public design competition for the Media-ICT project was announced, at Cloud 9 we thought this building was in ALIGNMENT with our knowledge. We were extremely interested in this digital city model based on ICT (information and communication technology), with the idea of a city where what matters is knowledge, added value and patents, in short, where the objective is for your architecture to be in sync with your own values. This project arrived after VillaNurbs, Spek, Barcelona aviary and marine zoo, MediaHouse, Forest, and other projects that involved concepts such as digital manufacturing processes, ubiquitous technology, cloud computing, off grid, self-sufficient energy, distributed intelligence...

VillaNurbs NB:

ETFE detail, VillaNurbs Strategy

Synthesis

Output

22@ is an experimental district with a powerful, distributed and accessible, energy load. Part of the Districlima network, where new business values are intangible. It is NOT based on the availability of natural resources such as water, oil, gas, sugar, silk nor do real estate values come into the equation. The companies have SOFT values such as broadcasting rights (Mediapro), patents (Indra), intelligence (T-systems), programming (Cisco) and interaction (such as Reactable by Sergi Jordà, from Universitat Pompeu Fabra), it is a district—in the words of Artur Serra from I2CAT and the 22@ team—that represents a living lab.

And finally, in the words of the magazines Wired and Leonardo from MITPress, 22@ is SOFT, and today SOFT is HARD. Media-ICT’s architecture is an environment where SOFT becomes HARD.

Green city

Media_ICT

Smart city

22@ is a city model where residential zones and clean new industry coexist: this program really appealed to us as its use is three-fold. The ground floor is open-plan and has a multi-media museum, Internet awareness workshops, as well as the UOC institutes that are the fruit of this fabric; it is a place where the convention hall is a shared space. These new companies, such as Barcelona Activa, will occupy these small offices. The upper floors will be an incubator for young companies, they will also provide a landing space for foreign companies. Media-ICT incubates and fosters exchange. We felt that this building should not be a public or private building, or a corporate or company-oriented building, it should not be academic or businesslike, but it should be a hybrid programme. Experts call this type of model GGG - Global Green Growth, which is in alignment with this city and with the consorci team. This is a large building based on the idea of sharing, where all the green spaces are shared. Before, one way or another, you had to have those spaces available, now you can share them, the building has some 15% dedicated to shared spaces. This is a distinct possibility in this city, where the urban experimentation of compact density can happen as conveyed by Oriol Clos, the head architect

Our work process to create these skins has been program-structure-skin. And this skin is an expression of energy. If we think about Gaudí’s La Pedrera, it is a construction system that projects a landscape towards the city. It is the building that must have a dialogue with the city. We need solutions. How do we find these solutions? Let’s take a scientific look at urban landscape, let’s make it a performance, let’s make it performative, with energy as its script. This is the project. This is Media-ICT: meeting energy criteria through beautiful, performative, communicative, urban landscape, which is educational, opening people’s eyes, so that they are aware of key problems such as energy.

ENERGY EFFICIENCY of the Media-ICT: ETFE SKIN

The mayor, in his speech the other day, talked to us about green cities. If we consider Jeremy Rifkin’s theory, buildings represent 30-40% of the climate change problem. As architects, we are the main cause of climate change... So we need to take it seriously. In the European Union there is talk of a 20% reduction in Co 2 emissions by 2020. Some 20% of our building’s energy will be clean energy with regard to what we consume. Media-ICT’s targets: 1-20% Co 2 reduction due to the use of district cooling, clean energy 2-10% Co 2 reduction due to the photovoltaic roof 3-55% Co 2 reduction due to the dynamic ETFE sun filters 4-10% Co 2 reduction due to energy efficiency related to smart sensors Total 95% Co 2 reduction, the Media-ICT is a NET building almost a net zero building. As an example, if the building code demands a solar factor of 0.45, thanks to the new systems and patents in this building, we can achieve a target of 0.10. Another exemple is photovoltaic roof that produces about 29,000 kWh/year, which represents some 18.8 tones of savings in atmospheric Co 2 emissions. The Media-ICT is this new wave of green architecture, with energy as its principal argument.

What is the ETFE? It is teflon, a crystallized polymer, a teflon-based polymer. ETFE is very light; there are no frames; it is highly resistant (1,500 kg); it is perfect for fire escapes; and it’s an interesting material for public spaces. Dragados has managed to accurately assemble ETFE and the structure, thanks to the use of 3D topography through 3 mm resolution scanners for a 40 m façade.

We now turn to the technical data: A

Study of shade and ratio of urbanity

Calculation of solar energy according to the orientation of the façades: On the north façades there are 2,000 watts per hour On the south façades there are 6,500 watts per hour This is a difference of 300%

see pp. 210 and 211

see pp. 212 and 213

The ETFE skin enables us to build these design values: SA Solar factor open 0.35 SA Solar factor closed 0.10 CAC Solar factor without fog 0.45 CAC Solar factor with fog 0.10

Take a look at the CAC faรงade SF with fog value of 0.10, in other words 4 times more effective than the TBC.

see pp. 214 and 215

Results: Basic building energy balance ETFE building energy balance and ETFE open ETFE building energy balance and ETFE with fog

15% photovoltaic production, clean energies 25-30% with district clima, of clean energies production 45% of emission reduction because of the ETFE skin 12% of use reduction because of the sensors intelligence

see pp. 216 and 217

Total 87% - 92%, Media-ICT is a NET building, we are near the zero emissions building. see pp. 218 and 219

Who governs this? It is not the user who plays with this performance, but the interior energy law of the building. It is the building that decides. The building creates and coordinates a vertical cloud to filter the sun, the building creates it and repeats it over and over again.

INNOVATION This is our formula: Energy efficiency as a catalyst of innovation. Today sustainability is not an issue for experts. Thanks to the building code, sustainability has become law. There are four major buildings in the world with ETFE: Eden in London: the transparent ETFE cladding creates a microclimate. Arena in Munich: the EFTE covering complete with lighting creates an icon. Beijing Water Cube: the EFTE cladding with its double illumination creates an icon. And now the Media-ICT: ETFE with three layers, with intelligence, without lighting, not as an iconic style of architecture, meant for the media, but certainly energy performative architecture.

Water Cube, Beijing

Media-ICT, Barcelona

And I would like to emphasize it is not about icon architecture or star architect, but energy efficient performative architecture. This is the first ETFE building in Spain. In the industrial age, solar solutions were physical, mechanical, hydraulic... Take the Arab World Institute by Jean Nouvel in Paris as an example. But, the digital world moves with particles, with simple elements, with steam, air with atmospheric and gaseous worlds. As Terence Riley says of our architecture in the catalogue of the MOMA exhibition: â&#x20AC;&#x153;... we carry out performative architecture.â&#x20AC;?

Milestone: a cloud of nitrogen A vertical cloud filtering solar radiation

The building creates a vertical cloud of fog, increasing the density of the air of the ETFE cushions with nitrogen particles, the SF (solar factor) of the building goes from 0.45 to 0.10. Can we prevent a sunbeam, ray of light, heat from entering the office, while creating certain particles so that the sunbeam is broken down and the solar factor is lowered? Yes, we can. 80% of the fog is composed of nitrogen particles. Results: These two patents are created in ETFE: ETFE Diaphragm, ETFE Fog. Our buildings should be performative. Architecture is no longer on/off, a/b, it is a dynamic architecture. We have to make architecture as similar as possible to these natural plant processes pursuing, and performing, what activates its photosynthesis, its physics, its chemistry, its inner material.

ECONOMY According to Jeremy Rifkin, we are heading towards a New Humanism, with architecture that empathizes with the enviroment and towards a new economy.

There is talk about the GREEN SHOOTS of the economy ... this building is one. It is in total ALIGNMENT with the objectives that El Consorci have talked about: technical and economic rigor, competitiveness, sustainability... This building has cost 24,5 million euros and has a ratio of 1,234 euros per m 2 above ground level. Therefore money will not be an excuse for not fulfilling the GREEN NEW DEAL.

3 PROJECT PARAMETERS A parameterised modular building where everything is interrelated and linked, and with maximum flexibility and more floor space for use by people

Background: the Cloud 9 experience with projects prior to Media-ICT

THEATRE SPACE

CINEMA SPACE

This exhibition aimed to be a tribute to life. It intended to awaken fascination for biological diversity, to explain the complexity of life and to promote esteem and veneration for it. The oval space used its walls to act as a support for images to become the setting for a Expovida Exhibition Barcelona, 2004

Habitat Homes Barcelona, 2005

This building featured a vertical garden system, which could be generated and manipulated by means of a graphic interface, where the written parameters were interrelated with actual physical elements: plants, colour and type.

x xx /// radius = 2.5 m surface = 19.5 sqm

Inv . 02-01 s ala reunion /// radius = 2.5 m surface = 19.5 sqm

/// radius = 2.5 m surface = 19.5 sqm

Inv . 02-03 s ala reunion

/// radius = 2.5 m surface = 19.5 sqm

Inv . 02-02 s ala reunion

/// radius = 2.5 m surface = 19.5 sqm

xxx

/// radius = 3.1 m surface = 30.2 sqm

Inv. 06-03 light lab small

/// radius = 3.1 m surface = 30.2 sqm

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Inv. 03 dark lab

/// radius = 3.6 m surface = 41 sqm

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/// radius = 4 m surfac e = 50 sqm

xx x

/// radius = 4.5 m surfac e = 60 s qm

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Tra. 12 apartamiento

/// radius = 4.7 m surfac e = 70 s qm

xxx

/// radius = 5 m surface = 80 sqm

xxx

/// radius = 5.5 m surfac e = 95 sqm

xx x

Inv. 04 dark labs

Inv. 05-01 light labs

Inv. 05-02 light labs

/// radius = 6 m surface = 120 sqm

xxx

/// radius = 7 m s urface = 154 sqm

xxx

/// radius = 8 m surfac e = 201 sqm

x xx

Ele. 19 auditorio

/// radius = 9 m s urface = 254 s qm

x xx

Inv . 01 oficinas inv estigadores

FACTO RY radius = 20 m surfac e = 1256 sqm

FACTORY radius = 20 m surfac e = 1256 sqm

Nature is an accident in balance: the Forest building. This building has learnt from natureâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s behaviour as regards energy use and is an attempt to construct nature as part of the new urban faĂ§ade of Barcelona. This building is a forest; it is akin to a tree. Each leaf is a particle that produces and emits energy. The architecture of Hotel Forest is a network of 6,000 cells that capture solar energy during the day and emit light at night. The colour of the light reflects the amount of energy it has collected. The tree acts as a diagram of the daily weather conditions in the city. Your room is a tree.

Inv . 02-05 s ala reunion

/// radius = 3.1 m surface = 30.2 sqm

Inv. 06-01 light lab small

Inv. 06-02 light lab small

Inv. 06-04 light lab small

/// radius = 3.1 m surface = 30.2 sqm

Inv. 08/09 lab electro/otro

/// radius = 3.1 m surface = 30.2 sqm

Inv. 07 taller mecanico

Inv. 11-02 lounge

Inv. 11-01 lounge

Inv. 11-03 lounge

Tra. 14 comedor

Tra. 13 shop

Tra. 15 inclusion

/// radius = 4 m surfac e = 50 sqm

Tra. 16-01 teaching

Tra. 16-02 teaching

Ele. 20 oficinas

Hotel Prestige Forest Barcelona, 2006

Inv . 02-06 s ala reunion

/// radius = 2.5 m surface = 19.5 sqm

Tra. 17-04 s tart-up

/// radius = 2.5 m surface = 19.5 sqm

Tra. 17-03 s tart-up

/// radius = 3.6 m surface = 41 sqm

/// radius = 5 m surface = 80 sqm

/// radius = 5.5 m surfac e = 95 sqm

Distribution of the programme over the space. The world around us is composed of plant and mineral particles. What do these particles do? There are rules and functions governing them, also indeterminacy. These particles belong to the worlds of science and fiction. The Fatronik research centre is an interconnected network of particles, of rooms and knowledge. Rooms in the mind.

Inv . 02-04 s ala reunion

Inv . 10-03 s ala reunion privada

/// radius = 2.5 m surface = 19.5 sqm

Inv . 10-02 s ala reunion privada

/// radius = 2.5 m surface = 19.5 sqm

Inv . 10-01 s ala reunion privada

/// radius = 2.5 m surface = 19.5 sqm

Inv . 10-04 s ala reunion privada /// radius = 2.5 m surface = 19.5 sqm

/// radius = 2.5 m surface = 19.5 sqm

Tra. 17-01 s tart-up

Tra. 17-02 s tart-up

/// radius = 2.5 m surface = 19.5 sqm

Tra. 18-03 asociaciones

/// radius = 2.5 m surface = 19.5 sqm

Tra. 18-02 asociaciones

/// radius = 2.5 m surface = 19.5 sqm

Tra. 18-01 asociaciones

/// radius = 3.1 m surface = 30.2 sqm

Ele. 22 sala de junta

Ele. 23 informatica

Ele. 26 comedor

SB. 29 almacen

Surface calculation and form of the mesh/skin

Hotel Prestige Forest

Ele. 21 despac ho

/// radius = 3.1 m surface = 30.2 sqm

Ele. 24 videoconf

/// radius = 3.1 m surface = 30.2 sqm

Ele. 25 desp direcion

Ele. 27 biblio

/// radius = 3.6 m surface = 41 sqm

Fatronik headquarters San Sebastian, 2008

Plotting trees by means of parametric calculations

Damascus zoo Syria, 2008

Design projection / result on scale model

Aviary: elevation

4 CAD/CAM DIGITAL PROCESSES Network-like distributed structure. Complex architecture produced with effective, economic and sustainable digital CAD/CAM processes

Media-ICT structure Agustí Obiol

From a historical perspective, structural typologies have evolved to the degree that they have had to progressively address more complex problems. However, in practically all cases, the greater complexity has been the result of a simple increase in size, with the implications this entails with respect to the laws of physics in general and, in particular, to those of mechanics and strength. In June 1953 when Myron Goldsmith defended his thesis “The Tall Building: The Effects of Scale”, he finally offered a comprehensive answer to the question that was initially formulated by Galileo Galilei regarding limits in the strength of material related to the size of objects, which had already been considered in certain depth by D’Arcy Wentworth Thompson in his book On Growth and Form at the beginning of the 20th century . Goldsmith concluded that structures do not increase in size in a uniform manner; there are changes in scale that he referred to as a “structural hierarchy”. This principle, which Goldsmith initially applied to different bridge typologies, was reworked throughout his life to allow it to be applied firstly to all high-rise buildings, and later to any type of structure. The essence of this principle can be explained as follows: for smaller sizes, all structural types offer similar levels of efficiency; as the size increases, the unit price (impact of weight of the structure multiplied by the surface unit) rises progressively faster for less efficient types. Although it may perplex the average person, certain academic circles consider that the Empire State Building may not deserve to be classed as a skyscraper, and there is some truth in this. Apparently, this building was never designed to resist transversal forces (particularly high winds), which are undeniably the most important determining forces to be taken into account when defining the structural typology of a building of this nature. “Aiming high” ensures stability basically through the accumulation of weight. It should be borne in mind that while the volume of gravitational force (equal to floor surface area) increases linearly with height, wind force increases in function of this variable cubed. Therefore, it would be appropriate to distinguish between a high-rise building, which is one with a sufficient number of floors to merit this classification, and a skyscraper, which, even if not as tall as a high-rise building, is inherently equipped with effective and cost-efficient mechanisms to cope with the impact of such transversal forces. 87

Anecdotes aside, what concerns us is the concept. The moment a higher range structural order was created, the occupation of the interior space could be carried out much more anisotropically, although that did not imply doing away with the basic order, from which the previously-described hierarchy can only be understood. The primary frame of Media-ICT is designed as a large container from which the interior structure (and interior space) unfurls. The container is designed to withstand the overall transversal forces to which the building will be subjected. Unlike the gothic cathedral, the secondary structures that grow inside its interior do not emerge from the f loor but hang from the roof and are projected from the walls. These secondary structures, once their general stabilizing functions are taken away (they neither withstand transversal forces nor are affected by buckling as they use traction) become formalized as planes that are almost f loating in the inside of the container, given that the support elements are simple braces located on the sides of a 14 x 5 metre grid. In this way, the entire internal resistant lattice has no need to reach the floor; it can dissolve perfectly before reaching it, which is what it does. Additionally, once this grid is parameterised by the modulation introduced by the secondary beams in the floor slabs, there is no inconvenience caused by discreetly eliminating some of these modules, creating double and triple interior spaces and establishing complex relations which would be unthinkable in a more conventionally-designed structure. There is still one important question. Hanging up to nine floor slabs, with a free span measuring some 35 m is not a minor problem. Taking into account that, as I hinted previously, the primary elements of the structural frame (the uppermost hierarchical level) are separated from each other by 15 m, a simple analogy of the double-articulated beam would give rise to the appearance of a moment in the order of a magnitude of 15,000 mxt; a figure this size is almost unthinkable in the world of construction. Returning to the earlier concept of the gothic cathedral, updated through the structural hierarchies of Goldsmith and Khan, the most efficient way of resolving this problem is “by exchanging mass for geometry” and adjusting the typological scale. In this way, the primary structure is not resolved by having a thick skin which would become armour; rather it is resolved by letting it extend into the interior of the volume. The most critical elements, the main roof trusses, penetrate into the building to a “depth” of two storeys. With a side of this calibre, they have no problem in being able to

Sancho de Ávila street elevation. Diagram of axial forces in the triangulated area bracing this façade.

RNE elevation. Diagram of axial forces on all bars belonging to the triangular scheme serving as bracing portico deformations

Diagram of deformations on basic portico

Diagram of axial forces corresponding to the basic portico

Diagram of moments corresponding to the basic portico

Diagram of axial forces corresponding to the façade portico

support the stress of the previously-mentioned magnitude with bars, chords and posts, of acceptable sizes (geometry for mass). At the same time, because the truss diagonals, which by their inclination are the most critical elements from a functional point of view, are spread over two storeys, they approach the vertical sufficiently so as to not cause relevant problems in the normal use of the spaces interwoven between them. Like the large diagonal braces on the John Hancock Center façades, they are designed to become elements whose presence can be celebrated instead of being hidden. The impact of the pillars in the lattice is much less, as they are housed in the lateral “service” margins, which are much more segmented spaces by nature and offer no difficulty in holding them. From a more technical and methodological view, the main structural frame consists of four large latticed porticoes, “one f loor high and with one span”, each of them is separated from the other by 14 m. The pillars extend the entire width of the lateral margins of the building (some 3.5 m), while the beams occupy the area of the two upper f loors. These beams form modules measuring 5 m wide, and each of the nodes of the lower chord is attached to a brace. All of the f loor slabs of the lower f loors (what can be called the substructure or second hierarchical order) hang from these braces. In order to minimise the volume of load to be supported, the f loor slabs are of the composite type formed by corrugated metal sheets filled with concrete on site, supported on secondary steel beams every 5 m, which, in turn, are borne by main beams spanning distances of 14 m between the trusses and the macrostructure. The main beams are designed as mixed beams using concrete and steel H profiles in order to lower costs.

Diagram of stresses, porticoes 91

Returning to the main structure, the sections of the main elements (chords of all the trusses and posts of the roof trusses) are resolved by means of box girders reinforced with steel, at times with considerable thicknesses to control their geometric impact as much as possible. This decision brought about the need for in-depth analysis of all the problems caused by sheet tearing, typical in situations where these sheets are subject to important tension from the traction in the normal directions for their planes. For this reason, all the connections between these bars were designed with continuous joins at the head with full welding, or lateral continuity by means of angle welding, but never as front joins. This even brings about the need to use metal sheets with a very precise geometry to form the lateral faces of the nodes so that they guarantee the suitability of the tension f lows occurring through them. The assembly on site was planned with bolted joins, except for some planned specific actions in the construction process, which will be detailed later, involving welding with strict quality controls. It seems quite obvious that, if correctly sized (as it was), this structure was completely stable according to the guidelines defined by the plans containing the “main porticoes”. However, it is evident that this stability is impossible to achieve in a direction perpendicular to the above without any additional resources. This problem could have been resolved by having a number of specific bracing elements in that direction, housed in the so-called service strips adjacent to the two façades where the lines of pillars are located. However, the design initially contemplated for these façades included the placement of “meshes” made from tubular steel profiles to act as a support for the wall, given that most of these bars were already 4-5 m long (even longer in some cases), and taking into account the new requirements in the building code regarding values of wind forces to be considered in the calculations. The result of the stress produced by these forces in the wind hypothesis acting in a direction perpendicular to the façade were specified in a number of transversal section requirements oscillating between 10 and 15 cm in diameter, approximately. A combination of interesting circumstances were produced in this scenario, although some of them, as you will see, were completely predictable: When the wind acts in a direction perpendicular to the façades in question, the bars that support them basically work by bending. In this situation, their sections reach the previously-mentioned dimensions (from 10 to 15 cm in diameter). However, when the wind acts on either of the other two façades (parallel to the main porticoes of the structure), these bars are subjected to bending stresses classified as secondary, as the skins they support are only affected by light pressure or suction, given that the air “slides” over them (instead of head-on impact).

This scale model by Agustí Obiol shows the method that was finally chosen for the façade geometry.

Façade geometry We performed triangulation tests to achieve the best façade geometry.

If the series of bars are connected to the main structural frame of the building, it will perform a laminar function (each of its components working purely from axial stress), with considerable capacity to resist in function of the large surface dimensions of the panel formed by them (once again geometry against mass). Finally, if this entire fabric of bars are set to work in a mesh or network, and they are formalized geometrically to optimise the mechanical response of the whole network, synergies are generated that make it able to support the entire wind force acting on those façades, which then become the main stabilising structure of the building in this direction. Essentially, this is a heterodox revision of the concepts of the bending rigidity index and, especially, the shear rigidity index, which was formulated in his time by Le Messurier in continuation of the research by Goldsmith and Khan. Basically, what Le Messurier proposes is an approach to the “fabric” of the structure that is completely opposed to that put into practice in most cases. The structural frame is not what we have to make the building resist; it’s what remains of the form when we remove all of those parts of it that are not useful (or not sufficiently useful) for resisting. Consequently, what was initially designed as an analogue lattice ends up becoming a digital panel. The concept of digital should be understood here as the result of work as part of a network, not in a chain or parallel to it, and as a “fabric” formed by it which, in turn, reconfigures it through a process of iterative analysis until its functionality for strength is optimised.

Sancho de Ávila street elevation façade structure 93

RNE elevation façade structure

Movie frame

Structure assembly / Lifting

131

The ALE ASTRA proprietary Hydraulic Lifting System (HLS) is designed for vertical movements in both directions for any safety and precision requirements The new computer-assisted version incorporates the latest innovations and advances in the fields of mechanics, hydraulics and electronics.

Unit name:

HLS 2000

Nominal capacity:

2000 KN

Load test:

2500 KN

Nominal operating pressure:

233 bars

Lifting piston effective area:

859 cm 2

Total height:

1867 mm

Weight:

1360 kg

Piston stroke:

480 mm

Safety factor at 2000 KN:

2.5

Maximum number of cables:

SOPORTE RIGIDO

cubierta

STAGE -1 - Execution of the perfectly braced sides of the structure - Assembly of the 8 hydraulic jacks (2 units per truss) - Assembly of the 4 trusses on the ground with the 3 corresponding floor structures

Structure assembly / Lifting stages

SOPORTE RIGIDO SOPORTE RIGIDO

SOPORTE RIGIDO

SOPORTE RIGIDO cubierta

MAIN STRUCTURAL CHARACTERISTICS The building is a square with 44 m sides and with a height of 38 m. It consists of a main metal structural frame consisting of 4 large porticoes separated from each other by 14.5 m, and from which the floor structures of the building hang, leaving the ground level of the building, entry level, free of any structural features. Each portico consists of two large pairs of rigid supports at both ends with the remaining span covered with a truss equivalent to two storeys in height. LIFTING PROCESS The construction system consisted of lifting the set of main truss structures, comprising four trusses, the roof and the two floor structures immediately underneath, by means of hydraulic jacks. Points of interest: The total weight of the structure to be lifted was 672 t. The total height covered by this process was 30 m. Lift speed: 1.5 m/hour 8 hydraulic jacks were positioned, one for each rigid support. Each hydraulic jack pulled a 20 mm diameter steel cable, supporting a maximum load of 120 t.

133

Lifting / Geometries and forces

Structure assembly / Brace in the light well

137

5 URBAN LANDSCAPE This transparent building features a skin that is an expression, a construction system that creates a cityscape and a building-city and building-district dialogue

The Media-ICT building, the digital Pedrera Daniel Giralt-Miracle

It is evident that we are experiencing a peculiar architectural moment, not only directly related to the social circumstances surrounding us, but also with technical, material and environmental conditions of this eventful turn of the century. It goes far beyond the change of centuries and proclaims a transcendental revolution resulting from the infinite possibilities offered by the digital universe. Architecture has abandoned the navel-gazing debate it was caught up in, focused on narcissistic post-modern reflections that placed all of the emphasis on the subject of form, which had also led it to forget its origins and reason for existing: to be at the service of society in form and function. In many cases, it even seemed that architecture had distanced itself from society and that the political, social and cultural concerns that had inspired its best moments had been exiled. What has occurred is that the dominant speculation of recent decades (now seriously questioned) has absorbed architectural design and turned it into part of a star system, so that a limited group of architects or architectural practices have concentrated the greatest amount of architectural output with the aim of creating formal typologies that are disconnected from the true needs of society, without being aware that the chapter of human history being opened would go further than what a number of intellectuals have defined as the third industrial revolution. Nevertheless, some of these professionals have been flirting with the characteristic resources of the digital age, with new materials and new technologies, and not in order to develop their projects or improve them, but simply to make them part of their show. They have not come to the service of new technologies, but have used them without any respect. The most unfortunate result of this behaviour is that they have made public opinion distrust architecture, a discipline which has consequently also been discredited, although deservedly on occasions. Regrettably, the information offered by the most popular media networks highlights the largest, highest and most exotic buildings or projects, regardless of the service they may offer society, in actions that do nothing more than praise and encourage such projects, exponential examples of which are the 818m high Burj tower in Dubai and the 300 artificial islands in Abu Dhabi. These two projects can undoubtedly be included as examples of so-called “show architecture”. This type of architecture should not allow us to forget that important innovations in design, technique and materials are also taking place which are changing the direction of this speciality, harmed by a number of these professionals. Contrasting with “show architecture” is the type that makes good use of the benefits of high tech from the design of a new project to its construction, taking into account new lighter, 161

stronger, more flexible, less opaque, more economical and more sustainable materials and the possibilities they offer. True contemporary architects are aware that they cannot work in a single direction; they have to intertwine fields and combine different experiences, and they need to do this with the rigour of a scientist, the freedom of an artist and the sensitivity of a sociologist or anthropologist. Triangulating disciplines, tools and needs is more important than creating containers with strange forms and garish colours for glossy magazines. This is what Enric Ruiz-Geli has understood. I would even dare to say this has probably been the major concern of his designs and those of his team Cloud 9. Going beyond mere fashion and the application of repetitive formal resources, they have taken issues related with technical innovations into account in their projects, but also those related to economy, energy security, climate change and sustainability, among others. All of these factors concern the contemporary world because not only do they affect the present, but they also threaten our future. It is not about creating new buildings, but of changing the paradigm of public and private spaces and adapting them to peopleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s real needs, in their daily lives, at work, in their leisure time and education, and so on. We can discover this concern and philosophy in the Coney Island aquarium project in New York and in Villa Nurbs in Empuriabrava, and, more explicitly, in the Media-ICT building in Barcelonaâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;a cube that shows innovation in its construction, in its performance, maintenance, structure, skin, in its uniqueness and the versatility of its usable spaces, which is actually a manifesto of everything Ruiz-Geli wants his architecture to encompass. It is understandable that it was quite a challenge taken on by the architect and his team to undertake the commission received from El Consorci de la Zona Franca de Barcelona to erect a building at the service of information and communication technology (TIC in Catalan and Spanish) in 22@, which aims to be the technology district of Barcelona. This area features restored former industrial buildings, new buildings and experimental structures to encourage sustainable development compatible with the advances in technology and communication that typify the globalised world, and also contains housing, service infrastructure, industry, new technology companies, research and education facilities, among others. Precisely as a result of having received such a specific commission, it would have been easy for the architect to let his ego, which too often defines architects, carry him away and design an ostentatious tower. On the contrary, however, the building was never designed as such. It is a large container, like a technological platform featuring nine extensive and open plan storeys, to house those people who work in an almost intangible world, with their bits, connectivity, new materials and nanotechnology, who work on the Internet and with it. Ruiz-Geli actually defined a laboratory, a nursery, a cluster where the development of the new information and communication technologies, companies and activities in the audiovisual sector could take place naturally, with services devoted to education and training, research and the transfer and dissemination of these new technologies. This is why I feel the Media-ICT building is an advanced design, so much more if we pay attention to its original structure of braced frames, to the openness of the floors, the light that floods each level, to the ability of the building to capture light through colour, to the dosed layout of densities, etc., and particularly to the outer walls, given that all of the faĂ§ades are different. Those that are least exposed are glazed expanses, and the other two, which receive the most sun, feature inflatable bubbles. Besides their function of thermal insulation and sun shade, these play a big role in expressing the formal personality of the building. Their EFTE skin becomes a great mural and, depending on the thermal needs 163

of the building, provides colour and beats, offering a triangular pattern of full and empty, concave and convex forms, resembling molecular structures or the skin of a reptile. It is no surprise then that the structural system, colours and materials lead the building to be associated by some analysts with the parisian Centre Georges Pompidou by Rogers and Piano, although the system of suspended floors in the Media-ICT building has a completely different design. On the other hand, the free-form floors and the wavy movement of the façade have seen the building compared to Gaudí’s Pedrera, a building with which, despite the hundred or so years they are separated by, it shares many parallels: the desire to be integrated into the urban landscape, surprising and arousing curiosity of locals; the design giving open-plan floors by transferring all loads to the pillars; the aim of absorbing light through courtyards and façades, which Gaudí achieved by opening great gashes in the façade—he was able to do this because they were not load-bearing—and taking advantage of the building’s orientation, while Ruiz-Geli was able to do this through the use of EFTE on the façade; the desire to give maximum movement to the façade and allow this, through its characteristics, act as an insulating and protective element for the interiors; and in the organic forms found in both buildings. We should also not forget that Gaudí worked closely with the craftsmen of the arts and crafts period and involved them in his projects. RuizGeli does the same, but he collaborates with the craftsmen of the 21st century—high tech technicians. These reasons and the daring nature of the project make it not unreasonable (and legitimate) to state, as Ruiz-Geli himself does with great pride, that the Media-ICT building is the digital Pedrera. Daniel Giralt-Miracle is a critic and art historian.

Casa Milà (La Pedrera) façade deployment according to Gaudí’s original project, dated February 1906, as presented before the Barcelona City Council

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Faรงade development / Executive / Dummy unfolding

Façade design and development Ramification studies force calculation

Façade development / Executive / SDA postbasic study + Agustí Obiol idea

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Façade development / Executive / Executive unfolding

6 ENERGY, ENERGETIC EFFICIENCY New green architecture with energy-saving and generating systems. Featuring sensors and a reactive ETFE skin, this intelligent building regulates energy use depending on available daylight and occupants

Facade Sancho de ﾃ」ila

The third industrial revolution and a new social Europe in the 21st century Jeremy Rifkin

We are approaching the sunset of the oil era in the first half of the 21st century. The price of oil on global markets continues to remain high and peak global oil is within sight in the coming decades. At the same time, the dramatic rise in carbon dioxide emissions from the burning of fossil fuels is raising the earth’s temperature and threatening an unprecedented change in the chemistry of the planet and global climate, with ominous consequences for the future of human civilization and the ecosystems of the earth. The European Union needs a powerful new economic narrative that will push the discussion and the agenda around climate change and peak oil from fear to hope and from economic constraints to economic possibilities. That narrative is just now emerging as industries across Europe begin to lay the groundwork for a post-carbon third industrial revolution. The need for a new economic vision takes on an even greater urgency in light of the just released report issued by the leading US climatologist James Hansen, head of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, and co-authored with eight other leading scientists. Hansen and his colleagues say that the EU Co2 target, the most rigorous of any government, needs to be slashed to 350 ppm if “humanity wishes to preserve a planet similar to that on which civilization developed” and to which life on earth has adapted. According to Hansen, “what we have found is that the target we have all been aiming for is a disaster- a guaranteed disaster”. The new findings, extrapolated from core samples taken from the bottom of the ocean, suggests that if Co2 levels were to rise to 550 ppm, the planet’s temperature would rise to 6° Celsius—previous estimate suggests a 3° Celsius rise in the temperature on earth by the end the of the century—with catastrophic results to life on earth.1 After the Copenhagen Climate Summit in 2009 organized by the European Union, it is critical that we reframe the European and global discussion on climate change and energy security to the mission of making the transition from the second industrial revolution to a Third Industrial Revolution. If we do not succeed in reorienting the climate change and energy agenda from burden-sharing to commercial opportunities, it is likely that the Copenhagen Climate Summit will not achieve its full potential, with untold consequences to civilization. The key, for both Europe and the world, is to lay out a compelling “social vision” to accompany the new economic vision. The third industrial revolution provides the framework for the birth of a “new social Europe” in the first half of the 21st century. Just as the distributed IT and internet communication revolutions dramatically changed the social context, as well as the economic parameters of doing business, a distributed renewable energy revolution will have a similar impact on Europe and the world. 199

Media-ICT ETFE

3.63 3.27 2.91 2.54 2.18 1.82 1.46 1.10 0.73 0.37 0.01 0.00

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Diagram of cushion surface tension on Sancho de ﾃ」ila faﾃｧade

rotation point

rotation point mainboard

mainboard

B type mainboard

mainboard sheet e=8mm B type mainboard

sheet e=8mm

structural tube

sheet e=8mm

structural tube structural tube

A type bracket: final radius varies according structural tube Double type bracket: type 95 type 127 Bracket length varies 50% between elements type 101,6 type 139,7 Final curvature varies according structural tube type 108 type 140 type 114,3

Double type bracket: Bracket length varies 50% between elements Final curvature varies according structural tube

perimetrical profile of faﾃｧade CAC, 100 x 100

sheet e=8mm

mainboard mainboard

board 90x90, e 8mm mainboard

sheet e=8mm

structural tube Special simple bracket: Bracket length varies 50% between elements Final curvature varies according structural tube

Bracket to box profile, CAC/SdA

Detail of Sancho de ﾃ」ila cushions

Calculation of different cushion types by finite elements As a first step for the definition of the brackets (the elements joining the structure and the faﾃｧade), a calculation was made of the finite elements of specific cushions, giving an overall idea of loads and faﾃｧade behaviour.

Isometric view of curved corners

Media-ICT ETFE

Detailed views of types of brackets with ETFE The join between the ETFE façade and the structure required a solution that is adapted to the angles and different distances between the cushions and the secondary structure. Brackets were chosen as a solution. They were defined in a 3D model. A file was generated directly from that model in order to cut the elements using a laser-cutting machine with numerical control. This enabled more than 600 different brackets to be made. Fastening elements between the secondary structure and the cushions

Standard diagram Parameters for curved corners on the Sancho de Ávila façade

Cushion corner solution on Sancho de Ávila The meeting of the two radically different CAC and Sancho de Ávila façades required a specific solution. These cushions create a transition between these two types as a “curved corner”. Generating cushions with this complex geometry required structural support for the inner layer of the cushion.

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CAC faรงade details

Media-ICT ETFE

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Faรงade development / Executive / Seville Biennale

One day and one night Iwan Baan

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Media-ICT Luis Ros

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