Andy Chen
Design
Project Zero (or Less) “It is often neglected that the words animal and environment make an inseparable pair. Each term implies the other. No animal could exist without an environment surrounding it. Equally, although not so obvious, an environment implies an animal (or at least an organism) to be surrounded.� James J. Gibson Forty percent of the energy consumed in the U.S. annually is consumed by buildings. In the last 10 years, more concrete has been used in China than in the last 100 years in the U.S. Architecture cannot continue as we know it. But applying sustainable strategies to existing design practices is not an adequate response. Project Zero will investigate the topic of sustainability not as a postfacto addition to an aesthetically motivated contemporary architecture, but as a return to the first principles of ecological thinking. By rethinking the normative approach to site responsiveness and to design itself, the studio aims to produce an architecture that not only behaves sustainably but that also communicates the fact that it does: to produce a new ecological architectural language.
In this studio an initial investigation into redesigning Tadao Ando’s Church on the Water produced a set of strategies from which to draw upon for the design of the Atkinson Center academic building later on.
Church on the Water: Sustainable Redesign
Redesign Iterations & Final Redesign
The Atkinson Ark
Towards a Sustainable Future The Atkinson Ark serves as an architectural beacon for sustainability that strives to embody the mission of the Atkinson Center. It first and foremost achieves its function as an institutional building by housing a labs, a lecture hall, offices, and a large atrium. The Ark also acts as a symbol for sustainability, representing the work going on inside and elevating the institutional goals of the users by integrating it into the design of the architecture. The project uses its performative skin to communicate this to the community of scholars, students, and staff of Cornell to invite them in to collaborate. The architectural design ties Tower Road from the main part of Cornell’s campus towards the other end terminating in the Vet School at this critical point where it acts as an anchor between the two points. Currently the building is able to achieve Net Zero only when the energy demand of the building is near the PassivHaus 60 kWh demand. However, with the project being constructed with Timber it is able to sequester over 3,700 metric tons of CO2 and reduce carbon emissions by over 4,500 metric tons.
Site Responses
Third Level Plan
Diagrams
Facade Geometry
Key Study Model & Sketches
Site Study Models
Sectional Study Models
Larger Building Study Models
Final Model Photos