the butterfly effect Led by a deep concern for the natural world, architect Cécilia Gross designs sustainable projects that start small but engender oversize eco-positive results
As a partner-director at ecologically aware Amsterdam studio VenhoevenCS, architect Cécilia Gross is no stranger to green roofs, solar panels, and eco-friendly construction techniques. But the real environmental impact of her firm’s projects lies in their capacity to act as catalysts, inspiring others to play their own important role in the sustainability movement. For instance, consider the meaningful lifestyle shifts set in motion by Het Platform, a mixed-use development that Ven hoevenCS recently completed in Utrecht. To cut down on car travel, the building consolidates rental housing and common work and recreational facilities into a single structure suspended above local rail lines. Given its scale, the complex could have easily come off feeling insular, but Het Platform’s stacked forms and balconies instead contribute to a dynamic, inviting com munity destination. “Densification near a mobility hub is smart,” Gross notes. “But you also have to make it attractive enough to draw people in.” Born in France, Gross is collaborating with the French firm Ateliers 2/3/4 on the 2024 Olympic Games Aquatics Centre in Paris. Along with its innovative timber framework, another of the facility’s green features will be its upcycled seating, manu
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factured from plastic waste collected by Parisian youth as part of a civic engagement program. “It’s making the future gener ation more sensitive to sustainability by inviting them to con tribute to this exceptional building in their city,” she explains. We spoke with the architect about the role that design can play in improving our environmental footprint. From top: The partner-director of Amsterdam firm VenhoevenCS. A proposal for the Butterfly Effect, a web of ultralight photovoltaic film that blocks the air currents created by highway traffic, which can disrupt insect migration patterns.
FROM TOP: INEKE OOSTVEEN; COURTESY OF VENHOEVENCS
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