6. Modernist wall composition The following chapter will challenge an embodied carbon calculation to provide comparable data to bring the focus towards a tailored discussion of environmental design. To provide context, the facades of three Modernist icons: The Villa Savoye (Le Corbusier), the Farnsworth House (Mies Van der Roche) and the Breuer house (Marcel Breuer), provide insights to the different tectonic layering of facades throughout the Modernist period. This will inform the reader the relevance and scope in which an EC calculation can reduce the amount of carbon released into the atmosphere. Barnabas Calder suggested that the technological advancements of materials in the 20th century was made possible by the availability and cheapness of fossil fuels 50 to inadvertently propel the Modernism period to characterise and be defined as a rejection of traditionalism, which has dramatic consequences for design and the environment. “They [pitched roofs] were to be flattened, vertical windows were replaced by horizontal screens, instead of resting on the earth, modern [buildings] must be raised on stiles or exploit the cantilever to appear floating” 51. Maritz Vandenberg likened the rejection of traditional methods to a rebellious teenager yearning to shock their elders 52. However, the playfulness of Vandenberg’s analogy is understated, the correlation between the use of fossil fuel and materials is a distressing one. The “increased transparency and luminance epitomised the Architecture of the Modernist movement and that, glass was liberated by the advancement of production material of reinforcement concrete and glass", such materials of steel, concrete and glass require an immense use of energy to source, manufacture and erect. The selection of the houses and facades are informed by their respective attachment to Modernism and consequence to the environment, the characteristics as mentioned above flat roof, raised building, etc… are embodied to stand as an icon of architecture. 7.1 the Villa Savoye. Le Corbusier, “Typical to Corubsier’s houses of the period, the walls of the Villa Savoye use; hollow pumice concrete masonry, lined with ‘Kalk Cement’ externally and plaster internally. However, no insulation or water proofing was used, figure 11. This cavity was of little waterproofing value; it kept water that had penetrated the exterior from entering the interior but did not allow it to escape. It was probably 50
(Calder 2021) 340 Maritz Vandenberg, "Farnsworth House, Ludwig Mies van der Roche" (London: Phaidon Press, 2003) 13 52 (Vandenberg 2003) 13 51
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