6. Modernist wall composition

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 fuels50 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 elders52. 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 51 Maritz Vandenberg, "Farnsworth House, Ludwig Mies van der Roche" (London: Phaidon Press, 2003) 13 52 (Vandenberg 2003) 13

thought to have insulating properties, but such air spaces are of limited value without insulation to

keep the air still. Convection currents in this cavity would allow heat to easily escape from the building”53

The simplistic cavity wall construction typology of Le Corbusier can be deceiving in nature, solely

considering the tectonic description of the facade one would be inclined to consider the wall a

typical load-bearing structure comprised of a double-leaf masonry concrete block, lined with a

cement-based material, plaster, or stucco. This is not the case, we understand that the load bearing

structure is primarily taken through reinforced concrete columns and floor slabs. Le Corbusier coined

this typology as ‘Dom-Ino’, modified from an existing ‘Hennebique frame’. ‘Dom-Ino’ positions

concrete columns at the end of floor slab(s) and moved inwards, resulting in the opening(s) for

structure to be independently positioned and configured where the façade acts as a separate entity

to be formed and utilised more flexibility. This independence from structural responsibility resulted

instead of vertical windows dependent on traditional masonry excisions but long, free standing

horizontal windows, informed by light and the opacity of façade. So much so that the timber ribbon windows of Le Corbusier used in the ‘Dom-Ino’ typology are synonymous with open, light spaces54 .

The marriage of this theoretical position and technological innovation was able to reduce the

thickness of a façade from 600 to 300 mm, when considering the removal of traditional concrete

blockwork (300 mm).

Concrete, which makes up the bulk of the materials used in the Villa Savoye has been branded by the Guardian (British Newspaper) as “The most disruptive material on Earth”55. Concrete, made up of aggregates, water, and cement accounts for 8% of all annual carbon emissions56. Portland cement,

through a twofold release of carbon is the biggest contributor in the emissions of concrete. Roughly

half of the emissions are released in production where the compound of clay and limestone is

heated, by fossil fuel driven kilns to 1500 degrees, then ground down to power. The second half of

emissions are attributed to the ‘calcination’ or de-composition, an exothermic release of heat when acting as a bonding agent57 .

The quantity and variety of cement used in the façade is responsible for increasing the amount of

embodied carbon dramatically. The wall, assumed to consist of the air cavity (in double-leaf masonry

53 (Ford 1989) 245 54 Andrea Deplazes, "Constructing architecture: Materials processes structures, A handbook", (Basel, Switzerland: Birhkauser, 2018) 55 Watts Jonathan, “Concrete: The most disruptive material on Earth”, The Guardian, 02/2022, https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2019/feb/25/concrete-the-most-destructive-material-on-earth 56 Preston, Johanna Lehne and Felix, "Making Concrete Change: Innovations in Low-carbon cement and concrete", (London: Chatham house, 2018) 5 57 Ibid 18

construction) as a natural insulator varies between 1.34 and 3.19 W/(m²K) when considering the

concrete lintel - which spans the breadth of the façade above the window frame. This would suggest that the Villa Savoye would lose heat roughly 10 times the rate of a typical house wall (0.29 W/ (m²K, comprised of 140mm insulation)58 and 20 times the rate of a Passivehaus wall (0.15 W/(m²K)59 .

Previous studies of the structural frame in the Villa Savoye suggest that major cold bridging occur where the U-Value reach up to 2.6 W/(m²K)60 .

These ‘U-values’ has little consequence to the casual reader but have dramatic implications when considering the fabric of our newly built homes of the 21st century. A Passivehaus, is a building that

meets technical standards and requirements in respect of; a comfortable, healthy, and durable home with exceptionally low energy costs61. The typical Passivehaus standards, considering a ‘U-

value(s)’ within the floor, roof, and walls are key metrics to determine the thermal performance of

buildings, the ‘U-value’ indicates how successful a building can retain heat that affects the amount of

energy, electricity, therefore carbon is used to power Villa Savoye.

I acknowledge that it was not aware to Le Corbusier, among others the potential for fossil fuel consumption to cause devastating climate change62. Comparing the Villa Savoye to Passivehaus

standards demonstrates the changing of attitudes over the last century, to bring awareness behind

the intent to design buildings in the way we do. The Villa Savoye was conceived and designed from a

theoretical position stipulated by Le Corbusier; an important fact to consider as we have and

continue to be inspired by architectural icons from the Modernist period, we should also consider

the impact in which the materials we use have on the planet.

The Façade for the north-facing elevation of the Villa Savoye releases 45.4 kgCO2e/m2”63. The equivalent to 21,792 kilograms of Carbon-dioxide when accounting the habitable floor area (480 m2). If we consider then, 21,792 kgCO2e is the approximate amount of carbon released in the production

of materials for the facades of the Villa Savoye. So, if the average UK person travels 11,000 km in a car per year and a typical 5 door hatchback produces 106 gCO2e/km. This would equate to a

Volkswagen polo being able to drive halfway to the moon or 5 times round the circumference of the planet for the same carbon expenditure64 .

58 Sophie Pelsmaker, "The Environmental Design Pocketbook", (London: RIBA Publishing, 2015) 265 59 Janet Dadedy, Cotterell & Adam “The Passivehaus Handbook: A pratical guide to constructing and retrofitting buildings for ultra-low energy performance”, (Cambridge: Green Books, 2012) 21 60 Colin Porteous, “The New eco-architecture: alternatives from the modern movement”, (London: Spon Press, 2002) 12 61 (Dadedy 2012) 62 (Calder 2021) 345 63 Appendix: 2 64 Appendix: 3

6.2 the Farnsworth house. Mies van der Roche.

“The Farnsworth house has this in common with Cannery Row in Monterey California; it is a poem, a

quality of light, a tone, a habitat, a nostalgia, a dream. It has about it, also, an aura of high romance”65 .

If the Villa Savoye is considered a ‘machine for the living’66, the Farnsworth house rejects the co-

habitation of man and machine, to focus rather, broadly on the sentiment: “that of being at one with Nature, and with oneself”67. The significance of Farnworth house to this study concerns materials, a

juxtaposition of design ambition and environmental consequence; to design a building that acts as

an extension of nature but constructed using man-made materials which release an immense

amount of carbon emissions in production.

“At Farnsworth, the dawn can be seen or sensed from the only bed in the house, which is placed in the

northeast corner… shortly after sunrise the early morning light, filtering through the branches of the linden tree, first dapples and then etches the silhouette of the leaves in sharp relief upon the curtain”68 .

The Farnsworth house is an architectural icon, not only for creating moments like this figure 12 but also to the embodiment and purity of Modernist principles, that principally reject traditionalism69. It was only in the 20th century that the advancement of technology has permitted such idyllic moments

of tranquillity to be made available to the masses through the availability and standardisation of materials70 .

One could argue that Palumbo’s description of waking up in the Farnsworth house could not be achieved structurally or tectonically without such a thin skeletal structure71, only available

throughout materials with a high strength to weight ratio like steel or concrete. We can assume

then, that Mies is reliant on the materials he selected in the façade and structural frame to sculpt

the atmosphere and inform the position of spaces in relation to the angle, movement, and pattern

of light throughout the day. The rudimentary form and structure of a low-volume was sandwiched,

between floor and roof slabs comprised of wide-flange steel sections that join onto welded half-steel

beams to form a perimeter bar, to border the laterally supported steel decking figure 13. “The

65 (Vandenberg 2003) 5 66 (Corbusier 1986) 67 (Vandenberg 2003) 5 68 (Vandenberg 2003) 69 ibid 70 (Calder 2021) 71 (Deplazes 2018) 131

resultant box is enclosed by a plate-glass skin, an apotheosis of Mies’ phrase ‘almost nothing”72. One

can notice the similarities between Le Corbusier’s ‘Dom-Ino’ and Mies’ ‘almost nothing’ design

statement, the grid-based approach to transfer the loads of roof and floor slab(s) through a

structural frame result in the facades becoming non-loadbearing.

In comparison, steel releases 27 times the amount of carbon dioxide than concrete (0.1 kgCO2e - 2.7 kgCO2e)73. Not usurpingly then, the typical façade of the Farnsworth house releases 217.6 kgCO2e/m2”74 or the equivalent of 44,825.6 kilograms of carbon-dioxide when accounting for the floor area (206 m2).

72 Kenneth Frampton, "Modern Architecture: A critical history" (London: Thames & Hudson, 2007) 235 73 Jones & Hammond “Embodied Carbon the ICE Database” 74 Appendix: 4

6.3 the Breuer house, New Canaan II. Marcel Breuer

“The European economic and political crises of the 1930’s and the social provisions of Roosevelt’s New Deal brought to the United States both a refugee intelligentsia and extensive programmes for social welfare and reform”75 .

Among the wave of intellectual refugees to the United States, such as Corbusier and Mies were

Marcel Breuer, along with Walter Gropius. Breuer and Gropius immediately began a four-year long

collaboration, together reinforcing an allegiance to regional conditions and materials but also a return to other modernist norms76. The continuation of the international style practiced by Breuer in

the United States was shaped by the great depression of the 1930’s which brought great finical

strain to all facets of society. The domestic market shifted from to the use of more simple, economic,

and low skill construction techniques such as the ‘platform-based balloon’ system. The typical client

of Breuer consisted of well-educated professional from a middle-class background, seeking an architect-designed house with substantial property and occasionally costly requirements77. Small

scale residential commissions made up much of Breuer’s portfolio which lacked the financial

investment into the use of steel frame structures typical to the Manhattan or Chicago skyscrapers.

This was replaced using more traditional materials of abundance in North America such as timber, to

Le Corbusier this would be a regression from his Villa Savoye.

“Breuer’s notion of approximating reinforced concrete in wood, where walls become rigid slabs

(instead of covered frames) and act as stusses, was applied also to the designing of wide openings for windows with increasing the weight and size of the lintels without metal or brick”78.“The tectonic goals

appear to coincide with buildings performance objectives: the frame of squared sections carries the load, inner sheathing provides the rigidity, and the outer sheathing closes off the frame, in which the thermal insulation is embedded, thus holds the complete sandwich together. Finally, on the outside another layer protects the sandwich”79 .

This layered style of construction marked a search for the ideal summer house for Breuer80 ,

synthesised from the economical, adaptability to the site, flexibility to the number of occupants to

75 (Frampton 2007) 238 76 (Porteous 2002) 19 77 Isabelle Hyman, "Marcel Breuer, Architect. The career and the buildings", (New York: Harry N. Abrams, 2001) 124 78 Ibid 234 79 (Deplazes 2018) 77 80 (Armesto 2001) 52

facilitate the ‘American dream’. Breuer in his search developed a typology still used today and

synonymous with zero carbon architecture. The Passivehaus design guide stipulates that there is no requirements for the materials used in the building fabric to ascertain Passivehaus certification81 .

Discussed in chapter 5 is the holistic identity of low zero carbon buildings, that they should consider

the use of ‘natural materials’ such as timber or cork in the building fabric. “For a ‘typical’ house the

embodied energy is up to 10 per cent of total energy over its lifetime; for a low-energy house this may rise to 30 or 40 per cent”82 , this is the basis in which Passivehaus requirements are set to focus rather

on the operational requirements on regular homes than Zero carbon buildings. The lack of clarity to

not suggest requirements when considering materials in the building fabric is slightly confusing- as

buildings reduce ‘operational energy’ use, the embodied carbon of materials become a significant

factor in attempting to design zero-carbon buildings.

Why are ‘natural materials’ key to zero carbon design?

‘Natural materials’ are specified by their association and origin to ‘bio-based’ products. Derived

primarily from timber (that have very little or negative ‘embodied carbon’) during the lifecycle of

timber; before it is source and manufacture into products, they absorb carbon during

photosynthesis. This term is known as ‘carbon sequestration’. It is important when sourcing timber it

can only be considered sustainable when gathered from a protected forest, where the quantity of

timber is regulated to mediate its removal and addition of lumber.

Knowing this, the typical façade of the Breuer house releases 27.1 kgCO2e/m2 83 or the equivalent of 7452.5 kilograms of carbon-dioxide when accounting for the floor area (275 m2). When accounting for ‘carbon sequestration’, -17.2 kgCO2e/m2 or -4719 kilograms of carbon-dioxide84 .

81 (Dadedy 2012) 82 Ibid 62 83 Appendix: 5 84 Appendix 6