Responsible Architecture : How to build green, healthy and affordable

Responsible Architecture

How to build green, healthy and affordable.

Master Thesis

Zabolski

Written and illustrated by Lukasz

Scuola di Architettura Urbanistica Ingegneria delle Costruzioni Course of Master Degree in Architecture and Urban Design A.A. 2021/2022

Graduation Session December 2022

Supervisor: Professor Salvatore Viscuso

Student: Lukasz Zabolski / Matricola 964555

This thesis’s ambition was to create a guide for sustainable architecture.

It is a set of sustainable strategies which have an actual impact on carbon footprint reduction.

It promotes a responsible approach to design where sustainability is a design challenge rather than a PR boost.

The time to act is now.

Personal motivation

Writing about this topic inspired me from the beginning of my architectural education. As a young, motivated student I was looking for various ways to develop my architectural style. It was not long until I came across the word ‘ sustainability ‘ which as it turned out was not as simple as I believed it to be.

This thesis purpose is to spread knowledge and change perceptions regarding ecological architecture. It encourages a switch in the mindset from wasteful consumerism to a circular, sustainable economy.

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The first thing I did was put the phrase sustainable into the google browser and begin the research. As it turned out, there was not the same definition of sustainability. Some said it is all about making the building net-zero, the others claimed it is related to filling facades with trees. However, as I matured as a designer it became clear that most of these theories were the enemy of sustainability - greenwashing.

Sustainability can’t be like some sort of a moral sacrifice or political dilema or a philanthropical cause. It has to be a design challange.

By definition and logic, the word sustainability stands for its ability to sustain. Yet, nowadays many inventions called as sustainable, for example electric cars or solar panels, are just another way to produce more and sustain not so able.

Bjarke Ingels

To act within the Planet´s climate budget, we must globally reduce our emissions by 96% from today´s emission levels in 10 years. However, the building industry contributes significantly to climate change by consuming roughly 40% of global energy use and emitting 39% of all greenhouse gasses globally (Space 10, 2019).

Key words : sustainability, greenwashing, impact

The journey across responsibility

01

02

To begin with

When building green - be credible.

This chapter introduces challenges and design drivers for architecture and urbanism in the upcoming years.

These days word sustainable is in vogue and it can mean absolutely everything. Therefore, it is essential to promote credible ecological solutions instead of greenwashing.

Material Passports

Design for health

In order to reduce waste, energy, and carbon footprint it is required to provide tools for circular design. Material passports have the potential to become one of them.

We are spending 90% of our life inside while the interiors in which we live are unhealthy to us. The chapter focus on possible changes to it.

Modernisation of the 1960’s blocks

This chapter discusses what needs to be done to provide enough space for the upcoming increase in the population while making it affordable.

Resdesigning Iron Gate

Research part put into physical design of a housing complex from 1965. What happened to a once revolutionary design over the years ?

Layout revolution Facade and the city

How can we change an existing layout to meet modern and future demands ? An attempt to change the way we perceive housing nowadays.

How can we create iconic facade that blends in within the context? A facade that brings thrill and peace.

Parking utopia Bibliography

How to switch from parking utopia to a park conected to the city? A lesson from the past that can change the future of the city.

A list o bibliography, figure table and acknowledgements.

To begin with

In this chapter :

• What is this thesis all about anyway ?

• Why should we talk about sustainability?

• Challanges in 21st century.

Abstract

The word sustainable is in vogue these days and used for many things, from economic plans to cooking recipes. Not surprisingly it has also landed in the world of architecture and urban planning. The data provided by research lab Space 10 and the renowned Danish office

EFFEKT, shows that the building industry is responsible for nearly 35% of world energy consumption and 40% of world CO2 emissions.

The situation is bad and will worsen as the building industry faces a huge population increase whereby 2060 we expect almost double the global building floor area by 230 billion m2 ( Space 10, 2019).

Nowadays many households are placing solar panels on their roofs, use new sustainable materials and systems. However, with the upcoming increase in population, this will not be enough. “The simplest and most impactful issue to consider regarding climate change is that the most sustainable building is the one that doesn’t get built.”- says Jakob Strømann-Andersen, Head of Sustainability of Henning Larsen. Sustainability is about extending the longevity of what is already built. This approach saves money and time and eliminates the need to waste materials we have already produced.

People tend to spend a big sum of money on new products considered green rather than try to endure the lifetime of products we already have. The word sustainable is no longer valid, it is now a new PR stunt for a developer to build new, cheap buildings covered in greenwashing solutions.

A change to truly ecological architecture requires a shift in mindset not just from architects, but from everyone along the supply chain, clients included (Jakob Strømann-Andersen, 2022). We must set a new design challange - building from what we already have. At the same time, we need to build new , there is no way of preventing that, but to do that entire industry must work on a new system that encourges circular lifespan of materials and products.

To sum up, it is time to stop greenwashing architecture and start shifting our mindsets to make a real impact. This paper explores and examines current trends to create a useful guide for sustainability.

Key words : sustainability, greenwashing, impact

Main Design Drivers | Sustainability

Main Design Drivers | Human

Lonliness Health

Even by living closer and more connected than ever. People feel more and more lonely, anxious and depressed

We spend most of our lives in the buildings which in many cases are not providing healthy indoor climate.

A ordability

The increase in the market prices make it una ordable for most of the people in the world.

•

When building green - be credible.

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Results, not products

Greenwashing is an old way of consumer deception. It relies on the consumer’s need to “ make things right “ with the environment while not having solid know-how regarding what makes the building green and not just looking green. Also, while one ecological solution might be green, its disadvantages outweigh its advantages.

estates that are being sold comapred to those built a 100 years ago.

The marketing claims regarding sustainable construction are becoming less and less reliable. Almost everything fed to consumers is more expensive than effective in making the building green. While installing solar panels decreases our energy bill and CO2 emissions, there are better places to spend money first. We got used to the idea of big companies that the answer for consumerism in the form of bigger, more power-hungry buildings is to pay more, but is that a way to go?

A way to approach pollution reduction is to switch the mindset and change the frame of perceiving green from products to results.

While by improving the energy efficiency of our homes, using electrical cars and tankless water heaters, we realize that no matter how great these technologies are the actuall impact lays in the fundamentals such as : tight ductwork, good insulation and weather stripping. (Charles Lockwood, 2006) These are not only more effective but very often less expensive and by adding individual smart improvements, the houses we live have the potential to become healthier, more comfortable, and even cheaper.

A good place to start is housing. To the data provided by Matt Golden, “ According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration these buildings ( housing ) represent 21% of the nation’s total carbon footprint. “. This is not surprising when we take a look at the quality of housing

Results, not products

Potential carbon savings by increasing building livability

Potential carbon savings by smart choice of soil

Potential carbon savings by swtiching to timber

% Potential carbon savings by choosing low-carbon products

The problem of greenwashing lies in the current mindset where the focus goes on products that seem ecological but are not effective. Instead of using higher quality materials to improve building durability, the focus goes to advertising solutions more pleasing to the eye such as solar paneling, electric car parking spots, or tankless water heaters which as great as they are, they are also covering a bigger picture.

% Potential carbon savings by optimizing shape

Potential carbon savings by reducing slab thickness

Optimizing the life-cycle impacts for anything less than 60 years is not worthwhile ( One Click LSA, 2022). Therefore, if the building design is unable to be built at this lifespan it should be solved by designing either a highly adaptable building or a modular transportable building that satisfies the demand for a shorter period.

In the end building’s sustainability factor is based on a very simple rule: the longer we can use what is already built, the less we build, and the less we build - the less we waste.

Potential carbon savings by applying parking policies

Potential carbon savings by providing flexible layouts

Potential carbon savings by optimizing layers

To sum up, to design green we need to switch our mindset from purchasing sustainable inventions after the building exists to building sustainably from the drafting table. Therefore, the main focus should be placed on the livability of the building which is strongly related to the durability and quality of the materials used for construction as well as the type of it. Moreover, building green

means building less. We should constantly look for an opportunity to reuse what we already have.

process (BAMB, 2017). Working with construction waste requires additional tests, assessments, and consultations beyond the scope of a typical process. Designing for future reuse requires a thorough research on the entire building, its properties,future maintenance , and reuse scenarios.

Reuse/Recy

Nowadays it may delay the start of the project therefore increasing its overall cost. The circular design also faces other challenges, which concern recycling potential, social perception of reused materials, and infrastructural and legal issues (e.g., lack of proper regulations for reused products). These aspects are complicating an already complicated process. (Urszula Kozminska, 2019)

One of the main trends in building green is the promotion of a circular economy. In this model, manufacturing and waste management are reduced by reusing the product or material. The word reuse is crucial here, it is crucial to maintain the material or product’s initial properties and value. On the contrary, in many cases, the word reuse is misinterpreted as downcycling where product value, use, and properties are changed (Matthias Heinrich, Werner Lang, 2019).

However, there is a way to make it successful. There have been studies on implementing BAMB, which is short for buildings as material banks. Its introduction requires a general switch in existing model but it might as well be the only way to truly reduce C02 consumption and meet Paris Agreement requirements.

There are quite a few difficulties facing a switch to a circular economy, apart from greenwashing. To begin with, designing with reused materials is significantly different from the stanard design

Current resource model Circular resource model

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Material Passports

In this chapter :

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•

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Buildings As Material Banks

One of the essential steps toward a circular economy is the possibility to reuse the products already produced. To do so, it is needed to provide data collection principles that will contain all essential sets of information describing the characteristics of systems and materials to give them a new value for present use, recovery, and reuse (Matthias Heinrich, Werner Lang, 2019).

An instrument that provides information on building materials to all people related to building design process is called a materials passport, also known as a circularity passport. The passport is core to introduce circular economy in the building sector as it fill out all of the puzzles that were unabling effective reuse to this day. According to International Resource Panel 2017, the worldwide resource use in 2017 was calculated to value 85 billion tonnes of materials which corresponds to 20 tonnes per person a year on a European level. Moreover, the building sector is responsible for around 40% of both, material resource use by mass and waste production by volume (UNEP, 2016). Therefore, the building sector should be radically changed in terms of resource use to lower the impact it has on the environment. As much as the environment does not speak to the minds of relevant

members of value chains, money does. Keeping in mind the material capacity of our planet along with enormous population growth a resource absence is expected. Following that, the prices of the materials will increase steadily along with it and according to The International Resource Panel estimation, the need for materials will double by 2050.

While the need for materials grows, so does the energy required to produce them. The building sector is already using almost 35% of worlds energy resources and 40% of C02 emissions and the numbers will increase further, with substantial impact on our ecosystem. Based on ongoing trends in material lifecycle the supply of resources and its disposal will only grow in the future.

With all that in mind, one of the most efficient ways to limit the impact on the environment is to switch to circular economy. In a circular economy main focus is to keep prolonging the life of materials and products . In order to make it happen, it is vital to try to preserve the value of the materials, products or componenets at a highest possible level. Nowadays, materials and products are either wasted or downcycled which is the opposite result that circualr design is proposing. Therefore, materials and products used on a construction site should be easily demountable to minimize the contamination and quality loss.

In the past reuse was commonly known and applied, a roman church has been rebuilt over the centuries with a new facade rather than building from scratch. However, over the last 70 years (Hobbs and Adams, 2017) capitalism convinced us that it is cheaper to buy new rather than fix or reuse old. In a way capitalism made sustainability disappear. Apart from that, material and construction products have become more complex, very often mixed in a hybrid material product. Therefore, it is harder to provide precise data that allow future reuse. This gap in information leads to a communication problem between people responsible for the process of designing and constructing the building. Thus, there is a need for providing a standardized strategy for data collection. For a circular economy to happen, communication between all people in the construction value chain is mandatory. A helpful tool to do that can be BIM, which is already a wellfunctioning digital information platform for buildings. With the help of today’s technologies, a collection of a wide range of information might be possible to allow the reuse of materials and products and therefore make architecture sustainable Some of the benefits of material passports are pictured at figure

Material data for circular economy

To achieve a circular economy in the building sectors, a wide range of information is required. Currently, there is no standarized system that will allow analyzing these data. However, with BIM technology this might be possible to implement.

Biological Properties

Timber is one of the biggest construction trends nowadays it should, so the need for renewable materials is bigger than ever. Thus, for these materials and products, biological properties information is required to predict their treatment or biodegradability.

Physical Properties

Physical properties provide a wide range of information and they are unique to each material. As an example, this information may be helpful to determine material durability, maintenance complexity, or its effect on our health.

The knowledge of its biological properties is crucial for its reuse potential or other second-life option within its biological cycle. Also, it allows for proper waste management after the lifecycle of the material ends.

Identification

Chemical Properities

Chemical properties provide vital information to determine the safety of what we are putting in our buildings. For example, as part of a Cradle to Cradle certification process, all materials and substances at a level or above 100 parts per million must be reported as well as any banned chemicals coming along with it ( McDonough et al.2012). Also, they provide information of material durability.

With the high complexity of materials and products, it is crucial to provide an efficient way to identify them. Proper identification will be a key to a smooth reuse and second-life process thus making the entire operation more affordable. At the same time, it will not only help the construction process but also allow more efficient logistics.

Design and Production

The quality of the material or a product, the way it is designed and manufactured has a crucial influence on its future. As already mentioned in previous chapters, sustainable means being able to sustain as long as possible, and material durability is strongly related to its quality. Quality positively influences the environment and our health and it should be the main motivator from extraction through manufacturing and reuse. A design that is focused on the ability of the product for easy disassembly, durability, and reuse capacity is fundamental for the proper functioning of a circular economy. It is easier to make a circular building where all of the components were designed with the same philosophy rather than making a circular building from components designed to be a waste.

Construction

In a linear design, the selection of materials and components for the building is usually the beginning of the construction process. On the contrary, in a circular design, this process becomes a bit more complex as it requires full documentation of materials and the relationship between them. Therefore to ease the process it will

be required to develop a standardized method of data collection easily accessible to everyone involved in the construction process. Nowadays, a preferable and almost complete standard way to document these is by the use of BIM. What is more, information will be gathered during the entire life-cycle of the buildings so when the time for reuse comes, the person responsible for it will have a complete set of information to ensure safety and time-efficient design. With the use of material passports all of the challenges mentioned before, such as environmental (e.g., recycling potential), social (e.g., social perception of reused materials), infrastructural (e.g., lack of processing plants), and legal issues (e.g., non-flexible construction law), can be resolved. However, to do so a new set of jobs will have to be opened to create a well-operating system. Although hiring new employees and system implementation may take some time and resources, they should be outweighed by the benefits of executing this system. Data exchange is an irreplaceable element without which circularity potential will not be achieved and buildings will not be able to become true material banks.

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Only through the provision of data on material and product composition and location within building will circularity potential be achieved and building become true material banks.

This part of the design promotes easily assembled and disassembled components to allow removing parts without damaging them. This approach makes the design easily adaptable, transformable and disassembled. Therefore, increasing its value and reuse potential while minimizing the risks for second life closing the whole process into a loop.

Matthias Heinrick, Werner Lang, “ Material Passports Best Practice “

Usege

For a building to be reusable it is required to document everything that happens to it throughout its entire life-cycle. It is highly important as it not only makes the reuse process more efficient but also - safe. In general this phase documents all operational information regarding the building for example, outside influences (e.g, fire, floods ), consumption (e.g. energy), service life, expected use time, and others.

Circular Design

There are financial benefits for the building owners who decide to build within this approach. At first, during modernization and transformation and the fact that buildings can be treated as the material bank. Secondly, double the profit from selling the building as apartments and then selling the building as parts thanks to BAMB practices.

Also, building purpose changes over its estimated time of use, for example, many office spaces in the post-Covid world are no longer needed as many more choose to work remotely. Therefore, transformation potential is more than needed. Moreover, COVID is not a single case, over the years lots and lots of buildings changed their original purpose due to economical, political, and demographical changes. Despite architecture being perceived as a longstanding object, it is the very dynamic form that must be adaptable. Currently, after a building is no longer fulfilling its purpose and stops

being feasible they tend to be demolished. In current practice, it means total destruction of a building leaving tons of materials that might be contaminated, making it unusable for future use. Moreover, these tons of waste need to be managed and disposed of. A big number of CO2 is produced into our atmosphere due to transporting waste. That is also why choosing a compostable building material, such as wood, is advised as it requires fewer trucks to carry while at the same time being able to decompose itself naturally. The difference between disassembly and deconstruction lies in the state of components after their use. Disassembly is minimizing the damage to the component during its dismounting process and therefore, allows the reuse without loss of value or properties.

Disassembly is a more complicated and expensive process than standard demolition. However, once again it is balanced with benefits coming out of it. A financial benefit can arise from selling materials and components after initial purpose and cutting the cost of landfilling. There is a limited number of landfill sites and therefore their prices are rising every year. To cut costs and time of disassembly, it is crucial to keep the model building information up to date. In general, the more information material passports can provide the fastest and smoothest the process will become.

Reuse & Recycling

Reuse is a misinterpreted word these days, it means no loss in value of the material or product while nowadays it is usually downcycled, for example, using former brick wall into paving. Currently, the reuse of building components is treated with a good amount of skepticism due to its quality, information gaps, warranties, legal aspects, etc. It is also less accepted socially as people misinterpret reuse with downcycling. Following requirements must be fulfilled for reuse to work (Matthias Heinrich, Werner Lang, 2019) :

1. Disasemble process methods, knowledge and costs 2. Tool required to perform the operation, transportation modes, storage requirements and labour 3. Material and product composition. Including all potentially harmful substances that endagers health. 4. Physical properties

Location and quantity of porudct in the building

Traceability

Product warranties

Spare parts

Generated by-products

Product ownership

Reuse and recyclbility potential

Second life options

Connection types of products and system itself and connection to a building.

Resifual values

Products exposure history

Geometry/dimensions 17. Affected function after removal

Material passports will be a revolutionary way to provide neccesary information for making truly architecure of tomorrow.

Logistics transportation and logistics are inseparable parts of every life cycle which begins with sourcing new materials and typically ends with the End-of-life phase of the product or building. The aim is to keep materials and products in use as long as possible to minimize the need for transportation and unnecessary generation of CO2.

08. Ilustration of logistics

By reusing products we already have the number of trucks, trains, and ships required to manage transport will decrease and along with it - carbon dioxide.

According to a Lawrence Berkley National Laboratory study, people spend 90% of their time indoors. It is, therefore, essential to ensure a comfortable, productive, and healthy indoor environmental quality by following well-regulated parameters and design practices that consider temperature, lighting, noise pollution, proper ventilation, and the quality of the air we breathe. The latter is especially important since, contrary to what we might think, air pollution is much higher indoors than outdoors (Eduardo Souza, 2022).

Furthermore, material surfaces, especially the first 2cm of buildings’ component cross-section, have the most extensive exposure area

Source Author’s, based on Matthias Heinrich, Werner Lang 2019, Material Passport - Best Practice

All of these factors, with air quality in particular, can be strongly affected by material choices for building materials ( EPA, 1991). Various studies prove that our health is affected by long-term exposure to the wrong materials. As an example, exposure to volatile organic compounds, also known as VOCs, are gaseous emissions from products.

10. Ilustration of indoor and outdoor climate quality percentage

Source Author’s, based on https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34799153/

and, as a result, have the highest effect on air quality. Also, the company’s operational costs are typically consumed up to 90% due to personnel costs. Hence, it is in the company’s interest to provide proper well-being and productivity to the workforce. A smart choice of healthy construction materials reduces the number of sick days and improves mental health and personnel attachment to the workspace. As a result, company productivity and workforce grow.

Also, it is observed that sustainable choice of materials contributes to higher rental revenues and a faster process of deconstruction, recyclability, and reusability. The revenue dictates the building industry it provides, meaning being sustainable means being healthy and profitable. To minimize risks for both people and the environment, products

and materials should fulfill certain minimal requirements in order to minimize those which are harmful. For instance, in DGNB sustainable rating system, noncircular products are rated based on four quality levels based on the material groups presented below.

Substances and chemicals that fall into these categories in terms of their toxicity are ranked as particularly hazardous (DGNB)

- Carcinogenic, mutagenic and toxic for reproduction

- Persistent, bioaccumulationg and toxic

- Very persistent and bioaccumulating

-Similary worrying

-Radiation

-Others Compiling an ecological material component catalog provides quality assurance in the construction process. Moreover, it helps to clarify and detect any potential defect in the building, helps to eliminate those defects, and provides it with cost-optimized maintenance. Therefore, these aspects contribute to the enduring and stabilizing value of the building. To minimize risks for both people and the environment, products and materials should fulfill specific minimal requirements to

minimize harmful ones. The assessment aims to eliminate dangerous substances. Also, if scientific knowledge changes over time, then it can be easily localized and checked due to its information being placed in a material passport. Using more ecological and healthy materials comes with multiple benefits, with the main benefits listed below :

According to a study, Germans spend around 15.5 to 15.7 hours at home daily (Brashe and Bischoff, 2005). The indoor environment is influenced by various factors such as air quality, ergonomy of the space, lighting, and physical design. These hazards contribute to a wide range of human health effects, ranging from asthma to cancer.

For example, in 1960, lead paint was a trendy way to paint walls. It is now known that lead and the dust made from it contribute to health problems among kids, mainly affecting their focus ability. Luckily, after 1978 the paint was banned, and since then 2.2-4.7 points IQ increase was observed among the kids. This improvement yielded nearly 110-319 billion dollars in financial benefits (Grosse, 2002).

indoor air quality produce toxicity pollution for health and the environment after and during their production ( J Hazard Mater,

However, lead is only the tip of the iceberg. Other common hazards are contained in the materials used for building our homes and workspaces. Currently, about 55 chemicals are used in construction that can cause health damage, with the main identified being: asbestos, volatile organic compounds, chromate copper arsenate, lead, and formaldehyde (Eduardo Souza, 2022).

2022). Reduction in embodied energy, energy consumption, CO2 emission, and reusability can positively affect environmental and human health. To do that, there is a need to change commonly used materials into new ones while at the same time providing as much information about them to avoid using any toxic materials for construction. The reasons for not introducing healthier materials in construction are simple - lack of awareness and socioeconomic factors. Also, it is difficult to see the impact of a poor indoor environment in a short period. The effects are not instantly visible, and therefore they are neglected. Moreover, a healthier indoor space could be less profitable, contrary to other home investments (e.g., new kitchen, additional parking space ), as they do not generate a profit when the real estate property is sold.

Most of the time, these hazards are found in conventional building materials, and due to the lack of a system for organizing and exchanging material information such as material passports, they are difficult to identify. For instance, hazardous materials that affect

The question is, are the money we save on our health worth additional years of our life?

The most prominent role in decision-making usually lies in economics, which is no different in this case. Around 66% of people in Poland are getting less than the average national pay ( GUS 2022 ), meaning 56 % of that payment will go to maintaining their households ( GUS 2022). As a result of affordability problems in bigger cities, crowding is increasing, and more people are getting homeless or living in poor conditions. Low-income families are more likely to live in an unhealthy indoor climate. This situation is due to a need for advice and resources to solve such problems. While at the same time, builders, architects, and developers not experiencing these problems lack the motivation to prevent them.

However, construction cost is only one factor making housing prices so expensive these days. No law regulates the prices of the apartments, which leaves them free and unsupervised. Thanks to that, the disproportion between rich and poor grows as apartment price is dictated to those who can afford it, which in most cases is a minority in the country. This leaves the poor with two optionslifetime mortgage or lifetime rent. The first one enables the user to change family size or the possibility of changing the place for various reasons, while the second creates unstable living conditions.

Therefore, making housing healthy will require it to be more affordable. However, the growing need for building more and limited space in the cities becomes quite a challenge. Luckily the solution to it is to build sustainably.

In the previous chapter, the discussion about material passports brought out that by reusing and upcycling, we can lower the cost of the construction process and that the more information we provide into that system, the more sufficient and, as a result, cheaper it becomes. Therefore, with the use of material passports, we can lower the cost of constructing the building and make it more affordable.

The price of renting a place is again not regulated; once again, the market creates it. If we take Milan as an example, it is almost impossible to find a room for less than 400 euros while a studio costs around 1000 euros. The prices, of course, rise yearly as the cities’ population grows and is predicted to almost double in the next 30 years ( Space 10, 2020 ). In big cities like Milan, New York, New Mexico, etc., we can observe an increase in the number of homeless people, which grows despite many of these people having a job. During my time in Milan, it was scary to notice that a lot of food delivery employees were living on the streets, as it simply saved them a ton of money. Homelessness and bad living conditions are increasing diseases and mortality. In Europe, most of the time, healthcare is free and therefore paid for by the government. Even when putting back the moral motivation for implementing changes, economic motivation

should work far better. Long-term savings from healthcare will outrun the initial costs of improving the indoor climate, people’s basic living standards, and our homes’ health.

To make our homes healthier, we must switch from current materials to green, renewable, and healthy ones. One of the essential tools to improve material selection will be the implementation of material passports. Data collection provided for material passports will contribute to higher awareness of the proper material use and create an opportunity for constant improvement of our living conditions over time. Also, to improve indoor health, we need to focus on providing more affordable healthy conditions contrary to the current model, which is why the affordability issues will be described in the next chapter.

Modernisation of the 1960’s blocks

In this chapter :

• Introduction to the history of concrete block from 1960’s

• Strengths and Weaknesses

The past chapters have discussed sustainable strategies for true impact in the future ecological building industry. To do so, we need to transform the text into an example. The most sustainable building is the one not getting built. Therefore the model building is the one that already exists. In this case, the author will investigate modernistic concrete blocks which dominated not only Polish but also the entire Europe cityscape. Furthermore, look for possibilities to bring life back to these complexes in a new, sustainable way. These blocks started getting built in 1960 in almost all of Poland. They dominated most cities’ streetscape, with nearly 12 million people in Poland living in these, over 35 % of the entire population (GUS 2022). Despite how they look, most respond to current architectural design trends. Those buildings cause much controversy. While the majority, if not all of the inhabitants, can agree that their current visual appearance is disastrous, they still have a lot of fantastic qualities. To begin with, the advantages of these complexes are nonchangeable, meaning they are permanent to the space. On the other hand, disadvantages in the form of poor facades, thermoinsulation, or maintenance are fixable. Therefore, fixing these should be prioritized over building new housing to fulfill the Paris agreement by 2030.

12. Prefabricated post-soviet housing blocks Bemowo, Warsaw

Source https://www.fakt.pl/pieniadze/nieruchomosci/mieszkanie-w-wielkiej-plycie-dofinansowanie-remontu-blokow/grqktc8

„The most sustainable building is the one that does not get built”

- Jakob Strømann-Andersen,

Head

of Sustainability of Hennning Larsen

Strengths of 1960’s blocks | All non-changable VS Weaknesses of 1960’ blocks | All changable

Also, from an economic perspective, it is cheaper to rebuild the existing block as we cut off most of the design process, excavation work, construction, and material cost. As a result - being sustainable is profitable.

However, there were multiple attempts to modernize these buildings. Nevertheless, the strategy chosen could be better, as illustrated on the right (fig. 12 and 13 ). Modernization often starts by providing better insulation for windows and walls and then ends by painting it over with a pastel color.

That is why modernization should follow the rules, including material passports, to create a new, coherent, and sustainable redevelopment of these spaces.

As a person raised around these blocks and having easy access to its plans and documentation, author chose a site in Poland. The thesis will discuss the current trends for modernizing the building and analyze case studies. Thanks to that, we will gather a proper amount of information for preparing a design that is not only sustainable but also coherent with its surroundings and, what is more important - the user.

13. Modernised blocks in Gdansk, Poland

Source https://wgospodarce.pl/analizy/74313-na-rynku-brakuje-wielkiej-plyty online August 2022

14. Modernised blocks in Bordeux, France

Source https://wgospodarce.pl/analizy/74313-na-rynku-brakuje-wielkiej-plyty online August 2022

15.

Modernisation - How and Why?

After a couple of decades, most of the blocks built in the 70s required modernization. The housing cooperative is an organization of inhabitants of a residential area, holding funds and responsibility for the well-being of a building. Usually building requires insulation, and the only way to do that is on the outside of the wall. Therefore, after the insulation process is done, the housing cooperative is responsible for a decision regarding facade design (Filip Springer, 2013). After decades of grey, depressing concrete facades, inhabitants want to see the color. It is worth mentioning that older citizens strongly relate the color grey to the communist period of Poland’s history, which many people want to forget.

The Pastel Nightmare

In order to forget grey, renewed blocks are painted in a variety of colors and patterns. However, the result (fig. 14) is relatively poor. Not only are the colors too strong, but they need to be more coherent. While everyone seems to hate this particular way of painting the blocks, its inhabitants love it. While their facades seem horrible, their volume is quite exciting and no worse or sometimes better than modern buildings.

16.

Obstacles

Since the capital and motivation for renovation are there, one may ask why the results of it could have been better executed. The answer lies in the disagreement and lack of communication between responsible people. The housing cooperative is strictly accountable to the inhabitants of the housing estate, and their

Differences in design drivers

The residents of the blocks are usually motivated by a couple of design drivers during modernization. First of all, the financial aspect is as old and known as human exists, in most of the cases the esthetic of the building is not a primary need during the modernization process. Usually thermal comfort and price is far

satisfaction as the users of the space is put into first place. This way, of course, is the right way to do it. Architecture is a very useroriented profession, a fact that architects often tend to forget. On the other hand, while the building is a private property, it is also a part of the city, and coherence within the streetscape is a crucial aspect that housing cooperatives tend to forget.

more critical. Second, painting over the block is fast; in most cases, in most cases, we do not want our block to be renovated for years as it is a long and frustrating process. Third, residents want colors; in the end, a grey area of communism in Poland has left most of the current owners of the blocks scared of anything related to monochromatic colors, so much so that the coherence aspect is

disregarded. Lastly, residents greatly influence the design, and with too many cooks at one table, the result is miserable. There were situations in which architects offered free-of-charge designs to help the situation while the residents decided to design it on their own. On the contrary, cheaply colored facades of the buildings are ruining the streetscape of many cities therefore, its citizens demand a change. Their motivation lies in coherence, quality, and impact on the common good.

Solution

Lots of different aspects must be fulfilled to allow the proper process to be made. The changes must come directly from the governments. A couple of ideas are represented below.

4. A professional architect must foresee the process of the renovation. It is absolutely for the process to have a professional along the way. After all, we are not repairing our cars since this will be disastrous.

Case Studies

To give hope for these blocks’ renovation, we will look at two designs, both completed and conceptual, from France and Poland.

1. Bordeaux, France

1. Introduction of a law requiring the proper institution to validate renovation design.

This project, designed by Pritzker winners Lacaton&Vasal is a perfect example of upcycling. The design is significantly improving the standard and comfort of the residents through more efficient insolation and an increase in the square footage. Three blocks from the ‘60s were modernized with 530 apartments in total. Architects not only improved Thermo insulation and repainted the block, in addition to that, but they also provided extensive glass terraces available straight from the living rooms.

2. Providing additional funds to promote circularity in designs while at the same time increasing their quality.

3. Introduction of material passports to decrease the costs, cut the renovation time and promote circular design.

A proper planning and scheduling of the construction site allowed to achieve the transformation in just 12-16 days per apartment: half day for laying the concrete slab, 2 days for adapting the old façade, 2 days for placing the new façade, and 8-12 days for renovating the

interior. Moreover, this allowed for mounting larger windows and renewing the interiors, and additional space was proposed on the rooftop.

that the block renovation will be performed using large format tiles allowing a pure form to stand out.

In this case, designers try to rethink the current model of housing and add a CLT superstructure on top of it. The purpose of the additional floor is to create a new, bright coworking space for the residents.

Once again, the proposed renovation is simple, beautiful, cheap, and time efficient. Big prefabricated tiles can be easily placed on the facade, while CLT superstructure is extremely fast to build.

19.

2. Tubodzin, Poland

While conceptual designs often lack realism, this particular case is superb. Again, it promotes upcycling; architects rethought the building and its purpose to current trends while at the same time improving buildings’ health and sustainability. The concept assumes

Modernised blocks in Bordeux, France Source eumiesarch.com/fot. Philippe Ruault

Resdesigning Iron Gates

As an example of sustainable transformation of postwar modernistic housing developments, the author has decided to choose one of the biggest in Poland in the strict city center of Poland - Behind The Iron Gate complex.

This housing estate is in the strict city center of Warsaw, on the surface of 63 0000 m2, built between 1965-1972. It was built on the remains of the former Ghetto, which Germans destroyed during World War II. The original design assumed 12 blocks with 16 stories in two different variants with either 300 or 420 apartments per block, which inhabit 25 000 people. However, the initial design has been changed due to pressure from the government. (Anna Szynkarczuk, 2015)

Initial Design - 12 blocks - Cafe and gardens on rooftops

- Balconies and Loggias

- Commercial use of groundfloor

- Shared spaces

Changes By Government - 19 blocks - Cutting down all commodities

Blocks were designed in the spirit of modernism as an attempt to fulfill the ten rules of Le Corbusier. The whole complex was dominated by big beautiful green spaces, which unfortunately

1970 | Completion of first 12 blocks 1990 | Densification of the area 2010 | Densification of the area

1980 | Adding another 7 blocks 2000 | Densification of the area 2020 | Densification of the area 23. Urban development of Warsaw between 1970-2020 Source Authors based on https://gis-expert.pl/warszawa#formularz-warszawa, online October 2022

disappeared due to awful urban planning by the governments who started selling the green spaces to the developers. (Anna Szynkarczuk, 2015) Due to that, the once great design has been killed over the years, green areas are lacking, the number of daylight was reduced, new buildings reduced natural wind flow, and many recreational and common spaces have vanished. Also, renovations made so far have lowered the value of the building. These buildings, however, display a unique place in the hearts of their inhabitants. Despite the condition of the blocks, many people who live there enjoy the social aspect of their apartments. As it turns out, over the years people who live in this state established a wellworking community which is rare. Nowadays, we are connected more than ever, while at the same time, people are more lonely than ever as well. This phenomenon does not apply here, and it is a great success for the architects who managed to design these blocks. While speaking of the architects and their work, renovation should try to respect the previous vision while at the same time following the urge to improve its current condition. Therefore, it will be crucial for this proposal to focus on bringing back the qualities of the building which have been destroyed by poor renovation, such as interior design, facade, and more. At the same time, the author’s ambition will be not to reinvent the wheel but to finish the architects’

vision by increasing the number of shared spaces, improving the landscape, adding balconies, and designing the common rooftop. Thanks to that, not only will the initial vision of the architects will be finished, but the city will also have the prospect of having a true green icon with the big central park in the center of Warsaw.

24. Initial Design https://www.urbanity.pl/mazowieckie/warszawa/osiedle-za-zelazna-brama,b1273 Online October 2022

25. Current State https://kwadratura.waw.pl/katastrofa-naturalna-w-warszawie-2/, Online October 2022

The project design drivers differ depending on the scale. This big estate needs to be analyzed and designed from an architectural, urbanistic, and sustainable point of view. Architectural design will focus on bringing the initial concept to life as a tribute to an existing design. On a more extensive, urban scale the project objective is a connection between the city, landscape, and the people. Finally, the sustainable approach will focus on circularity, health, and affordability.

Design Drivers | Architecture

Design Drivers | Urbanism & Landscape Design Drivers | Sustainability

07 Layout revolution

Initial Layout Improvement Opportunities

The Behind The Iron Gate estate was designed with two different types of modules, to make it easier to identify we will call them Type A and Type B.

Type A consisted of 210 M2 (27m2) and 210 M3 (39m2), 420 apartments in total. The M2 apartments are tiny. When at least two-bedroom apartments are needed, it will be necessary to connect them in two for a 54m2 apartment or provide them with additional balcony space. Also, apartments for more prominent families will be needed.

Type B on the other hand has 300 apartments in total where 80% of which are 48m2 M4 apartments and 60 M5 apartments with 57m2. Once again, connecting a couple of apartments will be necessary to provide a more varied and appropriate layout for different families. However, layout changes will depend on the ownership status of the building.

Another step is adapting the building to current needs. An increase in remote job positions changed our apartments into our offices. Implementing a coworking space is not only a great way to save some space at the apartment but also a great way to improve interactions between the inhabitants while at the same time giving more space for all.

There are limitless opportunities for additional common spaces in the building. These can be varied from gyms, coworking spaces, and leasable party rooms to party rooms and workshops.

The Structure

The new structure was designed in the least intrusive way possible. To do so, the author decided to separate the foundations of a new form from the existing one. The structure is a CLT-Concrete hybrid; the choice of CLT as a primary material is motivated by its low carbon footprint compared to concrete, low weight, short construction time, high efficiency, and the ability for future reuse thanks to easy disassembly. New construction will be attached to existing slabs to provide construction stiffness. It will be possible with the use of a joint expansion system. Based on a similar construction scheme, the author predicts that each balcony’s expansion should take no more than 12-16 days and cost around 10.000 euros per apartment.

A cross section and a detail that illustrate the construction system is presented on figure 26 and 27.

Reusing what we already have is the most sustainable strategy there is. However, with the use of modern technologies and discoveries, we can not only recycle but also upcycle what we already have. Thus, the author envisions a technological upgrade of the building in terms of its energy efficiency, water storage, and indoor climate improvement.

Efficiency

To improve building energy efficiency, the author proposes solar power panels on the second roof of the building. Also, adding a wooden structure in front of the existing facade improves overall insulation and reduces the energy required to heat the apartments. Moreover, by adding more oversized windows, more light is coming into apartments which should slightly decrease the need for artificial lighting. Also, a rainwater tank should reduce the number of water used.

Health

Putting aside obvious interventions, such as removing any toxic materials from the building, the author focuses on improving the indoor climate, a collective of visual, air quality, acoustic,

and temperature factors that contribute to our well-being and health. To start with, a new wooden structure will provide a new insulation layer that improves each apartment’s thermal and acoustic comfort. Furthermore, by removing dark parking spaces in front of the buildings, the surroundings should become much cooler during hot summers. Also, by adding new air vents to the windows, the air circulation in the apartments will improve. Moreover, by adding air-filtering plants to the flats, the overall quality of the air will grow.

The Rooftop When winning a competition, the architects of the Behind The Iron Gate estate wanted to provide a usable rooftop for the future tenants of the building. Unfortunately, this idea never saw the light. The ambition of this project is not only to build sustainably but also to attempt to finish the initial vision of the architects. Also, while reusing existing buildings, we should constantly improve the initial state and adjust it to the users’ current needs.

The Covid Pandemic changed the way we perceive our homes. Many companies switched to either fully remote or hybrid work modality and by doing so, transformed our homes into our workplaces. Therefore, the need for working space is more significant than ever while our space is limited, a perfect design challenge to solve.

At the same time, we are connected better than ever while at the same time, loneliness is noticed to be the highest in history ( EFFEKT, 2020). New developments lack social meeting points and shared spaces, which will bring and develop a sense of community

among the inhabitants. Last but not least, with the upcoming increase in our population, land for farming will become more valuable than ever (Space 10, 2020). There is no planet B, so smart land management will be crucial to provide food growth that will serve people around the globe.

production. The new rooftop is designed to promote social interactions for the inhabitants while at the same time giving them spaces and plants as a joint mission to maintain.

1. Extension

Existing rooftop is extended within new structure of balconies.

2. Zoning

Rooftop is divided into three clear use zones - relax, work and farming. Yet, all of them remaining connected and integreated within each other.

3. Meeting Spaces

Each zone is provided with dedicated social meeting point.

4. Circulation

Despite zoning the layout allows easy circulation to increase social interactions and movement.

08 Facade and the city

In this chapter :

• Analysis of existing surrounding facades

• Facade studies

• Proposal for a new facade that blends within the context

Parking utopia

Concrete Utopia

After World War II, Warsaw was rebuilt after almost 90% of the city had been destroyed. The new masterplan assumed long and broad avenues cutting Warsaw’s city center into smaller pieces, allowing for smooth car traffic. At the same time, the Behind the Iron Gate estate was built, and while the architects designed it with car traffic in mind, they did not predict how big the car’s popularity would become ( Anna Szynkarczuk, 2015 ).

With the growth of the popularity of cars, the city started to build more and more parking spaces and, as a result, destroyed the initial vision of connected parking in the city center. As the years passed, the initial vision behind the initial masterplan began to disappear. Moreover, the current landscape is disconnected and lacks coherence. Therefore, the lack of connectivity due to car popularity is the main challenge in creating an integrated landscape design.

At the same time, the space lacks identity and soul. The estate has been built on a former Jewish Ghetto district; the only thing which remained is the wall located at the south of the urban blocks. A potential link to history can be made to acknowledge the tragic and rich town’s history.

Division

The estate is divided by two main roads into four separate clusters unabling a smooth transition between one another.

Parking Utopia

The estate is disconnected due to unreal amount of car parkings.

1. Parking Utopia

Existing parkings are disconnecting urban circulation.

3. Social road

A new path links all of the buildings to promote interactions.

2. Landscape & The City

By moving parkings underground new landscape is connected to the city.

4. Meeting Spots

Various common spaces are placed along the main path.

Bibliography

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Table of figures

01. Ilustration of sustainability challanges facing architecture in upcoming years. Source : Author’s, based on data provided by : https://space10.com/project/urban-village-project/, page 10

02. Ilustration of human challanges facing architecture in upcoming years. Source : Author’s, based on data provided by : https://space10. com/project/urban-village-project/ , page 11

03. Ilustration of carbon impact based on building lifespan, Source : Author’s, based on data provided by : https://www.oneclicklca.com, page 13

04. Ilustration of potential carbon savings based on different strategies. Source : Author’s, based on data provided by : https:// www.oneclicklca.com, page 14

05. Circular design diagram Source : Author’s, page 15

06. Ilustration of material passport benefits. Source : Author’s, based on Matthias Heinrich, Werner Lang 2019, Material PassportBest Practice, page 18

07. Ilustration of design for disassembly benefits. Source : Author’s, based on Matthias Heinrich, Werner Lang 2019, Material PassportBest Practice, page 22

08. Ilustration of logistics process. Source : Author’s, page 23

09. Ilustration of indoor climate influences Source : Author’s, based on Matthias Heinrich, Werner Lang 2019, Material Passport - Best Practice, page 25

10. Ilustration of indoor and outdoor climate quality percentage

Source : Author’s, based on https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih. gov/34799153/, page 25

11. Ilustration of main benefits of healthy material selection

Source : Author’s, based on Matthias Heinrich, Werner Lang 2019, Material Passport - Best Practice, page 26

12. Prefabricated post-soviet housing blocks Bemowo, Warsaw

Source : https://www.fakt.pl, page 31

13. Modernised blocks in Gdansk, Poland. Source : https:// wgospodarce.pl, page 34

14. Modernised blocks in Bordeux, France. Source : https:// wgospodarce.pl/analizy/74313-na-rynku-brakuje-wielkiej-plyty , page 34

15. Modernised blocks in Gdansk, Poland. Source : https:// wgospodarce.pl/analizy/74313-na-rynku-brakuje-wielkiej-plyty, page 35

16. Modernised blocks in Bordeux, France. Source : https:// budynkowo.pl/news/bloki-z-wielkiej-plyty-mies-rohe/, page 35

17. Modernised blocks in Szczecin, Poland. Source : https://www. polityka.pl, page 36

18. Housing Estate in Sweaden by BIG Source : https://www.archdaily. com/905534/79-and-park-big, page 36

19. Modernised blocks in Bordeux, France. Source : eumiesarch.com/ fot. Philippe Ruault, page 3819. Modernised blocks in Tubodzin,

20. Modernised blocks in Tubodzin, France. Source : https:// kxmgroup.pl/project-tubadzin-wielka-plytka/fot. KXM Group, page 39

21. Modernised blocks in Tubodzin, France. Source : https:// kxmgroup.pl/project-tubadzin-wielka-plytka/fot. KXM Group, page 40

22. Behind The Iron Gate Estate. Source : www.morizon.pl/blog/malehistorie-z-wielkiej-plyty-osiedle-za-zelazna-brama/ , page 41

23. Urban development of Warsaw between 1970-2020. Source : Authors based on https://gis-expert.pl/warszawa#formularz-warszawa, page 42

24. Initial Design. Source:https://www.urbanity.pl/mazowieckie/ warszawa/osiedle-za-zelazna-brama,b1273, page 43

25. Current State. Source:https://kwadratura.waw.pl/katastrofanaturalna-w-warszawie-2/, page 43

26. Initial Layout , Source : Author, page 47

27. Proposed Layout , Source : Author, page 47

28. Cross section , Source : Author, page 48

29. Balcony Detailt , Source : Author, page 49 30. Extension strategy . Source : Author, page 50

31. Rooftop plan , Source : Author, page 52

32. Rooftop Farmhouse reference. Source : https://www. wonderfulcopenhagen.com/wonderful-copenhagen/internationalpress/urban-farming-copenhagen, page 54

33. Rooftop Farmhouse reference. Source : https://www. wonderfulcopenhagen.com/wonderful-copenhagen/internationalpress/urban-farming-copenhagen, page 54

34. Rooftop lounge space reference. Source : https://www.holz-sinsel. de/terrasse_holz.html, page 56

35. Rooftop Farmhouse space. Source : Author

36. Rooftop Farmhouse reference. Source : https://www.holz-sinsel.de/ terrasse_holz.html, page 56

37. Rooftop lounge space reference. Source : http://www.pif.zut.edu.pl// images/pdf/pif-21_pdf/C-02_PiF21_Gadomscy.pdf, page 56

38. Rooftop lounge space reference. Source : http://www.pif.zut.edu.pl// images/pdf/pif-21_pdf/C-02_PiF21_Gadomscy.pdf, page 56

39. Rooftop lounge space Source : Author, page 57

40 Rooftop co-working space reference. Source : https://www.wework. com/en-GB/buildings/krucza-50--warsaw, page 58

41. Rooftop co-working space reference. Source : https://www.wework. com/en-GB/buildings/krucza-50--warsaw, page 58

42. Rooftop co-working space reference. Source : https://www.wework. com/en-GB/buildings/krucza-50--warsaw, page 58

43. Rooftop co-working space reference. Source : https://www.wework. com/en-GB/buildings/krucza-50--warsaw, page 58

44. Rooftop co-working space. Source : Author, page 59

45. Sustainability section. Source : Author, page 61

46. Sustainability section. Source : Author, page 62

47. MBank Legacy Tower. Source: https://www.urbanity.pl/mazowieckie/ warszawa/mbank-i-inni-najemcy-juz-w-wiezowcu-mennica-legacytower,w19198, page 64

48. Ibis Hotel. Source: https://nowawarszawa.pl, page 64

49. Remains of Jewish Getto from World War II. Source: google.com/ maps, page 64

50. Buildings at Walicow Street. Source: google.com/mapsL, page 64

51. The Westin Warsaw Hotel. Source: https://www.urbanity.pl/

52. Buildings at Jana Pawla Alley. Source: google.com/maps, page 65

53. Buildings at Jana Pawla Alley. Source: google.com/maps, page 65

54. Buildings at Marszalkowska. Source: google.com/maps, page 65

55. Lacaton & Vassal’s renovation of a Bordeaux housing estate. Source: https://www.architectsjournal.co.uk/buildings/building-study-lacatonvassals-renovation-of-a-bordeaux-housing-estate, page 66

56. EFFEKT Gellerup City Park. Source: https://www.effekt.dk/ gelleruppark, page 66

57. OhBoi Studio’s New Eden Housing Estate. Source: https://monolot. studio/en/project/novy-eden-apartment-building/, page 66

58. BBGK Architects Sprzeczna 4 Housing Estate. Source: https://www. dezeen.com/2019/06/20/bbgk-sprzeczna-4-warsaw-poland/, page 67

59. Mecanoo Koahsiung Social Housing. Source: https://www.mecanoo. nl/Projects/project/217/Kaohsiung-Social-Housing, page 67

60. Shmidt Hammer Lassen Rocket&Tigerli. Source: https://www.shl.dk/ rockettigerli/, page 67

61. Pueyrredón 1101 Building / Estudio Pablo Gagliardo. Source: https://www.archdaily.com/879076/pueyrredon-1101-building-pablogagliardo, page 68

62. Tuletornen, Sundbyberg Vera Arkitekter. Source: http:// andersfredriksen.com/bost%C3%A4der/tuletornen-sundbyberg39834778#&gid=1&pid=2, page 68

63. David Chipperfield Architects Colville Towers. Source: https:// davidchipperfield.com/project/colville_towers_, page 69

64. OnsiteStudio Casmara Mameli. Source: https://divisare.com/ projects/336968-onsitestudio-caserma-mameli#lg=1&slide=1, page 69

65. David Chipperfield Architects City of Justice. Source: https://www. architectural-review.com/today/city-of-justice-by-david-chipperfieldarchitects-b720-barcelona-spain, page 69

66. Sanjay Puri Architects, Source: https://www.theplan.it, page 70

67. Arkitema Architects D48 NORDBRO. Source: https://www.petersentegl.dk/inspiration/referencer/d48-nordbro, page 70

68. 3XN Tour Tilia. Source: https://3xn.com/news/tour-tilia-grantedbuilding-permit, page 70

69. Existing facade. Source : https://www.whitemad.pl, page 82

70. New facade. Source : Author, page 83

71. Masterplan&Section. Source : Author, page 87

72. Existing and new facade. Source : Author, page 88

73. WTC Memorial. Source : https://www.911memorial.org/, page 89

74. Superkillen Parken, Copenhagen. Source : https://www. floornature.com/superkilen-copenhagen-urban-project-big-superflextopotek-1-11892/, page 89

75. Gellerup Parken, Aarhus. Source : https://www.effekt.dk/gelleruppark, page 89

76. Gellerup Parken, Aarhus. Source : https://www.effekt.dk/gelleruppark, page 89

77. Exterior rendering. Source : Author, page 90

Closing thoughts and acknowledgements

The author would like to thank and give credit to professionals who helped him with his practical knowledge:

Arch. Filip Piwowarczyk from B+H Architects Toronto, who provided the author with additional consultation regarding design.

Professor Slavatore Viscuso for helping the author with entire research and design process along the way.

In addition, a thank you to all of his career co-workers for all of the knowledge shared across the years in terms of work organisation, architectural design and software skills.

And the last and the biggest thank you to all of the readers of this thesis. I hope it was somehow inspirational to you and that you perceive sustainability in a new light.

Responsible Architecture

Thesis

Written and illustrated by Lukasz Zabolski