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Hu m a nkind faces a ch allenge co m pa r a ble in size with
the industrial r evolution; to cr eate a n ecologically sustaina ble society. 2 Further m or e ecological sustaina bility is a pr er equisite for social a nd econo mical sustaina bility. 3 With a u nique position of pow er a nd influence in this dev elopm ent the desig ner h as a choice; to lead or follow. You better sta rt swim ming or you’ll sink like a stone, as Bob Dyl a n put it. 4 These w ritings aim to pr edict how a new a rchitectur e ca n evolv e a nd help cr eate a futur e sustaina ble society, w e call this a rchitectur e Super Sustaina ble. 5 Super Sustaina ble A rchitectur e focuses on sustaina bility as a natur al pa rt of the desig n process equally im porta nt with space, econo my, progr a m, m or phology, light or sh adow. 6 Super Sustaina ble a rchitectur e h as a n ingenious a pproach to sustaina bility as a natur al pa rt of the desig n process a nd ther efor e do not need to obsessiv ely m a ke sustaina ble buildings look “gr een�.
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7 Since Super Sustaina ble a rchitectur e is based on science, calcul ations a nd r esults, its sustaina ble qualities a r e m easur a ble. 8 Super Sustaina ble a rchitectur e is indiffer ent to styles or tr ends because it ca n be dr essed in m a ny ways. It is defined solely by its sustaina ble qualities. 9 M ost of the sustaina ble conte m por a ry a rchitectur e focuses m ainly on its sustaina ble featur es. How ev er w ell-m ea ning this is, it will only attr act a minority of the popul ation with a n inter est in en viron m ental issues, while the vast m ajority will be excluded. Ther efor e Super Sustaina ble a rchitectur e co m bines sustaina bility with m a ny other qualities th at a r e equally im porta nt. These ch a r acteristics differ for ev ery proj ect a nd a r e based on the usual inter pl ay of the desig n process in volving de m a nds of the client, econo my, site, context a nd so forth. 10 The auto m obile industry h as u nderstood this dile m m a. Ther efor e a n en viron m entally friendly ca r looks like a n ordina ry ca r. It focuses on a nu m ber of qualities of which sustaina bility is one. Other ch a r acteristics of equal im porta nce could be safety, desig n, speed a nd so forth. 11 Nev ertheless sustaina bility will profou ndly affect basic a rchitectur al qualities a nd a esthetics such as space, m ateriality, flows, progr a m, m or phology, light a nd sh adow. With new sustaina ble de m a nds on the rise ther e a r e a nu m ber of co m m on featur es th at will influence the sh a pe of a rchitectur e to co m e. 12 The m ost efficient way to r educe the ecological footprint of a building is to desig n it so th at it ca n be m ade sm aller. Less m aterial will be used a nd less energy for heating a nd cooling will be needed.
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13 Buildings will need to h av e l a rge floor-a r eas in co m pa rison too their enclosing surfaces to achiev e energy efficiency. Ther efor e co m pact volu m es will be used. With a disperse sh a pe as a sta rting point energy efficiency is h a rd to achiev e a nd will m ea n diminishing other a rchitectur al qualities. A co m pact volu m e is equally im porta nt with r espect to heating a nd cooling of buildings. 14 With incr easing r esource sca rcity a nd the end of fossil fuels it will no longer be econo mical nor sustaina ble to tr a nsport building m aterials a rou nd the globe, instead the a rchitectur al palette will consist m ostly of locally produced m aterials. 15 M aterials used should be possible to upcycle or r ecycle. Ther efor e differ ent m aterials will be clea rly divided. Also m aterials will not be tr eated, mixed, painted or coated in such a way th at they ca n not be easily r ecycled. Hybrid or co m posite m aterials will be avoided in favor of single source m aterials. 16 Excessiv e use of gl azed a r eas in buildings is a proble m in m ost clim ates. In cold cou ntries too l a rge windows lead to energy loss, in wa r m er a r eas the need of cooling a rises. The technical dev elopm ent in this field is fast a nd the energy efficiency of gl azing is continuously im proving, nev ertheless for the tim e being a rchitects will need to r estrict the use of gl azing. 17 In colder cou ntries the need of insul ation will incr ease in order to r educe energy usage. Today th at m ea ns using thicker walls, roofs a nd floors im plicating both difficulties a nd opportu nities for the a rchitect. How ev er new m aterials such as vacuu m insul ation a r e likely to soon ch a nge these pr er equisites m a king it possible to produce v ery thin walls with accepta ble insul ation values.
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18 Throughout history the m ea ns of tr av el h av e determined the sh a pe of buildings a nd cities. For insta nce the introduction of m ass ca r ow nership r esh a ped our cities to suit the ca r. A r eas used for co m m u nication gr ew exponentially a nd buildings wher e desig ned to adv ertise the mselv es at a scale r ecog niza ble at 100 k m/h. In the futur e our cities will be sh a ped by the speed a nd properties of blim ps, high-speed tr ains, tr a ms, subways a nd bikes. These futur e m ea ns of tr a nsportation will h av e a profou nd influence on a rchitectur e a nd city pl a ning. 19 Ther e will be less individual a nd m or e collectiv e tr av eling. By sh a ring v ehicles energy a nd other r esources ca n be used m or e efficiently. 20 The speed of tr av el will ch a nge. Intercontinental tr av els will be slow er as pl a nes a r e r epl aced by blim ps. How ev er air ports will be m or e accessible as blim ps a r e m uch m or e flexible th a n pl a nes as to wher e they dock. Buildings with their ow n blim p docking stations could be dir ectly con nected to the world finally fulfilling the a rchitectur al dr ea ms of A rchigr a ms Insta nt city wher e u nderdev eloped, dr a b tow ns wher e con nected to the world via blim ps. For m ediu m dista nce tr av eling high-speed tr ains will do minate. They a r e faster th a n ca rs, but not as flexible. For short dista nces finer r ail-bou nd networ ks will do minate in co m bination with biking a nd walking. Personal r a pid tr a nsport m onor ail syste ms could offer a flexibility a nd speed al m ost equaling th at of the ca r.
21 When l a nd a nd r esources beco m e spa rser w e will allow natur e to coexist a nd inter pl ay with cities a nd hu m a ns.
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A super sustaina ble city might v ery w ell be a n oa k for est th at is the ho m e a nd wor k pl ace for a million inh a bita nts, such a city was proposed by Gustav Sjรถblo m, for m er ch air m a n of the Gothenburg depa rtm ent of the Sw edish Society for Natur e Conservation. A super sustaina ble building might be a n eata ble a nd self gener ating ho m e for both hu m a ns a nd a nim als. 22 As the lifespa n of buildings is sig nifica ntly prolonged a rchitectur e as fashion will be r edefined. Tr ends will co m e a nd go, but as r esource spa r eness is incr easing this process ca n no longer in volv e the pr e m atur e r epl ace m ent of whole buildings. Instead a rchitects will h av e to dev elop new str ategies m a king buildings a nd cities ada pta ble a nd ch a ngea ble in order to m eet the de m a nd for new ness while keeping their m ain infr astructur e a nd building co m ponents intact. 23 A growing popul ation co m bined with the need of expa nded a r eas for agricultur e a nd wild life a r e pushing inh a bited a r eas to beco m e ev er denser. Dense ur ba n a r eas a r e indeed proving to be a v ery sustaina ble for m of hu m a n h a bitation. This is pa rtly because their mixed progr a m a nd r educed tr av eling dista nces allows for sustaina ble tr a nsport solutions. 24 Super Sustaina ble a rchitectur e is asym m etrical. In order to utilize sol a r a nd wind energy, buildings will h av e to r el ate to their sur rou ndings. Their volu m es will be sh a ped by pr evailing wind dir ections, the m ov e m ent of the su n, the local geology a nd other conditions. For simil a r r easons but at a l a rger scale cities will also be sh a ped by the local conditions of their en viron m ent. 25 Energy will h av e to be h a rv ested fro m r enewa ble r esources. To r educe the v ulner a bility of l a rger syste ms a nd to optimize the efficiency in pow er tr a nsmission w e will h av e to use m or e locally a nd sm all scale r esources.
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Ther efor e the h a rv esting of r enewa ble energy will be a n natur al pa rt of Super Sustaina ble A rchitectur e. This ca n be done as a n integr ated pa rt of buildings or with fr eesta nding u nits. The h a rv esting ca n be ca r ried out with sol a r cells, sol a r pa nels, wind pow er pl a nts, geother m al heating syste ms a nd so forth. 26 With the failur e of m oder nism a nd with the industrialization of the building process a rchitects lost the initiativ e in the desig n process. Since then the role of the a rchitect h as diminished to a m er e decor ator. Few er a nd few er a rchitects a r e ta king on a holistic a pproach to the desig n process. Few er a nd few er a r e questioning the cur r ent state of affairs. Few er a nd few er a r e en visioning the futur e. 27 The im ple m entation of a Super Sustaina ble A rchitectur e offers gr eat possibilities for the a rchitect. Now is the tim e to r ecl aim initiativ e. With new focuses a nd fields of expertise e m erging the futur e desig n process is up for gr a bs: Who will m a ke the energy calcul ations? The m aterial evaluations? The life cycle a nalysis´s? By m astering these new aspects of our profession a rchitects ca n once again adopt a holistic a pproach, expa nding their field of expertise to en vision all pa rts of the building process. 28 Still the field of sustaina bility includes so m a ny disciplines th at coll a bor ation is essential. By esta blishing networ ks of co m petence the a rchitect ca n pl ay a centr al pa rt a nd gather all knowledge needed in the desig n process. Mixing co m petences is of key im porta nce, with the a rchitect solely in ch a rge the r esult h as too often prov ed to be a m er e gr een surface
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29 Lectur e at the local a rchitectur e school. 150 students ca n’t wait to sta rt. For once it see ms a rchitects a r e heading the ch a nge. When Le Cor busier stated th at The house is a m achine for living in, the industrial r evolution h ad alr eady been a rou nd for a good 150 yea rs. Consequently the a esthetics of the m oder n a rchitectur e h ad to be bor row ed fro m other m or e visiona ry professions th a n th at of the a rchitect. The houses took their inspir ation fro m ships, ca rs, m achines (a nd Gr eek m edieval vill ages). How ev er in pr esent tim e it see ms m a ny a rchitects h av e put the mselv es in the driving seat inter pr eting their conte m por a ry er a a nd steering it towa rds a Sustaina ble futur e. 30 Technological in v entions alone ca n not cr eate a sustaina ble society. Nev ertheless they ca n help us in the process of getting ther e. With the pr esent intense focus on sustaina bility new technological br ea kthroughs a r e continuously m ade. New in v entions m ay v ery w ell ch a nge the pr er equisites for futur e a rchitects. 31 M ost of the new sustaina ble techniques a nd products th at a r e widely adopted a r e robust. They a r e often im prov e m ents of existing techniques a nd use fairly basic m ech a nics. For insta nce sol a r pa nels, heat exch a ngers, geother m al heating syste ms, natur al v entil ation a nd passiv e houses a r e all r esults of basic desig n principles. 32 The building sector is know n for its slow ada ption of new ideas. It ca n ta ke decades for a new technique or product to be widely accepted. Passiv e houses, for insta nce, h av e been built in Sw eden for al m ost 20 yea rs but still only constitute a m er e 3% of the new housing built ev ery yea r. With a tr adition of a n in novativ e a pproach, a rchitects a r e w ell suited to propose new ideas a nd products a nd head ch a nge.
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33 U ntil Willia m M cDonoughs a nd Mich a el Br au nga rts cr adle to cr adle vision m agically r edefines the cur r ent logic of the consu m er society the consta nt flow of products being consu m ed, deposed a nd r epl aced will slow dow n due to m aterial spa rseness. Will the sustaina ble society finally r epl ace the Society of the Spectacle en visioned by Guy Debord? Will people ch a nge their way of life into a m or e sustaina ble one? How will these new lifestyles in tur n influence a rchitectur e a nd city-pl a n ning? 34 U nlike historic isms the for ming of a sustaina ble society in volv es im plications th at go beyond ch a nging politics, philosophies or a esthetics. It is the ch allenge of adj usting our society to the ecological bou nda ries of our h a bitat; the ea rth. In the long ru n w e h av e no choice but to stay within these fixed limits. Consequently ther e is no alter nativ e to a sustaina ble society. Ther efor e Super Sustaina ble a rchitectur e is her e to stay.