Environmental Technology: Less or More with Kéré and Superstudio
Disciplines
Environmental Design
Abstract (300 words maximum)
When considering the environmental changes that have taken place due to energy consumption, two modes of thought are often the focal arguing points: using more efficient technology and using less technology. In architecture, this is known as the argument of active versus passive systems, and this topic has been debated since the Second Industrial Revolution. Some architects have designed technocratic megastructures for entire communities to be contained while others have thought of engaging with natural resources to make comfortable structures. This paper interrogates whether monumental structures or communal passive designs are best suited for sustaining our environment and will examine the works of the firm Superstudio (1966-1978) as well as architect Diébédo Francis Kéré (1965-Present) to compare the methods they practice environmentalism. The 1966 Italian design collective Superstudio led the Radical Movement in architecture. Their idea of “Total Urbanization”, as exemplified by their model The Continuous Monument, creates a massive urban cityscape, and they argued that entire cities could be contained within a grid-based structure. By this process, Superstudio argued that humanity could create and control their entire internal ecosystem on a massive scale, reducing replacement construction and its environmental toll. By contrast, Diebedo Francis Kere, receiver of the Pritzker Architecture Prize, focusses his design on building structures as needed to work within the context of their surrounding environment. His structures, such as Lycée Schorge, are often designed in locations with little access to outside utilities, and thus must be extremely self-reliant. His work does not cut the internal off from the external to make it comfortable, but instead utilizes nature itself to provide a comfortable environment for his clients. By analyzing these architects’ works, as well as the Machine Age theories of Richard Banham, this paper will argue the credibility of design between futuristic and bottom-up technology.
Academic department under which the project should be listed
CACM - Architecture
Primary Investigator (PI) Name
Ehsan Sheikholharam Mashhadi
Environmental Technology: Less or More with Kéré and Superstudio
When considering the environmental changes that have taken place due to energy consumption, two modes of thought are often the focal arguing points: using more efficient technology and using less technology. In architecture, this is known as the argument of active versus passive systems, and this topic has been debated since the Second Industrial Revolution. Some architects have designed technocratic megastructures for entire communities to be contained while others have thought of engaging with natural resources to make comfortable structures. This paper interrogates whether monumental structures or communal passive designs are best suited for sustaining our environment and will examine the works of the firm Superstudio (1966-1978) as well as architect Diébédo Francis Kéré (1965-Present) to compare the methods they practice environmentalism. The 1966 Italian design collective Superstudio led the Radical Movement in architecture. Their idea of “Total Urbanization”, as exemplified by their model The Continuous Monument, creates a massive urban cityscape, and they argued that entire cities could be contained within a grid-based structure. By this process, Superstudio argued that humanity could create and control their entire internal ecosystem on a massive scale, reducing replacement construction and its environmental toll. By contrast, Diebedo Francis Kere, receiver of the Pritzker Architecture Prize, focusses his design on building structures as needed to work within the context of their surrounding environment. His structures, such as Lycée Schorge, are often designed in locations with little access to outside utilities, and thus must be extremely self-reliant. His work does not cut the internal off from the external to make it comfortable, but instead utilizes nature itself to provide a comfortable environment for his clients. By analyzing these architects’ works, as well as the Machine Age theories of Richard Banham, this paper will argue the credibility of design between futuristic and bottom-up technology.