Beneath the Surface Blog

While major metropolises around the globe have continuously given skyscrapers hierarchy over the urban landscape, Singapore has chosen to take a different spin on the traditional skyline.

“Blossoming” less than two weeks ago, the city's latest architectural development introduces a canopy of artificial trees that tower over the tropical waterfront. The project was dedicated as a national landmark in an effort to earn Singapore the title as “botanical capital of the world,” while simultaneously creating a visual bridge between the contemporary architecture of the city center, and the lush greenery of the latest 250-acre landscaping project, Gardens by the Bay. Soaring 25 to 50 meters into the air, it's hard to miss this spectacular installation!

Man cannot create nature, but the design team proved that man can certainly imitate it. The teams at Wilkinson Eyre Architects, Grant Associates Landscape Architecture, and Atelier 10 Structural Engineers collaborated throughout the various design phases to create a colossal forest that is not only symbolic of trees, but the future prosperity of Singapore. As the city begins to place a larger emphasis on “greening” the landscape, the supertrees will be used to educate the population about the importance of sustainable practices.

Each tree serves many purposes that extend far beyond visual aesthetics: generating solar power, acting as air venting ducts for nearby conservatories, and collecting rainwater for irrigation systems. Because solar photovoltaic systems have been added to eleven of the eighteen trees, the upper canopies and ground-level botanical gardens can be illuminated without relying on Singapore's electrical grid. These canopies, absorbing and dispersing heat, also operate as temperature moderators to improve the climate for visitors walking beneath the structure.

Weighing hundreds of tons apiece, the trunks of the supertrees support a suspended walkway seven stories in the air that offers panoramic views of the city and waterfront. From this height, visitors can gain a closer view of native tropical flowers, epiphytes, and ferns climbing the trunks of the trees, and a vast view of the gardens below. While local species clad the exterior of the trees, the interior cavities will function as a greenhouse, holding an anticipated 220,000 plant species from every continent!

Balancing the rapid city growth with environment responsibility, Singapore is certainly on it's way to earning the title of “botanical capital of the world.” Cities around the globe can take inspiration from Singapore's supertrees to impact their skyline in a sustainable manner that creates a relatable icon.

Image Credits: CNN.com, Inhabitat

For centuries, Americans have maintained a faithful relationship with the front lawn, that treasured strip of greenery that delineates the boundary line between the home and the street. As time progresses, however, the lawn has no longer become a symbol of status or wealth, but a symbol of cultural conformity; a way to assess whether or not an individual has achieved the “American Dream.” While a perfectly manicured lawn may have suggested a desire for future prosperity in the 1950's, the cost, time, and chemical treatments required in the modern day seem wasteful. In a time when “green” is golden, why settle for the suburban norm? Try planting an edible front yard!

Yes, taboo as it may seem, planting fruits and vegetables in the front yard is a new gardening trend that is not only friendly to the environment, but friendly on the wallet. Fritz Haeg, author of The Edible Estate, has a proposal that is quite simple: trade in the mower and high-maintenance lawn for beautiful arrangements of flowers and organic produce that can be enjoyed both outdoors and in the kitchen. In addition to reducing trips to the grocery store, edible gardens require less irrigation and upkeep than traditional lawns, which means more time socializing with family and friends, and less time completing daily landscaping tasks.

But what will my neighbors think? Over the years, our society has become accustomed to placing vegetables in the backyard, and flowers in the front yard. However, many species of fruits and vegetables can be both edible and ornamental, especially when juxtaposed with shrubbery and other edging elements, such as brick or stone. Sweet potato plants not only have large flowers that resemble popular perennials, but have beautiful vines that resemble ivy found in traditional gardens.

Aspiring gardeners that are not ready to replace their entire lawn with organic produce can experiment with vertical gardens, a new trend in the green building movement in which walls function as an alternative to topsoil. The growing popularity of vertical gardens have allowed the principles of Edible Estates to not only accommodate smaller residential lots, but commercial establishments as well; many high-end restaurants have begun to recognize the benefits of growing fresh herbs on-site by using vertical gardens as an artistic landscape element adjacent to outdoor dining rooms.

So what are you waiting for? Your front lawn is a blank canvas for cultivating a beautiful, diverse garden that is not only gives back to the environment, but to your wallet as well. And just think of the possibilities for public and commercial green spaces to start giving back by taking inspiration from the residential sector!

Content Credits: Parentables How Stuff Works, Time

Image Credits: Rosalind Creasy, Dog Island Farm, Parentables How Stuff Works, Studio Outside

Newspapers are a staple publication for many Americans. Whether you’re reading it with your morning coffee, perusing the classifieds on the subway to work, or doing the crossword puzzle during your college lecture, newspapers are everywhere - keeping people up-to-date, informed, and entertained. With over 100 million newspapers produced each day in the United States alone (over 1 billion daily worldwide), it is clearly one popular periodical. Unfortunately, however, within 24 hours, those 100 million newspapers become obsolete, creating mounds of wasted paper daily. But one innovative designer has figured out a way to help combat this issue of paper waste by fusing sustainability, design, and nature. The solution? NewspaperWood.

Dissatisfied with the notion that once a tree becomes paper, it remains paper, Mieke Meijers, a Dutch designer, developed NewspaperWood with the help of Vij5 design. Made by layers upon layers of newspaper adhered together, compressed, and rolled into a log, NewspaperWood looks and acts very similar to its original counterpart. Just like any other type of wood, NewspaperWood can be planed, cut, nailed, and sanded. And once planed and sanded, it reveals a beautiful grain, amazingly akin to the organic earthiness of rings in actual wood. Though not meant as a structural alternative, NewspaperWood is an attractive choice for aesthetic applications (like furniture), and can even be finished, stained, and veneered.

NewspaperWood has already caught the eye of many up and coming designers. A line of furniture was produced, along with other items, including lamps and jewelry, in an effort to showcase NewspaperWood’s versatility and visual appeal. Prototypes of the pieces were showcased in Milan in April 2011, and have since gone into production.

But aside from its sustainability and naturalistic wood properties, perhaps the most interesting notion about NewspaperWood is the way in which it blurs the line between the natural and synthetic. This is certainly not the first time that man has tried to replicate nature, nor will it be the last. However, with NewspaperWood, there is something different, almost natural, about using newspaper to recreate and emphasize the beauty of its most unrefined form – the tree. With the structured columns and bold typefaces of newsprint, it is hard to imagine anything organic or fluid about it. But when manipulated into NewspaperWood, the hidden beauty of the literature is revealed through undulating grains and rings, evoking our most natural and earthy aesthetics. It is difficult to identify where nature stops and the artificial begins. While NewspaperWood, clearly, is not found in nature, it is hard to deny the truly organic essence of this material. The juxtaposition created between the manmade and the natural in the NewspaperWood really makes one think and appreciate both the beauty and ingenuity of humanity and nature alike.

While man can never exactly replicate Mother Nature, we truly appreciate the way in which NewspaperWood utilizes wasted material to recognize and recreate the beauty of natural wood in a manmade state. We appreciate this fresh take on fusing sustainability with materiality and design, and hope it will jumpstart other unique innovations in both the recycling and design world.

Image credit: Vij5

We exist as a society overwhelmed with trash. California alone spends $25 million to send plastic shopping bag to landfills and another $8.5 million just to clean them off the streets. Americans throw away an estimated seven billion pounds of plastic per year, with only about one percent of that being recycled. Start-up company PK Clean seeks to put the remaining ninety-nine percent to good use with their proprietary technology that uses discarded PVCs and converts them into petroleum and "natural" gas.

Led by MIT grad Priyanka Bakaya, PK Clean has received recognition from a wide variety of business and energy contests such as the winning the Clean Non-Renewable Track of MIT's 2011 Clean Energy Prize and the Women's Entrepreneur and Best Energy Business Plan sections of Rice University's 2011 Business Plan Competition.

The brilliance of their solution comes from a catalytic depolymerization process. This grounds up plastic and then heats it in a reaction chamber to 150°C. A specially designed catalyst amplifies the process and allows it to take place at such a low temperature, saving energy. The products of this process include 70-80% oil and 5-10% industrial-grade ash. The remaining 10% takes the form of gas which is in turn used to heat the reaction chamber. With about 90-95% of the catalyst recovered and a low release of emissions, this process pollutes very little while removing plastic blight. Using start-up funds and competition award money, PK Clean has begun operating a pilot plant in Pune, India that processes twenty tons of plastic a day. The resulting oil, eighty barrels worth, sells for about $25-30/barrel. Bayaka plans to upscale the process to one-hundred tons and day and sees a future potential of $7 billion for the industry.

While most agree that our dependence on oil as an energy source needs to diminish due to its polluting factors and the amazing, yet wasted, potential of hydrocarbons for materials and medicines, the way we have massively integrated petroleum into our society means that, barring any incredible technological breakthrough, internal combustion engines and gas-fired power plants will remain viable for decades to come. We create prodigious amounts of plastic waste, choking whole forest in Mexico and forming garbage patches in oceans twice the size of America. The innovative and profitable methods PK Clean has developed will hopefully encourage others to make better use of that which we discard.

Freeways crisscross much of a modern society's landscape, connecting distant cities by allowing people the ability to travel hundreds of miles in a single day. Unfortunately, they also cleave, destroy, and pollute neighborhoods while existing as a visual blight on the landscape. Communities and citizens will often resist their construction even when the economic benefits are made clear. The architects of Denmark-based BIG, always with a talent for the grandiose, have developed the winning concept for a highway interchange in Stockholm that delivers all the benefits of freeways without many of the "necessary" evils.

Called Energy Valley, this concept seeks to actually connect neighborhoods with their natural surroundings and each other. Where most multi-highways junctions create an insurmountable vehicular barricade and vast areas of unusable grass, BIG's idea links divergent natural parks with an incorporated planned park and encourages an increased sense of community. Elevated roadways and a central traffic loop combined with meandering bicycle and pedestrian paths allow wildlife and long-separated neighborhoods the opportunity to grow together.

Builders will take excavated soil and use it to elevate the land that circles the interchange, creating the "valley" part of Energy Valley. Combined with the vegetation of this "parkway" interchange, the surrounding raised land has the benefits of removing the interchange from the view of surrounding communities, vastly reducing the noise pollution usually inherent with such features, and further increasing the park-like feel for the motorist, bicyclists, and pedestrians using the freeways and pathways to travel.

BIG has also designed an incredibly unique feature that will, for the first time, make a highway interchange a destination spot. Reminiscent of an image from a Vernor Vinge novel, the plan involves floating a gigantic mirrored sphere over the central roadway loop, reflecting the interchange's surroundings. Besides stabilizing the sphere, thin rigid trusses using wave-power technology will combine with almost 31,000 square feet of solar cells on the surface to provide enough energy for keeping the air-filled feature aloft yet still delivering power to over two-hundred homes. The inconspicuous supports will ensure the sphere doesn’t contact the roadway in case of accidental deflation and also present an airy illusion of the sphere simply floating above the interchange.

Most roadways exist outside of communities, benefiting the people passing through instead of those who share its settings. BIG has turned a three-level highway interchange into a feature for the community. "The Energy Valley is a cross-over between urbanism, landscape, architecture, art and infrastructure into a new neighborhood of Stockholm. Harnessing the momentum of the massive investment in tunnels and highways and putting the excess excavation to use as a man-made valley, we create an interdisciplinary hybrid of logistic, economic, environmental and social infrastructure," states BIG Partner and Founder, Bjarke Ingels. They have truly flipped conventional thinking, drastically reducing the negative impacts of highways, improving the lives of the surrounding populace, and still maintaining the function of providing efficient transportation.

Image credits: DesignBuzz.com, Dezeen.com, PositiveMagazine.com, Dudye.com

A simple concept, multiplied exponentially, can often have breathtaking results. We came across this great post over at DesignSponge. To decorate the HeARTbeat party presented by a non-profit group called ArtsFund which helps support over sixty art groups by coordinating donations exceeding two million dollars, event planners Matthew Parker Events utilized more than 1,000 used pieces of paper destined for the recycle bin.

Since ArtsFund is based in Seattle and receives generous donations from Boeing, the event planners' ideas went aerial, folding old newsletters originating from the non-profit's offices into paper airplanes. The aircraft hung on wire and converged towards the front stage, being illuminated by warm-colored lights that cast wonderful and striking shadows on the room and party goers during the event.

We applaud Matthew Parker Events for utilizing materials one more time before their date with the recycling center but wonder how long it took to fold over 1,000 paper airplanes without the help of local school children!  The project illustrates that a simple surface with deliberate lighting effects and a delicate suspension system can create dramatic spatial impact.

Image credit: Design Sponge

While in London last week, our Director Thomas Lawrence was entranced by this inventive community garden nestled next to the Charles Dickens Free House pub/restaurant. The Urban Physics Garden brings neighbors and researchers together to use this previously neglected space for growing medicinal plants alongside the herbs and spices that one finds in traditional gardens. A collaboration between a nearby hospital and pharmacy with the designers from Wayward Plants, this garden was constructed using volunteer labor, discarded materials, and donated plants. Organizers have planned events such as workshops and seminars alongside artistic shows and exhibits to turn this into a true community showcase. After being turned into a kitchen by Rambling Restaurant, a reconfigured ambulance on site will provide a delicious locally grown menu. Located on Union Street and open to the public between June and August, the garden is sure to reinvigorate the London streetscape.

The Urban Physics Garden demonstrates the way researchers continually comb nature for medicine and remedies that improve the human condition. Trees can help prevent heart attacks and combat cancer, fungus fights human infections, and animal venoms provide powerful pain relievers. Scientists have barely begun to crack the codes that plants and animals possess and continued stewardship of our flora and fauna promises irreplaceable cures for present and future afflictions.

Video: GPI Director Thomas Lawrence speaks with one of the volunteers

This endeavor also highlights an increasing trend one finds in cities today that emphasizes locally sourced foods. Many of the menu items we eat today trek thousands of miles before they end up on our dinner plate, burning more fossil fuels than any other economic sector besides autos. Besides drastically increasing the carbon footprint of the items we eat, this travel often demands the use of chemicals, excessive handling, and shipping techniques that minimize spoilage and profit loss at the cost of taste and health benefits. Like the garden Tom found, urban gardeners seek to use the empty spaces that proliferate throughout cities and put them to great use. This concept isn't new; it had just been neglected. During World Wars I and II, with massive amounts of the labor force involved in the war efforts, governments promoted small lot farming. These Victory Gardens at one point accounted for forty percent of the veggies the nation consumed, being responsible for increased sense of community morale and contribution to the war effort.

Large population centers can each spend billions on food and with the drastic increase of fuel prices, the cost of our dinner promises to only grow. By increasing the ratio of urban grown food we eat by just a few percentage points, communities can save millions. Many of the poverty stricken areas in cities oftentimes find themselves riddled with urban blight. These areas, perfectly primed for urban gardens, can affect their communities in a cornucopia of positive ways. With raising their own food, neighbors can cut their food bill and have increased access to items, like organic foods, that are normally outside of the low-income price range. The increasing trend in for-profit urban farming points to another economic benefit with some estimates of a $60,000-90,000 per acre profit possible depending on crops. By promoting the local cohesion that our modern age seems to disdain, these gardens can nurture neighborhood empowerment and an increased sense of communal responsibility.

Besides all that, digging in the dirt is fun and recent studies hint that regular contact with soil actually improves one's mood. Providing an interaction with nature that many in the concrete-covered environment wouldn't normally experience, these urban gardens also connect individuals to a natural world which we depend on much more than it often seems.

Over the past several months, GPI Design has enjoyed the process of working with the International Interior Design Association (IIDA) to sponsor this year's student design competition. Students from accredited interior design schools in Ohio and Kentucky were invited to submit design proposals for the renovation of our office lobby (a drab space which was failing to live up to the building's namesake, "The Atrium").

Our sincere thanks to each group or individual that submitted, it was an absolute pleasure reviewing all of the fresh ideas for our LED backlighting system! It was a tough decision, but these winners really stood out:

Winner of Best Overall Design - "Diffuse" (Kent State University)

This design embraced the existing spatial elements while updating the space with a few bold moves that communicate playfully with the existing architecture. This design considered the scale of the tall atrium space and the fact that its main viewing points are from above and on the elevator. The materiality and form of the curved staircase is translated in a new, but related, manner in the tall central feature. The existing floor is retained, along with the basic color scheme. Seating areas are created simply with basic forms. While striking a balance between high design and budget, the owner was drawn to the holistic treatment of the space.

Honoree for Best Use of Natural Elements -  "Oasis" (University of Kentucky)

Scale, pattern, texture and light were layered to create a garden setting that provides a soothing atmosphere to tenants of the Atrium building. An intimate setting broke down the scale of the large space with sophisticated design strategies. The strong central water feature anchors the space, while natural stone and greenery add natural texture.

Honoree for Most Creative Use of LED Backlighting: "EBA Designs" (The Ohio State University)

The strong focal pull of GPI’s backlit stone panels was utilized in conjunction with the natural visual impact of the tall elevator. The staggered arrangement of the backlit stone panels creates a sense of movement and takes advantage of the verticality of the central atrium space. The design layout and surrounding finishes at the backlit panels make the features integral to the architecture (as opposed to mere decoration).

A special thank you to Dr. Terrence Uber for his assistance in orchestrating the competition!

Check out our Flickr album for some of the creative materials and technology that inspired the student designs >

In the overview blog post, The 10 Benefits of Lighting Control for Greener, Smarter Building Design, Bill Trammel of the Lighting Control Pros blog outlines the main benefits of implementing lighting control into architectural design.  This blog post provided a great overview of points that can both enlighten designers AND provide relevant data to assist them in convincing their clients (building owners and developers).

Architects and designers probably understand this from multiple angles, many of which Bill Trammel touched upon, but the perceived benefits of lighting control really depends on who's listening, right? Here's GPI's case for implementing controllable lighting systems, in plain language that building owners might connect with:

You wouldn't buy a Mercedes Benz without purchasing the automatic window upgrade, would you?

High-end lighting systems are implemented through an intense detailed process that involve collaboration and engineering. The upgrade, offering real convenience, is a natural extension of the baseline system.  Additional cost, yes, but you will probably never regret the upgrade.

(Notice we are using the Benz as an example for the owner? If we were talking to you, Ms./Mr. Designer, we would have said "1999 Volvo". Yep, we know you're overworked and underpaid.)

Let's make sure that everyone is satisfied with these lighting levels on-site after all is said and done.

You can quantify this LED fixture with test data all day long, but lighting levels are subjective. Avoid the costly mistake of implementing non-controllable lighting, which results in tearing down finishes to modify or remove fixtures. (Headaches, schedule extension, added cost)

Dimming control provides the opportunity for lighting designers and building owners to "tune" the brightness of fixtures based on many variables: desired brightness levels, ambient lighting conditions, subjective perception. 

During the building walk-through and commissioning process, dimming control will prove to be a crucial tool in fine tuning all of the systems into a harmonious composition.

You like to see your huge building investment pay off over the years, don't you?

As Bill Trammel succinctly put it: "from a purely bottom-line standpoint, dimming reduces monthly overhead costs".  Dimming control reduces energy costs, increases occupant comfort, and can contribute to employee productivity.  Building owners see every project as an investment; quantifying this can help to justify the increased upfront costs.

And last but not least... controllable lighting systems can contribute to LEED certification, and let's face it - LEED is a great marketing/publicity tool for building owners.

--> The bottom line: when your lighting fixture manufacturers have dimming capability available and the budget allows, take them.  Just like when you're caught driving that new Benz (ehh, 1999 Volvo) in a rainstorm, you won't regret purchasing the automatic roll-up window option.

If walls could talk, then our newest installation at Masdar City's Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) Station would have a lot to say. The LED backlit glass feature walls (below) frame the entrances into the city's futuristic transportation hub, soon to house the latest cutting edge trend in sustainable transportation.

The PRT Station is implementing the transit "podcars" to provide sustainable transport to the city's projected 50,000 residents. These compact on-demand travel pods are fully automated and powered by magnetic tracks.   Cars are eliminated, street level green space is preserved, and  places are closely linked via smooth user interface and programmable destinations.




More about Masdar City's transportation system:
Treehugger.com
Natural Environment