At Design4D we design with consideration of the fourth dimension. Why? and what does this mean?

Three dimensions describes an object by its x, y and z co-ordinates. In physics the fourth dimension combines three dimensions with a dimension of time to create spacetime. This concept of spacetime was important in the realisation of Einstein's special theory of relativity. Shifts in scientific thinking have always affected art as artists look to explore new ideas. Some of these explorations depict visual representations of the fourth dimension such as the tesseract or the mobius strip which in turn architect's have realised into literal built form.

As a student I was less interested in the physical articulation of spacetime but more in the potential of this fourth dimension of time within the design process. I began to explore time based media such as kinetic artwork and film. I found film captured movement of light, human narratives and spatial experiences better than the frozen two dimensional image or the rotated three dimensional sculpture. The concept of human narrative began to play a stronger role in my work as I looked to explore intangible time based ideas about creativity, community, sense of place and memory. These are ideas critical to a stable and harmonious civilisation the more our population expands and lives in closer proximity. There are no fixed rules as to how you explore and guarantee these important aspects of architecture are fulfilled but at Design4D we have formulated a framework called the Chronetik process. This process enables us to test how our schemes have considered more than just the social, environmental and economic aspects that the triple bottom line of business dictates.

Big Society, community, civilisation, call it what you will, but we believe that as our population expands the role of the architect will be key in achieving these social goals through consideration of the fourth dimension in architecture.

Visual representation of the fourth dimension

It may not be a popular view in architectural circles but I have just finished reading Prince Charles' book 'Tradition and Sustainability' and would recommend it to all architect's, as a lot of what is said is excellent common sense in terms of sustainability.  Unfortunately, where it is likely to become unpopular is its narrow definition of 'Traditional' style.

It would be interesting to hear what Prince Charles would say about our Shell House scheme, which we are currently talking to a number of developers about building. Here is a house that ticks all of the sustainability boxes, including its consideration of the "fourth dimension", which the book defines as "...community, memory, sense of place and creativity...", but the way it looks is the result of its construction and response to site. Potentially a 'classic' piece of architecture, but would the Shell House satisfy Prince Charles' belief in 'Tradition'?                       

Last week I watched 'The Human Planet' an amazing TV series documenting how the human species is the only animal to have carved out a life in every habitat on earth. The series reminded me of a book that had a big effect on my own design process titled 'The Naked Ape'. Published in 1967 the book was radical in its day for its zoological analysis of humans. It was the first time I had thought of humans as just another animal on the planet with the book describing how much of our 'civilised' life is constructed to relieve our most primeval instincts.

One of the main roles of architects in society is to enable the rapidly growing human population to live in closer proximity, something that is not necessarily 'natural' to our species. So while functionally an architect must come up with clever solutions to draw light and air deeper into denser living environments there is also an element of joy, spirit or soul which much be uplifted to enhance the monotony of life in the concrete jungle.

Solar panels and green roofs are definitely going to become more common in urban architecture. Green roofs will reduce rainwater run-off and provide a building's thermal mass whilst still enabling the use of fast lightweight construction techniques. As the insulation of walls improve so solar panels will begin to meet more of our energy needs.

Initially we will see a mass of green sedum roofs but hopefully over time the roofs will be planted to respond more sensitively to the location and biodiversity. This will result in a 'landscape' of different colours and textures right in the heart of our cities. This article shows a whole range of colours used on the roofs of the Augustenborg botanical gardens: http://bit.ly/eyW4fb

The fifth elevation

The current serious flooding in Australia and Brazil has highlighted the
dangers of building on flood risk land in order to house our ever increasing
population. With increases in temperature it is likely we are going to see
further extremes in weather and more flooding in the future. How are we to
prevent further disasters from occurring?

Design4D's Waterscape City scheme was a response to this issue, proposing a
network of canals be used to 'perforate' the land. Reedbed systems adjacent
to the canals would assist the wastewater treatment process and accommodate
changes in water levels. Roofs were planted to help buffer and absorb heavy
rainfall and all road and pavement surfaces were permeable to allow natural
even drainage. The canal systems provided low energy transportation networks
and, as is proven in places like 'Little Venice', would result in a
significant uplift in property prices as people pay a premium to live by the
water. 
 

Design4D's waterscape City Proposal

As we strive to seal up our buildings to meet carbon reduction targets the health implications of materials specified are going to have far greater significance. It is amazing how materials such as PVC and MDF were only invented relatively recently in 1926 and 1960 and yet already there are moves to reduce or eliminate high-VOC materials (Volatile Organic Compounds) in buildings. Asbestos removal is a huge cost to the construction industry and yet this material was also at one point used in numerous building products.

Scientists are looking to nature for low-VOC solutions. One example is a soya protein which has been modified to mimic the sticky proteins produced by blue mussels as an alternative to the formaldehyde glue in plywood and MDF. As you can see in the link below, the product is commercially available, but like an alternative to PVC we recently discovered, has to be imported from the States! It would be good to see the UK, with its declining manufacturing industry, providing local material solutions to the issues that BREEAM, SKA, Code for sustainable Homes, Passivhouse, LEED, etc are all beginning to raise.

http://www.columbiaforestproducts.com/PureBond.aspx

Blue Mussel Glue!

A few months back I wrote about my concern regarding sealing our buildings up to the extent that we then require mechanical systems to enable us to breathe healthily. Not enough is being debated about this subject and I fear the zero-carbon homes required by 2016 in the UK may produce a new bout of sick building syndrome as air filters get blocked and pumps break down.

Many years ago I helped build a Walter Segal House, a self-build modular timber frame system, that consisted of 'breathing wall' construction. The difference in vapour permeability between the outside and the inside materials caused water vapour to be drawn past the structure to the outside helping to keep relative humidity to the 40-60% required for a healthy internal environment. Could a similar approach to construction help reduce the need for costly mechanical ventilation systems? This is a complicated subject which needs to consider vapour permeability, hygroscopicity and capillarity of materials and which may not have a significant enough impact on the air change rate despite naturally improving air quality. Either way the biology as well as the physics of a building need to be better understood to prevent our zero carbon homes potentially becoming unsustainable health hazards of the future.

Diagram of relative humidity against growth of mould and bacteria

We were asked to consult on one of these projection adverts which unfortunately never went ahead in the end. Throughout history the functional facades of buildings have been decorated with stories to be passed down through generations. Film projection is a digital integration of narrative and architecture but it raises an interesting question as to what role ornament/decoration plays in architecture today?

I was invited today to assist in the UK government's efforts to define 'Zero-carbon' which will set the parameters for future housing design tools. Zero Carbon Housing looks as though it will be defined as a 70% carbon reduction on-site (carbon compliance) and 30% carbon reduction off-site (allowable solutions) in order to reduce the financial impact on the developer. I'm not necessarily against this approach assuming the 30% off-site generation comes from renewable sources. What does concern me is that we are still defining zero-carbon when the deadline of 2016 is rapidly approaching. If solar technology improves in the way computer technology has done then I think the 70-30% debate will be a bit arbitrary. Also the data used assumed that future housing would not all be orientated North-South as our Shell House scheme proposes which raises the question why not?

Zero-carbon housing is a huge challenge but also a great opportunity for architects to show that new construction methods and building typologies will provide cheaper solutions then just bolting on another layer of complexity to keep our existing housing models alive.

Design4D's Shell House scheme