Design Concept Explained
The proposed design concept utilizes titanium oxide as a purification
agent within the building envelope to address the particular environmental
conditions of Shanghai. The design
becomes expressive of its surrounding atmosphere as the intake of clean air and
exhaust of air saturated with CO2 becomes communicated to the buildings
occupants by the inflation and deflation of the interior building membrane. This lung like affect is representative of
the buildings interaction with the exterior polluted air and the buildings
habitable condition based on the clean air it produces. Additionally as the titanium oxide reacts with
VOC's in the building envelope the by-product of this chemical reaction, H2O,
also helps to shape the building spatial organization. Within the double skinned building envelope the
increased level of heat and moisture due to the aforementioned chemical
reaction along with the already high level of humidity in Shanghai would create
a microclimate of condensation to occur between the double layered envelope
system. This condensation most predominant
on the south side of the building due to increased level of solar exposure and
chemical reaction between the Titanium Oxide and VOC's helped to determine the spatial
organization of private spaces such as the homes bedroom and washroom.
Why This Form
For the chemical reaction between titanium oxide and VOC's to occur UV radiation must be introduced to produce an effective result. This fact was a driving force for the homes bubble like form. This shape provides the optimal solar exposure to all surfaces on the building without the form shading itself. Although this shape satisfies the need for solar exposure it decreases the amount of surface area able to be covered with the purification agent titanium oxide. To counter this dilemma the interior membrane has been designed with a raised protrusions or bumps to increase the overall surface area of the membrane.
The flow of lines emanating from the buildings form and tree are indications of the purified air and its atmospheric effect on the exterior of the building in creating zones of cleaner air for exterior occupants.
Matthew
ReplyDeleteI am sorry that I couldn't attend your presentation and give you the feedback in person.
Thank you for posting your presentation for me, as well as the accompanying comments: it really helped me to better understand your intention and proposed solution.
I think you have an interesting design proposition and while I completely agree with your position, and even some of the strategies, I would like to caution you to be aware of the shortcomings of this proposal and your own knowledge gaps, so this proposal does not come out as a pseudoscience and you as a fake.
Now, this is only a 3-week project, so no one expect you to work out all the details, but still, be mindful how are you addressing certain aspects of your project.
For example: the climate in Shanghai (except in winter) is not completely different from Toronto: summers are hot and humid and winters are chilly and damp (we have it much colder and with snow). So, if you are responding to the atmosphere, how is your building (which is essentially a high-tech tent) actually addressing the overheating in summer and coldness in winter?
Titanium Dioxide does have the ability to break down some airborne pollutants, but the question is: how much surface do you need for any significant or at least noticeable improvement? Also VOC is a general name for a huge number of chemicals that have high vapour pressure at ordinary room temperature, and thus affect the air quality. Paints and coatings, cleaning products, every perfume, etc are essentially the VOC. Chlorofluorocarbons and chlorocarbons, benzene, tetrachloroethene, automobile exhausts, methylene chloride, perchloroethylene, etc. to name only some. So, how titanium dioxide reacts to each and every one of those is different as well as what byproducts this/these reaction(s) will produce. In addition, some recent research reveals that quite common byproduct is "nitrogen oxide, the key precursor of harmful ozone pollution" (source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/06/130613092346.htm).
So, is the TiO2 a magic compound that solves all the problems?
Finally, the image of that lonely tree against the backdrop of very polluted and gloomy city is also not very convincing - you don't want to present anything that leaves you too open to criticism. The tree will definitely convert some of the carbon dioxide into nutrients and release the oxygen, but plants also breathe. And what is happening with the particles? I suspect that the biggest pollutants in Shanghai are the industry and the transportation, so there is a huge amount of dust, soot and other particles that will not be taken care of by titanium oxide covered membrane and the trees.
I ended up being quite negative, which was not my intention: I still think that you have a very interesting and daring design proposal; I would only like to encourage you to approach every information that you come across with a critical thought, and dig deeper to find the answers.