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As our quickly globalizing, interdependent world moves further into
the 21st Century, the themes of urban regeneration, environmental
sustainability, and economic development are becoming more and
more relevant every day. Our world faces environmental and social
challenges at a scale that requires the attention of everyone—from
individuals to nations to international organizations. As building and
development professionals, we bear a particular responsibility—and
have a unique opportunity—to lead the world in the search for long-
term, practical solutions that take advantage of our existing urban
assets in a sustainable, smart way.
In the following, three Pelli Clarke Pelli projects will be presented—
case studies that illustrate some of the unique challenges and
opportunities for architecture and development in today’s changing
world. Each project engages with the themes of urban regeneration,
environmental sustainability, and economic development in varying
ways and to varying degrees. As a group, they illustrate the growing
centrality of sustainability to large urban projects, many of which are
being commissioned by developers, institutions, and governments,
often in a collaborative partnership. The projects illustrate how
pursuing a program of urban regeneration—a sustainable building
practice in itself—can lead to reliable, long-term economic
development.
Sustainability has become an immense subject, and there are many
pitfalls to any meaningful discussion about it. One danger is to define
it too broadly, making it difficult to draw useful conclusions—instead,
one is left with empty generalizations. On the other hand, there is
a danger of focusing too closely on the particulars of one project or
one strategy, examining technical details that are not applicable to
all circumstances. For the purpose of this essay, two themes will be
emphasized:
• how issues of sustainability, urban regeneration, and economic
development are particularly exemplified in large urban projects,
and
• how sustainability must be defined not only in engineering
terms, but also in social terms: it is a project for all of society to
address.
From an architect’s perspective, it must be said at the outset that issues
as complex and far-reaching as urban regeneration, environmental
sustainability, and economic development are impacted first by choices
made long before a project reaches an architect’s office. These are
basic choices, like where a developer chooses to build. They are
the choices a city government makes when it implements policies
that encourage particular types of development. Most importantly,
however, they are the choices a society makes about the ways it wants
grow, and the legacy it wants to leave to future generations. In this
context, it must be admitted that the individual architect has limited
power—the architect doesn’t typically choose the site, nor does he
The Architect’s Role in Urban Regeneration, Economic Development, and Sustainability
By Fred W. Clarke, City Connect (2012)
Achieving urban regeneration, environmental sustainability, and economic development requires the commitment of the designer, the client, political leaders, and society at large. At the Transbay Transit Center in San Francisco (2007-2017), a public rooftop park will become the center of a new neighborhood and an emblem of a sustainable future.
or she make the laws. To produce a sustainable project, an architect
must be a part of a larger team committed to sustainable goals. It’s
been said many times: great architecture requires great clients. In fact,
sustainable development requires much more than that. It requires the
attention and energy of all of us—architects, developers, politicians,
tenants, and the public at large—because to be effective, it must
happen on a national and global scale.
All of this points to the fact that sustainability is not just a technical
problem. To be successful, a sustainable project must address its social
and economic contexts—in other words, a project must be socially
sustainable and economically sustainable. A sustainable project must
resonate with its society, providing an environment that attracts and
inspires. And a sustainable project must make economic sense—it
doesn’t matter how green a building is if it fails in the marketplace.
These issues are especially relevant to Japan, and this book and the
conference that generated it are especially timely. Like no other market,
Japan’s design and construction industry revolves around the presence
of large develop/design/build firms. This sort of centralization provides
a tremendous capacity for change, through efficient production and
economies of scale. Furthermore, historically Japan has shown more
concern for energy usage and conservation of resources than many
western countries. These factors position Japan to become a world
leader in the construction of a sustainable built environment.
In the end, sustainable architecture and urbanism require leadership,
political commitment, design, money, open minds, and patience. By
nurturing a public discussion about how best to grow and how to do
so in ways that ensure a long and prosperous future, organizations like
AIA Japan play an essential role in building a sustainable world.
Abandoibarra Master Plan & Iberdrola Tower
Bilbao, Spain (1993-present)
The Abandoibarra Master Plan and Iberdrola Tower projects, in Bilbao,
Spain, illustrate many of the opportunities and challenges for socially
responsible, sustainable urban design at a large scale. In particular,
these projects illustrate how
• the public’s view of sustainability has changed over time;
• large scale projects have particularly large impacts;
• taking advantage of existing assets is one of the best green
building strategies; and
• addressing the public realm is essential to the social and
economic sustainability of a development.
Conceptual rendering of the Abandoibarra Master Plan in Bilbao, Spain. Iberdrola Tower (shown at an early stage of development) marks the point where the Duesto Bridge crosses the Nervión River.
• recycled concrete resulting from the demolition of the existing
train yard;
• recycled fly ash—the residue of coal burnt by power plants—in
the building’s concrete;
• materials procured from within a 500-mile radius of Bilbao;
• double the amount of fresh air intake required by code;
The site, which drops 16-meters between the city and the river, is covered by a concrete platform topped by a public park. Streets and parking are underneath, allowing city dwellers to walk to the river’s edge unimpeded. A riverfront promenade connects the Guggenheim Bilbao to the new development.
• a continuous loop of 30°C water running through the building;
because the tower has two occupancy types—offices and a
hotel—that are active at different times of day, the water can be
used to assist in heating or cooling, depending on the context,
and in turn, it can be passively heated or cooled by the two
occupancies, again, opportunistically depending on the context;
and
• a plumbing system that collects and recycles grey water.
The double wall glass façade reverses the typical configuration—the
permeable wall is on the inside, and the watertight wall is on the outside.
As sun heats the cavity between the two, cool interior air circulates
through, drawing heat up and into the ceiling plenum. This allows the
building to capture the heat and take advantage of it as circumstances
determine—for heating in the cooler months, for instance.
Cajasol
Seville, Spain (2003-present)
Cajasol is a mixed-use development in Seville, Spain consisting of
a tower, two low buildings and a landscaped mall and plaza. The
project engages with a web of issues that surround the themes of
sustainability, economic development, and urban regeneration:
• it is a private development built on public land – the largely
vacant grounds of a World Exposition;
• it aims to spur growth in the context of a crowded, historic city;
• it takes advantage of the local climate and traditional building
strategies;
• it leverages a strong local commitment to sustainability to enlist
the support of the development team;
• it recognizes that scale is directly proportional to impact, and
that as a large development, it has an equally large responsibility
to its social and environmental contexts; and
• it engages the public realm to ensure its social and economic
sustainability.
Cajasol Planning and Site Design
The medieval city of Seville, the capital of the province of Andalusia,
shares important qualities with a number of Japanese cities. The
center of Seville is densely packed and very historic. There is little
room for development in the downtown area, and even if there were, it
would be a great challenge to provide the sorts of services demanded
by a modern building, let alone the access needed for large-scale
construction.
As hard as it would be to build out in this dense urban fabric, however,
it is also impossible to build up. By law, building heights are limited in
an effort to preserve the prominence of Seville’s historic towers on the
skyline, especially the Giralda, the bell tower of the Seville Cathedral,
which was originally a minaret of a Moorish Mosque.
These constraints have made it difficult for Seville to grow, and the city
has tried a number of strategies to encourage development without
disturbing the historic city center. One such strategy—familiar to
Cajasol consists of a tower and two low buildings that form an outdoor shopping promenade. The project, which occupies part of Seville’s World Exposition site, draws from the historic city’s characteristic urban forms: narrow streets that provide shade and towers that are visible from a distance.
Japanese architects and planners—was to host a world exposition,
which Seville did in 1992, in the hopes that the exposition facilities
would sow the seeds for future growth. Unfortunately for Seville—
and many other cities—this strategy has not often been successful.
Exposition grounds around the world—or Olympic sites, for that
matter—tend to founder after the events have passed, often leaving
large voids on the outskirts of cities, failing to deliver on their promises
of economic development. This was the case for Seville. Luckily,
instead of being located far from town, the Seville fairground is
adjacent to the Old City, just across the Gaudalquivir River. It provided
an opportune area for new development that could become part of the
center city rather than—in the parlance of the urban planner—an Edge
City or Exurb.
Seville has one of the world’s most forward-looking energy codes, as
well as an aggressive program to develop alternative energy sources,
like wind and solar. For instance, the city is currently building a series
of “concentrating solar power plants”— arrays of mirrors that focus
sunlight on a large tank filled with salt that heats up, becomes liquid,
and produces steam to turn a turbine, thereby making electricity.
Remarkably, in five years, by 2013, these plants are anticipated to
provide all of Seville’s electricity, without creating any greenhouse
gases. The political context that supported the investment in these
and other advanced green technologies made it possible—in fact,
almost compulsory—for Pelli Clarke Pelli to design a highly sustainable
project, even in the context of a commercial development.
The site is at the south edge of the Expo fairground, with quick access
to one of Seville’s main approaches, the Puente de Chapina. The site
is a 300-meter by 120-meter rectangle, flat, and bounded by existing
streets, with little around it. Presented with a blank slate, and with little
in the immediate vicinity to respond to for inspiration, the design team
decided give the block a self-sufficient character—to create density
and energy on the site by placing the public attractions—dining, retail
and an auditorium—on the interior of the block. Not wanting to hide
the public space, however, the block is open at each end, and the two
buildings that enclose the sides are low and slope down to grade,
minimizing their bulk and presenting a welcoming posture to visitors.
Although the areas directly adjacent to the site did not provide an
inspiring context for the design team to respond to, the Old City, just
across the River, possesses several meaningful and unique urban
forms. For instance, the narrow, twisting streets of the medieval
city are perfectly suited to provide cool shade in Seville’s hot, bright
climate, and they bustle with activity. In addition, groves of fruit trees
are commonly used to give shade to the city’s medieval plazas, making
for intimate, enclosed spaces rather than the large public squares one
finds in other European cities. In fact, in many respects Seville’s urban
form is closer to the ancient cities of the Middle East, which stands
to reason, since southern Spain was under Moorish control for over
500 years.
The negative space between the two serpentine buildings at Cajasol forms a curving street at the base of the tower. The buildings slope down to grade at each end, allowing pedestrians to easily access lushly planted rooftop parks.
two times, remaking the city’s skyline. The Transit Center, at its base,
will become a new typology: a clean and sustainable transportation
hub. A 5.4-acre public park will form the roof of the Transit Center
and will become the centerpiece of a new and growing neighborhood.
The new Tower and Transit Center are intended to spur economic
development by reinvesting in a centrally located part of San Francisco
that has missed out on the region’s recent economic boom. The project
was conceived by the city as a public-private partnership, a fact that
will help to ensure its economic viability, and thus, its sustainability. The
Transit Center, which is replacing an existing and outmoded bus station
on the same site, is a public project. To raise money for this ambitious
project—the Transit Center is expected to cost several hundred million
dollars—architects and developers were invited to submit proposals
as teams. The expectation was that a developer would make an offer
to purchase part of the site for the construction of a tower, and the
purchase price would be used to fund the construction of the public
Transit Center. Teams could propose whatever mix of programs they
felt appropriate for the tower.
If successful, Transbay will become a new standard bearer for large-
scale urban sustainable design. Implicit in our design are several
assertions about what makes a city sustainable:
• “Placemaking” can be an engine for growth.
• A new public park can be the generator of a new neighborhood.
• Public-private partnerships are beneficial to the success of
large-scale public developments.
• A Transit Center, typically a polluting building type, can be an
environmental symbol.
• Large scale equals large impact.
• The general public must be given a voice in the design process.
Transbay Transit Center
The existing Transbay Terminal is located on the east end of Mission
Street in Rincon Hill, on the edge of San Francisco’s financial and
commercial district. Built in the 1930s, the Terminal is San Francisco’s
main bus station, especially for commuters arriving from Oakland and
Berkeley. Large elevated ramps lead directly to and from the Bay
Bridge, forming imposing structures in the neighborhood. Rincon Hill
is rundown—a commercial borderland between the bustling city center
and the industrial buildings of San Francisco’s once-busy waterfront.
The neighborhood has become a gathering place for the homeless and
the location of transient businesses like cell phone stores and fast food
restaurants. Nonetheless, Rincon Hill is centrally located and is within
walking distance of the many of San Francisco’s great attractions and
businesses. It was only a matter of time before city leaders and real
estate developers recognized it as a great financial opportunity and
urban asset, and in the last couple of years it has become the focus of
energetic residential and commercial development.
In the decades since the original Transbay Terminal was built, the Bay
Area has developed into a sprawling region, and commuters now travel
to the city from long distances. San Francisco’s incredible growth has
happened in spite of a meager public transportation system, and it has
become clear that to continue growing—and to do so in a sustainable
way—the city needs to make a significant investment in public
transportation. Currently there is not a conveniently located multi-
modal hub to bring trains, busses, and cars together in an intelligent
The Transbay Transit Center in San Francisco is five blocks long and topped by a public park. Transbay Tower is adjacent and was designed in concert with the Transit Center. The project is a unique public-private joint venture: the Transit Center is funded in part by revenue from the sale of the land for the Tower.
Transbay Transit Center uses several strategies to reduce energy consumption and mitigate its impact on the surrounding city. The public rooftop park, initially an idea about urbanism, is the centerpiece if the Transit Center’s sustainability program, helping to filter bus exhaust and reducing the “urban heat island” effect.
fins articulates each floor, providing light shelves and solar shades for
the interior space, much like the Cajasol Tower in Seville.
Transbay Tower employs several green building strategies. The
metal sunshades, working in concert with opaque bands of spandrel
glass that rise to sill height on every floor, are carefully calibrated
to maximize light and views while reducing solar gain. Paired with
high performance, low-emissivity glass, the building’s cooling load is
reduced significantly, potentially resulting in energy savings of 15%
relative to the standard baseline. The cooling that is required will be
provided in part by heat-exchanging coils wrapped around the Tower’s
deep foundations, harnessing the constant, cool temperature of the
earth, once again reducing the Tower’s dependence on public utilities.
In addition to energy reduction, our proposal also addresses indoor
air quality. A band of louvers at each story, carefully coordinated with
the building’s structure and skin, work with dedicated fans to provide
100% fresh air at every floor. It is expected that these strategies will
result in a LEED rating of Gold, a significant achievement for a tower
of this size.
Above the 80th floor, the glass in the curtain wall stops, but the metal
elements of the Tower continue to rise and taper. This subtle change
in the building envelope gives the Tower an expressive top, while
maintaining the simplicity and natural verticality of its form. Within
the space created by the metalwork is an array of visually expressive
wind turbines generating power to light the Tower’s top. The faster the
turbines spin, the more electricity they create, and the more intensely
the light glows. The breezes from San Francisco Bay are continuously
registered and made visible, reinforcing the environmentally sensitive