About Herman calleja
Architect, Senior Environmental Consultant at ChapmanBDSP and tutor at the Architectural Association
Architect There is a scientific consensus that the global climate is becoming warmer in a large part due to anthropogenic activities and it is mostly irreversible leading to hotter cities and desertification.
One of the solutions how buildings can respond to a varying climate is by having a skin that can adapt to a changing climate; metamorphose architecture. The concept is to design multiple façade scenarios for a given building façade such that over the first number of years the architecture is expressed in a certain language and in a period of time the façade may receive additional elements within allocated details that serve as shading devices. The idea is to prepare the façades with the required detailing to be able to alter parts of the facades, such as change the glazing ratio by replacing some of the glazing panels with opaque panels of the same size, or photovoltaic panels of the same size.
The IPCC has a number of potential global carbon emissions scenarios which in turn will result in an figure of temperature rise, however the exact figure is unknown due to a large number of variables. Hence this strategy would allow the buildings to adjust to the severity of the climate change that occurs down the line.
This would also allow for buildings to adapt and at the same time reduce waste generation when facades are refurbished, allow the integration of smart media and urban greening as required.
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