NATURE-ROLE-ARCHITECTURE
Nature is a very important element in architecture today. Architecture is not only talking about building itself, its always relate to the surrounding environment and existing element, which include nature. The role of nature is architecture today are very wide, it can be part of green decoration, can be part of material, can be part of structure, can be a medium for a space or building, can be part of mechanism for ventilation or shading, and a lots more. The relationship between nature and architecture is also very tight, Marc-Antoine Laughier had said that
"course of simple nature ;
by imitating the natural process,
art was born."
without nature, there wont be art, there wont be architecture.
Nature is predominantly a design metaphor, a set of physical factors to emulate, to overcome oppose, can be combination of criteria above or something else.NA
Nanyang Technical University's School of Art
Formed by two sloping, tapering arcs that interlock with a third, smaller arc, the School of Art, Design, and Media is an elegant five-story, 215,000-square-foot structure housing more than two dozen studios and laboratories, two galleries, and as many lecture halls, alongside classrooms, a sound stage, a 450-seat auditorium, and motley other spaces spanning a library to prototyping rooms. Accessible by stairs along the edges, the curving, green roofs prevent a loss of open space, while offering a sculptural solution for CPG’s design goals.
From the park-like landscape surrounding the school, these roofs rise gently but with pronunciation, arching up to hold the mirrored buildings below. They serve as gathering places for students, faculty, and visitors, encouraging the type of nonlinear thinking that a building-that-is-a-hill seems to suggest.
Its mission is to nurture creative and entrepreneurial leaders through a broad education in diverse disciplines.
The 215,000-square-foot School of Art, Design and Media (ADM) is the island nation's first professional art school, and the refurbished ADM Gallery is a unique, high-tech creative space in Singapore. Fitted with museum track lighting and climate-controls to safely present sensitive and valuable works of arts, the Gallery meets today’s high international museum standards and hosts exciting contemporary art exhibitions by artists from Singapore, Southeast Asia, and beyond.
Varying from 2-5 stories, the key feature of the building design is the green roof that slopes almost at a 45-degree angle. Formed by two sloping, tapering arcs that interlock with a third, smaller arc, the roof of the School of Art, Design, and Media was cast in heavily ribbed, reinforced concrete. The sunken, almond shaped courtyard is formed by the space in between the building’s two main arms and is beautifully reflected from the interior high performance, double glazed glass curtain wall facades. Accentuated by fountains and a "floating" performance platform, a reflecting pond adds to the communal ambiance while helping to cool the center space.
The four-storey building, with its eye-catching sloped 'grass roofs', was designed to blend in with NTU’s garden campus setting. Beyond being an aesthetic feature that doubles as a scenic outdoor communal space, the green roofs keep the ambient temperature low and reduce heat in the daytime. In addition, the reflective pond in the central courtyard provides a cool visual respite for those gazing out of the classrooms, laboratories and offices that overlook it. The eco-friendly building houses some of the most advanced media facilities, including a variety of digital laboratories and photography, film, animation and media studios. The School also boasts a comprehensive fine arts library, two art galleries and an auditorium that can seat up to 445 people.
The glass facade of the building allows full exterior views, again providing visual connectivity with the surrounding lush landscape. Lights are incorporated onto the roof to allow students to meet in the evening. At night, the building glows like a lantern, allowing activities of the school to be observed from the outside. The changing character of the façade lends dynamism, life and interest to the building as day transforms into night. The roof turf consists of a combination of two grasses, Zoysia matrella and Ophiopogon. The curving roofs are accessible by stairs along the edges, although only one of the six portions of green roof is best for seating due to lower slopes. Under the grass roof are four layers of interrelated matter which include crushed volcanic rocks, pumice and washed sand (for the grass to root), as well as a moisture retention mat. The turfgrass remains green and healthy year round via an automatic sprinkler system using harvested rainwater. This 5 storey facility sweeps a wooded corner of the campus with an organic, vegetated form that blends landscape and structure, nature and high-tech and symbolizes the creativity it houses...The curving green roofs distinguish the building from among the other structures on campus but the line between landscape and building is blurred. The roofs serve as informal gathering spaces challenging linear ideas and stirring perception. The roofs create open space, insulate the building, cool the surrounding air and harvest rainwater for landscaping irrigation.
Green roof features : - Verdant turfed roof blends into the lush greenery and environment. - Turfed landscape as scenic outdoor communal space. - Green roof lowers both the roof temperature and ambient temperature hence reduce heat gain to the air conditioned building. - The building is oriented with its facades facing north and south to minimize solar gain. - High efficiency discharge lights are adopted throughout the building. - The rain water collection system is fitted on the green roof for irrigation. - The rain sensors are installed on the green roof to automate the irrigation process whereby irrigation is ceased when it rains. - The curved building is embracing a courtyard with water features and plants. The reflection of the trees and nature can been seen on the all-glass exterior.
The green roof and high performance glass as well as the use of carbon dioxide sensors in its air-handling units help to reduce energy used and maintain a healthy indoor air quality. In addition, the reflective pond in the central courtyard provides a cool visual respite for those gazing out of the classrooms, laboratories and offices that overlook it.
Like what Carol Burn mentioned :
"The obvious strategy for addition is to design the new without relation to the existing structure as analogous to the model of thr cleared site, which brings imported content to a situation conceivedas without meaning."
From this case study, we can clearly see that how CPG team design the school fully merge into and within nature. Not only blend with surrounding, they also inject a lot of nature element into the design, the 45 degree of slope, green roof which accessible and also landscape. The building works efficiency because of all the features, and users will feel comfortable although they are in a tropical season country, Singapore.
