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Performance Architecture : Buildings

International Built Environment Discussion by Brian Carter, University of Buffalo, NY, USA – also a registered architect in the United Kingdom

9 Mar 2010

Performance Buildings

Performance is increasingly a focus of architecture. Prompted by genuine curiosity and an increasing urgency to know how the design of buildings can help to improve environmental conditions it is an interest that is also being fuelled by new technologies that enable spaces and systems to be monitored more effectively.

Brian Carter:

Brian Carter

Projects highlighted by e. architect this week suggest other ways of thinking about performance. They highlight the its changing nature as an activity to be considered with new proposals for theatres, concert halls and esplanades. Those proposals speak of the exuberance of star performers, first nights, the flaneur and the red carpet. They also identify the design competition as a way of flushing out ideas, conjuring up breathless descriptions and creating seductive images.

Vacarisses CTRV Building Performance Architecture
photograph : Francisco Urrutia

The gap between image and performance in architecture can be wide. And while architectural education frequently focuses on image, design research is often remote from practice and the profession continues to enthusiastically hand over buildings to clients and move on to the next commission.

Performance is at the heart of the projects illustrated – whether in Taipei, Dublin or Paris. But what chance that each one will be re-examined on completion, tested by clients or designers and understood by students in ways that make performance a basis for new modern architectures?

Brian Carter is a graduate of the Nottingham School of Architecture and the University of Toronto, is a registered architect in the United Kingdom. He is Professor and Dean of Architecture at the University of Buffalo, The State University of New York, NY, USA.

Architecture Articles

Architectural Narrative : article by Trevor Tucker. 2 Mar 2010

Sustainable Design : article by Trevor Tucker. 18 Aug 2009

Sustainable Building Design : article by Trevor Tucker. 18 Aug 2009

New York State Architecture Designs

American Architects

American Architecture

Apple Retail Store, Carnegie Library
Design: Foster + Partners Architects
Apple Retail Store at Carnegie Library of Washington D.C. | www.e-architect.com
image Courtesy of architects
Carnegie Library Apple Store Building
The project will rehabilitate and modernize the Carnegie Library building to become a retail and education facility. The building will be leased jointly by the Historical Society of Washington, D.C. which will continue to operate its research library, exhibit galleries, and administrative offices.

KAP – The Kapellenhof Estate (1220 Vienna) – 450 Living Units, Kapellenweg
Architects: ARGE AllesWirdGut | feld72
KAP Kapellenhof Estate housing design
image courtesy of architects office
Kapellenhof Estate Vienna housing
Uniquely situated around a spacious urban grove on Kapellenweg in Vienna’s 22nd district is a residential estate which, conceptually and aesthetically, is modeled on the municipal housing of the traditional Viennese Gemeindebau. Conceived as a large courtyard estate, a clear and self-confident ensemble emerges: the Kapellenhof.

Comments / photos for the Performance Architecture Article by Brian Carter, University of Buffalo, New York, page welcome