Might also the buildings be recycled into other social uses? For example, the Soccer City stadium in Johannesburg, designed by Boogertman Urban Edge and Populous, could easily be repurposed as an apartment complex and community center. The inside circulation path at ground level could become a connecting street, the upper levels inside the framework could support plug-in dwelling units, and the playing field could host a village garden, a park and play area for residents.

Many of the 10 venues used for the World Cup games were refurbished existing stadiums. However, four of the stadiums (including Soccer City) incorporated fabric into the roofs, and of these four three were completely new structures that exploited the sculptural qualities of fabric in dynamic designs: Greenpoint, Cape Town; Moses Mabhida Stadium, Durban; and Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, Port Elizabeth. The fabric roofs were an economical means to spanning large distances and provided much-needed shade in the South African sun. Fabric also made it economical to retrofit many of the much older existing arenas.

South Africa gained a wonderful legacy of world-class venues in these new and retro-fitted stadia. Now it must maintain them in a world-class manner befitting their quality designs. Or re-use them in an equally creative way.

Bruce N. Wright, AIA, is the editor of Fabric Architecture.

The technology of fabric structures has evolved over the past 60 years (into a unique and specialized form of engineering and architecture) with its own jargon and "language" of details.

There are at least three historical technologies that have been adapted to make the parts and details of a fabric structure: sailing ships with their "rigging" (a term that still applies to the cables and hardware of current fabric structures); the Arab "black tent" of the nomadic tribes of north Africa and Middle East (the form and tensile principles of tensioned fabric developed by the Bedouin by the eighteenth century are transferable); and circus tents from the nineteenth century (with their fabric clamping and tensioning mechanisms adapted to contemporary applications)

The circus tent ("chapiteau" in Europe, "big top" in North America) is where we get "bail ring" a key element in the design of tension structures used to evenly distribute the stresses that converge on the peak of a mast support, thereby relieving the fabric from excess forces and preventing tearing.

As with all technology transfers, the form and words to describe the new technology are adapted from a previous technology. Thus, "horseless carriage" first described what became an automobile; a mast (from sailing ships) described (and continues to describe) a vertical structural support for tension structures.

Fabric architecture technology is continuing to evolve and adapt new materials and absorb new technologies. Today air-inflated structures (think the 2008 Beijing Olympics National Aquatics Center "Watercube" with its ETFE pillows) are incorporating pneumatic technologies and detailing, and nanotechnology driven chemistries and engineering are creating new forms of architecture (e.g., fabric coatings that "eat" pollution, breakdown grime or convert movement [mechanical energy] into electrical currents). All of these will need terminology to describe them. The fun is just beginning.

Bruce N. Wright, AIA, is the editor of Fabric Architecture.

Interesting to note is NASA space architect Kriss Kennedy's rosy prediction that NASA was on the brink of a new wave of extraterrestrial structures that would incorporate the latest development in high-tech textiles. We all know the outcome of the past decade with its grim economic times and the subsequent impact on ambitious plans. Plus ça change...?

Bruce N. Wright, AIA, is the editor of Fabric Architecture.

What is the equivalent innovation today? It is always hard to have a clear perspective while in the midst of things, so we'll not know the answer for decades. But we can speculate, and within the specialty fabrics industry that sustains this publication we may discover sources of innovation that may transform architecture in the future.

One source that aims to inspire is being offered by the Industrial Fabrics Foundation (IFF), which has launched the Innovation Award, meant to inspire and spur to new heights the worldwide specialty fabrics industry.*

The award is open to any company that has developed and manufactured an innovative product related to the specialty fabrics industry. Products can be entered under one of three categories: fabric, hardware or machinery; end product; or process. What does this mean for architects and designers? Nothing immediately, but potentially a great deal. For example, recent research in façade systems by architects working with fabricators of ETFE systems has explored the potentials for reduced energy use in buildings, something that has a huge impact on the future of the built environment.

Follow your muse to inspire others with original ideas in building. Spread the word about the IFF Innovation Award. Someone you know (perhaps yourself?) may have the next big idea that could advance architecture with significant improvements in performance.

Bruce N. Wright, AIA, is the editor of Fabric Architecture.

Deadline for entry is July 16, 2010.

This is exciting and positive news, but from our perspective not a new idea, as this journal reported several years ago on a similar design for the invitation-only, annual Serpentine Pavilion designs for the Serpentine Gallery in London, specifically the pavilion designed by Rem Koolhaas and Cecil Balmond (see FA Mar/Apr 2007.) The good news is that this technology has finally arrived in this country at a time of economic stress, offering hope that institutions like the Hirshhorn can shake off the doldrums of diminishing funds and still shake up the cultural landscape (albeit within tighter budgets).

Other recent projects of hope: Various Architects’ transportable mobile performance venue (see Mar/Apr, pg. 30); Parsons Brinckerhoff/FTL Design Engineering Studio’s Rosa Parks Transit Center (see Sept/Oct, pg. 6); Zaha Hadid’s Burnham pavilion in Chicago (see Nov/Dec, pg. 6); and the streets of New York City are to be improved with UrbanSHEDs of fabric (see Samples this issue, pg. 6.)**

You, too, can bring light and hope to the design world. Consider using fabric to reduce cost, extend a project’s potential and life cycle, or improve future adaptability of facilities, as shown with the Hirshhorn Museum project. The potential is endless.

Bruce N. Wright, AIA, is the editor of Fabric Architecture.

*The New York Times, Dec. 15, 2009.
**Fabric Architecture’s website has a searchable database of more than 350 articles, including the articles mentioned here.

November 1, 2009 marked the beginning of the 13th year of my editorship of Fabric Architecture magazine and my, how it has flown! I have visible proof of how swift time can fly in my 13-year old son who has changed significantly over the same period. Fabric architecture as a field of study also has changed radically, going from what appeared to be a marginal branch of architectural practice to what now appears to be an avant garde. After all, if the likes of Zaha Hadid, Norman Foster (see his Dresden Main Station refurbishment in ’07) and Rem Koolhaas (see his Serpentine Pavilion of ’06 with engineer Cecil Balmond) are playing with the material, it means fabric has finally gotten onto the pallet of desirable building materials with influential designers. And that can only be good for all of us. So the number 13 is not one to be feared from my perspective.

November also marks 20 years of FA, an equally significant period of development and innovation for our industry, and the beginning, I would hope, of another 20 years of publication and industry innovations. Looking back, I’d say the most exciting developments have been with new materials and technologies such as ETFE, PV-integrated tension structures and phase-change textiles, which have opened up new avenues of design and excited a new generation of designers. Perhaps the most significant issue shaping the industry—indeed all industries—is sustainability, a societal force that is remaking how everyone does business. There is a growing recognition throughout society of the need for construction techniques that have low-embodied carbon footprints, an area of practice where specialty textiles can shine.

To celebrate this journal’s anniversary and the journey we’ve all traversed, throughout the next 13 months in each issue we will highlight landmark stories from FA’s past. These retrospectives, starting with this issue’s look back at Eberhard Zeidler’s Canada Place, can be found on our newly redesigned web site (www.fabricarchitecturemag.com) where I invite your thoughts on this industry’s future.

The construction of tension structures also has its unique terms, such as abseiler. A term used chiefly in the UK and Germany — where much of the advancement of tension structure construction methods has occurred over the past 50 years — abseiler comes from the German abseilen, meaning to “rope down” or rappel down by means of a rope. According to Roger Frison-Rocheand and Sylvain Jouty in their History of Mountain Climbing (Paris, 1996), the origin of the term can be traced to Jean Estéril Charlet, a Chamonix guide who devised a method of roping down the French Alps summit Petit Dru in 1879.

The term abseiler when used in fabric architecture refers to the daring men (to date they are mostly men) who climb to the tops of large tension structure masts and cables to fasten fabric to the structure. And it takes the fearlessness of mountain climbers to safely climb the heights of some recent tension structures, such as Murphy/Jahn’s Sony Center in Berlin, where the peak of the cone-shaped roof rises up to 67m above the atrium floor. Abseilers made it possible to construct such a complex roof.

To create a new standard of sidewalk shed design that “improves the pedestrian experience while maintaining or exceeding the required safety standards in New York City,” the New York City Department of Buildings (DOB) and the New York Chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIANY) launched an international competition to design the sidewalk shed of the future, with the urbanSHED competition.

The DOB and the AIANY recently announced three finalists from a competition total of 164 entries submitted by architects, engineers, designers and students from around the world. I was surprised and pleased to learn that all three finalists incorporated specialty fabric in their designs in some manner, acknowledging in effect that fabrics are naturally and historically part of the construction site aesthetic. Of particular note is “urbanCLOUD” designed by Kevin Erickson and team from KNEStudio, New York, that uses air as a structural medium to replace the heavy, dark sheds most often found throughout the city, using double membrane ETFE beams supported by light-gage aluminum frames.

It has been four years since Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans in a crippling blow. Much has been written about the aftermath of the destruction and of the painfully slow rebuilding process. One of the more visible efforts to help reestablish a community in the Lower 9th Ward of New Orleans (arguably the most devastated neighborhood of the city) has been movie actor Brad Pitt’s Make It Right (MIR) initiative.

To kick off the initiative, Pitt hired international architect GRAFT to design a temporary installation of pink fabric structures randomly placed around the Lower 9th Ward to bring widespread media attention to the effort. Since then, the MIR group has raised funds to hire several architects to design many replacement homes and have the designs built. Most recently, MIR announced the completion of 14 duplex houses designed by as many architects. (See www.makeitrightnola.org)

There are many examples around the world of designers applying their talents to solving emergency shelter needs—some overly complex and of doubtful efficacy, some simple and effective. Fabric is ideal for these applications for a number of good reasons, not the least because it has low-embodied energy compared to more rigid manufactured materials and thus a smaller carbon footprint. And, for the same reason it is relatively easy to transport anywhere. But many architects overlook this durable, sustainable material when approached to design for disaster relief. Why? Could it be a bias against lightweight materials in the face of the forces of nature? We should not shrink from the use of these high-strength, but light weight options. Nature itself provides us with an abundance of examples contrary to this human bias: i.e., eggshells, spider webs, feathers and more.

Within this issue we examine a number of highly efficient and sophisticated systems of shelter designed for disaster relief use. All utilize the unique and sustainable benefits of fabric in some way. Perhaps, with designs as these, future efforts to meet disaster relief needs can, in the words of the Pink Project, “not dwell on the past, but rather empower the future.”

Bruce N. Wright, AIA, is the editor of Fabric Architecture.

To kick off the initiative, Pitt hired international architect GRAFT to design a temporary installation of pink fabric structures randomly placed around the Lower 9th Ward to bring widespread media attention to the effort. Since then, the MIR group has raised funds to hire several architects to design many replacement homes and have the designs built. Most recently, MIR announced the completion of 14 duplex houses designed by as many architects. (See www.makeitrightnola.org)

There are many examples around the world of designers applying their talents to solving emergency shelter needs—some overly complex and of doubtful efficacy, some simple and effective. Fabric is ideal for these applications for a number of good reasons, not the least because it has low-embodied energy compared to more rigid manufactured materials and thus a smaller carbon footprint. And, for the same reason it is relatively easy to transport anywhere. But many architects overlook this durable, sustainable material when approached to design for disaster relief. Why? Could it be a bias against lightweight materials in the face of the forces of nature? We should not shrink from the use of these high-strength, but light weight options. Nature itself provides us with an abundance of examples contrary to this human bias: i.e., eggshells, spider webs, feathers and more.

Within this issue we examine a number of highly efficient and sophisticated systems of shelter designed for disaster relief use. All utilize the unique and sustainable benefits of fabric in some way. Perhaps, with designs as these, future efforts to meet disaster relief needs can, in the words of the Pink Project, “not dwell on the past, but rather empower the future.”

As the media struggle in the faltering economy, we hear pundits predicting the demise of newspapers, magazines and other print media, as well as of TV shows being canceled for lack of sponsors. It’s hard to be positive when not only the advertising dwindles, but also the architecture and landscape architecture firms that are the target of the advertising dwindle. Opportunities do arise, however, under all circumstances. New mediums create new places for messages and new ideas to be disseminated. Last fall’s United States presidential election showcased the exciting potential and power of such means as YouTube, Twitter and e-mail communication with an e-literate constituency. Architects and designers have historically been early adopters of new technology, and the near universal use in the profession of CAD and BIM technologies is proof of that.

As the more traditional news and information media adjust to the Internet age, we read that even such vaunted institutions as The New York Times are unsure of a workable business model. Does it charge for online news or make it free? Do readers who subscribe get access privileges or should pay-as-you-go be the norm?

Fabric Architecture is facing the same challenges. With this issue we are moving some standard columns and departments from print to Web, so you will find continuing education articles and book and software reviews now online only. Additional professional information found under the rubric of “Expertise” will continue to be posted on our Web version of the magazine. Reader surveys tell us that you actually prefer much of your information in digital form rather than the more carbon-footprint heavy paper format, so we’re listening.

One highly effective method of information transfer is the workshop. We are pleased to announce three workshops this coming September in connection with IFAI’s Expo in San Diego: “How to Design Green Roofs/Landscapes” on Sept. 22; “Become a Sustainable Shading Expert,” Sept. 24; and “How to Get Started With Fabric Structures,” Sept. 24. All three workshops offer AIA-CES credits.

As always, we want to hear from you. How is this working? What can we improve? What needs keeping and what should be discarded? Attention must, and will be, paid.

Bruce N. Wright, AIA, is the editor of Fabric Architecture.

As the more traditional news and information media adjust to the Internet age, we read that even such vaunted institutions as The New York Times are unsure of a workable business model. Does it charge for online news or make it free? Do readers who subscribe get access privileges or should pay-as-you-go be the norm?

Fabric Architecture is facing the same challenges. With this issue we are moving some standard columns and departments from print to Web, so you will find continuing education articles and book and software reviews now online only. Additional professional information found under the rubric of “Expertise” will continue to be posted on our Web version of the magazine. Reader surveys tell us that you actually prefer much of your information in digital form rather than the more carbon-footprint heavy paper format, so we’re listening.

One highly effective method of information transfer is the workshop. We are pleased to announce three workshops this coming September in connection with IFAI’s Expo in San Diego: “How to Design Green Roofs/Landscapes” on Sept. 22; “Become a Sustainable Shading Expert,” Sept. 24; and “How to Get Started With Fabric Structures,” Sept. 24. All three workshops offer AIA-CES credits.

As always, we want to hear from you. How is this working? What can we improve? What needs keeping and what should be discarded? Attention must, and will be, paid.

In addition to recent talk in the current down cycle about making our automobiles smaller and greener as the world economy forces all automobile manufacturers to reassess their future, architects have acknowledged the equally important need for designing energy miserly buildings to sustain future design possibilities. Besides designing more thermally efficient buildings, architects are discovering the use of alternative energy systems such as wind, solar and biomass energy systems. All of these “new” systems have a long way to go before they become intuitive in regular practice. However, several new technological innovations have started to give hope of more regular use of photovoltaics, the subject of this issue’s theme.

British scientist David J. C. McKay has identified four forms of solar power that can be exploited, some more easily than others.* According to McKay, these four forms are solar thermal, solar photovoltaic, solar biomass and food. Solar thermal uses the sunshine directly on the surface of a building or on water to heat it up. (McKay estimates a system of 10m² per person would generate about 13kWh per day at a 50% efficiency.) Solar photovoltaic converts the sun’s rays directly into electricity. (Typical solar panels have a range of 10– 20% efficiencies maximum and would produce about 5kWh per day per person.) Solar biomass uses trees, bacteria, algae, corn, soy beans or oilseed to make energy fuels, chemicals or building materials. (McKay estimates about 24kWh/day per person but the system requires large tracts of land to produce.) The fourth category, food, converts the energy stored in food plants and puts it directly into humans or animals.

Of these four methods, the one that has been attracting designers with the most interesting possibilities for building technology is solar photovoltaics. Although there is much still to do in increasing efficiencies and practicality, enough has been done in this line of exploration to cause many designers to seriously consider integrating PV into their designs. Read the feature stories in this issue and judge for yourself.

Bruce N. Wright, AIA, is the editor of Fabric Architecture.
* David J.C. MacKay, Sustainable Energy – without the hot air (Cambridge, u.k.: UIT Cambridge ltd., 2009), Available free online from www.withouthotair.com.

British scientist David J. C. McKay has identified four forms of solar power that can be exploited, some more easily than others.* According to McKay, these four forms are solar thermal, solar photovoltaic, solar biomass and food. Solar thermal uses the sunshine directly on the surface of a building or on water to heat it up. (McKay estimates a system of 10m² per person would generate about 13kWh per day at a 50% efficiency.) Solar photovoltaic converts the sun’s rays directly into electricity. (Typical solar panels have a range of 10– 20% efficiencies maximum and would produce about 5kWh per day per person.) Solar biomass uses trees, bacteria, algae, corn, soy beans or oilseed to make energy fuels, chemicals or building materials. (McKay estimates about 24kWh/day per person but the system requires large tracts of land to produce.) The fourth category, food, converts the energy stored in food plants and puts it directly into humans or animals.

Of these four methods, the one that has been attracting designers with the most interesting possibilities for building technology is solar photovoltaics. Although there is much still to do in increasing efficiencies and practicality, enough has been done in this line of exploration to cause many designers to seriously consider integrating PV into their designs. Read the feature stories in this issue and judge for yourself.

* David J.C. MacKay, Sustainable Energy – without the hot air (Cambridge, u.k.: UIT Cambridge ltd., 2009), Available free online from www.withouthotair.com.

As the Eames’ camera pulls back from the image of the earth at a rate of a kilometer per second, we soon discover (in less than a minute!) how relatively insignificant the earth really is in relation to our galaxy, the universe and everything.* Eames’ image of the earth seen from outer space mimicked the “Whole Earth Catalog” cover with it’s NASA photo of the earth seen from the surface of the Moon, and supported the era’s optimistic outlook on the future.

With the Eames’ film, we have a highly effective tool for understanding the relationship of scale and measurements. And since the moon landing, our daily dose of images by weather satellites of the earth’s atmosphere (a planetary “health assessment” so to speak) reminds us how fragile it can seem.

This is the International Year of Astronomy and with all the related activities around the world, we are again reminded of how insignificant our blue planet is in respect to “out there.” As I write this, 2009 will mark a significant shift in the world’s understanding of the importance of buildings in influencing our planet’s health. It is worth repeating here that of all the major sources of human activity contributing to global warming, buildings and building construction can claim more than 40% of the total.

In the spirit of minimizing our carbon footprint, might I suggest the theme of this issue’s feature stories — temporary and transportable buildings — may inspire you to consider a temporary structure for your next project. Does your client’s building really need to be built with so-called “permanent” materials? Will the building’s initial function or intended purpose be around in 30 years? How about 20, even 10 years? With the rapidity of societal change we are experiencing throughout the world, the idea of a permanent building for a specific function comes increasingly into question. Take a look at the examples we’ve collected here, and see if they don’t challenge your usual assumptions about “permanent construction.” The view of the future from here is inspiring.

Bruce N. Wright, AIA, is the editor of Fabric Architecture.
*Find more on this phenomenal film at www.powersof10.com.

With the Eames’ film, we have a highly effective tool for understanding the relationship of scale and measurements. And since the moon landing, our daily dose of images by weather satellites of the earth’s atmosphere (a planetary “health assessment” so to speak) reminds us how fragile it can seem.

This is the International Year of Astronomy and with all the related activities around the world, we are again reminded of how insignificant our blue planet is in respect to “out there.” As I write this, 2009 will mark a significant shift in the world’s understanding of the importance of buildings in influencing our planet’s health. It is worth repeating here that of all the major sources of human activity contributing to global warming, buildings and building construction can claim more than 40% of the total.

In the spirit of minimizing our carbon footprint, might I suggest the theme of this issue’s feature stories — temporary and transportable buildings — may inspire you to consider a temporary structure for your next project. Does your client’s building really need to be built with so-called “permanent” materials? Will the building’s initial function or intended purpose be around in 30 years? How about 20, even 10 years? With the rapidity of societal change we are experiencing throughout the world, the idea of a permanent building for a specific function comes increasingly into question. Take a look at the examples we’ve collected here, and see if they don’t challenge your usual assumptions about “permanent construction.” The view of the future from here is inspiring.

*Find more on this phenomenal film at www.powersof10.com.

The publisher’s “pyramid of green” concept, based on the food pyramid, helps people make choices to improve the energy performance of their houses. It’s a good, although possibly simplistic, idea. Anything that helps people make wise choices in energy use — choices in materials, equipment and building systems, as well as even more elemental issues as location, building siting and size — is a good thing. What concerns me is that often these guides leave out good choices that may help reduce energy consumption before a building is built, namely reducing solar gain through windows or the electrical load of light fixtures, both of which can benefit from wise use of architectural fabric. Stopping the sun before it hits a window significantly reduces solar gain and energy use can be reduced by using translucent fabric roofs or canopies to allow in natural light thus reducing the use of electric fixtures.*

Much more can be done, but it requires regular and frequent education, the type of education expounded at the recent ACADIA (Association for Computer-Aided Design in Architecture) conference held in Minneapolis, where more than 50 papers were presented on the implications and potentials of computer use in architecture.** Some of those potentials involved the use of fabric, and Fabric Architecture will be reporting on these presentations throughout the year, beginning with this issue and Jason Griffiths’ cooling table. The future, as represented by the participants at the ACADIA 2008 Conference, is ripe with possibilities.

Another exciting possibility is the new National Academy of Environmental Design (NAED), formed to address “the critical issues surrounding the sustainability of our designed world.” Modeled after other National Academies — e.g., the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) — the NAED will bring together “committees of experts in areas of scientific and technological endeavor to address critical national issues and give advice to the federal government and the public.” The participating organizations are identifying key questions around sustainable materials and other areas for further study and recommendation to Congress and the National Research Council.*** As these studies develop, FA will report back. Stay tuned.

Bruce N. Wright, AIA, is the editor of Fabric Architecture.
* See the Professional Awning Manufacturers’ Association energy study at www.awningstoday.com.
** Fabric Architecture was a sponsor of ACADIA2008: www.acadia.org/acadia2008.
*** www.naedonline.org.

Much more can be done, but it requires regular and frequent education, the type of education expounded at the recent ACADIA (Association for Computer-Aided Design in Architecture) conference held in Minneapolis, where more than 50 papers were presented on the implications and potentials of computer use in architecture.** Some of those potentials involved the use of fabric, and Fabric Architecture will be reporting on these presentations throughout the year, beginning with this issue and Jason Griffiths’ cooling table. The future, as represented by the participants at the ACADIA 2008 Conference, is ripe with possibilities.

Another exciting possibility is the new National Academy of Environmental Design (NAED), formed to address “the critical issues surrounding the sustainability of our designed world.” Modeled after other National Academies — e.g., the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) — the NAED will bring together “committees of experts in areas of scientific and technological endeavor to address critical national issues and give advice to the federal government and the public.” The participating organizations are identifying key questions around sustainable materials and other areas for further study and recommendation to Congress and the National Research Council.*** As these studies develop, FA will report back. Stay tuned.

* See the Professional Awning Manufacturers’ Association energy study at www.awningstoday.com.

** Fabric Architecture was a sponsor of ACADIA2008: www.acadia.org/acadia2008.

*** www.naedonline.org.

Several areas of sustainable design practice can be aided by the use of fabric. The United States Green Building Council (USGBC) has developed the most effective rating system of sustainable designs, called Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED®). With the LEED system, buildings, and more recently landscapes, can be scored based upon an array of measurable efforts throughout the design and construction of a building to determine its environmental impact. The higher the score, the better the building.

There are at least five specific areas of the LEED rating system where fabric can contribute towards approved levels of sustainability: heat island effect on roofing (fabric can provide high reflectivity, thus reducing the heat island effect); natural lighting from translucent fabric roofs; reduce energy for artificial light as a result of having translucent roofs; renewable energy (photovoltaics can be integrated into fabric structures to contribute renewable energy to the building’s operations); innovations in design (new materials such as ETFE membranes, mesh shade structures and vertical fabric brise-soleil, can help reduce building energy use).

This Sustainability Portfolio is a good place to start searching for new materials and technologies. Many of the suppliers within are excellent sources for sustainable materials. We encourage you to contact these suppliers for your next project. Also, in your search for new sources, don’t forget this magazine itself.

Bruce N. Wright, AIA, is the editor of Fabric Architecture.

As I mentioned in the series’ first issue, “by year’s end you will have received the industry’s knowledge base of green design practices and resources for responsibly designing with fabric.” I trust you will agree with me when I say this topic and the emphasis we’re placing on it throughout Fabric Architecture is of prime importance to the future of the profession, as well as society. For that reason, Fabric Architecture will continue exploring these issues in depth in the years ahead. But we cannot do this alone. Please share with us your experiences, knowledge and expertise on sustainable design with fabric as a shared knowledge base brings everyone to a higher plane. To borrow a phrase from Red Green of the Canadian Broadcast Corp.’s popular TV comedy the Red Green Show, “We are all in this together.”

As a reminder, the Industrial Fabrics Association International (IFAI), will hold an architect’s workshop on how to get started with fabric structures [Oct. 22, 2008; 5:30pm – 8:30 pm] in Charlotte, North Carolina during IFAI’s annual Expo and convention. Also of interest, is the IFAI focused session on “Going Beyond Green — Saving Tomorrow Today” on Oct. 23 during the same convention. Both events are free to architects and students, however registration is still required. For more information visit the IFAI Expo Web page: www.ifaiexpo.com, or e-mail Jill Rutledge: jmrutledge@ifai.com.

Bruce N. Wright, AIA, is the editor of Fabric Architecture.

As I mentioned in the series’ first issue, “by year’s end you will have received the industry’s knowledge base of green design practices and resources for responsibly designing with fabric.” I trust you will agree with me when I say this topic and the emphasis we’re placing on it throughout Fabric Architecture is of prime importance to the future of the profession, as well as society. For that reason, Fabric Architecture will continue exploring these issues in depth in the years ahead. But we cannot do this alone. Please share with us your experiences, knowledge and expertise on sustainable design with fabric as a shared knowledge base brings everyone to a higher plane. To borrow a phrase from Red Green of the Canadian Broadcast Corp.’s popular TV comedy the Red Green Show, “We are all in this together.”

As a reminder, the Industrial Fabrics Association International (IFAI), will hold an architect’s workshop on how to get started with fabric structures [Oct. 22, 2008; 5:30pm – 8:30 pm] in Charlotte, North Carolina during IFAI’s annual Expo and convention. Also of interest, is the IFAI focused session on “Going Beyond Green — Saving Tomorrow Today” on Oct. 23 during the same convention. Both events are free to architects and students, however registration is still required. For more information visit the IFAI Expo Web page: www.ifaiexpo.com, or e-mail Jill Rutledge: jmrutledge@ifai.com.

We’ve heard much lately about the carbon emissions battle the world is fighting on behalf of future generations. The challenge, of course, is to help nations reduce their greenhouse gas production and thereby try to reduce global warming. This flurry of activity is, in part, the result of the Kyoto Protocol on global environment, which went into effect 1 January. Already there are reports that big businesses and government groups are trading carbon shares on a sort of carbon stock exchange. This is good. However, many fear that some corporations or even governments are just trading ideologies without actually reducing greenhouse gases.

As part of this international discussion, the building industries are being targeted as major polluters, producers of significantly higher amounts of greenhouse gases emitted by the manufacturers of cement, steel and aluminum, the heaviest pollutors.* We all need to be educated on this significant trend.

Fabric is inherently low on the scale when it comes to energy consumption. First because it takes less energy to manufacture the material and less mass is produced. Second, because there is tremendous energy savings in the transportation of fabric to a job site for the same reason. Third, when fabric’s translucency is factored in, buildings that incorporate fabric roofs require less operating cost (i.e., energy) because less lighting is required during daylight hours. For these and other reasons, fabric is quickly becoming a viable alternative to more traditional building materials when it comes to carbon footprint accounting. But more architects and landscape architects need to be educated about these concepts, which brings me to the subject of this issue.

This is our “Back to school” issue, with examples from around the world of innovative educational training in fabric structure design. We’ve assembled a list of schools (and a handful of profiles of educators) that offer, either on a rotating or recurring basis, instruction in tension structure design. It is not a definitive list, just a start. And for that reason, we ask the kind reader to help us fill in any blanks with information from their region.

In addition to listed schools and teachers, there are numerous conferences, workshops and seminars that are tremendously informative, and we regularly post these in our news section called “Samples” (pg. 6.) And every issue has a continuing ed article.

Here’s your summer reading assignment: find a course near you, and sign up. You might learn something, and the world will be a greener place because of you.

Bruce N. Wright, AIA, is the editor of Fabric Architecture.
* Fred Pearce, “Dirty, sexy money,” New Scientist, April 19, 2008, pg. 38.

As part of this international discussion, the building industries are being targeted as major polluters, producers of significantly higher amounts of greenhouse gases emitted by the manufacturers of cement, steel and aluminum, the heaviest pollutors.* We all need to be educated on this significant trend.

Fabric is inherently low on the scale when it comes to energy consumption. First because it takes less energy to manufacture the material and less mass is produced. Second, because there is tremendous energy savings in the transportation of fabric to a job site for the same reason. Third, when fabric’s translucency is factored in, buildings that incorporate fabric roofs require less operating cost (i.e., energy) because less lighting is required during daylight hours. For these and other reasons, fabric is quickly becoming a viable alternative to more traditional building materials when it comes to carbon footprint accounting. But more architects and landscape architects need to be educated about these concepts, which brings me to the subject of this issue.

This is our “Back to school” issue, with examples from around the world of innovative educational training in fabric structure design. We’ve assembled a list of schools (and a handful of profiles of educators) that offer, either on a rotating or recurring basis, instruction in tension structure design. It is not a definitive list, just a start. And for that reason, we ask the kind reader to help us fill in any blanks with information from their region.

In addition to listed schools and teachers, there are numerous conferences, workshops and seminars that are tremendously informative, and we regularly post these in our news section called “Samples” (pg. 6.) And every issue has a continuing ed article.

Here’s your summer reading assignment: find a course near you, and sign up. You might learn something, and the world will be a greener place because of you.

* Fred Pearce, “Dirty, sexy money,” New Scientist, April 19, 2008, pg. 38.

We’ve all heard the old real estate saw about getting the best dwelling (or office block) for the money by finding the best spot in town, and the actual building is of secondary importance. This may actually be very close to the truth for sustainable design, according to architect Lance Hosey. Earlier this year I reported on IFAI’s fabric structure symposium, held in Las Vegas in October. Keynote speaker to the symposium was William McDonough & Partners principal Lance Hosey, AIA, LEED AP, who spoke of the importance of designing to fit a certain region in order to create truly sustainable buildings.

Hosey advocated for several important guidelines that shape sustainable designs, and one of those is to look to the immediate surroundings for clues on how to design intelligently. However, appropriating regional styles simply for the sake of style is, according to Hosey, ultimately specious: “Aesthetics are not ‘icing on the cake’ but [must be] integral with design.” If you locate your building in the cold climate of the northwestern United States, then you know to match your design with the appropriate roof overhangs, provide for adequate water drainage and insulate to the proper R-value in that region. And so on for each unique setting.

These tenets of responsible design are the reflection of generations of builders who have learned what works in each area: designs that are indigenous if the local culture has sufficient history behind it. Frank Lloyd Wright, with his “prairie” architecture, argued the same logic a hundred years ago. We are again learning the lesson today with $100-a-barrel oil as a goad.

In this issue we celebrate regionalism and sustainability with several projects from around the world that exploit their circumstances to full advantage, beginning with a low-cost housing project—designed by Ofis arhitekti—in Slovenia that presents simple ideas using simple materials beautifully. Heading still farther east, we ask “What is the Chinese regionalism of today?” Two projects designed for this year’s world Olympic Games in Beijing attempt to answer that with striking designs and unusual materials, heralding China’s arrival on the international contemporary architecture scene. Australian architects PTW, in collaboration with engineers Arup, designed the National Aquatic Center (“Watercube”) wrapped in ETFE pillows that debuts this summer for the XXIX Olympiad. Within a stone’s throw sits another ETFE-clad wonder, the National Stadium (“Bird’s Nest”), designed by Herzog & de Meuron with Arup and China Architecture Design & Research Group. Both of these structures express uniquely Chinese qualities in their overall form and detailing. Next on our ’round-the-world tour is a brewery distribution center in southeastern England, in the Suffolk region, recognized as Britain’s greenest warehouse, designed by Aukett Fitzroy Robinson.

If there is one thing to take away from reviewing these regional examples, it’s “Watch where you locate!”

Bruce N. Wright, AIA, is the editor of Fabric Architecture.