:: Metecno Group ::

October 2006

HEARST TOWER

The new tower, home to the Hearst publishing group, is on Eighth Avenue in the Great Apple, built over the old HQ of the Hearst Corporation.
That was a seven-floor Art Deco building designed in the 1920s by Joseph Urban for William Randolph Hearst. In 1928, when works had just been completed, Hearst declared his intention to use the base as a founding structure for a new skyscraper. After almost eighty years, Norman Foster fulfilled the owner's wishes.
The new building has 46 floors, 182 metres high with total floor space of 67 thousand square metres. Of the old building, gutted in order to build the new tower within the perimeter walls, only the Art Deco facades remain.
The demolished materials from the old building were re-used in the tower: the metal skeleton of the Hearst Tower in fact used 85% recycled steel, and the triangular "diamond-faced" structure of the steel beams allowed 20% steel savings totalling 2 thousand metric tons.
The Hearst Tower was designed with maximum respect for US protocol, based on six parameters: complex sustainability, efficient water consumption, efficient energy consumption and restricted atmospheric emissions, the use of materials and resource consumption, indoor environment quality, design and innovation principles.
In fact, it has been awarded LEED certification (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design).
Foster's architectural solutions also produced spectacular elements: rainwater collection on the tower roof is used to feed an 8-metre waterfall which humidifies the environment in winter and cools it in summer.
Source: www.archiportale.com

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October 2006

NEW INSULATION WITH MARINE ALGAE FIBRE

Marine algae - cleaned, cut and dried without additives - form the new low-density fill insulation material, fireproof, hypoallergenic, 100% recyclable and 100% natural.
The insulation can be applied manually as covering material: it is long lasting, does not attract parasites, has excellent absorption and acts as a humidity inverter.
The fibre lengths vary from 3 to 8 centimetres and can be applied in building and home insulation systems.
The material is mould and fungus resistant, has a thermal conductivity coefficient similar to insulation materials such as paper, glass fibre and PU foam, and is condensation-resistant.
Source: www.infobuild.it

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October 2006

A NEW PROFESSIONAL FIGURE: THE FAÇADE ENGINEER

Responsible for providing assistance and consultancy - from feasibility study to site management - answering the growing need for sensitivity to sustainability, energy savings and high-level static, thermal, optical and acoustic performance requirements.
The contribution of the façade engineer begins with the preliminary project and continues through to the invitation to tender. His experience allows handling of the tender with a prescriptive approach, with a precise description of specifications according to customer needs, and contributing in a series of fields: structures, materials, fire, technology, sustainability, production, installation, testing, management and contracting.
Source: www.costruire.it

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October 2006

NOMADIC MUSEUM

This is a travelling museum composed of 150 shipping containers, a roof and interior framework in cardboard, with wood and gravel interior flooring: it hosts the works of Canadian photographer Gregory Colbert.
The unusual museum structure has already been seen in the ports of New York and Los Angeles and is due to visit Tokyo.
At each itinerary stop, the containers are assembled and disassembled again to construct the temporary exhibition structure.
The key promoter of the operation is Fondazione Bianimale, a Swiss non-profit-making organization using art to sustain environment and fauna protection.
The structure is by Shigeru Ban, a Japanese architect famed for his "cardboard architecture", who designed the "shed" with a chessboard layout of the containers, perfectly supported by an internal column framework and double beams in cardboard tubing. The initial concept - reproduction of the same structure implemented in Venice - proved that ports are the ideal location to represent the concept of a travelling museum, and at the same time incorporating logistical needs: the museum, in fact, travels by sea.
The only frame construction material - the containers - is of course dry-assembled: the elements are loaded one on top of the other and staggered to provide the chessboard layout.
As the only construction support, the designers arranged the production of iron joints to replace the asymmetrical rods to hold the containers together.
Crowning the multicoloured metal walls is the PVC-coated iron roof, PVC being the material also used to close the gaps between one container and the next and to shelter visitors from the wind.
Gravel, river stones, wood, cardboard and paper provide the interior scenography.
Plus one curious detail: a million teabags were hand-glued together to form the fabric for the enormous tent canvases: interacting with the light, they offer a warm, amber-coloured appearance to the environment.
Source: www.archinfo.it

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October 2006

NEW INSULATION FOR SOFAS AND HOME INTERIORS

A particularly flexible melamine resin foam known as Basotect UF, developed by BASF: designed for application in the mattress and sofa industry.
The strong elasticity of the material and its open-cell structure also allow for its application as interior soundproofing.
Melamine has the excellent advantage of being flame-resistant and at high temperatures is easily transformed and moulded into curved and complex shapes.
Source: www.polimerica.it

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October 2006

30-SECOND PAVILLION NY

The Idea: to allow video artist expression at the Parachute Pavilion in New York by purchasing thirty seconds of fame for 1 dollar.
Sms, mms and e-mails from around the world, transformed into bits are captured by the Parachute Tower, translated by an antenna and sent to the pavilion, and transformed the pavilion becomes "connective architecture".
The Project: the "30 Sec. Pavilion" was designed as an all-season business generator with the idea of becoming a new global attractor. It is open 24 hours a day, with covered areas for the cold season and open areas for the warmer months. The area configuration offers a versatile container, able to adapt to different exhibition formats.
The technology: the tube containing the exhibition area is composed of a self-supporting mesh structure, sustained by three columns. The internal facing consists in a 2cm layer of translucent plastic sheet. The intermediate layer hosts the installations and a lighting system. The internal layer is composed of modules that can be rearranged to provide a more flexible exhibition space.
In the sloping areas, the ceiling hosts a kinetic video-projector system which in 30 seconds broadcasts the images on to the floor.
Source: www.inarchgiovani.org

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October 2006

FROM JULY 2007 ENERGY CERTIFICATION COMPULSORY

From 1 July 2007, buildings with a usable surface are of over 1000 square metres must have certification to prove its energy-saving capacity prior to listing on the property market.
The move is planned in a legislative decree submitted to the Standing Committee and other relevant committees as a modification to Italian Leg.Decree 192/2005 on energy yield in construction.
The planned measure involves extension also to the planning stage, expanding the adoption of installations built in to the constructions.
The measures will also be applicable to the planning and construction of new buildings, the heating systems installed and to new systems installed in existing buildings. The decree will also be applied to the implementation, control, inspection and maintenance of heating systems in buildings.
Furthermore, on 1 January 2007 energy certification will be necessary in order to obtain tax allowances.
Source: www.demaniore.com

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