Sustainability: Unraveled at Ecology.Design.Synergy

Decades before “sustainability” became fashionable, not to mention, essential, in the US, a German firm (note that Germany has long had stringent energy codes) was showing how to integrate energy…

Decades before “sustainability” became fashionable, not to mention, essential, in the US, a German firm (note that Germany has long had stringent energy codes) was showing how to integrate energy efficiency with extremely elegant and liveable design. That firm is Behnisch Architekten, now an international firm whose portfolio includes the stunning Genzyme Center in Cambridge.

Now Behnisch Architecten, in collaboration with Transsolar KlimaEngineering, has a traveling exhibit exploring their ideas, currently on show at Cisco Home in Los Angeles.

For Behnisch, sustainability is never an add-on or a means to achieve a marketable rating (even though their Genzyme building achieved a LEED Platinum award), and this can be seen in the videos, large-scale graphics, architectural scale models, diagrams and photographs of work for clients like Harvard University, Yale-New Haven Hospital and the University of Baltimore, as well as locally with the City of Santa Monica, filling the space at multiple levels.

Ecology.Design.Synergy is open to the public through April 18^th and it is a must–see interactive dexploration of past and present international projects.