EDELWEISS HOUSE - A greenhouse for the 21st century
EDELWEISS HOUSE explores the construction of a new greenhouse solution in Geneva, not in the style of the 19th-century building type, where Western societies sought to replicate the warmth of milder climates through fossil fuels. Instead, we propose a climatically inverted approach—a cold greenhouse suitable for the 21st century. Here, the societies of a West that has become too warm aim to emulate the coolness of milder climates, perhaps reminiscent of times past, thanks to renewable energies. Thus, the focus of our Interior Architecture Master's design studio at HEAD – Genève for the 2023-2024 winter semester was explicitly to conceive the antithesis of a Palm House, namely an Edelweiss House, where this iconic Swiss flower, imperiled by global warming, could endure.
Collaborating with MAIA students, we envisioned a communal space where both humans and edelweiss could seek solace and relief from the summer heat. The intention was to provide students with both the theoretical and practical means to respond to the transformations of climates resulting from global warming in terms of habitability while striving to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to limit ongoing global warming. After a few weeks of research, students analyzed and applied practical architectural solutions to survive in increasingly hot temperatures while implementing low-carbon strategies to reduce the energy consumed in building operation and through the type of materials and construction used to limit CO2 emissions.
The semester was organized around a balance between research and design, enabling architectural solutions to be based on a solid understanding of the climatic, chemical, physical, and biological phenomena involved. The proposed pavilion, a new contemporary Edelweiss House for the 21st century, was collectively built by the students at the end of the semester.
DESIGN CRITERIA
- Excavating 1.5 meters into the ground to access Geneva's consistent temperature of around 11°C throughout the year, courtesy of the soil's thermal inertia. Edelweiss are planted here to leverage the subterranean coolness.
- Implementing a Canadian well to draw in subterranean fresh air, which courses through extended buried pipes at a depth of -2 meters, supplying oxygen for both flora and fauna.
- Crafting the pavilion's general form to facilitate the upward movement of warm air through convection, which exits through the roof's oculus, thereby retaining cooler air below.
- Coating the oculus in black to intensify solar heating and expedite convection, drawing air from the Canadian well.
- Enveloping the pavilion's transparent shell with a film on its southern aspect, reflecting infrared rays outward and diminishing 50% of the sun's radiant heat within.
- Applying blue and red films on the facade to intercept green wavelengths, thereby curtailing solar heat contribution within the visible spectrum, while ensuring ample light for plant photosynthesis.
- Orienting the entrance door northward to prevent direct sunlight from penetrating the interior.
- Fashioning benches surrounding the edelweiss niche from materials boasting high thermal effusivity, facilitating rapid cooling upon contact. Furthermore, utilizing light-colored materials for the benches to reflect light instead of absorbing heat.
