As Good as Green

Clay Risen responds to my story for the American Prospect on green design. Risen puts forward Renzo Piano's California Academy of Sciences as "proof positive that an established career and good design are no impediments to sustainable design."

Now, in fact, I think that this Piano is one building that puts forward its green credential as design accomplishment—an example of the sod-covered, greenhouse aesthetic if ever there were one. So possibly Risen and I have different notions of what looks good or what design should hope to accomplish.

In any case, I chose to lede with a story about another renowned architect, Robert A.M. Stern, who was removed from a high-profile project because his sustainable project didn't look sustainable enough for the client. More than to complain about green architecture being ugly I sought to describe that phenomenon: How an opportunity for architects to differentiate by going green, coupled with minimal experience with new materials and methods, has determined a lowest common denominator green look within architecture. A functional design restriction that is increasingly construed as its own formal design advance.

On a side note, LEED certification (an admirable goal) does not necessarily signal sustainability. As my story mentions, Richard Meier's Getty Center earned LEED silver certification: not the highest marks for energy efficiency, but very good. Yet the building brags about the hundreds of thousands of travertine stones that were flown from Bagni di Tivoli, near Rome in Italy, for facades and paving. In just 50 years, the travertine in high-traffic areas will need to be replaced. Visitors can actually see fossils in the materials; what better reminder of the unnecessary fossil fuels spent to enclose and maintain that space? The tradeoffs between green design and good design are everywhere, but they aren't always reflected in energy-use certification.