{"id":23476,"date":"2022-11-11T17:41:36","date_gmt":"2022-11-11T18:41:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peymantaeidi.net\/stem-cell\/?p=23476"},"modified":"2022-11-11T18:52:45","modified_gmt":"2022-11-11T18:52:45","slug":"cool-respite-with-conscience","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/peymantaeidi.net\/stem-cell\/2022\/11\/11\/cool-respite-with-conscience\/","title":{"rendered":"Cool respite with conscience"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Rice University<\/div>\n
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A Rice University architect, an engineer and a musician are bringing work that debuted on the other side of the world much closer to home at Post Houston<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The trio \u2013 in order, Juan Jos\u00e9 Castell\u00f3n<\/a>, Qilin Li<\/a> and Kurt Stallmann<\/a> \u2013 have completed a prototype of their cool oasis, \u201cBuilding Ecologies,\u201d an installation at the former downtown Houston post office that itself was only recently reconfigured as a commercial, art and entertainment space.<\/p>\n

Post Houston, a LEED Gold-certified building<\/a>, is hosting the installation in a gallery near the main lobby until April 20, 2023. Rice\u2019s contribution is part of a Post sustainability event, \u201cThere is Only One Earth<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

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From left, Rice\u2019s Kurt Stallmann, a professor of composition and theory, Juan Jos\u00e9 Castell\u00f3n, an assistant professor of architecture, and Qilin Li, a professor of civil and environmental engineering, are collaborators on \u201cBuilding Ecologies,\u201d an installation at the former downtown Houston post office. Photo by Brandon Martin<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The concept prototyped at Post is circular, though it\u2019s not physically round. It is intended to not only revive the spirits of those who pause there but also make use of its environment by purifying and recycling rainwater to feed plants inside and away from the structure.<\/p>\n

The project took root in Castell\u00f3n\u2019s fall 2020 studio at Rice Architecture<\/a>. Ultimately, it was built thousands of miles away as he and his eight students presented their work at the 2021 Biennale of Architecture and Urbanism<\/a> in Seoul, South Korea. The hollow columns that supported the structure, along with the roof\u2019s metal frame and membrane covering, were fabricated in Barcelona, Spain, the best available source of the porous ceramics Castell\u00f3n required.<\/p>\n

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Combining the prize-winning design<\/a> with Li\u2019s groundbreaking solar-powered desalination<\/a> technology as part of Rice\u2019s Center for Nanotechnology Enabled Water Treatment<\/a> (NEWT) was planned from the beginning. There\u2019s no rain inside Post, but the installation is a local proof-of-concept for what the team hopes to build at Rice and elsewhere.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe whole point of this project is to integrate architectural and structural questions with environmental questions,\u201d said Castell\u00f3n, an assistant professor of architecture.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s more to it than meets the eye. When outdoors, the sloping membrane shade will collect and filter water for reuse as conceived by Li, a professor of civil and environmental engineering, materials science and nanoengineering and of chemical and biomolecular engineering and also co-director of NEWT.<\/p>\n

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\u201cBuilding Ecologies\u201d at Post Houston, a prototype by Rice faculty members, demonstrates a \u201ccircular\u201d strategy that incorporates environmental systems into architecture. The installation is open to the public through April 20. Photo by Brandon Martin<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The membranes are treated with nanoparticles to destroy microbes that might otherwise foul water that flows through the columns to storage under the raised floor.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis overcomes the usual problems related to storing rainwater in a cistern by avoiding microbial growth and allowing for post-treatment of the water,\u201d Li said. \u201cThen we can directly use it to irrigate landscape or for other purposes.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThe original idea was to put this structure on a roof at Rice, and we thought this would be a good way to water the rooftop garden,\u201d she said. \u201cThe water would be safe and you wouldn\u2019t have to worry about maintenance of the storage and pipe system.\u201d<\/p>\n

Castell\u00f3n said the columns themselves could eventually serve as a filtration device. He\u2019s also in discussions with Rice\u2019s Carbon Hub<\/a> to test carbon nanotube fibers as part of a tensioning system to account for wind loads outdoors. \u201cWe don\u2019t have to deal with that for the first prototype, but it will be an additional challenge,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Though water will not flow at Post, visitors will sense it thanks to Stallmann, a composer and professor of composition and theory at Rice\u2019s Shepherd School of Music<\/a>. Stallmann and Castell\u00f3n met when the latter became interested in his virtual reality installation at the Moody Center for the Arts<\/a>. That led to a conversation about the Post project.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe came to my office to look at the hollow columns we fabricated in Barcelona and said, \u2018You know, this could be an instrument,’\u201d Castell\u00f3n said.<\/p>\n

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A module of the ceramic columns that supports Rice\u2019s installation at Post Houston. Photo by Brandon Martin<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

At Post, hanging speakers will feed the synthesized sound of rain into the columns. \u201cWe hope we can activate the posts that way,\u201d said Stallmann, who also directs the Rice Electroacoustic Music Labs<\/a> at the Shepherd School. He also hopes to conceal transducers<\/a> in the floor to vibrate the lower part of the structure.<\/p>\n

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Getting the vibe just right is going to be a challenge, he said, because nobody knows what the rain will sound like as it flows through the columns. \u201cOnce they get funneled through the canvasses into the tubes and the tubes resonate, there\u2019s a transformation from a kind of noise into a kind of pitch that happens just naturally as part of the structure,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s what we\u2019re trying to capture.\u201d<\/p>\n

That aligns with his usual strategy of taking sounds he records in the wild \u2013 the call of an urban street vendor in China<\/a> or the sounds of Houston, including the roar of Hurricane Rita<\/a> \u2013 and working them into his scores.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvoking the idea of rain streaming inside the columns has been a really fascinating experience for me, because it changes and expands my understanding of holistic design,\u201d Castell\u00f3n said. \u201cI\u2019m always thinking about holistic design, but in the realm of architecture, materials science, structural systems and building systems. However, sound and light are also integral to making it complete.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Video produced by Brandon Martin\/Rice University<\/p>\n

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From left, Rice University\u2019s Kurt Stallmann, a professor of composition and theory, Juan Jos\u00e9 Castell\u00f3n, an assistant professor of architecture, and Qilin Li, a professor of civil and environmental engineering, are collaborators on \u201cBuilding Ecologies,\u201d an installation at the former downtown Houston post office. (Credit: Brandon Martin\/Rice University)<\/p>\n

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\u201cBuilding Ecologies\u201d at Post Houston, a prototype by Rice University faculty members, demonstrates a \u201ccircular\u201d strategy that incorporates environmental systems into architecture. The installation is open to the public through April 20. (Credit: Brandon Martin\/Rice University)<\/p>\n

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A rendering shows the bare-bones version of \u201cBuilding Ecologies,\u201d an installation at Post Houston by Rice University collaborators. Their aim is to demonstrate \u201ccircular\u201d architecture that provides shade while purifying and recycling rainwater for plants. (Credit: Juan Jos\u00e9 Castell\u00f3n, Van Pham, Michael Xu and Candela Cicinelli\/Rice Architecture)<\/p>\n

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A module of the ceramic columns that supports Rice University\u2019s installation at Post Houston. Faculty members are installing \u201cBuilding Ecologies\u201d to demonstrate a \u201ccircular\u201d strategy that incorporates environmental systems into architecture. (Credit: Brandon Martin\/Rice University)<\/p>\n

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The membrane roof of \u201cBuilding Ecologies,\u201d a Rice University installation, feeds into ceramic posts that will carry water to storage underneath the floor in an outdoor installation. That water, purified by the membranes above, can then be used to feed plants in and around the shelter. The project demonstrates a \u201ccircular\u201d strategy that incorporates environmental systems into architecture. (Credit: Brandon Martin\/Rice University)<\/p>\n<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n

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\/Public Release. This material from the originating organization\/author(s) may be of a point-in-time nature, edited for clarity, style and length. The views and opinions expressed are those of the author(s).View in full here<\/a>.<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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