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CHAPTER VII: DESIGN FOCUS

This chapter talks about the application of new or innovative technology that

is an integral part of the project design. Architecture continuously changing and

evolving is primarily because of many new forms of architectural technology being

discovered, applied, and utilized every day. New technology allows designers to push

further the limits of architecture, providing a whole array of new possibilities and

endless opportunities to create effective and innovative designs. The design focus is

essential in the proposition of the design solution, to fulfill directly or indirectly one

or more objectives of the project.

Choosing a design focus would reflect on how the designer will apply his

knowledge in advanced technology of building construction techniques and materials.

Also, understanding the project needs would determine what design focus should be

used.

For this project entitled Eden Sanctum: The New Ninoy Aquino Parks and

Wildlife Center, the researcher opts to incorporate Reflective Architecture as his

design focus. General information on the design focus are as follows:

a. Design Focus: Material

b. Technology: Reflective Material/ Mirror Architecture

c. Application: Building Facades; Form

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7.1 MATERIAL: MIRRORS

A Mirror is essentially a reflective surface, now typically of glass coated with

a metal amalgam, that reflects a clear image. (Merriam-Webster Dictionary)

A mirror is an object that reflects light in such a way that, for incident light in some

range of wavelengths, the reflected light preserves many or most of the detailed

physical characteristics of the original light.

The use of mirrors is a well-known interior design technique often employed

in small rooms or apartments. For cramped quarters, mirrors help provide the illusion

of space. Mirrored design isn’t exclusive to indoor space, however, as new trends in

mirrored architecture are bringing the reflections outside.

Exterior applied mirrors on architecture essentially functions as a reflective

curtain that reflects the nature in which the architecture resides, allowing architecture

to blend with the environment, promoting environmental honesty and celebrating

nature.

7.1.1 History

Mirrors are not a new form of technology per se. The earliest

manufactured mirrors were pieces of polished stone such as obsidian, a

naturally occurring volcanic glass. Examples of obsidian mirrors found in

Anatolia have been dated to around 6000 BC. Mirrors of polished copper were

crafted in Mesopotamia from 4000 BC and in ancient Egypt from around 3000

BC. Polished stone mirrors from Central and South America date from around

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2000 BC onwards. In China, bronze mirrors were manufactured from around

2000 BC some of the earliest bronze and copper examples being produced by

the Qijia culture. Mirrors made of other metal mixtures (alloys) such as copper

and tin speculum metal may have also been produced in China and India.

Mirrors of speculum metal or any precious metal were hard to produce and

were only owned by the wealthy. These stone and metal mirrors could be

made in very large sizes, but were difficult to polish and get perfectly flat; a

process that became more difficult with increased size; so they often produced

warped or blurred images. (Enoch, 2006)

“The modern-day silver glass mirror, invented in 1835 by German

chemist Justus von Liebig, allows for the mass use of mirrors at an affordable

price and has unleashed the imagination of designers ever since.” Dominic

Bagnato (2015)

7.1.2 Technology

Designers long ago discovered the wonderful properties of mirrors and

have used them not only to reflect but also to hide and even deceive. Mirrors

are able to cloak objects and hide them from view, while everything around

the cloaked object appears undisturbed.

Mirrors applied in architecture are more popular in the field of interior

design, as these materials give the illusion of space, making a certain volume

appear larger. The mirrors are installed from floor to the ceiling. This

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technique is important as the mirror will reflect the floor and the ceiling,

giving the illusion that the space is larger than it is in reality.

However, modern architecture paved the way for new trends that

pursue the use of mirrors in the exterior facades of buildings. These mirrored

facades allow the reflection of the building’s immediate surroundings,

promoting environmental honesty. Sustainability as a factor is affected by the

use of mirrors, technology and clever passive design can only make an

environmental statement so far as the architecture sits in harmony with nature.

The mirrors serve as visual devices and direct the light and ocular experience

of a building from the unnatural to natural.

Ultraviolet Coatings

As many as 600 million birds die in window collisions

in the U.S. and Canada every year, scientists estimate. These

collisions kill more birds than oil spills or pesticides do, says

Daniel Klem Jr., (2014) an ornithologist at Muhlenberg College

in Allentown, Pennsylvania. The spring and fall migration

periods are particularly deadly, with large flocks of birds

navigating cities and suburbs that are littered with windows.

Since most birds can see ultraviolet (UV) light, but we

can't, applying UV-reflecting patterns to windows has become

an area of intense interest.

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In recent years, glass manufacturers have been

developing windows with patterns that birds can see, but that

people can't. The best thing for bird-safe glass, Klem says, is to

use materials with a UV pattern that reflects strongly across a

broad range. The glass has a patterned, UV reflective coating

making it visible to birds while remaining virtually transparent

to the human eye. A proven bird-friendly glazing treatment that

has been available since 2006, ORNILUX has been tested in

cooperation with the American Bird Conservancy in the U.S.,

and in Europe partnered with Ornithologists. The glass has

demonstrated to be an effective solution to mitigate bird

collisions, especially in areas

where transparency is a top

priority.

Ultraviolet coated glass is

available as laminated glass or

insulated units paired with a low-

E or solar control coating, thus

providing energy efficiency and

bird strike protection.

Fig.innovative
The technology offers a unique and 7.1 UV Coated
bird-
Glass Detail
friendly glazing solution— http://www.ornilux.com/
images/
maintaining the aesthetic igu_build_diagram.jpg?
crc=48923920

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transparency of glass while creating visual markers alerting

birds to a barrier. (Lee, 2014)

Fig. 7.2 UV Coated Glass applied in an enclosure

Source: http://www.ornilux.com/images/hellabrunn.jpg?crc=492958200

Fig. 7.3 Exterior Glass Details

Source: http://www.ornilux.com/images/igu_build_diagram.jpg?crc=48923920

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7.1.3 Application

The project, being a wildlife sanctuary, is with the objective of

providing unobstructive means to allow animal inhabitants to not feel

threatened by human intervention. Therefore, the researcher shall apply the

design focus upon the immediate facades of animal enclosures, to emulate the

naturality of the animals’ environment through providing low visual impact, as

well as provide a safe and secure way of viewing and monitoring for the

visitors and researchers. Adding to that is the factor of mirror architecture that

reflects the natural environment, allowing the Ninoy Aquino Parks and

Wildlife Center’s abundance of plant life be juxtaposed and magnified,

articulating the ecological nature of the project and creating a direct

relationship with the nature it reflects.

The reflective surfaces also function as a social motivator. Reflective

surfaces entice visitors to join and interact with the space, inspired by Foster +

Partners’ design of the Vieux Port Pavilion for Marseilles.

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Fig. 7.14 Vieux Port Pavilion by Foster + Partners

Source: https://www.wgsn.com/blogs/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/img0.jpg

7.1.3.1 Mirrors and Animals

Many animals cope with unstimulating or small environments through

stereotypic behavior, which, in zoological parlance, is a repetitive behavior

that serves no obvious purpose, such as pacing, bar biting, and figure-eight

swimming, etc. “Trichotillomania (repetitive hair plucking) and regurgitation

and reingestation (the practice of repetitively vomiting and eating the vomit)

are also common in captivity.” (Smith, 2014) According to Temple Grandin

and Catherine Johnson, authors of Animals Make Us Human, these behaviors,

“almost never occur in the wild.” In captivity, these behaviors are so common

that they have a name: “zoochosis,” or psychosis caused by confinement.

(Smith,2014)

Zoos are, first and foremost, for people—not animals. Zoos exist to

serve the human gaze. This is a problem because “most animals don’t want to

be stared at—that’s stressful. And an animal that you can’t see, that’s a pretty

crappy zoo exhibit.” (Smith, 2014) At the San Francisco zoo, the gorilla

exhibit is recessed, so visitors look down on gorillas from above. This is in

some respects an inventive way to keep the gorillas enclosed without bars,

glass, or electrical wires, but being seen from above puts the gorillas in a

vulnerable position and makes them uncomfortable. (Smith, 2014)

Studies have shown that mirrors can improve the lives of a variety of

laboratory, zoo, farm, and companion animals. Isolated cows and sheep have

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lower stress reactions when mirrors are around. With mirrors, monkeys alone

or in groups show a healthy increase in social behaviors such as threats,

grimaces, lip-smacking, and teeth chattering, and laboratory rabbits housed

alone are also more active. Mirrors in birdcages reduce some birds’ fear.

(Wald, 2014)

But why? Other animals have a very different experience with mirrors

than people do. “According to the prevailing science, individuals of most

species can’t recognize their reflections as themselves. The calming effect in

some cases could come partly from the reflection’s apparent mimicking. “The

animal confronting its own reflection in a mirror has complete control over the

behavior of the image, and therefore the image is always attentive and ready to

reciprocate when the animal is,” Gordon Gallup and Stuart Capper wrote in

1970. In other words, the mirror image is sort of like a friend who always does

exactly what you want. (Wald, 2014)

Even if an animal can't see itself in the looking glass, some "appear to

recognize another of their species in the mirror [and] therefore turn to the

mirror for companionship," said Liz Stenlow, (2015) an animal behavior

clinician at the Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital of the University of

California. Mirrors placed in a particular way can also reduce the anxiety of

horses, according to Horse and Hound magazine. Edinburgh Zoo uses mirrors

in animal enclosures as part of a bid to produce and breed proficiently. It has

been their first successful breeding season since 2006 and the largest number

of animals born at the zoo. The mirrors were actually not aimed at spicing up

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the animals’ love life but at tricking them into believing they were part of a

larger group – in the wild animals are usually surrounded by many others –

therefore relaxing them. (Scotsman, 2009)

One-way mirrors are an effective way to solve all the problems

concerning captivity and isolation in animals. First, the strategy allows

animals to live without the constant stressful stares of human onlookers.

Second, mirrors may also fulfill the goal of affection, education and

knowledge propagation for the humans. Third, the mirrors offer a sense of

companionship and offer positive effects for the “enclosed” wildlife, allowing

them to live better and be more content with their environment. Fourth, the

reflections also serve the sick and weak animals of the Wildlife Center,

offering the sense of companionship that may and will help these animals

recuperate.

7.1.4 CASE STUDIES

 Cairns Botanical Gardens and Visitors Center

Architects: Charles Wright Architects
Location: Cairns, Australia

Camouflaged in an Australian rainforest located in Far North

Queensland, this unique gateway into the Cairns Botanic Gardens Visitors

Centre is the recipient of the 2012 Eddie Oribin Award for Building of the

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Year presented by the Australian Institute of Architects (AIA). In June 2009,

Charles Wright Architects (CWA) was invited by the Cairns Regional Council

to enter a limited competition for the design of a new Visitors’ Centre for the

Cairns Botanical Gardens. The Council sought fresh and challenging ideas to

create a memorable piece of tropical architecture that would blend seamlessly

into the surrounding environment. (Wright, 2011)

Fig. 7.5 Cairns Botanical Gardens

Source:http://images.adsttc.com/media/images/5018/3702/28ba/0d48/2400/0ba9/large_jpg/
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CWA proposed a mirrored facade that literally reflects the surrounding

gardens. The camouflaged gateway houses a café terrace, information and

exhibition space, and offices for the council staff. It activates the pedestrian

promenade and links the gardens with the Arts Centre, while serving as a cool

and dry zone all year round for tourists visiting the often hot and wet

environment of the tropical gardens. (Wright, 2011)

Although a small building, the Cairns Botanic Gardens Visitors’

Centre has a visual presence that extends far beyond its physical scale. Sitting

within lush rainforest, its mirrored facets provide chameleon-like camouflage

as a patchwork collage of its green surrounds. In an early project, Norman

Foster cloaked the Willis Faber Dumas office in mirror glass to reflect, and

respect, a surrounding historic precinct. Here, Charles Wright Architects has

intensified this technique into a dramatic kaleidoscopic prism of reflective

glass walls and mirror-finished stainless steel soffits and fascia.

Fig. 7.6 Cairns Botanical Gardens Exterior Façade

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Source:http://images.adsttc.com/media/images/5018/370a/28ba/0d48/2400/0bab/large_jpg/
stringio.jpg?1414291379

The jury commented, “A courageous and radical departure from classic

crafted and lightweight Queensland visitor centers, this alternative approach to

environmental fit has clearly generated a potent sense of place and use of light.

Exhibits both outstanding working and visitor environments within a clear

sustainability ethos.” (Wright, 2011)

“From a description, I doubted the strategy of building with mirrors

under the glare of the tropical sun, but that initial misgiving was abandoned on

visiting the site. Being so close to the tall trees, the external vertical surfaces

reflect predominantly dark, cool, appealing greens from the rainforest, while

the enticing central breezeway approach multiplies the presence of visitors in a

playful hall of mirrors,” as stated by Patrick Bingham-Hall (2012) who

firsthand experienced Cairns Botanic Gardens.

In all respects, Charles Wright Architects has fulfilled its stated desire

“to innovate and revolutionize current thinking in tropical architecture, to

develop a progressive body of work intent on constant research and

experimentation”. (Skinner, 2012)

Synthesis

The Cairns Botanic Gardens exemplify effective use of mirrors in the

architectural exterior façade that paved the way for an innovation in architecture. The

mirror visual devices are used to create a building that conspicuously celebrates

nature whilst simultaneously camouflaging with it. The angled placement of the

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material not only provides visual stimulation, but acts as a solution to light and glare

problems associated with mirrored façades especially in tropical climates.

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