NEW HAVEN, CT

Trip: May 24 - 25, 2018 - Workshop with Alexander Felson

HOST CITY

Yale University campus has attracted many eminent architects throughout its extensive history, including Marcel Breuer, Philip Johnson, Gordon Bunshaft, Louis Kahn, Eero Saarinen, just to name a few. Awe-inspiring architecture and art is prevalent throughout the city; the Yale Center for British Art, the Yale University Art Gallery and the Beineke Rare Book and Manuscript Library are exemplary instances where the two come together skillfully.

KANVA members were also given a personal tour of the Yale School of Architecture, designed by Paul Rudolph, which contains some memorable vertical circulation spaces, adorned with ancient artefacts, and spacious studio/exhibition areas. 

HUMAN ACTIONS/IMPACTS ON THE NATURAL LANDSCAPE

A visit to the greenhouse at the Marsh Botanical Garden allowed KANVA members to discover intriguing living collections and to see first-hand the thermoGreenWall in test-mode at the Urban Ecology and Design Laboratory (UEDLAB). The lab, directed by Alexander Felson (Assistant Professor, Yale School of Architecture) is prototyping a vertical wall for active heat rejection, which utilizes the benefits of wetland ecosystems and the principles of cooling towers. The main aims of the UEDLAB are to integrate urban ecologists in the design process, to develop new forms of urban design and to generate usable data, permitting an optimal integration of living plants in specialized environments.

WORKSHOP

The third workshop involved two exceptional participants, Alexander Felson, Director of UEDLAB) and Vittorio Lovato (Yale School of Architecture Master’s Degree Graduate). Whilst working through the exercises in the workshop, enlivening discussions arose relating to the themes of invasive species, obsolescence in architecture, inter-generational timelines, system re-calibration, ecological design integration and resilience in design.

KANVA members present on the trip: Laurence Boutin-Laperrière, Joyce Yam