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Given contemporary environmental challenges, including increased land temperatures globally and our current dependence on natural resources, the question of how cities will mitigate natural disruptions and adapt to changes in our environment is fundamental to contemporary urban planning practices. LEED Certification is one solution that helps to promote greener planning practices, and can incorporate many different design tools and technological building innovations.
For this week’s Explainer, we will be delving into how architects can use brise soleils as a design feature to reduce a building’s heat and sunlight absorption — and in turn reduce our dependence on natural resources — while also providing a striking aesthetic addition to the urban landscapes.
Brise soleil is a French term that translates to ‘sun breaker’ in English, and refers to an architectural screen that is applied to a building’s exterior to reduce heat gain and the amount of sunlight that can penetrate a building's windows. Often located on exterior balconies, brise soleils may take a number of different forms. While their design varies from simple shades to more complex geometric patterns, they provide an engaging — and increasingly essential — solution to reducing the amount of heat released into buildings. While variations of brise soleils — such as sunshades, awnings and pierce screens — have been used in architectural design throughout history, particularly in warmer climates, brise soleils in their modern context became increasingly popular in the early 20th century after their adoption by architect Le Corbusier in the 1930s.
When designing the Brazilian Ministry of Education and Health in Rio de Janeiro in 1937, Le Corbusier envisioned the building’s adjustable baffles as a way to control the amount of sunlight — and ensuing heat — allowed to enter the building. With moving louvres, the building's aluminum brise soleil panels allow for the Modernist building to maintain its gorgeous windowed exterior, while also mitigating the amount of heat it absorbs.
The Quadracci Pavilion — the extension to the Milwaukee Art Museum completed in 2001 by architect Santiago Calatrava — is an innovative example of how brise soleil design can be used to greater integrate buildings with the natural environment. The building’s unique canopy is made of 72 steel fins that create a striking visual impact and can also move to increase or decrease the light allowed into the building’s interior in response to wind speed and direction.
For Pentagram, the design studio charged with re-envisioning the New York Times Building, brise soleils became a way to increase the iconic building’s visual impact in the city’s crowded streetscape. Completed in 2008 and comprised of 170,000 ceramic rods, the building’s brise soleils allow its curtain wall to visually impose the New York Times' iconic logo onto Eighth Avenue while reducing the building’s energy use.
Completed in 1987, L'Institut du Monde Arabe (the Arab World Institute) in Paris is a breathtaking example of brise soleil design. Designed by architect Jean Nouvel in partnership with 18 Arab countries as a way to increase Arab representation in France, the building incorporates Arab architectural design into the building’s sleek, modern structure.
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