IES Blog

Salvador Dalí, best known for his surrealist work, was a versatile artist. Some of his more popular works are sculptures and other objects, and he is also noted for his contributions to theatre, fashion, and photography.

And one of the most comprehensive collections of Dalí work is now housed in the newly redesigned museum bearing his name in St. Petersburg, FL.

So what does Dalí have to do with architecture? Well, this museum was designed with not just the interior in mind. Built to withstand extreme weather conditions (it is Florida, after all) as well as decrease its ecological footprint, The Dalí Museum serves not only as a home for some of the artist’s greatest works, but his art inspired much of the design of the structure itself.

The rough, unfinished concrete walls of the main structure deliver a stark contrast to the sleek elegance of the glass sections, which use geodesic triangulation to imitate the flow of liquids in nature. The reinforced concrete walls and the glass sections can withstand hurricanes (up to a category 5). Hurricane-resistant skylights allow natural light to enter the third-floor gallery space, and the glass atrium brings natural light into the lobby. Automated artificial lighting shuts off when the rooms are unoccupied, reducing unnecessary electricity use, while the exterior lighting is provided by high-efficiency LEDs.

Sustainability played a key part in the redesign of this museum. It serves as a model that design can be functional AND beautiful, while still incorporating energy efficient features. This museum could serve as a model for other buildings that are looking to make upgrades but are afraid of losing their uniqueness.

AOL Travel News named the museum as “One of the top buildings you have to see before you die.” Guess I better plan a trip to Florida!

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Tags:Architects, Art, Building, design, Sustainability

Reading Pete’s blog (Plastic Bags! on 18 May this year), I was interested to note his local green group planned to introduce a public bike program.  Having recently visited Amsterdam earlier this year (sadly no photographic evidence is available) I was really impressed (and quite envious) of the public transport links around the city where cars happily coexist with buses, trams and pedestrians on bikes.  As far as I ventured outside the city centre people were happily making use of the bike lanes.  A number of the staff here at IES cycle to work but in Glasgow I personally don’t fancy the idea of going up against the buses and cyclist-unfriendly traffic and the cycle paths are quite limited.  I do hope that things can improve for cyclists so that one day even I might finally stop relying on buses to get me around, this is why I sit up when I see any scheme which encourages cycling.

Recently NVA released 50 white bicycles across Glasgow to be freely used by the public to get around venues at the Glasgow International Festival of Visual Art.  This was a tribute to the original Provos Witte Fietsenplan (White Bike Plan) where 50 bicycles painted white were released across Amsterdam for public use to make a statement against consumerism, congestion and pollution.  I can only assume statements such as this encouraged the city to grow its own cycle networks and introduce one of the world’s first Public Use Bicycle (PUB) systems which I have seen in use in many other European cities including the new system that is currently being installed in London.

“The White Bicycle Plan proposes to create bicycles for public use that cannot be locked. The white bicycle symbolizes simplicity and healthy living, as opposed to the gaudiness and filth of the authoritarian automobile.” Provo manifesto

The outcome of the scheme, both in Amsterdam and in Glasgow 2010, of course was that a number of the bicycles were stolen but if this encourages the city to embrace cycling and provide more infrastructure then it will have been worth it, if we can achieve anything like Amsterdam then perhaps even I will finally stop hanging around at bus stops.

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Tags:Art, Central Station, cycling, IES, NVA, white bikes

The subject of environmentalism is not one that exists exclusively in the realms of academia and business, the arts also has a strong body of work exploring the matter.

Perhaps one of the most celebrated films to tackle the topic in recent years is the 2006 Academy Award winning documentary ‘An Inconvenient Truth’. While this brought the issue to the mainstream, it was not the first Academy Award winning film to explore the theme. In 2002 Hayao Miyazaki won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature for ‘Spirited Away’, the story of a young girl who, while moving to a new town with her parents, unwittingly crosses into a fantasy world.

‘Spirited Away’ brought Miyazaki’s work to the attention of audiences outside of Japan and allowed them to discover a filmography containing a strong but subtle environmentalist ideology. Two of his films that most prominently portray this are 1984’s ‘Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind’ and 1997’s ‘Princess Mononoke’. Both films focus on mankind’s ignorance and short-sightedness in regards to their relationship with their surroundings.

While Miyazaki’s films might never have the same impact on the world stage as ‘An Inconvenient Truth’ his impact and championing of environmentalism through his art should not be overlooked, or understated.

Richard

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Tags:An Inconvenient Truth, Art, Environmentalists, Spirited Away, Sustainability