New York - Greening the Future

New York City - Having just returned from an emerging ecovillage in South Africa that is striving to be truly committed to sustainable living, New York was a world of contrasts. Touring this world famous city took me from a world-first "green" building at Gqunube Green ecovillage (see architecture award received October 2009) to the world-first buildings of the Big Apple. And there they were in all their splendor - the Empire State Building, the New York Stock Exchange and, just up the street, Trinity Church, the only Anglican church in the U.S.A. where the Queen worships when on this side of the pond. Each building is impressive....massive edifices drawing on the very best of human skill and ingenuity in their design and construction. Each represents power...business, financial, ecclesiastical. But as symbols there was a sense each offers more of the same...a doomed way of life that would continue the world's mad race toward a future both unsustainable and inelegant in it's inability to live lightly on the earth.

New York...exciting, vibrant and glamorous in many ways, but offering more of the same...a one way ticket to a state of endless imbalance that will only cost society ever more in its' quest for a meaningful quality of life.

And then it happened. I visited a building that inspired hope and restored my faith in humanity's ingenuity and ability to change course. Here was a building that Ayn Rand herself would credit with the boldness and vision of architect Howard Roark, not because of a misguided trust in "man's" ego, but rather because of the courage the building represents to break with convention in the design of buildings that matter.

According to Wikipedia, "Hearst Tower is the first green building completed in New York City, with a number of environmental considerations built into the plan. The floor of the atrium is paved with heat conducive limestone. Polyethylene tubing is embedded under the floor and filled with water for circulating cooling in the summer and heating in the winter. Rain collected on the roof is stored in a tank in the basement for use in the cooling system, to irrigate plants and for the water sculpture in the main lobby. The building was constructed using 80% recycled steel. Overall, the building has been designed to use 25% less energy than the minimum requirements for the city of New York, and earned a gold designation from the United States Green Building Council's LEED certification program."


As the world headquarters of the Hearst Corporation, the Hearst Tower is 46 storeys of architectural inspiration. But we all know that a green building is only one of the 48 patterns making up a sustainable world. It remains to be seen how the Hearst Corporation, outside of its' green headquarters, demonstrates a commitment to the other 47 patterns in its daily business and editorial practices. Does it promote a lifestyle of living Profitably on the earth while simultaneously caring for People and Planet (3P decision making)?

In a sense perhaps the challenge is the same for both Gqunube Green and the Hearst Corporation. Both have a green building...but can both now match, and sustain, lifestyle with architecture? I hope the Tricircle Program, with gentle vigor, might facilitate this process at Gqunube Green!