October 3 through December 2, 2001

Architectural exhibition showcases the results of environmental sensitivity combined with excellence in design

The University of California, Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive will present Ten Shades of Green, an architectural exhibition featuring models, photographs, and drawings of environmentally friendly buildings from around the world. Organized by the Architectural League of New York, the exhibition will open on October 3 and will run through December 2, 2001.

Guest-curated by London-based architect and writer Peter Buchanan, Ten Shades of Green seeks to bring the relationship between architecture and the natural world to the forefront of American discussion at a time when energy crises and global warming are of increasing importance.

For this show, Mr. Buchanan has chosen ten examples of environmentally responsible architecture-nine buildings of various types from Europe and Australia, and several American houses.

All the buildings are distinguished by their integration of environmental responsibility to function as well as form, giving proof that an environmentally friendly building doesn't have to be an eyesore. The Beyler Foundation Museum illustrates this by efficiently using energy to control humidity and light while maintaining the appearance of a temple-like sanctuary for contemplating art. Other examples featured in the exhibition include the Commerzbank Headquarters in Germany, the Minnaert Building in the Netherlands, and the house belonging to Richard Fernau of the innovative California firm Fernau & Hartman.

The exhibition demonstrates that realizing green architecture isn't a mere "tweaking" of building systems and materials. Installing water-conserving toilets and using non-polluting paint is a start, but it is not enough in establishing a social, cultural, psychological, and ecological relationship between a building and its surroundings.
Each example in the exhibition is supported by a series of themes that need to be considered to create a fully green approach to design. The ten themes-reflected in the exhibition title-are: low energy/high performance; replenishable sources; recycling; energy required for manufacture; long life, loose fit; total life cycle costing; embededness in place; access and urban context; health and happiness; and community and connection. The University of Nottingham Jubilee Campus in England, designed by Michael Hopkins and featured in the exhibition, provides a rare example of truly comprehensive architectural work that covers all ten of the proposed issues of green design. It incorporates architecture, landscape, sun, and wind, to turn 30 acres of industrial land into a 9-building campus with extremely pleasant conditions for studying and socializing.

The examples provided in Ten Shades of Green provide a comprehensive overview of the countless ways design can address and synthesize green issues. The exhibition challenges the designer, the architect, and the lay person to consider greenness not as an impediment to design, but rather as a creative stimulus to produce innovative and significant architecture.

Public Programs
Lecture and Panel Discussion
"Environmental Thinking"
Thursday, October 18, 4-6:30 p.m.
PFA Theater (Bancroft at Bowditch)
Co-presented by UC Berkeley's Center for the Built Environment
As a complement to Ten Shades of Green, the campus and community is invited to attend this open session of the Center for the Built Environment's twice-annual advisory board meeting. The program will begin with a keynote address by James Wine, author of the first comprehensive survey of green architecture, Green Architecture: The Art of Architecture in the Age of Ecology (Taschen, 2000). His illustrated lecture covers the growth and changes in environmental thinking over the past two decades.

Following will be a panel discussion with Richard Fernau, Professor of Architecture at UC Berkeley and designer (with Laura Hartman) of the Westcott/Lahar house in Bolinas; Alisdair McGregor, Principal of Arup, the company which provided consulting engineers for the design of Commerzbank Headquarters; Stanley Saitowitz, Professor of Architecture at UC Berkeley; Harrison Fraker, Dean of UC Berkeley's College of Environmental Design; and Gail Brager, Associate Director of the Center for the Built Environment. Responding to Wine's lecture, they will bring different perspectives to bear on issues raised by Ten Shades of Green, including design aesthetics, mechanical engineering, technologies, environmental concerns, and economic considerations of green design. For further information, please call the Center for the Built Environment at (510) 643-8898.

Walking Tour
Sunday, November 4, 4-5 p.m.
Meet promptly at 4 p.m. in museum's Theater Gallery.
Co-sponsored by the Berkeley Architectural Heritage Association
Free for BAHA members
In an exciting program on environmental architecture sponsored by the Berkeley Architectural Heritage Association, Susan Cerny, well-known Bay Area author and architectural preservationist, presents a walking tour of historic Berkeley homes whose traditional design addresses many of the issues of the Green Architecture movement.

Guided Tours
Thursday, October 4 at 4 p.m.;
Thursday, October 18 at 3 p.m.;
Sunday, October 28 at 3 p.m.;
Sunday, November 4 at 3 p.m.
Gallery 4
Robert Marcial, advanced graduate student in the Department of Architecture at UC Berkeley and co-instructor for the energy and environmental management course will conduct guided tours of Ten Shades of Green.