 Good to see you back on our show human humane architecture here on think tech Hawaii This is the number of you are you are as you see down there and we are in the 295th show and we is us in tropical Exotic Honolulu Hawaii which you can see and hear flora and fauna wise with you the solo Brown Good day everyone and me Martin this bang back in tempered Munich Germany currently under another heavy Thunderstorm that was ripping things apart yesterday climate change climate change Inevitably so and we're going back to more winds to windy cities ours in Honolulu and the one in Chicago Illinois the solo to pick up from where we had left and so let's go to the first slide Which I'm sure you watch the show what I which I had to do by myself on behalf of us So this is where we left. This is a firm that I keep teasing you quizzing you on Their name and their relevance to Hawaii, but you know it by now This is SOM skidmore owing smell and we know them because of which projects quizzing you again Never letting you off the hook look. I scared you again We know them for the one that I can think of immediately is the Monika beach hotel Up left bingo, right and I helped you out with the other one because that's closer to me work wise That is the engineering building on campus at UH. These are the two projects that we were blessed By SOM, which is one of the largest architectural firm in the United States in the world and They are headquartered, you know in Chicago and so they have this new building that we talked about at the top at the bottom left Fulton market place here and I gave it a try to sort of you know Analyze it or critique it as an amalgamation of their legacies we see a little bit of The Manette not building in it, which was the last one that would build Stereotomically out of solid, you know brick six feet at the base and then tapering getting smaller at the top So they try to allude that with that brick we see there although it's not quite as impressive because You can clearly tell that this is not Stereotomic monolithic and then there is of course which you just mentioned that the top left the stepping down the Cascading of the Mount Ikea beach hotel. However, we're now in the 21st century deeply into speaking of which climate change So what do we see up there at the top left done? Well, and not so well at the new building at the bottom left disorder Well, I'm trying to see what those two what those what those are. Yeah, I know no wait. Are you alluding to the? Munich Olympic Village up there That that one too and in both cases we have some we have summer here too. So in summer we seek the shade, right? Yes, desperately. So all these buildings have that but in Chicago gets very hot too And we don't see any of that because we're looking at the southern elevation There's some promisey greens kind of crawling over the bellows straights there But I'm not sure whenever that will hang down and be so sufficiently to appreciate that facade and The third influence very obviously is obviously the the X bracing The cross bracing and steel that's part of the the structural integrity And that is borrowed from one of their most memorable buildings just you know a few blocks away towards The lake which is the Hancock building which we see at the top right. This is a Bruce Graham building I had to fix and a bug here because I you know, I defaulted back to John Graham Who's our favorite architect of our I want to high rise our best and first and And and you know the buildings high rises in Honolulu. This is not John This is Bruce Graham who is with som was is one of the founding design partners and the magnificent crazy engineer fuzz look on and that was built in 1969 and again You remember that more than me although you were pretty little but I was barely born But that was before that 73 benchmark that changed everything, right? And what was that? That was the energy crisis and that was brought on by the war in the Middle East and when oil exports were cut back OPEC the Association of Petroleum Exporting Countries Suddenly the rest of the world Underwent a terrible retraction and everybody realized wait a minute There isn't unlimited energy for all of us to use and in the USA In particular People suddenly discovered that these huge cars the type that you love and the type that I always thought were terrible Suddenly we're getting absolutely terrible gas mileage and they realize eight or nine or 10 miles per gallon is unworkable And that affected of course cars like the picture that we have in the lower right But it affected architecture as well certainly in terms in many many ways Yeah And and that one by the way, I put freshly in from our exotic escape as an expert Susanna who's Working in a school and her super intendant her boss drives that car probably drives that car And his son is is working on these and fixing these So he promised to get me sentimental as you indicated already and give me a ride And again that one was probably to be guilted because that was 75 So two years later that wake-up call that first wake-up call Maybe one wasn't quite aware of that but the hang-up building above it And you know, there's certain we have a show going on about autos and architecture automobiles and architecture You can see both are sort of high-rises in there in their discipline You know very long and one stands up, which is the building and the other one is horizontal because it has to drive But and and none of these as he alluded we had here Nor did we have the schmalsen thoughts at the land yards Nor did we had high-rises back then but you had them America invented them Of course in Chicago as we were saying at the beginning of this these episodes under the guidance of the German master amise van der woa and so That being said in 69 granted Lee one was still pretty innocent about fossil fuels So the hang-up building didn't really know better or slm at that time, right? But now give us a break at the beginning of the 21st century with all these wake-up calls Maybe we would have loved to see a little bit more Of there, you know monarchy a beach hotel and uh engineering school, which are pretty uh decent tropical exotic buildings that Take shade into account in chicago It's more tricky because we got that winter thing that we don't have in hawai So you've got to basically harvest the sun in the winter and at the same time shy away from it and shape yourself from it in the summertime so more tricky conditions that we are Most aware of by the way because I grew up in it and you spend some of your early childhood Little further east but as cold in Boston, Massachusetts so There is a company that likes to go into iconic buildings. That's one of the corporate coffee roasters in the world Coming from uh america starting in the 70s speaking of 70s and that's the next slide And that is starbucks And starbucks has also acquired snap a space in the prominent building and you see that iconic x bracing there being sort of you know Almost fetishized in the interior design We reminded the audience you the audience that we have one on puhio avenue. That is a starbucks reserve Which is also which went into the building at the show called top right the large picture Which is the former crate and barrel store on michigan avenue the magnificent mile our uh, what calakawa avenue in is in honolulu is that for chicago And now there's a starbucks reserve in there and that is by the architects that we identified We're heavily influenced High-rise wise that is sullaman port world viewance And back then when I was there as a student in the early 90s. That was kind of the the hottest thing and although it was a little Puppy-catted from richard maya and we thought but it was still kind of the best around which is a little sad because it is really like you know one of the coolest building but it was okay and um And but they kept it give them that which one should in these days and Again one these architects were very you know We watching them very closely because they dropped one after another high rise on our islands that we keep to Watch we see a wood as a material to contrast the steel Which is very catchy that wood is always on the inside so it never really changes or weathers but next slide let's throw in a little bit of um life cycle assessment post occupancy evaluation um evidence-based design stuff here from my hometown of hanover the treetop apartment stuff We've been talking about a while here and there over the years I'm always going back every summer and check it out how it ages because that's when buildings show if they really work or what doesn't work So this building is now 20 years young um It has which you always say you like and everyone should have an honolulu has lot nice lots of them large Ones and it has wood and that wood is under glass And that is good in some cases as the the the ground floor retailer Which is a physiotherapist here has a signage on there, which looks very appealing um And then the top floors have glass garbets which we caution and say don't do them in hawai But in germany where it's you know, not always warm. It's over the year It turns out to be more beneficial because it's more cold and warm so um that being said Wood is again is sort of a decorative element here Alluding to a former half timber. It's a cute little House that stood there that was not to be saved But now we want to go to all Solid timber structural solid timber to the next slide And this is a project here We are feeding ourselves from this literature Which is by dom publishers that we are supposed to do and will We promise we will soon And go back and work on on the one for honolulu that philip moiser the owner of the company has asked us to do And this project here is in that book And it's by a young firm as we stayed down there. They're called ultra modern that seems like a promising term to call themselves as a company and it's at that grand park museum area So you walk down michigan michigan a mile magnificent avenue and then cut Corner to the lake which you see there and they're at standing there and it was going through the magazines It was really a fresh breath Which it still is I threw in a picture at the bottom left when it was new but It's weathering that quite heavily as we can see in the details I took Because chicago has the same as us. It's fronting the ocean That lake is not salty as our ocean is but the winds are blowing and so it's quite Irish on wood and so we want to share that but Get us right and not wrong because we're we don't want to complain here and say this is bad It looks ugly tear it down. I'm saying it's great Actually to the degree to point out to people where The where the challenges are but also where the potential where the potential is of wood And so if we go to the next slide We see why I say we Are appreciative of that because both in our practice and in our coaching here We have several examples of our fascination with solid timber as the the left column and the the top role basically shows Um, the two projects the solid timber handicapped school at the top right and In the middle top is the eco wood box kindergarten the first off the grid pass a false kindergarten for our hometown That one is a balloon frame as you call originally the good american construction methods of of light frame And they both made it into the handover edition of the book but more importantly down there We see the emerging generation being encouraged from my Perry days in the very center met the bore Actually proposing high rises out of solid timber at the very bottom. We see Megan Sarkozy with solid timber Um cross laminated timber and nano gel insulated systems with a firmly modified brain screen And very familiar to us at the middle on the right Column, we say Kelly Keanu Was looking into coconut wood Into palm trees and using them for solid timber all very very promising and next slide I also went back to The handicapped school here. This turned out to be the Largest um as far as square footage application of thermally modified timber sprues and pine wood and Little did we know how pioneering it was and probably if we would have known We probably still wouldn't have told our public gentleman client who's only allowed to use things that have been You know experience for 30 years or so which we find kind of tragic because that way The public can never be you know at the forefront and show the the mass What one should do so we we try that and Although on the right side you might say oh, it kind of looks like you know has some green on maybe you know But that's just surface. This is in its defense. That's the north side. So it never gets sun There is this heavy wooded alley. It's always moist there and considering that it's actually holding up fairly fairly well And one of the tricks that also it not just holds up technically well But also aesthetically well because what people don't like is an uneven weathering of wood That makes them feel like it looks kind of shabby So we said we can basically control that by making everything flush By using such a wood that is so resistant Through its only modification process It can actually weather without additional weather protection and that's why we made the aluminum wood felt fact is the company's name a Danish manufacturer windows and All the flashing everything is flush. So the whole thing basically weathers quite well next slide um I I went to you because I needed a little bit of therapy And you basically then try to comfort me or No, you informed me about the differences in copyrights of human rights. You remember that Yes, I can talk about copyright if you want me to Well, anyways, I called you because I was still down because I went to the school I introduced myself to the new director with the last ones. We weren't so uh warm and this one here was a very very warm welcoming And I was so I guess enthused that I started to With her permission to walk around and then I snapped some pictures in there the scenario We had another thunderstorm and they were playing music down there And then the rain was playing uh drums on the et of e-file Which we will go back and explain a little bit more in detail when we are back with met noblet next week Anyways on the way out a very huge teacher went in my way and said not a good idea You are not supposed to take any pictures and I'm supposed to delete them all which he did This one here slipped through and hopefully, you know, we don't violate Privacy too much because the people are almost unnoticeable at least not their personality here So that's that's the only picture as we were saying More reason to say come with me and check it out because that seems to be the predominant Way to to do it um, I I compared it to um the analogy of the usm hala Have you in some office or private residence seen them as furniture the soda? No, I can't remember I don't know Yeah, they're from the the good old 60s that we're talking about That you are from as well, you know at the early the late just before that and i'm from the 60s So um, you were in your in your, you know, our young child age in the 60s So uh fritz halla an architect Invented this here with a company and it became a classic. It's actually since 2021 It's the museum of modern art and I read in 2006. They furnished the uh The office in the museum of modern art with it. So it's a very iconic. It's very cleverly designed. It's out of these, uh, you know Basically chrome steel tubes that have that special corner connector as you can see and there goes You know threaded rods through and you need a special tool to make that happen very cleverly designed and very sort of authentic what what, you know, you you get what you see And that's kind of the the the philosophy of the of the school as well where Everything what you see except on this wall actually because the the top floor the structural engineer Thought he needed to use steel. So it's in in this case it's cladding But in all the other areas it's actually structural. So what you see is actually what you get and vice versa um next slide We we have been informed that They will add on to the school and they have not asked us which honestly, I'm not unhappy about it I think I've been there done it and I'm you know, I'm okay And now I'm in the critical position to still try to not be too biased because of course being the author of the original So but I allow myself, you know, some uh some observation about it and you know, feel free to chip in Please because the in that in that construction poster there everything that's white is the original and everything that's dark gray is the is the new And what's finished is that new bar which is several classrooms And then I guess they're going to add two more in front of the ends of the of the existing building, right? and So I compared it, um, you know a little snarky to the at the bottom right There's a company here that actually sells like starbucks coffee primarily But then has merchandise and like a sears catalog on the side and you can stuff like buy like even furniture as in this case here So then I think to basically not get copyright busted They couldn't copycat the exact corner connection. Then they made this different one, which Seems like if you know the original that was just saw before you think like, okay It's like extending out too much. It's like a horn. It's not supposed to be there And so it is with the building. That's why it's my analogy. You see there's a gutter And the gutter is technically, you know, we had some issues with leaking roofs that luckily the director said it's not that architects fault It was the contractor says I like to hear that you don't know how smooth this flows down I don't hear that too often And that was nice of her so they're they're granted Lee a little, um, you know, um Paranoids because of what what happened but if if that needed really to go to say, okay I don't do an integrated drainage, but I put the gutter on the outside I'm not so sure they're also which you don't see but I tell you They went on the safe side and did a frame system a balloon frame system that we're not again We had that in the eco wood box as well But I think I can bear it again to the furniture if you have a living room or an office Uh, you know equipped with the original And you need a couple more pieces wouldn't you just continue? So what I would have suggested is I provide my construction documents all the specs And they could have just followed that and of course optimized. That's why we do the post occupancy elevation I I'm less interested in what's to be celebrated and what works perfect But what doesn't work because for mistakes we learn and not from success, right? And I want to just say that that picture of the metal framework that protruding piece at the top May look like it's not that significant But in reality those are the types of things in actual practice That end up driving you nuts because you constantly bang into them. You you know, you tear your clothes on them You They it isn't just aesthetic There is a reason why the original doesn't have that This is the type of thing that would I in practice make you nuts I I'm glad I'm glad to say that and the analogy back to metal in the building. You see that that downspout and Mike if you can go back one slide You see on the exterior that we basically also integrated the gutters A square gutters to be flush With a facade because banging them, you know Um This they like to knock on them and drum on them and they don't like that because they're of zinc metal That is not very thick. So there is a practical advantage of that too Besides the uh, the aesthetic over. Yes. Yes. Okay. Uh, let's use the last four minutes to go to the next slide Because this is looking forward to more solid timber Because this is where the trend is going and there is no real reason to shy away from it And this is on my trip to the neighboring big city of hamburg And this is I'm not gonna do another German lesson for you to sort of that's to mean because that's too much here Here in state as höchste holz gebäude deutschland or you want to give it a try probably not So i'm helping you out. All I all I can get is deutschland is at the end and it's true Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, so the the tallest Wooden high rise is going up currently here. It's actually 18 floors and 180 condominiums And apartments a good mix And it's structurally out of timber it has a concrete for the elevator for the staircase But everything else the walls and the ceilings the ceilings are actually side nail timber Just like in the omaze school that we just saw so we're very happy to see that catching on and people, you know continuing to do that And I I post myself in our tradition of automobiles and architecture in front of a car that's very familiar to us, right Is that New York? Is that the same car that i'm familiar with? It is it is like mine, but it's not mine because I took the train as a responsible Commuter these days and this is a twingo. Yes, and it has a sliding ours has a folding sunroof this has a sliding sunroof and The building has biochromatic Cooling too because under construction rendering We see that it's going to be lanai all the way around so I think that's very promising Hope you too the soto and this is now for reyna keesling who is our emerging colleague who you see at the top right Was going to take this on to surprise us to bring this to us in Honolulu, hawai and we will be Is advocate and use best practices from half around the world because what works here Should work there too. So now you are quite astonished structurally this 18 story building Is supported by wood Yeah, it is it is and I took the close up at the bottom left Which you see the wood the solid or the the structural walls And at the top picture above this here And I was looking it up and also the siding the rain screen is also out of timber So it's pretty entirely out of timber Except the very inner core Most likely for the vertical circulation of the staircase and the elevators is is out of concrete But everything else is And so in these pictures, there is a metal framework on the exterior. Is that purely for construction? Yeah, that's scaffolding for construction. Yeah. Oh, wow Yeah, okay, you have to that you have to keep me appraised of this because I'm Astounded to think of an 18 story wooden building see so Um, um, you you know, uh, rina will will show it to us and we will coach him And you know, they catch a lease a close to heaven down to earth. Yes, and I saw that because that's an I can read that. Yeah, I'm promoting that and it will be finished. Um, sometimes soon and At the beginning first quarter of 2024. So we will keep um, everyone updated on that one the audience and us and uh Uh, so far, this is it for for this week. We didn't get much to chicago, but there was too much to catch up here from Me driving around which is important too, but promise we will Go back to chicago. And so you are joining us again We will start out then with the apple store that we have one too We actually have two of them one in the mall and one on calacao avenue Just across the corner from us And this one here gets us very exciting because it's by one of the architects who we have been following that is That is lord, um, our baron norman foster The british high tech architect who's a pioneer in biochromatic design So how did you do that with an apple store? You have to sign in next week again to Hear about that and see that all right, so until then the soda have a good week and uh, hopefully we see um matt back next week Or his banish boston boost and until then you guys all stay safe and sound Sound and save Thank you so much for watching think tech hawaii If you like what we do, please click the like and subscribe button on youtube You can also follow us on facebook instagram and linkedin Check out our website think tech hawaii.com Mahalo