PingMag Talks to Blaine Brownell About the Future of Green Design

PingMag features a nice interview with Blaine Brownell, an architect and sustainable material researcher, as well as the author of the recently published collection of innovation in green design and materials, Transmaterial 2: A Catalog of Materials That Redefine Our Physical Environment. As PingMag’s Yariv Revah describes, the book contains everything “from repurposed materials that act as surrogates, to recombinant ones that fuse several materials into a hybrid, making them stronger and more effective” — a reflection of what Brownell sees as the future of environmental design. The interview provides a little background on Brownell and how he came to be an authority in the sustainable design world, along with his insights about the history of green design and where it needs to go. Highlights from the interview:

PingMag: The current trend of sustainable materials and green building methods aren’t so new. As early as the 1950s, Pierre Koenig created glass houses with steel structures, that used passive cooling and solar heating techniques to create energy efficient buildings. Why has the discipline for green building taken so long to develop?

Brownell: Although Europe and Japan are largely ahead of the curve, the United States has struggled with the development of sustainable building practices since the softening of the 1970s oil crisis that initiated much of the initial interest in green architecture in this country. I think the primary challenge to sustainable design is the fact that it has been viewed primarily as a long-term intellectual proposition without immediate economic benefit, and the relatively cheap cost of petroleum has made it nearly impossible to convince industries to consider other alternatives.

PingMag: You mention Europe and Japan.. in terms of green building. Since you do a lot of your research in Japan, are Japanese architects following suit?

Europe has arguably the most sophisticated and widely implemented green building legacy within the developed world. However, Japan is intriguing for its maximisation of incredibly limited resources, as well as its different cultural attitudes towards sustainability. Many Japanese architects practice sustainable design in Japan without necessarily labeling it as such, making the most of limited space and resources with highly imaginative solutions. China is attempting to become a leader in sustainable development, but faces many struggles along the way…

PingMag: Transmaterial 2: To Redefine Our Physical Environment