The film "How to make a mountain", shown at the Dokaviv festival, takes a look behind the scenes of the long and difficult process of building an extraordinary architectural-environmental structure in Denmark: Copenhill
An old train track in the center of Manhattan that has been converted into a particularly magical urban park: (project hey Line(; a pair of residential towers in Milan that were designed as a green facade that includes thousands of plants and trees: (project the forest The vertical in Bosco(; and a hotel in Singapore that includes green gardens suspended in the air: )project Park Royal). These are just a few examples that represent a phenomenon that has become an integral part of the architectural and planning discourse in the 21st century - sustainable environmental planning.
A documentary film offers an intriguing and in-depth look at one of the most fascinating architectural projects of recent times, which takes environmental planning to bold, profound and entertaining places: Copenhill - a unique structure that manages to combine an active power plant and sports attractions in one place.
It seems that the awareness of environmental planning is one of the most prominent features of contemporary architecture, and it should surely be the basis of today's architectural thinking. Indeed, the world of architecture is waking up (perhaps a little late), and showing signs of concern for our planet. Green and sustainable architecture, smart and ecological construction, fear of global warming - all these concepts have become an integral part of the attempt to reduce the drowned habit the ecological של branch the construction, which, as we know, is one of the biggest pollutants threatening the planet.
Let's face it, green architecture is almost an oxymoron, its opposite, because according to the logic of the approach one should simply stop building, or in the words of the American architect and environmental activist Carl Elephant: "The greenest building is the one that already exists".
The option to stop building is, of course, unrealistic. The maximum that can be aspired to is self-aware architecture, which takes responsibility for the environment and tries to harm it as little as possible. It is impossible to stop the construction of residential and industrial buildings when the world's population is only increasing, but it is certainly possible to plan the cities in a more efficient and sustainable way.
Renovate the polluting station
One of the most sustainable, creative and ambitious projects planned in recent years is, as mentioned, "CopenHill in Copenhagen opened to the public October 2019. This is a unique architectural and environmental project that includes the renovation of an old, polluting power plant that operated by burning coal. Today, a power plant operates there for the combined production of electricity and heat (cogeneration) through the recovery of energy from waste. However, the main innovation is that a ski slope, a walking path and an artificial climbing wall were placed on the sloping roof of the factory.
The place of the ugly and polluting power plant was replaced by a biomass incinerator that combines a sports attraction for the whole family: the station's waste recycling systems and boilers were arranged according to their height in the building, thus making possible the construction of a 450-meter-long sloping roof on which artificial ski tracks were placed. The roof of the building is a green roof that includes 10,000 square meters of a diverse landscape that includes plants and trees of various types, which contribute to the absorption of solar radiation to improve air quality, And Minimize the formation of surface runoff from rainwater
Since the project was opened, it has already won many awards, and among other things, it was included in the "50 innovative ideas" list of Time magazine, and won first place in the "Green Roof Award" competition in Scandinavia.
How to create a mountain
As mentioned, the old power plant produced energy by burning coal. The new incinerator produces heat energy and electricity through the recovery of energy from waste and biomass, which includes trimmings and organic waste, and emits into the atmosphere carbon dioxide that those plants fixed during their lifetime, and thus does not add new emissions of carbon dioxide as happens with the burning of fossil fuels. power plant Uses the waste of 500,000 residents and 46,000 companies in the Copenhagen area. By treating 400,000 tons of waste, electricity is produced that is used by 50,000 households and heat that is used to heat 120,000 households. The facility will also provide hot water to 160,000 households.
Creating energy from waste and biomass has been gaining momentum in recent years, and more and more biomass-based power plants are being built around the world. On the Israeli side, there are still disagreements regarding the establishment of crematoria of this type, among other things Claiming Which are will cause to infection Air. The Copenhill project is proof that incinerators of this type, when they are designed, built and operated to the highest standards of European standards, can be found in urban environments and even near residential areas, as is the case in many places in Europe.
Copenhill was an important move of Municipality Copenhagen on her way להיות One the cities The first In the world You will achieve neutrality Carbohydrate Until Year 2025 (when the amount of carbon dioxide emitted in the city will be equal to the amount naturally absorbed by vegetation and water bodies). The construction of the facility in place of the power plant that operated on coal reduced 107,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions before.
According to the municipality's plans, commercial and residential buildings are obliged to reduce electricity consumption by at least 20 percent, solar panels or other renewable energy sources will be installed in every new construction, and all heating systems will be based on burning waste and biomass only. In addition, by the year 2025, about 75 percent of trips in the city will be converted through regulations and incentives to walking, cycling or using public transportation. This is a financial investment estimated at about 5 billion dollars.
The head and heart behind the idea is the super architect Bjarke Ingels, founder of the Danish architecture firm BIG. Ingles is known for innovation and design ambition, and many of the projects he designed challenge traditional conventions of planning and space. Also, Ingalls often combines ideas of sustainable development and sociological concepts in his works, but is careful to try and achieve a balance between innovation and practical requirements of architecture.
The Dokaviv Film Festival is currently showing a new documentary (on its online platform) called "Making a Mountain" ("how to create Mountain", available for viewing until April 30) that follows the decade-long journey to create Copenhill, starting with the architectural competition in 2011, through the complex construction process and ending the project in 2017.
"How to create a mountain" reveals the architectural philosophy and especially the determination and high motivation of Ingalls to plan the project according to his vision (which he calls "sustaining hedonism"), despite all the obstacles and the complicated bureaucracy. The film opens with a monologue by Ingles, an impressive and charismatic architect, who explains in an almost poetic way how revolutionary the Copenhill project is and one that will be remembered for generations: "Today it is a reality that in Copenhagen people can ski on the roof of their power station. My son is one year old and he will never remember that it used to be impossible to surf in Copenhagen. For him and for his entire generation it will be obvious - that power plants are clean and therefore can be used for skiing or climbing walls, grow habitats and allow different types of animals to live in them. They will stand on the top of an artificial mountain and from there they will leap and come up with wild and crazy ideas.'
Indeed, Copenhill is proof that sustainable architecture can be attractive as well as environmentally friendly. The absurdity of a mountain ski track in the heart of the city, in a flat country, demonstrates how solutions can be not only practical but also with humor. Copenhill unites the urgent, serious and relevant need to reduce air pollution, but does not give up the aspect of playfulness and enjoyment.
The seriousness of the project does not exclude the culture of leisure and tourism, but on the contrary, mobilizes it alongside it. The sophisticated humorous side of the project can be seen through the chimney of the incinerator which emits white smoke all day long. Our conditioning is to regard the smoke emitted from a chimney as the symbol of pollution. But, unlike polluting factories, Copenhill's smoke consists mainly of water vapor and carbon dioxide and compared to the emissions of the previous coal-fired power plant, it contains 99.5 percent less sulfur oxides and about 85 percent less nitrogen oxides emitted from burning coal. In this sense the white smoke symbolizes the new relationship that the project offers between industry and people.
A combination of industry and leisure
"The greatness of the project is generally entrepreneurial - the ability to decide to combine the functions and create a programmatic synthesis between an infrastructural function, which is a power plant, and an architectural project for leisure and sports," says Prof. Architect Yasha (Yaakov) Grobman, Dean of the Faculty of Architecture and Urban Planning at the Technion. "We know similar projects from history, such as Ponte Vecchio in Florence, which combined a residential and commercial bridge, or Unite d'Habitation in Marseille, which combined different programs within a residential building, but the uniqueness of 'Copenhill' is the very decision to combine in a power plant, which is considered a homogeneous function, functions completely different and make this project heterogeneous. The project is proof that it is possible to combine areas that were considered infrastructure areas only for different and varied uses for the general public.'
"The era of path-breaking projects that break paradigms has passed from the world. The changes these days are changes of evolution rather than revolution," Grobman continues. "The genius of this project is the very decision to combine the uses."
According to Grobman, the challenge for planners in the 21st century is not a technological problem, but a cultural one: "We have all the technologies to do this type of project and there is no problem with taking a polluting plant like a power plant and turning it into a building with zero pollutant emissions - the challenge is conceptual ". Grobman's intention is that the significant challenge is the very decision to carry out projects of this type and to mobilize the existing technologies for the benefit of environmental projects.
Grobman's architectural firm was entrusted with the design of one of the first green buildings in Israel - the Porter Building for Environmental Studies at Tel Aviv University (in collaboration with Dr. Yossi Kuri's Gautectura architectural firm and Nili and Nir Chen's Hen Architects) - which received the maximum rating of the American standard for green building Leed Platinum and the highest rating of the new Israeli standard for green construction. The building was designed as a research laboratory for green construction and the study of the environment, and in fact, it is intended to be part of the academic research that takes place inside it, by virtue of being a pioneer building due to the characteristics of green and ecological construction.
"This building was a sign that a sustainable building can be designed even in Israel and that it is not such a big story," says Grobman. "I believe that environmental projects combining programs and infrastructure will be planned in the country today. The Copenhill project is a symbol and has great importance in spreading this approach. Part of its greatness is the very fact that it is in the city center in a mixed neighborhood of industry and residences.'
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