Page 16 - The future of the metro booklet
P. 16
Encounter Encounter
In praise of voids TEXT between the the very concept → How could
underground and
of air circulation.
geothermics
Eric Senabre
the overground, influence the
couldn’t it? P.R. We do not yet fully unders- future metro?
tand how the virus circulates.
P.R. Vegetation needs certain Studies show that if Milan has I think that geothermics could be
qualities of air, light and mois- been so severely affected, it is used widely to cool down the air
due to the air pollution. The virus
ture. That creates a degree of attaches itself to fine particulate blown into the metro, acting as
technical dependence which can matter. In the metro, we should an earth-to-air heat exchanger. If
be hard to control. Take irriga- certainly expect the virus to cir- outdoor air was blown directly
tion, for a start. And the conse- culate more actively, using the into the metro tunnels during a
→ When we think → Quite so. quences would be more psycho- high density of fine particulates. heatwave, it would be stifling.
of architecture, And how do you logical than anything else. It The solution might be to dilute But if you blew the air through
heat exchanger coils, it would be
we think consider the voids takes 300 trees to compensate this concentration, just as we cooled. Of course, it is a bit com-
the average person’s annual car-
spontaneously of created by spaces bon footprint. A few shrubs can attenuate pollution above plicated to make the air move
materials, masses, in the metro, in won’t do much for the thousands ground level. naturally but it is possible. The
surfaces and solids. terms of climatic of people in the metro. They → You mentioned upper sections of a solar chim-
But your vision comfort and won’t be much use as air freshe- the cool ney are black. They get hot and
focusses on voids. energy efficiency? ners, or at least no better than a temperatures create an updraft. Such thermal
chimneys could replace mecha-
What does pool or a fountain. of Renaissance nical ventilation.
the void stand P.R. In Paris, you just need to go 5 → What else churches.
for, in your metres underground, to reach could be done Could we pursue
approach? the mean annual temperature of to make the
the town, between 11° and this line of thought,
12°C. It’s a bit like the wine cel- metro more to reconsider
Philippe Rahm The first duty of an lars in Reims where they mature resilient, or at
architect, which we tend to for- champagne. Renaissance churches least a bit nicer? the materials used
get, is to create a space, a void have a thermal value too, just like for the metro?
where it does not rain when it is Roman basilicas. Today, the me- P.R. First and foremost, the qua-
raining outside, which has less tro is primarily functional. Tubes lity of the air and the light. The Yes, these are major questions
sunshine when there is too much joining one station to another. lighting devices in the metro about emissivity and effusivity.
outside. We take portions of the But it might be worth endowing emit standard spectra of light. Highly emissive material oppo-
world and its atmosphere, and it with an ‘urban’ value, like the However, we ought to choose site us would absorb our heat,
we transform them so that the semi-underground shopping them to satisfy the metabolic because it would be constantly
climate inside is acceptable to malls in Canada. This thermal va- needs of travellers, and we could cooled by the earth at 11°C. In
people. External walls are built lue could take on a public role. In even adjust them to suit the time the metro, everything we touch
to delimit this void. It interests winter, there is a huge loss of of day. For instance, we could should made of highly effusive
me to tell myself “this void is not heat from the metro. We ought make the lights go yellow in the material, and the materials op-
something neutral. It is a mate- to recover the air coming out of evening, to respect circadian posite us should be highly emis-
The Swiss architect rial in itself”. We can adjust the metro station entrances, to stop rhythms. The quality of air is still sive.
Philippe Rahm advocates real parameters of this material, it from going to waste. quite hard to control. Intrinsically,
these two notions could become
a form of architecture in terms of temperature, humi- aesthetic considerations. Light
dity and quality of air, quantity of
that features physiology light, radiation. There is also a → Do you think and air could create the beauty
and meteorology. chemical parameter and an elec- that growing of the metro.
He has agreed to tell us tromagnetic one too. Architects plants in the metro
about a future metro, use bricks, concrete and steel. could be a good → The problem De profundis
that is in harmony Why shouldn’t they use air pollu- way of regulating today is that The Arsenalna metro station in Kiev had the funny idea of setting up
at the top of the valley. Consequently, the metro platforms are 105 meters
with the natural needs tion, temperature and the type the temperature? the covid-19 lower and require a long journey on escalators: between 5 and 10 minutes.
of light? This is how I approach
of individuals and my work. I consider the void as a At least it could crisis has Of course, this is not about gratuitous cruelty on the part of the engineers:
the climate. raw material for the architect. build a link questioned the following station is indeed in the valley, and it would have been a lot
more complicated to make it up the hill for the train.
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