Junkspace: Air-Conditioning Playing A Major Role in Architecture

     Ever since air-conditioning was popularized in the 1950s and 1970s and added to our every day lives, we have been trying to hide it or a lot of the time we must compromise the building aesthetic to accommodate these large ducts and mechanical systems. In Rem Koolhaas's Junkspace he believes architecture has fallen by the wayside to air-conditioning. In the work of Renzo Piano, you can see how (often dramatically) the architecture is informed by these systems, turning the building inside-out and using these systems as part of the architecture like in Le Centre Gorges Pomidou. He later carries the idea of these submarine-like fresh-air return stacks into his Aquarium for Genoa project, which is kind of repetitive in my opinion. While simultaneously he designed the individual air vents for each seat at the concert hall project, Auditorim Parco della Musica in Rome.

Renzo Piano, Le Centre Gorges Pompidou, Paris, France (1971-77)

Renzo Piano, Acquario di Genova, Genova, Italia (1992-98)

Renzo Piano, Auditorim Parco della Musica, Roma, Italia (1995-2002)