Parasitic Architecture

Moore Building, Miami, FL

Source: http://www.miamidesigndistrict.net

Architecture, like any type of art is a little bit crazy, but inside that craziness lies a lot of reason that tries to innovate by taking huge leaps forward. Lately I’ve seen a special trend popping in all the blogs inside my daily reading list, it’s the appearance of “Parasitic Architecture” or “Parasitic Facades”.

The idea behind this phenomenon is to find the way to intervene old structures that are protected by the historical preservation organizations (heavily seen on European countries) making these inefficient buildings up to date with today’s environmental and sustainability standards while keeping their essence.

On this article, one particular example is shown where there was a reduction of up to 75% of the initial energy efficiency of the structure by the application of a parasitic substructure on the project. This is really interesting since it will allow to modify existing structures without having to completely demolish them having an overall better use of materials and allowing the possibility of incorporating green elements to the facades, reducing the need for cooling inside the units and increasing the natural cover area of the city finally reducing global warming (plants need the energy of the sun for photosynthesis, so more plants equals less surplus of unused energy in the atmosphere). Also, the possibility of using 3D-Printed recycled elements is also an opportunity of better constructive processes.

Articles of interest and sources:

http://inhabitat.com/parasitic-wooden-cubes-slash-parisian-buildings-energy-consumption-by-75/

http://architizer.com/blog/parasitic-architecturebuilding-attachments/

http://www.miamidesigndistrict.net/event-venue/1/moore-building/