DESIGN: e2 {DESIGN: E-SQUARED}: THE GREEN APPLE {SERIES PREMIERE} (TV)
Summary
This documentary series, narrated by Brad Pitt, explores the value of "sustainable design" in architecture and "the economies of being environmentally conscious." This first episode demonstrates how the skyscraper can be a surprising model of environmental efficiency, wondering if the "grayest" city in America -- Manhattan, New York -- could actually be one of the greenest. Carol Willis, director at The Skyscraper Museum, details why Manhattan needs to be an environmentally efficient area due to its population density. Susan S. Szenasy, editor-in-chief, Metropolis Magazine, talks about 4 Times Square, the first building that attempted to utilize green technologies in skyscraper form. Paul Goldberger, architecture critic for The New Yorker, details how 4 Times Square was important in turning skyscrapers green and the role developer Douglas Durst played in getting it built. Richard A. Cook, partner at Cook + Fox Architects, tried to take the knowledge of 4 Times Square and build the greenest skyscraper in the nation, the Bank of America Tower at Bryant Park. Goldberger details how technological improvements have made glass a significant building material in the green skyscraper revolution. Cook details how ideas that once seemed "a little crazy" -- like blast furnace slag comprising almost half of the cement used -- are now good for the environment. Szenasy and Willis question if tests can determine whether new buildings are environmentally sustainable after considering how humans will use them. Cook also addresses how the buildings can actually act as an air filtration system for the city. Then, the program discusses the Solaire, the first residential green apartment house in America, built in Battery Park City following the World Trade Center's collapse. Rafael Pelli, the designer of the Solaire, details the difficulties he faced in creating it before giving a brief tour of the apartment complex. He spotlights its notable green roof, which utilizes a soil mixture and ground cover to helps insulate the building in winter and eject heat in summer. Pelli also discusses the higher costs of building green, while still noting how profits can nevertheless be made. This program includes one show-sponsored commercial.
Cataloging of this program was made possible by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
Details
- NETWORK: PBS
- DATE: November 30, 2005
- RUNNING TIME: 0:26:28
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: T:91468
- GENRE: Public affairs/Documentaries
- SUBJECT HEADING: Public affairs/Documentaries; Environment; Architecture, Modern
- SERIES RUN: PBS - TV series, 2006-
- COMMERCIALS:
- TV - Commercials - Autodesk technological services
CREDITS
- Karena Albers … Executive Producer
- Tad Fettig … Executive Producer, Director
- Eva Anisko … Producer
- Midori Willoughby … Producer
- Julie Kirsner … Associate Producer
- Adam Elend … Field Producer
- Elizabeth Westrate … Series Producer
- Mark Decena … Writer
- John Kenney … Writer
- Eric Holland … Music by
- Brad Pitt … Narrator
- Richard A. Cook
- Douglas Durst
- Paul Goldberger
- Rafael Pelli
- Susan S. Szenasy
- Carol Willis