SIEEB – SINO-ITALIAN ECOLOGICAL AND ENERGY EFFICIENT BUILDING

Maria Antonietta Santangelo

Mario Cucinella Architects took an interdisciplinary approach to designing the project for the new research center built on the Tsinghua University campus in Beijing. The SIEEB — Sino-Italian Ecological and Energy Efficient Building — is the fruit of close collaboration between the Italian and Chinese governments.
The building was conceived using participatory planning processes, involving institutions, and, especially, consideration of land and environmental needs. The design envisaged a single structure, open on one side, surrounding an internal garden courtyard, marking off a protected collective space. The design of an avant-garde building envelope deflects summer sun rays while carrying natural light within an internal diffusion system. The hollow of the facades also creates a ventilated wall model that creates passive cooling. Open facades are arranged to the south with terraces and the northern facade, exposed to colder winds, is closed and homogeneous.
Ample vegetation, including hanging gardens, provides shade along the different floors, including the roof garden, and photovoltaic systems provide power.
The combination of sophisticated technologies and intelligent materials, as well as a well-considered distribution of spaces and shapes, creates an emblematic example in which architecture becomes a tool for conveying other messages, such as examples and potential for reducing CO2 and innovative energy strategies for environmental protection. The artificial — the built object — becomes a tool for protecting the surroundings and nature.