Already a subscriber?The Seagram skyscraper in New York City is one of the most influential buildings ever built, a modernist masterpiece that has been endlessly copied since it was opened in 1958. Which is a problem because its single-glazed plate glass walls make it extraordinarily expensive to heat and cool.
Architect Ben Berwick, whose window treatment system Solgami can reduce energy costs while making better use of natural light.It’s also on display at the influential Vitra Design Museum in Germany. A modular system of opaque panels made from recycled materials, it is not yet in production, but might be soon. When Berwick meets, one of his prototypes is being shipped to Iceland where it will be used in what’s being billed as the prefabricated home of the future.
The work was inspiring, but also straining given the pressures of being sandwiched by a Japanese boss in Tokyo and a team of French and Italian employees in Paris. The hassle of reapplying for his work visa meant he moved back after a year to Sydney.He had been planning to resettle in Tokyo, but a commission to build a Japanese-style restaurant in his home town of Newcastle caused him in 2017 to found his own practice, called Prevalent.
A thin coating reflects infrared and ultraviolet light – in summer it reflects heat out and in winter it reflects it back in. Ambient light can be directed to whichever direction you want it to go, illuminating the ceiling, perhaps, so that light bounces softly onto people’s desks.