ascher on hypermodernity

7/27/2019 Ascher on Hypermodernity

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2/20C R E S C E N D O | L A F A R G E | A P R I L 2 0 0 6 | P A

loringL

isten, discover, and progress. Listen, in order to act

tomorrow in the best interests of the planet. Twice a year,

Crescendowill open its pages to all those who explore

the future and contribute to re-energizing and moving the world

forward through intellectual, scientific, artistic, and social activities.

As part of this debate, as people who take initiatives, we make

it our priority to constantly look for new ways to contribute to

progress in all fields.

12 Tomorrow's cities | 16 New needs |

20 New materials | 24 New passions |

the worldon the move



the cityin permanent (r)evolution

FRANCOIS ASCHERis a professorat the French Institute of Urban Planningat the University of Paris VIII, France,and at the University of Geneva, Switzerland.He is also chairman of the City on the Move

Institute's research and steering committeeand has authored numerous books,including Metropolis, or the Future of Citiesand the Hypermodern Society.

The vast majority of people in developed

countries live in cities, which are continuing

to grow. Now, more than ever, urban infra-

structures are becoming economic engines driven

by individuals who are increasingly autonomous andmobile. To gain a better understanding of how cities

must evolve in the face of this cultural shock, we

interviewed Francois Ascher.

exploringtomorrow's cities



You say that society is moving away from the industrial

revolution towards a new modernity. What are the main

characteristics of this new modernity?

FRANOIS ASCHER | Developed societies appear to be pursing

a path to modernity that has three major characteristics:

individuals are seeking greater and greater autonomy, giving

rise to a society that is increasingly differentiated; science

and technology are playing a growing role in all social

activities; and a new capitalism appears to be emerging,

founded on a knowledge-based economy that will likely also

be based on the environment in the longer term. It won't

sound the death knell for industry any more than industry

put an end to agriculture, but it does place production

and the use of knowledge and information and their

associated technologies at the heart of societal dynamics.

It's a new phase of modernity that is being sketched out.

I call it hyper-modernism. This trend has progressively

put operating methods and ways of thinking into a crisis,

and it has not spared economic players who are confronted

with unprecedented diversity, complexity and uncertainty.

Are big cities being rethought under such conditions?

F. A. | A large majority of people in developed countries

already lives in cities. However, urbanization is taking on a

new form: metropolization. To a certain extent, the largest

cities are growing externally, absorbing as a part of their

daily functioning the surrounding towns, boroughs, villages,

and countryside. Vast metropolitan areas that no longer

resemble the cities of the previous period are rising up. These

are distended, discontinuous, heterogeneous, and multi-

polar urban zones. Urban planning must change under these

conditions.

Long-term planning for cities is becoming increasingly

difficult to do, and we are seeing the emergence of new

approaches, many of which owe their inspiration to the

strategic and heuristic management methods of the business

world. To be able to reassess plans without losing sight of

strategic objectives, we need more projects, greater flexibility

and more technology.



Urban planners must also take into account a greater variety

of demands, the diversity of lifestyles, and habitats. We mustbe able to build cities that are varied and capable of evolving.

It's a cultural shock for many urban planning professionals

who in the past often had set ideas about what kind of

cities needed to be built.

In your opinion, what places or urban features will

be decisive for tomorrow's cities? Where do concerns

about sustainable development factor into the trend?

I think mobility is a major challenge today. In new

metropolitan areas, mobility is needed to gain access to

work, the home, healthcare, education, culture, leisureactivities, and so on. The right to mobility has become a

kind of generic right that conditions all other rights. Because

a significant portion of the population does not have the

means to get around or can do so only in poor conditions,

we must improve city transit systems and probably renew

the public service concept of such systems.

At the same time, transportation raises energy issues and

contributes significantly to the greenhouse effect. We haveto find a successful way to limit the environmental impact

of transportation without limiting mobility. In this respect,

urban planning can play a role. Transport hubs can be built

near dense population centers, individual homes can be

grouped in lots, and transport services can be developed

to serve those areas. But I also believe that environmental

issues are such today that public authorities will pass

increasingly strict measures, requiring both individuals

and businesses to replace goods and equipment that no

longer meet environmental standards. That's why, I think,

this era of cognitive capitalism we are entering into willalso be an environmental capitalism. One that will replace

or change some problems...

Mobility is a major

challenge for today's

new metropolitan

areas

FRANOIS ASCHER

exploringtomorrow's cities



The average number

of new city dwellers in China

each year

21million

Guangzhou speeds aheadwith urban transformation

July 1, 2004 the Asian Olympic Committee selects Guangzhou as the host city

for the 16th Asian Games in 2010. The distinction is in keeping with the image

of a city that in just a few years has become Chinas third largest economicmetropolis, and the largest city in South China.

Hosting the Asian Games is a tremendous event for our city, one that will accelerate

our urban transformation, declares Professor Yuan Qifeng, from Sun Yat-sen

University and head engineer of Guangzhous urbanization project. The city

plans to invest over 20 billion euros between 2005 and 2010. To facilitate the

movements of spectators, transportation will be one of the top investment priorities.

Plans include new subway lines, expansion of the international airport, reinforcement

of the road network on the outskirts of the city, and construction of a new train

station. Yet the project does not stop there, and the local economy as a whole

should benefit from this event. A good example is the construction of a 610-meter

television tower, which will be the tallest in the world. Guangzhou is a model of

urban development, built to address concrete demand over the long term, explains

Professor Yuan Qifeng. It is a model that China can be proud of as it invents the

cities of tomorrow.

Faced with unprecedented demographic

pressures, it is imperative that Chinese citiesdevelop infrastructure to preserve the mobilityof their increasingly dense populations.Guangzhou, host of the 2010 Asian Games,is a perfect illustration.



Record-breaking heat waves, droughts, hurricanes,

flooding Do all these events reflect climate change

due to global warming?

JAMES P. LEAPE | It really does look as if global warming is

contributing to the upsurge in violent weather events across

the planet. The proportion of category 4 or 5 hurricanes,

for example, has doubled since 1970.

Atmospheric data recorded daily by thousands of weather

stations around the world tell us that the Earth has warmed

by about 0.7C since 1860. We also know that the warmest

years occurred during the past two decades and that 2005

The Earths climate has changed during

the 20th century, with higher average

temperatures, reduced glacier coverage,

rising sea levels and more frequent violent

meteorological events. The big surprise gleaned

from scientific observations over the past fifty years

is that human activity is largely responsible for

escalating this climate change.

According to James P. Leape, Director General of

WWF International, there is still time to act, but we

must do so quickly if we want to preserve our

environment.

JAMES P. LEAPE,Director generalof WWF International

Designing buildings

with low

emissions:A major challengefor the entire industryand for the planet

co2

exploringnew needs



was the warmest year of all. If we do not take drastic measures

to reverse this trend, the Earth could warm by about 5C

or even more over the next century an enormous increase,

the risks of which have not been sufficiently measured by

our society.

What are the main causes of global warming?

J. P. L. | The burning of fossil fuels coal, oil and natural

gas is the number one cause of climate change attributable

to man. Next is deforestation. These two activities emit

CO2, which makes up about 80% of the pollutants

responsible for global warming. Other culprits are

transportation, construction and industry. Although cement

production is responsible for only about 5% of all CO2

emissions, its contribution could rise due to growing

demand for new buildings and infrastructure.

Do you think that the targets set by the Kyoto protocol

for 2012 are sufficient in the long term?

J. P. L. | No. Between now and 2012, the Kyoto protocol calls

for the industrialized nations to reduce their CO2 emissions

by about 5% from their 1990 levels. Yet total greenhouse

gas emissions have to be reduced worldwide, not just in the

industrialized countries. And they must be cut drastically.

European countries should reduce their greenhouse gas

emissions by 30% before 2020. WWF has shown this is

possible. Much more must be done by all of the signing

members of the Kyoto protocol.

You say that cement manufacturing affects climate

change. Can anything be done to minimize its

impact?

J. P. L. | Cement is particularly rich in carbon. Yet it serves

to make concrete, the most widely used building material

in the world. The cement industry must strive to develop

new cements with low CO2 emissions, as well as new

materials using recycled cement. This is a major challenge

for the industry as well as for all of humanity.

How does WWF help to meet these challenges?

J. P. L. | We have established numerous partnerships with

different types of players, including corporations, institutions

and local communities. Trust, transparency and measurable

objectives are the principal factors ensuring the success of

these partnerships. And if their efforts are deemed credible,

it is because they have combined ambitious targets with

independent assessment systems. They have already proven

that NGOs and industrial groups can work together to find

positive solutions for the environment.



innovatingto meet the needsof the poorestM

eeting the needs of the neediest. A market

with a future for private companies.

Ashoka, an association network that

promotes the development of social contracting

in more than 60 countries, supports and finances

the work of individuals who offer innovative and

pragmatic solutions for improving the living

conditions of disadvantaged populations. To

achieve its aims, Ashoka is seeking to develop new

synergies with the business world, among other

areas. Today, the association is on the cutting edge

of a new low-cost housing concept. So what needs,

economic realities, and medium and long-term

societal challenges do these new means of

construction correspond to? Crescendo thoughtyou might like to know. Olivier Kayser, Vice-

President of Ashoka International, and Stphanie

Schmidt, Director, Full Economic Citizenship

Initiative Global, unveil the emergence of this

new market and explain the strategy of the

Economic Citizenship for All program.

STPHANIE SCHMIDT,Director, Full Economic CitizenshipInitiative - Global at Ashoka InternationalOLIVIER KAYSER (right),Vice-President of Ashoka International

exploringnew needs



Why should private enterprise get involved in these

programs?

S. S. | Low-income markets account for 80% of the world's

population and constitute an enormous reservoir of growth.

Developing countries are expected to account for 98% of

the growth in the world's population through 2025. In Brazil,

for example, 29.6 million low-income households, which are

considered bottom of the pyramid, represent 41% of the

overall purchasing power of the country's population. The

housing shortage in this country alone is in excess of 7 million

units.

O. K. | Low-income communities want to become part of

the market, as producers and consumers. That's what

economic citizenship is all about.

So where do you start?

S. S. | Business as usual won't do. Companies need to

recognize that they don't know much about these markets.

To reach far-flung slums and rural areas, they need to rethink

their product ranges and distribution channels and redefine

their communication strategies. To that end, social

contractors make the best partners because of their deep

knowledge of these potential customers.

What role can building material companies play?

S. S. | They can develop new solutions by working with

other players in micro-finance, for example. Government-

backed housing programs are insufficient and do not

resolve the problems of poverty and exclusion when they

are assistance-based.

O. K. | Access to housing is one of the primary needs of low-

income communities and it offers a true springboard to

economic and human development.

How does the concept of social contracting relate to the

solvency of the world's poorest people?

OLIVIER KAYSER | Contrary to popular opinion, price is

not the main reason why poor people are not able to buy

products made by big business. In the same way, access

to housing is limited by a lack of access to financing, which

in turn stems from the lack of a steady revenue stream

and the absence of property rights. Simply lowering the

price of building materials won't help much. Imaginative

"systemic" solutions are needed to overcome these obstacles,

and this is where social contractors excel.

STPHANIE SCHMIDT | Ashoka launched a new initiative

called "Economic Citizenship for All" to help create strategic

commercial alliances between private enterprise and social

contractors. The goal is to serve low-income markets by

establishing social and economic objectives to guarantee

the commitment of the partners over the long term.



Professor PAULO J. M. MONTEIROis the Group Head of Structural Engineering,Mechanics and Materials (SEMM) at theUniversity of California Berkeley.A specialist in the structure of building

materials, he has written a thesis on themicrostructure of concrete and has publishedseveral important books, as well as numerousarticles in the specialized press.

For years, scientists specializing in materials

have been striving to better understand

the forces that control the behavior of

construction materials: durability, strengh, ductility,longevity, aesthetics and thermal behaviors, among

others. All of these characteristics originate in the

microstructure of materials, and to explore them

today requires increasingly sophisticated

technologies, often at the nanometric level. The

goal is to build models of typical interactions and

to reproduce them, first in the laboratory and then

in the field. In this way new technology is transferred

to industry and new materials are developed toaddress new needs providing solutions for the

wildest dreams.

materialsnanotechnology to serve

building

exploringnew materials



You are a researcher and a world specialist

in the structure of building materials.

Why is it necessary to take a scientific approach

to the development of materials?

PAULO MONTEIRO | I am often asked that question. The

general public does not always associate new materials with

fundamental research. Even so, the development of new

building materials presupposes a comprehensive

understanding of the mechanisms responsible for their

strength, stiffness and durability. This is why a precise

understanding of the microstructure of materials is

necessary.

To be more concrete, what are the benefits

for industrial companies in the sector?

P. M. | There are numerous payoffs. For example, if industrial

groups want to develop more resistant materials, they first

need a better understanding of the binding forces at work in

the hydration products. This can be achieved through

fundamental research. Other examples: work on chemical

additives led to the development of self-placing and self-

leveling concretes; research on the microstructure of steel

reinforcement is used to develop new reinforced-concrete

structures with a useful life of several hundred years.

You mention the microstructure of materials.

What role does nanotechnology play in your work?

P. M. | Today, research is carried out at the nanometric level,

and enormous challenges must be met, such as the sensitivity

of materials to changes in temperature or humidity. It was

long believed that building materials were homogeneous.

However, we realized after working at the microscopic level

that they are actually highly complex and extremely

heterogeneous. We now use leading-edge technology such

as atomic force microscopy, nano-indentation, scanning

electron microscopy and X-ray microscopy.

How do you go about developing new materials?

P. M. | For years, the development of new materials was a

bit like alchemy: we used a hit or miss approach, relying on

trial and error to make progress. Today, our approach blends

fundamental science with advanced experimental methods.

We develop models that are then tested in laboratories.

Moreover, since it is impossible for a single individual to be

an expert in all subjects, we have created truly multi-

disciplinary scientific networks.

Nanometer-scale image of a material.



What are the advantages of a multi-disciplinary

approach?P. M. | Working with researchers from a variety of disciplines

often sparks new ideas. For example, it was while working

with biophysics researchers to develop procedures to

study cement using low-temperature scanning electron

microscopy, that I was first led to use soft X-ray microscopy.

As a result, I obtained precious information on the

hydration process.

In parting, could you reveal some of the big

research topics that the scientific communityis currently working on?

P. M. | One of the big themes is material longevity. A useful

life of about fifty years is no longer acceptable.

Consequently, we are working on developing a new

generation of building materials with a much longer product

life.

Yet other areas are also being explored through

fundamental research. Consider materials that are used

to repair engineering works: there is an enormous market

for industrial groups in this sector, with the development

of advanced building materials. In the United States alone,there are currently about 250,000 bridges that need to

be repaired or renovated!

Today, research is carried

out at the nanometric lev

and enormous challenges

must be met

PAULO J. M. MONTEIRO

exploringnew materials



Industrial competitorscan share knowledge

Setting aside the clichs of cutthroat competition

between industrial rivals, cement manufacturersin the European research network Nanocem felt the needto join forces in order to share knowledgeand accelerate research, for the greater benefit of all.

Nanocem, a European research network created in 2004, has successfully managed

to get twelve European cement and related products manufacturers including

Lafarge and 21 academic institutions to work together. Nanocems goal is to

associate corporate R&D with academic scientific research to develop a better

understanding of construction materials. Cement and concrete are the mostwidely used materials in the world, but they are still very poorly understood,

observes Professor Karen Scrivener, coordinator of the Nanocem network. By

combining our efforts and resources we have a range of tools and expertise

that is rarely found within any one, single laboratory. It enables us to analyze

and understand the fundamental mechanisms behind the behavior of materials.

Nanocem harnesses the latest technology to study the microstructure of materials.

Corporate partners finance the work of scientists, who focus their research on

projects that are likely to yield technologies that can be transferred to the cement

industry, explains Professor Scrivener. Our ambition is to build a knowledge

database for developing new materials and to improve existing ones, but also

to ensure that cement and concrete are finally recognized as sustainable, high

technology materials.

ProfessorKAREN SCRIVENER,Swiss Federal Institute of Technologyin Lausanne (EPFL), director of the BuildingMaterials department and coordinatorof the Nanocem network


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For Rudy Ricciotti, materials evoke pa

experiences, encounters and childhoo

emotions, bringing forth a desire t

share, to touch, to invent a world where bot

sensitivity and sensuality have their place.

P A G E 2 4 | L A F A R G E | A P R I L 2 0 0 6 | C R E S C E N D O

You have to start with materials and look at them from a

romantic point of view. When I was about 10 years old, there

was no school on Thursdays, and I would go to the

construction sites where my Italian father, working as a

foreman, built low-income housing. I remember wearing

plastic sandals, stepping in the freshly poured concrete

On Fridays, my father would meet with the masons, metal

workers and carpenters, one by one, to give them their pay.

It was a microcosm of the Mediterranean, and he knew them

all. Discussions were frank, sometimes heated. The masons

were tough. To me they were magicians.

Thats where I learned to love the people who work with raw

materials, real matter. It was a mans universe, gung-ho and

rugged, but also fraternalas a child I looked upon the

masons with hammers hanging from their belts as if they

were gladiators.

RUDY RICCIOTTI,born in Algiers, Algeriain 1952, is an architect. His agency is basedin Bandol, in the south of France.An iconoclast, he is known for diverse arrayof projects, e.g. the Museum of Europeanand Mediterranean Civilizations,the Potsdam Symphony Concert Hall,the new Palace of Festivals in Venice,the National Choreographic Centerin Aix-en-Provence, and the new wing of theLouvre Museum in Paris dedicated to Islamicarts. His unique approach in applying buildingmaterials, especially his work with concrete,has led him to collaborate often withthe Lafarge Group.

dreams

Rudy Ricciottismaterial

exploringnew passions



When it comes to materials, theres no segregation along

class lines. In the building industry its the same: there

are simply people and their skills, trades and businesses.

As an architect, Im part of the family: I love being with

engineers, craftsmen and mates. I didnt learn my trade at

architecture school; I learned it from the people in the

building industry. I owe them everything.

Concrete can be sublime. It can also inspire fear. In intercity

zones, it reflects hopelessness. It becomes sublime in great

engineering works, in dams and bridges, and in certain

contemporary architectural masterpieces such as Le

Corbusiers Ronchamp church, or the CNIT building in Paris

La Defense where sensible projects take surreal flight.

To do this job, you have to accept that not everyone will like

what you do particularly the contractor, who is often

anxious to cut costs. I fight against cheap hardware, plastic,aluminum, ugliness My buildings work. The contractors

are forgotten, but the memory of the craftsmen lingers

on. This is how the tradition of skilled craftsmen is

perpetuated, and Im very proud of that. I dont use products

that fail to meet ethical standards. Thats my traditional,

conservative side. Im a European architect and patriot. In

todays environment, you also have to push for innovation

if you want to defend a qualified workforce.

Today, with ultra-high-performance fiber-reinforced concrete,

we are about to embark on a new industrial adventure.

Architects are like test pilots heading down the runway,

ready for take-offthey must have total confidence in the

calculations and professional skills of mechanics and

engineers. We are on the verge of switching from propellers

to jet engines. The Footbridge of Peace in Seoul spans 130

meters, yet its platform thickness is just three centimeters

for a static end-girder height of 1.3 meters! The concrete

melds into a slender stroke.

With the Museum of European and Mediterranean

Civilizations in Marseille, France, the materials present a

different kind of complexity. The setting, at the foot of

the Saint-Jean fort, facing the sea, offers an absolute mineral

essence. Some people say it reminds them of fine latticework,

or a distant Orientalism. While it can be seen in this way,

there is nothing about the structure that is purely decorative.

Like a fish skeleton, everything is structural. Were moving

towards a dematerialization of the concrete structure, which

is becoming delicate, gossamer, intricately formed like a

cross-section of coral rock. Nobody knows where this new

material is taking us. We can reinvent the world.

Computer image of the Mucem project in Marseilles, France. Architect: Rudy Ricciotti.



I love creating architecture for music, spaces where two of our

realms of perception hearing and sight can freely converse

and respond. Space affords us this blessing. The emotion of

music lies in the discovery and gradual entry into a different

world, a world that reveals itself in time.

I also understand space as a phenomenon that one grasps over

time, through movement, with its expectations, its surprises,

its concatenations. When sound and light fill this marvelous

void existing in the midst of solid structures, then space

and music are mutually revealed.

I long believed that music had a much greater emotional power

than architecture. I now believe that space has an emotional

power over people that is just as strong. Our lives are

inextricably linked to the numerous places that inhabit our

memories, shape our present or cast us into the future the

house we grew up in, our schools, gardens, the apartment

we live in today, the places we lived before If we broaden

dreamsof musicalarchitectureChristian de Portzampar

Tinternationally renowned architect ha

always given music great importanc

in his work. Today, he is working o

several projects that are particularly demandin

in terms of acoustics.

Born in 1944 in Casablanca, Morocco, CHRISTIAN DE PORTZAMPARCstudied at the cole des Beaux Arts in Paris, France.From simple buildings to the urban re-think, the town is a foundingprinciple of its work dominated by three major lines:

large landmark buildings (often dedicated to music and intendedfor gatherings), urban zones as in the Massena Seine Rive Gauchearea in Paris, and sculptural towers such as the Manhattan tourin New York, USA, for LVMH.Based in Paris, he has built structures around the world.Among other prizes, Christian de Portzamparc was awardedthe prestigious Pritzker Prize in 1994 and the Urban PlanningGrand Prize in 2004. He is an honorary member of the AmericanInstitute of Architects and has held the Artistic Creationchair at the College de France since February 2006.

exploringnew passions



the notion of architecture to encompass space and our

environment, architecture is the story of our lives. Places

obviously have an emotional power, to the same degree as

music. But music is more like a burn, a sharply felt moment,

whereas our relation to space is day-to-day and calm.

When I was asked to do the new Philharmonic building in

Luxembourg, before visiting the site, I studied photos of the

area and felt that the public should be guided to the future

building through an initiation zone, a circle of tall trees that

one would have to cross to enter the realm of music. But

once on the site, I saw that we didnt have enough space to

plant trees. Thats when I got the idea of replacing the ring

of trees with a light-filtering faade, one that was neither

opaque nor transparent, forming an envelope of light in which

the auditorium would be the central core. The rhythm of these

parallel shafts set in several elliptical rows became both

mathematical and musical.

At the heart of this colonnade of light lies the grand auditorium.

An auditorium is a musical instrument of uncommon size and,

one could also say, an instrument of space. Audiences at

the Philharmonic inhabit the walls of the auditorium, seated

in multi-level lodges of concrete and wood around the stage,

creating the atmosphere of a public square at night surrounded

by buildings. Here, I wanted the musicians and the public to

relate to each other, to be close, to feel a sense of grandeur

and intimacy. I wanted to free the imagination. As always, I

worked with acoustics expert Xu Ya Ying. I love the contrast

between the bright, snowy impression of the colonnade and

the shade of the hall. The wall between them is a prismatic

cliff, etched with acoustic fault lines that play on color.

Expanding on the idea of colored niches designed 20 years

ago for the La Villette auditorium in Paris, the Luxembourg

Philharmonics broad fault lines achieve a chromatic subtlety

that is altogether different, their geometry breaking down the

colors across a height of twenty meters.

Finally, the chamber music hall is set in a leaf that unfurls from

the ground and rises against the colonnade. This interior shell

is based on another experiment, stemming from our work

on the Moebius strip for the Nara competition in Japan in 1993.

This leaf plays with the filtered light from the outside, masking

it diagonally, and this game of contrast between opaque and

transparent upholds the unity of the project.

The Philharmonic building in Luxembourg, by architect Christian de Portzamparc: inside view of the light-filtering faade.


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ascher on hypermodernity

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