No kidding at all, the Matrix has indeed gone green (or rather greener, for those who argue that it already was green) & has turned out into a project that would help mankind. Unlike the cinematographic splendor starring Keanu Reeves, (with which I’m still smitten beyond sane limits) this Matrix neither creates a hallucination in the human mind about time & presence nor is it designed to keep mankind in a deep slumber & harvest energy from they as if they were some cash crop.
This is the new Abu Dhabi Plaza in Astana, Kazakhstan. In other words you could call it the pet project of Foster & partners as the ‘true green Matrix’. Now there are plenty of things that run through my mind as we talk about this brilliant design. First is the name ‘Astana’. The name instantly draws my thoughts to the turquoise blue jerseys of Team Astana riding in the Tour De France with their team member & Kazakh national champ, Alexander Vinokurov leading attack after attack on the slopes of Alps. I guess this means sports do promote tourism.
Now coming to the real matter on hand, the Abu Dhabi Plaza (let us call it the “Matrix project” from now on for convenience) is a design of buildings that are closely bunched together to form a “Matrix” kind of image. These structures are not only great for the environment, but also are visually magnificent with their colorful splendor & innovative design hogging the limelight. While the ultra-modern look might steal the show, the true magnificence of this structure lies behind the designing of it. It has been designed in such a way that it conserves as much of heat as possible inside the major buildings of the complex. With temperatures dropping to as low as -40°C in the nights, it becomes imperative that heat is conserved. This structure is designed in such a pattern that the bunching prevents heat loss. (Now if that is not a concept borrowed from nature, then I don’t know what is!) The buildings not only save on huge amounts of energy used for heaters but also allow firms in the building to operate at night.
The structure is surrounded by gardens & that surely is a good thing. This also helps immensely in controlling the temperature variations. They also have walks which are sheltered & the whole complex is insulated to the best possible extent. Light have been fitted on the panes of taller towers to reflect & create visual magic of sparkling light & glowing aura.
This takes me back again to Theo Jansen’s statement of how the wall between the engineering & art only are in the mind. This surely is another example that adds to the theory.
