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If you want to know more about RiverParc, the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust's massive six-acre Downtown development expected to be underway beginning next year, then there is no better place at the moment than the Heinz Architectural Center at the Carnegie Museum of Art. That's because the proposed design for the much-touted development is the star attraction of the current exhibition "Ecology.Design.Synergy."

A traveling show that began in Berlin in November 2006, it has been expanded upon here to include 10 of the original proposal drawings, blown up and detailed, as well as an exquisite model of the project that can be seen immediately upon entering the gallery.

RiverParc is just one of 10 innovative, aesthetically refined, energy-efficient and sustainable building projects in Europe and the United States documented in the exhibition.

Nearly all are recent works by Behnisch Architekten, the distinguished Stuttgart-based architectural firm that designed RiverParc, and its collaborator Transsolar ClimateEngineering, a Stuttgart-based environmental engineering company.

Behnisch Architekten and Transsolar ClimateEngineering share the belief that quality is not a quantitative measure, and their collaborative design approach to projects uses natural resources to highlight their value.

Thus, "Ecology.Design.Synergy" is organized around six key topics -- temperature, air, sound, light, material and human scale.

Each topic is explored through two recent or current projects and includes working methods, the results of previous collaborations, and prospects for the future on the subject matter.

Examples include a natural light collection system in Genzyme Corporate Headquarters, Cambridge, Mass., that uses heliostats and mirrors mounted on the roof to redirect sunlight into the building's atrium. A "double facade" of glass on Hannover, Germany's Norddeutsche Landesbank protects against noise as well as vehicle emissions, offers wind protection and serves as an air-supply duct to adjacent offices. The 120-foot-high flower-like structures in the Senscity Paradise project in Las Vegas provide both shade and cool air to the park beneath them by pumping water through the hollows in the structures' leaf forms, creating an evaporative cooling effect.

"It's by chance, almost, that the project they use to illustrate the culmination of all of their work is the Pittsburgh project," says Raymund Ryan, Carnegie Museum of Art curator of architecture and organizer of the Pittsburgh installation.

The $460 million project, bounded by Fort Duquesne Boulevard overlooking the Allegheny River, Penn Avenue, and Seventh and Ninth streets, RiverParc will be the country's first master-planned "green," mixed-use, arts/residential neighborhood, providing approximately 700 new residential units,160,000 square feet of retail space and a 225-room hotel.

The plan includes seven new residential buildings, a street of townhouses, a four-star hotel and a performing-arts venue. Retail will be located on the ground floors and will occur throughout the development, and new parking structures will provide an additional amenity for the area.

A key component of the plan calls for LEED-certified and environmentally sensitive buildings, numerous parks and green spaces both inside the buildings and in the public realm, vertical winter gardens and roof terraces, and the addition of "Three Sisters Gallery," a proposed public space that will connect the development with the Allegheny Riverfront Park.

The proposal involves an innovative capping of the 10th Street bypass at the Three Sisters Bridges -- at Sixth, Seventh and Ninth streets -- which would establish a park facing the riverfront. It will provide an important connection to the river and offer multiple athletic, recreational and vending opportunities to service river-goers. The Three Sisters Gallery also may include a multi-use floating stage for special events.

Riverparc will create a variety of distinct spatial experiences, said Behnisch Architekten architect Martin Haas, who was in town recently for the opening of the exhibition and gave a lecture on recent work completed by the firm.

In accordance with Behnisch and Transsolar's collaborative ethic, the plans are not only environmentally responsible but aim to produce a new architectural aesthetic and aid in Pittsburgh's desire to be a leader in the development of "green architecture."

"The prime objective, for instance, in the case of Pittsburgh, is to organize and arrange as much of the space in between the houses as much as possible," Haas said. "Spaces that should be used and lifted by default in terms of the scale and their alignment relating to the sun and the wind, so that they provide as pleasant of an environment as possible for people to enjoy."

Thus, varied forms of urban living and mixed uses of retail, restaurants, leisure and hotel facilities will be combined with public spaces. For example, public spaces and recreational areas located on the southern, sunny sides of the main residential street (part of 8th Avenue) will provide a wide range of opportunities for people to linger, meet and interact.

Ryan says that Behnisch and Transsolar are "at the forefront, internationally, of excellence in sustainable environmental design."

Sustainability is a popular buzzword in architectural circles these days. But for the most part, this term has become misleading in its widespread use, oftentimes because it has been applied to many singular aspects of sustainability that constitute important qualities in themselves, such as the use of solar power, natural light, airflow, etc.

In contrast, the selected projects here present a more integrated use of the concept -- that is environmentally conscious, efficient design -- and how it can be integrated into a building's design rather than added to it.

For example, with the Genzyme Corporate Headquarters in Cambridge, Mass., a project completed in 2004, the firm took the unique approach of designing the building from the inside out.

The central atrium functions as a sort of inner sanctum of the building, having gardens on various levels that thrive thanks to lots of sunlight. The natural light is allowed to come in from various points, including the ceiling. But the effect is furthered by a "daylight enhancement" system that includes a multiunit chandelier and computerized, moveable light diffusors and mirrors that follow the sun and reflect the light into the lower depths of the atrium.

Like many of their previous projects, much of the exterior of the building is sheathed in high-performance glass. Sometimes in a double layer, creating a "double facade," according to the architects, that helps to insulate the building and protect against noise, wind and vehicle emissions.

This particular effect was used to a much greater extent in an earlier project, the Norddeutsche Landesbank, a "sculptural form" high-rise completed in Hannover, Germany, in 2002 that has an expansive interior courtyard space punctuated overhead by tubular connecting bridges.

The bridges have a rather space-age appeal, but are nonetheless focused primarily on functionality, Ryan says.

"It's futuristic," Ryan says about the building, "but also there is a scale to it. It's quite intimate. ... Their work is futuristic. But it's not bombastically futuristic."

In this way, the work of Behnisch and Transsolar is noteworthy for its ability to connect infrastructure and technology to human scale and explains why the companies have been successful for many years in their efforts to design sustainable and responsible architecture.

"Ecology.Design.Synergy" should be noted for its efforts to take a more conceptual approach to these ecological goals. With this exhibition, the firms present solutions to environmental issues and proffer the concept of sustainability as a rewarding and challenging new direction.

It's also worth noting that the work of the three finalists in the competition for the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust's development Downtown will be exhibited from April 25 to June 7 at the 707 Penn Gallery at 707 Penn Avenue, Downtown.

The exhibition "Live Green, View Blue, Paint the Town Red: Finalist designs from the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust International Design Competition" will feature the design models of the three finalist development and architectural teams. The 707 Penn Gallery is free and open to the public 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesdays through Thursdays; 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays. Details: 412-325-7017 or www.pgharts.org.

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Related program

Lunch and Learn: 'Ecology.Design.Synergy' and Pittsburgh's RiverParc project

What: Heinz Architectural Center curator Raymund Ryan puts Pittsburgh's RiverParc project in the context of green design by these two internationally renowned firms. Following lunch, Ryan gives a tour of the exhibition.

When: 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. March 20

Where: Carnegie Museum of Art Theater

Admission: $45; $36 members (Includes lunch in Carnegie Cafe)

Details: Registration required, call 412-622-3288

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