Explore the Relationship Between Design and Performance

Learn from a leading architect about the relationship between design and performance at this year’s Vinyl Institute Annual Meeting.

Gordon Gill, a founding partner of Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture, will talk about the process of performance-based architecture. It is one, he says, that is about listening to others and interpreting the information in the form of a solution—sometimes built, sometimes not.  In his remarks, Gill will share what he’s seen and heard and talk about the industry’s challenges and opportunities.

Gill’s work includes the design of the world’s first net zero-energy skyscraper, the Pearl River Tower; the world’s first large-scale positive energy building, Masdar Headquarters; the world’s tallest tower, Kingdom Tower; and the design of Astana Expo 2017 and its sustainable legacy community. These landmark projects pursue energy independence by harnessing the power of natural forces on site and striking a balance with their environmental contexts.

In advance of the annual meeting, the Vinyl Institute talked to Gill about performance measurement and what he’s reading now.

Performance measurement is all about economics.

Asked what people don’t know about building performance measurement, Gill said that clients are often surprised that it’s an economic strategy and not an energy strategy. He added that his firm’s focus on building performance arose from curiosity about the relationship between the natural and the built environments. “We remain interested in performance – measured efficiencies that can manifest themselves in many different ways,” he said.

Bond. James Bond.

Gill said he’s reading Goldeneye, Where Bond Was Born: Ian Fleming’s Jamaica, a book that looks at the influence of Jamaica on the evolution of Fleming’s iconic spy. Gill is also reading Kumbh Mela: Mapping the Ephemeral MEGACITY, about preparations for the triennial Hindu pilgrimage and what lessons they hold for urban planning.

Have you signed up yet for the annual meeting? Register and reserve your hotel room today.