Page 98 - Green Building Through Integrated Design

THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA MORRIS ARBORETUM PROJECT 75

Figure 4.4 Designed by Overland Partners, the Horticulture Center at the
Morris Arboretum on the University of Pennsylvania campus is aiming for a LEED-
NC Platinum certification. ©Courtesy of Overland Partners.

We tell people that it’s perfectly okay to have an agenda but it’s not all right to have a
hidden agenda. We’re open to all agendas. They are necessary; in fact, we tell people
that we are looking for conflict. A big chunk of what we’re doing in those few days is
looking for the points of tension: Where are the things where it almost seems impos-
sible to do this and that? Where people want to say: it can do this or it can do that.
We say that the point of genius for a project is when it can do this and that, not this or
that. Again, we tell people, that it’s okay if they don’t agree. In fact, it’s important that
you don’t agree, so we can find out what the real issues are, get them out on the table and
then find a place for resolution. Doing that takes away some of people’s fear about being
heard. A lot of times, they are fearful about voicing things they may not agree with. We
really prod them and say, for example, “Paul has said this and that can make a lot of sense
in certain ways, but what are the problems with that? What could be a complication?
What might not work? How does that not fulfill the vision statement?” And that gives
people an opening to say, “Well I was kind of thinking that it didn’t really do this or that.”
That allowed us to discuss those points. It’s less about conflict than about points of
tension. We’re asking, “What are the things that are pushing back on each other?”
What you are eventually trying to find out is: which thing is going to take precedence
and how is it going to make allowances for the other functions of the building? The
educational group wants the building to do certain things. But the people on the
horticultural side were saying, “Wait a minute, that’s going to interfere with my work.”