How ironic that a conference on smart building would take place in a stupid one. You've seen it, I'm sure: The pastel-colored elephant at Clifton Avenue and Martin Luther King Boulevard.

        In an attempt to impress about three architecture critics in New York City, the University of Cincinnati commissioned the building from famous guy Peter Eisenman, who apparently has a grudge against humanity.

        His “vision” is an abstract painting of a place, all curves and useless corridors. Daylight does not penetrate the Aronoff Center for Design and Art. Visitors search in vain for the front door, the elevators, the nearest escape hatch.

        “It's an attempt to stimulate your thinking,” says UC architecture student Matt Cornell, 22. “But the question is whether you really enjoyed that.”

        Places that last

        Cool buildings don't have to be so bad. In a delicious irony, the UC center this week hosted a conference on making them better.

        It's called sustainable building, a process that unites recycled materials and energy efficiency with people-friendly features.

        The idea is to make places that last. In the optimum “green” building, heating and cooling is routed through grids in the floor. Not only can they easily be rearranged to accommodate changes, but employees get more control over their climates.

        Imagine: No more boiling winters and freezing summers. We office drones could retire the ratty sweaters stuck to our chairs.

        Wednesday's conference was sponsored by the Committee on the Environment, composed of local architects; and the area chapter of the International Interior Design Association.

        These folks see the benefits in, say, natural light, which not only lowers energy costs but also boosts productivity.

        They also understand the long term. Our current use of plastics, for instance, helps keep us dependent on oil, which in turn dictates U.S policy in the Middle East.

        What not to do

        The problem is that sustainable building can cost more up front.

        “It's really easy for us to sit here with architects and say, "Green, green, green,' ” says engineer Darin Parkison, whose company, York International, makes the under-floor system. “But when it's time to pony up the cash, people say, "We want to be green, but we don't want to spend the extra money.' ”

        UC, to its credit, has started thinking ahead. It now requires new buildings to meet standards set by the U.S. Green Building Council. Whether that policy survives remains to be seen.

        Meanwhile, UC architecture students have the right attitude. On Wednesday, they applauded wildly for speaker David Orr, who spearheaded a famous green-building project at Oberlin College.

        Afterwards, I asked a few of them about their own Aronoff Center.

        “We do like it - as an example of what not to do,” said Thomas Dangerfield, 26.

        That's a good start.

        E-mail kgutierrezenquirer.com or 859-578-5584.

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