Archiculture

often forgotten … yet not always ::

“This concept master plan aspires to indicate, through its design strategies, a future that is positive and hopeful in all aspects. Striving to maximize social engagement, the plan creates an urban structure that promotes walking and healthy activities in its multitude of parks, paths and trails. The development will also preserve existing stream and wetland communities, returning clean, healthy water to the ecosystem at equal rates and in the same patterns of the undeveloped site through the use of integrated strategies. The overall goal is to make Liuzhou’s water cleaner, to make its air fresher, and to make its people happier. Befitting its designation as a demonstration project, the plan demonstrates what is possible in Liuzhou, in China, and in communities around the globe. The project serves as a challenge to seek excellence in placemaking that will enable Liuzhou’s children to live and work in concert with a world full of potential and opportunity.” McDonough + Partners

We interviewed Earthship Biotecture founder, Mike Reynolds aka The Garbage Warrior for the film back in March and have watched as he along with his dedicated team continue their amazing post-disaster work around the globe. Here is a recent email I received from the fine folks over at Earthship Biotecture about their work in Haiti:

“Earthship Team produces earthquake-resistant structure made from tires and bottles in Port Au Prince, Haiti in 4 and a half days.

Earthship Biotecture of Taos, NM completed a Tsunami Relief project in the Andaman Islands in 2005.
Now we are working in Port au Prince, Haiti to teach the local people displaced by the earthquake how to build self-sufficient, earthquake-resistant structures made from recycled materials and from rubble created by the earthquake. (See photos above.) These homes collect their own water, treat their own sewage, maintain a comfortable temperature without air conditioning and produce their own electric power.”

via: Discovery News

This is a brilliant concept by the folks up at MIT’s SENSEable Cities Lab which have just won the American round of the 2010 James Dyson Award for inventing the Copenhagen Wheel. The article goes on to illustrate just how far the US has to go in the use of bicycles as a viable means of transportation:

“The team of MIT students, lead by Christine Outram, opted to name their creation after the very bike-friendly city of Copenhagen. That says a lot about the depressing state of affairs of bicycling in America, where less than a half percent of people get to work each day by bike, according to the 2000 U.S. Census.”

Ode to the day when riding even in a city like NYC is not a war. Maybe products like this will help get all those “others” to start pushing themselves over the bridges and into the gauntlets of Manhattan. I’ll be waiting for the support.

via: good.is

This is for that 50% of architects who don’t completely believe Global Warming is a critical component to the future of the planet and the future of the profession. See stats below from an article in October 2009, Architect Magazine:

Over the summer, 960 readers of Architect participated in a survey about their green beliefs. In it, we asked participants to select from four statements the one that best characterizes their attitude toward sustainability. Fewer than half (46.4 percent) chose the statement, “It’s vital that we design and build sustainably, in order to conserve scarce resources and prevent further global warming.”

One group (12.8 percent) dismissed the issue outright: “Global warming is a myth perpetuated by the media, and green building is a fad—it’ll be forgotten in 20 years’ time.” Yikes. Others (6.7 percent) doubted that green-building efforts in America could offset the damage caused by industrialization in China and India.

The largest (and to me, most interesting) group of naysayers (34.1 percent) fell somewhere in the middle, subscribing to the following statement: “I’m not sure that global warming is caused by man, but energy conservation makes economic sense if we’ll be less dependent on other countries’ oil.”
- Ned Cramer, Architect Magazine

redesigning the iconic ‘burb … Long Island …

… various proposals below ::

see the full story at the ny times

Recently came upon Joachim’s work on Popsci which we posted last week under “This Is Already Possible, Sci-Fi Architecture.” Very intriguing thought process between the marriage of Biology and Architecture rather than the standard greening of what is already bad mentality currently the rage in the profession. Seems like he could offer a very interesting perspective compared to those of William McDonough and Michael Reynolds for our sustainability sub-plot in the film… maybe an interview is in line.

Wheat Field, Pullman, Washington courtesy pullman-wa.com

via: Popsci

The grain crops that we humans depend on daily to hold body and soul together are annual crops — they have to be planted every year. They germinate, bear their delicious product, and then die off; the following year, a brand new crop is put in to take their place…

Perennial grain crops, if they existed, could require less fuel, less fertilizer, less herbicide and pesticide, and help prevent erosion by remaining deeply rooted in the soil throughout the winter (and indeed for years). Perennials return nutrients to the soil, where annuals require artificial fertilizers to supplement depleted soil, and return nothing. According to a paper in the current issue of Science, perennial grains, currently being researched at a number of universities, including Washington State University (WSU), could become the norm within two decades…

According to John Reganold and Jerry Glover of WSU, lead authors of the paper, the perennialization of grain crops would count among the greatest innovations in the history of agriculture, feeding the planet’s hungry humans in a much more efficient, future-proof way.

Whenever I hear of genetic modification of agriculture it freaks me out. I guess I read too many Michael Crichton books as a kid but it just seems like a very, very dangerous endeavor. Especially at this point as we watch how our technological skills have lead us to an unstoppable oil spill just because we could.

“The significant problems we have cannot be solved at the same level of thinking which we created them.” - Albert Einstein

Mitchell Joachim’s Eco-City Nick Kaloterakis

This is a great article on Popsci about Michell Joachim’s work

Architect Mitchell Joachim points out, frequently and without prompting, that his futuristic proposals are always based on existing technologies. No wonder he feels the need to say it. Consider some of his ideas: jetpacks tethered together in swarms, houses grown from living trees, low-altitude blimps prowling New York City with chairs hanging below them for pedestrians to hop on and off (24/7 ski lifts on Broadway!), and WALL-E-like machines that erect buildings and bridges from recycled waste…

The structures would be pressed or melted into shape or wrapped with metal bands, which is what recycling plants do now. All that would change is the shape—like switching the mold on a Play-Doh press, but on an industrial scale. “We could do it yesterday,” Joachim insists.

“The idea of sharp metal boxes is just done,” Joachim says. “We design cars with the principle that no one would ever die in a car accident again.”

Joachim’s willingness to forgo lucrative commercial projects in favor of running a nonprofit dedicated to the reimagining of a future he won’t even be around for is, say his colleagues, exactly what makes him so vital. Traditionally, “cities are built incrementally by real-estate interests,” says Richard Sommer, the dean of architecture at the University of Toronto. “What’s important about Mitchell’s work is that he [takes] a visionary approach.”

more…

Water Play Area

Swing Valley

Kids with Skyline

Jungle Jim

Super Slide to Skyline

Jungle Jim and Slide Area with Giant Wood Tree House

Sandbox Area

Pier 4 looking North. Imagine what this will look like in 5 years once everything is complete.

I had the fortune to get a guided preview of the new Brooklyn Bridge Park by Ellen Ryan, Vice President of Strategic Partnerships for the Brooklyn Bridge Park Development Corporation this past week. Designed by Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates it is a perfect precedent for an upcoming Waterfront Park Design Summer Camp for 6 - 8th graders that I’ll be teaching in late July at the Center for Architecture. I had visited Pier 1 since its opening in late March but had not been able to see the recently opened Pier 6 which opened on June 5th. If you haven’t seen either then be sure to put it at the top of your summer list. I am continuously amazed at how fast this city has begun to re-engage with its waterways (Highline, Renovated East River Park, Governors Island, West Side Piers, etc.) and become an extroverted island over the fervent concrete jungle I remember just 10 years ago.

If you don’t know much about this park then please check out the images and video below to begin to understand the significance in such a space for the city. In all the park will total 85 acres and has been called by many to be Mayor Bloomberg’s greatest imprint on the city.

Before and After