Category Archives: RS1. Emergent Territories

As you know TED Talks has lots of interesting lectures and I found these two that are espefically interesting for our studio. If have time take a look they are about 20 minutes long.

http://www.ted.com/talks/carolyn_steel_how_food_shapes_our_cities.html

This one is about how food travels and the consequences of the processes involved in it.

http://www.ted.com/talks/william_mcdonough_on_cradle_to_cradle_design.html

This one is from the author of the book cradle to cradle, he introduces the main ideas of the book wich are all connected to recycling and cycle in general. He criticises the way we live today and gives some examples of design concepts that could help change that.

Hope you enjoy it.

And for those of you who are not in the Solar Energy Seminar, next week they will post the lecture and some useful links about solar energy that are very useful for our design.

Back in the 60’s, a group of visionaries collaborated in a brief but trascendental publication, many of the articles deal with climate change, overpupulation and other issues that today we deal with urgency.  Here is the link.  www.wholeearth.com

On other aspects, say biological ones, one can find amusing natural mysteries on radiolarian. i.e: 

http://www.radiolaria-project.de/indexFlash.html 

More to follow…

This video is on quick statistics on how your food travels etc!

The neighborhoods in 3 hectares can consider Mat Buildings. While you are targeting a density of approx. 33,000 people / sq.km. this website says that Manhattan is 27,485 people / sq.km. And the Kowloon Walled city in HongKong has a density of 1,923,077 people / sq.kms.!

Ofcourse a number of other programs have to be accomodated while these examples look at housing … none the less the comparison helps.

http://landlab.wordpress.com/

100 dwelling units (Dutch canal houses) per hectare. Approx. 3000 houses in 30 hectares. This Project by West 8 is like a neighbourhood in water. Plus other recreational programs have been included

http://www.west8.nl/projects/urban_design/borneo_sporenburg/

VEMA

Vema, is a theoretical project, a city between Verona and Mantua, in coincidence of the intersection between the two European corridors Lisbon-Kiev and Berlin-Palermo. Proposals are from twenty architectural firms under 40 (Italian) (Avatar, Dogma | Office / Pier Vittorio Aureli, Lorenzo Capobianco, elastic spa +3, Joseph Fallacara, Santi Giunta, Iotti and Pavarani, Moreno-Santamaría-Laezza, Liverani and Molteni, Mao, Antonella Mari Masstudio, Stefano Milani, Moduloquattro, Tomaso Monestiroli Massimo Ferrari, OBR – Open Building Research, Gianfranco Sanna, Andrea Stipa, Studio Eu, Albert Ulysses).

http://www.vemacittapossibile.it/i_progetti.html

http://www.archiportale.com/news/2008/07/eventi/vema-dalla-biennale-di-venezia-a-roma_12308_32.html

Community Development

The phenomenon of Village within the city

http://www.sarai.net/publications/readers/06-turbulence/03_yushi_uehara.pdf

“Participatory city” a very long essay

http://www.unesco.org/most/vmega.htm

Advertisement of self sustainable community

http://www.ecotopia.com/ecovillage/

Advertisement to hire small scale farmers and lease out farm land

http://www.ecoproperty.ca/propd.php?id=9786

Tales of self sufficient community

http://www.worldchanging.com/archives/005961.html

How local initiatives in cities can become global trends as cities act in a network

http://www.thebrokeronline.eu/en/Dossiers/Special-Report-Cities-of-the-world-unite/The-rising-influence-of-urban-actors

Mentioned below are timetables of peasants / farmers / shopkeeper / monastery student and a modern day company CEO. The purpose is to highlight 2 things. One, when each occupation in the modern day is equally demanding, is it possible to include 2 or more activities in one person’s routine without creating undue work pressure like we wish everyone to grow their own vegetables? Two, are the conditions of a factory worker and a modern day employee different considering that their lives are governed completely by occupational timetables? How does a design help in reducing this ’slavery’?

Daily life in Ancient Greece

http://library.thinkquest.org/CR0210200/ancient_greece/daily_life.htm

Daily life of Peasant (Medieval Times)

http://www.oppapers.com/essays/Daily-Life-Peasant-Medieval-Times/87351

http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/medieval_peasants.htm

Daily Life of Modern Farmer

http://www.countrylovin.com/Diary/diary2.html

http://www.kckpl.lib.ks.us/KSCOLL/lochist/exhibits/farmwife.htm

Daily life of a Monk

http://www.middle-ages.org.uk/daily-life-monk-middle-ages.htm

http://www.tibetan-village.org.uk/routine.html

Day in the life of CEO

http://www.eprizeblog.com/index.php/2008/07/25/a-day-in-the-life-of-our-ceo-josh-linkner/

A Day in the life of shopkeeper

http://a-day-in-the-life.powys.org.uk/eng/work/ew_shop.php

To remain adhered to a fixed schedule and behave like a regiment (and not like a community) with a singular goal of production (even if it’s self sufficiency) is not the most advanced lifestyle. How does the city offer freedom from the extreme pressure to produce?

Just for thrills

New Monstrosity

http://architecture.myninjaplease.com/?tag=mega-structure

More

http://webecoist.com/2009/12/07/real-life-water-world-12-futuristic-offshore-building-projects/

London after the rain (interesting depiction of city and jungle)

http://www.ballardian.com/near-future-nic-clear-interview

1975 Nasa Stanford Torus for 10000 people

http://www.nss.org/settlement/space/stanfordtorus.htm

Thames Town, Shanghai (definitely don’t do this)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lk98JhicTvE

http://www.thamestown.com/english/thamestown.htm

Up in the air (symbol of a sick society!)

http://www.off-grid.net/2009/12/25/up-in-the-air/

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