(HYPO) T H E S I S : 

• Biologically inspired, urban renovation strategies can trigger a healthier and harmonious urban expansion model.
• Cities are growing like never before. This is an opportunity to redefine our conception of neighborhood and plan for a sustainable urban environment, inspired on the logics of nature. 
• Eco-machinic Apparatus as a tool to observe and test  natural behaviors of aggregation, dissasociation and boundary (re)definition, based on density gradients and heat-induced deformations.  

 eco-apparatus video  CLICK HERE  

TEAM: Moises Gamus, Michael Harrison.  FACULTY: Luis Falcon, Hemant Purohit

Research on the reorganization of flows and forces that give shape to a city. Starting point: THE VOID (i.e. public space).

Finding optimal walking distances between main public spaces (250 mts), a network of movility and interaction mingles through the built environment, emulating the current urban tissue which is a result of self organization… Learning from self organization, understanding its simple rules and its emerging complexity.

Mumbai´s reality:

TOO dense and still growing.

 Scarcity of resources: Water, energy and waste management; conflict in movility and lack of personal living space.

THE SITE: Saki-Naka / Asalfa

Site Analysis

SWOT Analysis

Insolation  analysis and WindFlows

ZONING DIAGRAM. Based on urban densitiy and context (natural and urban)

ZONING DIAGRAM // DENSITY STUDIES

Program organization based on distance from metro station and topographic conditions.

“The Future is (Self) Sufficient”
Architect Dr. Joseph Cory
Founder of GEOTECTURA
www.geotectura.com

Specializing in innovative design, and committed to sustainability, Dr. Cory is the founder of GEOTECTURA office that provides creative and practical architectural solutions to social and environmental challenges, using multidisciplinary research methods and open source design.
Dr. Cory received his diploma from Israel Institute of Technology (Technion) and he is currently a senior lecturer and faculty member in the Department of Interior-Building and Environment at Shenkar College of Engineering and Design. Dr. Cory also teaches sustainable architecture at Tel Aviv University and the Technion.
Cory’s sustainable projects received worldwide recognition in publications, exhibitions and awards.  Among his many honors: 1st prize in the Architectural Competition for Tel Aviv University’s Porter School of Environmental Studies, 1st prize in the Drawing Water Challenge Competition held by Arup, 1st prize in the Project of the Year Award in Israel, Finalist in the Well-Tech Award for Technological Innovation, 2nd prize in the Um el-Phahem Art Museum Competition, two times Runner-up in the Metropolis Next Generation Award, Finalist in the international Bauhaus Award, and 3rd prize in the international Shinkenchiku Residential Design Competition.
In his lecture, Dr. Cory describes in detail many of his self sufficient prototypes and dream-like architecture, from solar balloons and dew collectors, through the first LEED Platinum project in Israel, to the future cities that await us around the corner.

Uncontrolled urban growth has caused social deterioration and environmental disequilibrium, especially in emergent global economies. Resource scarcity has set an urgent agenda to switch to renewable energetic resources and more efficient ways to distribute them.

Current models of urban planning have the limitation of extending the cities sideways, whereas this research explores the possibility of releasing the city from the ground condition, creating an infrastructural framework that can be adapted to different built environments.

The geometric surface is based on Barcelona´s Eixample grid to test the first logics of this system, since the urban fabric is already ordered and repetitive. Eventually, the urban system will attempt to adapt to more complex (uncontrolled) urban landscapes.Resources are prioritized in the morphology of this neighbourhood, setting up cyclic loops of energy, water and waste.

Based on the geometry of a hyperbolic paraboloid, the neighbourhood is arranged as a compact and integrated urban system whitin itself. Such geometry can be applied to various environments (weather conditions, urban fabric, local restrictions…).  A logic of emergence based on the repetition and manipulation of a modular system.

Based on solar analysis and program distribution, the masterplan is setup according to proximity relationships.

The location of program along the site responds to time/distance relationships. All programs are connected through a green landscape, which serves as farm fields, interaction spaces and at the southern tip a solar collector field.

The residential clusters operate as adaptable modules,  where the basic unit is defined as 5 x 3 meters section, varying in depth to adapt to different building configurations. Each building will change height and depth according to light penetration and visibility studies. Each module has a circulation and mechanical systems´ core, optimizing both supply and recollection of resources/disposals, providing thus the infrastructural loop to create closed cycles.

Residential circulations become another possibility for human interaction: a system of staircases and pathways connecting each residential unit to the whole. Different levels of permeability are achieved through the use of screens and voids, allowing for light access and intimacy.  Below rests the city…. the old city.