Introductory Studio | Master in Advanced Architecture 2012/2013

By admin | Published: January 18, 2013

The public space is the soul of the City. It is the area of overlap: the placewhere the materialization of the character of a Society and all of the infrastructure networks that connect all of the functional nodes onall of the scales of the City come together. If the public space we inhabit today was basically constructed at the start of the Industrial Revolution, the Information Society is now bringing to bear new principles and technologies with which to rethink the functioning and structure of the streets, avenues and squares of the City.

Why do streets continue to route traffic in the same direction over time?
How do we make lighting an interactive project in the City?
How do people interact with the public space?
What happens when the Internet of the things becomes the Internet of the cities?

Posted in Syllabus | Comments closed

Smart grey water system- Passeig de Sant Joan

By joseph.galea@iaac.net | Published: January 10, 2013

This thesis is about a smart water system which can have a direct and indirect effect for the improvement of life on the street. The street of San Joan; situated at the center of Barcelona; is primarily residential and sits on an immediate gradient of 1:50. The data we have collected here states that within the area of 90Km2 the municipality daily consume approximately 30’ 000 liters of tap water while coincidentally about 2.8 Million liters of potential grey water is available from the surrounding residential buildings- enough to produce around 37’000 apples a day! Our primary criteria, therefore, was to integrate a smart sensor system with an infrastructural branching water purification system (called ‘Phytodepuration’ alongside such natural systems as hydroponics) which would require gravity as a metabolism for keeping water flowing. Thus the gradient of our site would enable the system to grow vegetation and flora according to the participation of neighboring grey water outputs. Didactic Information would then be given to residents and general public on the quality of their grey water both through digital methods and analogue ones with means of improving it. Whereby residents are encouraged to use non pollutant products sold in the previously closed down outlets to see greener results on the street. At the same time where necessary, the municipality, would be able to see how much water they can irrigate with. As the system improves, local restaurants and residents would be able to harvest from the produce and permaculture workshops would be introduced to reap from all the benefits of the smart filtering recycled water.

Click for presentation!

Posted in Ali Yerdel, Joseph Galea, Kartik Ashok Gala, Mehran Davari Dolatabadi, Miguel Oliveira, Rangholia Chiragkumar Himatlal | Comments closed

“self-made street” Rambla del Poblenou

By nuri.choi@iaac.net | Published: January 10, 2013

To know about the future of a place, we need to understand its history. We went back in time to learn about the transformation of Poblenou. The current layout is based on the repetitive idea of Le Corbusier’s “Radiant City”. In the near future, this will change due to the @22 mega project.

Our approach is behavioral & sociological; this is why we conducted a one on one survey and 2 live experiments to extract as much data from the users. We used very primitive tools, but the results were astonishing.

Based on these results, we mapped out all the activities and behaviors of the users. Some of them were unique and some were overlapping. We focused on what they needed rather than what they had.

Our thesis is based on these studies and how to provide the users with tools to reach their needs instead of imposing on them. This is the main idea of our project: How to let the user decide rather than obey.

The current state of the street is a static space filled with ready-made elements. If every user had the choice to create their own need, then the street will become a dynamic pulsating mesh of activities hence reaching our goal of making the Rambla del Poblenou street a self made one.

Posted in Elif Gungor, Nuri Choi, Roopa Sharma, Youssef Rashdan, Zeynep Birgönül | Tagged Barcelona, iaac_design studio 12-13, Rambla del Poblenou, self-made street, Urban Design | Comments closed

Avinguda Diagonal: multi SCALE | multi ACTIVE

By kayla.pongrac | Published: January 8, 2013

The designated section of Avinguda Diagonal from Fransesc Macia to Glories crosses through all major intersections of Barcelona’s grid.   Once a metropolitan strategic plan to provide city solutions has now become so dense that the street does not function the way once planned, nor is it a ‘Smart’ Street prepared for the future.
Diagonal is a gateway and a gathering for all types of road users. Individuals are segregated to specific pathways depending on their mode of transportation. Although each user is distinct and separate the presence of traffic lights forces an interaction between all the different systems. This causes further inefficiency in travel, increasing the congestion and density at these points.
A network of communication between various layers of Diagonal’s infrastructure is crucial to establish a smooth transition between the realm of the car and the domain of the pedestrian. Blurring the lines of of the current ‘light highway’ system and optimizing the potential for a ‘stepped system’ will allow the user to travel by foot or bike between work, residence and recreation. This will optimize the space and regain pedestrian zones creating a place of transaction.
To collect this real time data and information a network of ‘Smart Poles’ will be inserted into Diagonal to replace the existing street infrastructure. This system is about exchanging information to impact and improve the use of pedestrian spaces.   Each Smart Pole will work individually, in a field, and simultaneously with an assigned Planner. Collected data will be observed to redirect mobility at crossing and attractor points to regain the space for pedestrian use.
As technology advances over the next 30 to 60 years the Smart Pole will become more intelligent.   This device will respond to all input data to organize and reorganize itself to communicate within the field and to all road users. An energy grid will be implemented into the system to collect and distribute energy to the street and its users. As driver-less cars become the norm the system will control the car around the multifunctional shared street, autonomously avoiding the preferred user; the pedestrian.   All lines will be blurred and Diagonal will be the perception of accessibility and convenience for all agents.