Boqueria of Knowledge

One may argue that the site is at the end of its Carbon Era and now needs to push forward into the 3rd industrial revolution, according to Economist Jeremy Rifkin. Where as ‘La Boqueria’ in Ciutat Vella attracts masses of people for its luscious products. Now, the Boqueria of Knowledge in Poblenou will be one that is intune with the vision of 22@ to provide space as an investment of Research and Development. The spaces will be those of micro-economic prosperity celebrating self-sufficiency, lateral power, collaboration, distribution, empathetic and open source approaches. Such knowledge will be split into different clusters that will virus on site to add value to the already existing programs consisting of SMEs and residential buildings.

processing_virus

(density simulation of people acting as a virusing effect on the site to occupy key areas)

 

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Our building component is the means to allow people to learn and teach with specific targets of urban agricultural research; not just for gastronomical reasons but also material research, Automobile research and contemporary craftsmanship; with the aim of producing from what has been harvested.

 

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(roof scape morphology heat analysis showing water collector(blue) and shading systems(yellow) according to circulation areas(yellow) and hydroponic area(blue))

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Posted in Joseph Galea, Kuptsova Maria, Rangholia Chiragkumar Himatlal, Uncategorized | Comments closed

Magora – A Magnetic Agora

Our design requirements involved defining our own program and choosing from two very different sites in the city of Barcelona to implement our ideas .

In order to define our project we looked at various aspects of current environment – from political, to economical as well as philosophical and physical.
Finally, we chose to work on Barcelona’s industrial area of Poblenou. Once a prosperous zone, the site in Pere IV has been severely affected by economical issues and is in a state of decay with high rates of unemployment, heavy pollution, and dying industries.

We decide to treat our design proposal as an infinite loop; where energy, matter , production and distribution at the same time follow an endless cycle.

Magora is about free off-the-grid clean energy, urban agriculture, cultural public spaces and cradle to cradle production. 

Presentation: http://youtu.be/sjFQtglOvps

 

Magnetic Agora - Elevated magnetic infrastructure, Field lines manifestation

Magnetic Agora – Elevated magnetic infrastructure, Field lines manifestation

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Posted in Anca -Simona Harvath, Diego Colinas Magana, Elif Gungor, Georgios Angelou, Roopa Sharma | Comments closed

Urban Acupunture

“Sustainability is an efficient use of available resources”

We are living a transition era; the current energetic, economical and social model will in the next decades be replaced by a new model. As in every crysis, uncertainty about the future is the most challenging element, for it is the one that causes lack of confidence, in individuals and companies. Sola Morales used to talk about the importance of handling Uncertainty in Urbanism, managing time and key players in the extremely complex process that is the life of cities and territories.

This thesys analyses the problems of an edge condition Urban Area. An area without important equipments such as elderly daycare centers, bicing stations or recycling points. A negleted and somehow abandoned area.

The goal of the Thesys was to retrofit the area through surgical interventions, and improve it and boost its economy. The challenge was to do so building as least as possible and reusing available resources. To do so the strategy encompassed retrofitting 6 empty sites close to important public or private buildings. Each site gains a specific vocation, related to the building next to it, and together with the other sites defines a Masterplan for the area.

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The use of renewable energies and recycling strategies in each site was key to set the bases for energy self sufficiency and more competitive businesses. The hope is that investors, states and citizens realize that retrofitting existing buildings, sites and infrastructures, together with energy efficience is the way out of this global crysis.

A strategy that will provide jobs to millions of people, improve their quality of life and help manage the shrinking available resources and biodiversity of our, still, beautiful green and blue planet.

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This link opens a new window with the presentation of this Thesys: https://vimeo.com/69340452

Posted in Miguel Oliveira | Comments closed