Crisis Fronts

New Address

2008-08-22T10:53:00.001-04:00

Please see 2008-2009 updates to the blog and a new academic year's work at www.crisisfronts.wordpress.com

Animation of the movement of the collection system

2008-05-02T10:54:00.001-04:00

walking motion of the collection system

Animation of system growth and movement

2008-05-02T10:30:00.002-04:00

the system of movement through a pilot site where it collects methane and selectively leaves behind the residue for a new energy self-sufficient settlement.

Reinterpreting the Edge

2008-05-01T19:02:00.027-04:00

Reinterpreting the Edge: A Response to Coastal Flood and Erosion, New Orleans Seacoast, LAby: Asta Fivgas, Jung Im, and Paul Stein

Coastal flooding and erosion is only one factor that plays into the larger picture of "global warming". Our group became increasingly interested in it's effect on what we consider the "edge". Edge can refer to sea vs. land as well as urban vs. natural.

Our system deploys itself along the edge as a mediator (both between the city and the surrounding wetlands as well as the marshland and the sea) that capitalizes on natural sediment flow by capturing and redistributing the sediment to strengthen specific areas of the coastline as well as diverting and slowing wave currents. As the sediment is secured new "land" is created and a second phase of the system is deployed. Each phase builds upon the previous creating layers of build-up both natural (silt/sediment) and architectural (nested geometry). The growth pattern is dependent on scripted algorithms that orient the aperture of the cells toward desirable conditions as well as manipulate the cell based on inputs such as topographical depth and environmental context/needs.

Img 01: Precis, Context Mappings, Salinity / Erosion Rates / Wave Flow

Img02: Context Geology, Site Selection

Img03: MRGO
The MRGO is currently under debate and there are plans to completely shut down this shipping channel and re-route cargo ships through the Mississippi. Heavy erosion rates based on poor design have widened the MRGO and contributed to the rapid decline of surrounding wetlands which serve as a barrier between the mainland and the Gulf of Mexico.

Img04: Context Mapping (site erosion without implementation)

Img05: Time Lapse Diagram: predicted wave diversion and sediment flow changes

Img06: Scripting

Img07: Site Implementation: Phase One

Img08: Site Implementation: Phase Two

Img09: Module Development

Img10: Phase Three: Introduction of Walkable Landscapes and Inhabitation/Pedestrian Use

Img11: Spanning Qualities, system vertical growth potential

Rethinking Resource Infrastructure

2008-04-30T11:10:00.006-04:00

By: Natasha Harper, Katie Adee, and James Baldauf

This project proposes a mobile collection and sequestration system that searches the terrain for methane rich permafrost deposits while leaving behind "off-the-grid" settlements across the Arctic landscape.

In light of the current climate crisis, we began looking at ways in which architecture could serve a more fundamental role in the issue of sustainability. As permafrost (perennially frozen soil) melts, it releases methane into the atmosphere. Methane, is 30 times more effective than carbon dioxide as a greenhouse gas. However, hidden within the permafrost is what is known as gas hydrate. Gas hydrates are gasses trapped within the crystalline structure of ice. Methane is a potential clean-burning energy source 2x larger than that of all other fossil fuel reserves. In our thesis project, we chose to capitalize on this naturally occurring phenomenon by collecting the methane for use as a new energy source while using the infrastructure erected as the bones for new communities that would be energy self-sustaining.

lifespan of the collection system

lifespan of the residue system

sectional drawing of the stages of inflation during the collection phase

stills from animation depicting the movement, growth, and residue of the energy collection system

plans at both ground level and platform level of new settlement

physical model of settlement

physical model of the collector

physical model of potential settlement looking at flexibility between spaces

physical model of creeper (earlier study)

2008-04-29T02:43:00.002-04:00

Although it would be too late for any of us to reap the benefits, I think Hanrahan should get Nicholas Ronco to install one of his Yelo centers in Higgins.

Team Melt - System Residue

2008-04-20T23:34:00.008-04:00

Settling Landscape

Biomimetics: Design by Nature

2008-04-18T02:17:00.003-04:00

An electron micrograph reveals sharkskin’s secret to speed: tooth-like scales called dermal denticles. Water “races through the microgrooves without tumbling,” says shark researcher George Burgess, reducing friction. “It’s like a fast-moving river current versus the gurgling turbulence of a shallow stream.” The scales also discourage barnacles and algae from glomming on—an inspiration for synthetic coatings that may soon be applied to Navy ship hulls to reduce such biofouling.

What has fins like a whale, skin like a lizard, and eyes like a moth? The future of engineering.

via> National Geographic (April 2008)

Green Gasoline Created From Biomass

2008-04-16T03:49:00.000-04:00

‘Green Gasoline’ is a liquid identical to regular gasoline in energy, but made from biomass sources such as poplar trees and switchgrass. Researchers seem to have finally discovered a way to create this sort of fuel, that could be of tremendous help to the U.S. economy, eliminating the need to import expensive oil supplies and the need to grow corn for producing ethanol.

Chemical engineer George Huber from the National Science Foundation and two of his graduate students presented the first direct conversion of plant cellulose into gasoline components. The study shows the steps can run sequentially without purification or complex separation processes between reactors.

Huber says that future biofuels will be similar to gasoline in the chemical composition and that the challenge is to produce efficient fuels from biomass that would integrate in the existing infrastructure. The understanding of the chemical reactions used in this process is likely to design more efficient ways to commercialize green gasoline.

http://www.ecofuss.com/green-gasoline-created-from-biomass/

Redwing Reef

2008-04-08T19:02:00.004-04:00

File under unintended consequences of success. The artificial reef off the coast of Delaware made of decommissioned New York subway cars is apparently too successful resulting in great demand for the cars. They are such a productive habitat for sea life that they attract fishing, larger open water species like tuna, and theft of traps from competing fishermen.

NY Times article here. And slideshow.

Local River

2008-04-08T11:05:00.001-04:00

via mocoloco.com

Local River is the "home storage unit for fish and greens" as conceived by Mathieu Lehanneur with Anthony van den Bossche. Inspired by the Locavores, a group of culinary adventurers who eat foods produced in a radius of 100 miles around their city, Local River anticipates the growing influence of this group (the word 'locavore' made its first appearance in an American dictionary in 2007) by proposing a home storage unit for live freshwater fish combined with a mini vegetable patch. This DIY (GYO?) fish-farm-cum-kitchen-garden is based on the principle of aquaponics coupled with the exchange and interdependence of two living organisms - plants and fish. The plants extract nutrients from the nitrate-rich dejecta of the fish. In doing so they act as a natural filter that purifies the water and maintains a vital balance for the eco-system in which the fish live. The same technique is used on large-scale pioneer aquaponics/fish-farms, which raise tilapia (a food fish from the Far East) and lettuce planted in trays floating on the surface of ponds. From April 25th to June 21st 2008 at Artists Space.

+ artistsspace.org

ORQUIDEORAMA - Botanical Garden

2008-03-31T11:28:00.003-04:00

Photos and information on the Orquideorama Botanical Garden in Medellin Colombia via inhabitat.com

Architects Felipe Mesa and Alexander Bernal wanted the Orquideorama to grow in the same way that a garden seeds and develops, with one “flor-árbol” popping up next to another. This lead them to design the installation as a series of interconnected modular structures (14 in all) specialized for a variety of functions including event halls, butterfly reserves, and flower gardens. Fittingly, this repetitious cellular weave resonates with another organic structure: honeycomb.

Each “flor-árbol” is composed of a steel reinforced trunk and six hexagonal petals that form an intricately latticed patio. The plants situated beneath each trunk are sustained via rainwater collected by the petals, and are protected from the elements by the translucent pine wood weave that is sourced from reforested lands. Taken as a whole, the Orquideorama is a delicate display of the relationship and structural similarities between architecture and living organisms.

+ Plan B
+ Jardín Botánico de Medellí

Sustainable Skyscraper Symbiosis

2008-03-26T08:45:00.002-04:00

Via Inhabitat.com: Daekwon Parks' sustainable skyscraper project. Full post here.

Now in its fourth year running, the eVolo Skyscraper Competition takes future-forward architecture to its breaking point, unveiling a stunning array of new structural concepts by architects, engineers, and designers. The latest crop of entries is up, and Daekwon Park’s Symbiotic Interlock goes far beyond the standard skyscraper to envision a total renovation of inner-city infrastructure. The pitch: it’s modular, prefabricated, and completely symbiotic on the existing vertical infrastructure of the city.

Skyscrapers are one of the modern city’s most ideologically charged structures. Dominating the skyline, they captivate and articulate a wealth of ideals while anchoring a city’s social fabric. As the world’s population increases and cities stretch to accommodate it, these structures will become increasingly important in sustaining this massive influx. Out of necessity, they will have to evolve. eVolo Architecture was founded in 2003 by a group of international architects in NYC and hosts a yearly contest dedicated to rethinking the skyscraper in radical new ways. The only requirement: “Designs must be technologically feasible and environmentally responsible.”

Daekwon Park created Symbiotic Interlock “to reunite the isolated city blocks and insert a multi-layer network of public space, green space and nodes for the city”. It comprises a system of stackable modules that are designed to add an extra layer of infrastructure to existing buildings via sky docks and bridges, vertical gardens, cultural spaces, and energy producing wind turbines. It addresses some of the shortcomings of green roofs by internalizing green environments within its biomorphic structure while contributing functionality, energy, and food. It may not have beaten the competition, but its symbiotic integration with existing buildings struck us as a brilliant brand of future-forward thinking within the present era.

+ evolo-arch.com

Green energy

2008-03-26T08:38:00.004-04:00

The Times has a special section this week on the business of sustainability. Above, columns of algae being grown for biofuel by Solena in Alicante, Spain. The section includes articles on green collar jobs, business going carbon neutral or carbon negative, Sun Edison the solar panel provider, etc.

museum of nature

2008-03-25T20:17:00.001-04:00

check out this photographer's "preservation" project

Expo 2008 in Zaragoza, Spain

2008-03-22T22:41:00.003-04:00

Concept video for the 2008 Expo in Zaragoza with the theme of sustainability and water.

Digital Water Pavilion at Zaragoza

Lifespan of System

2008-03-14T10:00:00.002-04:00

Project New Orleans

2008-03-12T17:17:00.002-04:00

http://www.project-neworleans.org/index.html

Blog of student projects dealing with New Orleans in several topics (housing, urbanism, etc). Nice and interesting work. Methinks Team CF should contact them after the semester to add our stuff ;-)

2008-02-26T13:01:00.001-05:00

from inhabitat.com

"Ocean waves are already being used as a source of renewable energy, but could differences in water temperatures in the sea be our next source of green power? A decade old idea to generate renewable electricity for the globe with offshore, floating ‘Energy Islands’ could soon become a reality. The concept - creating artificial islands to collect wind, wave and solar power in the tropics - is based on the work of Jacques-Arsène d’Arsonval, a 19th-century French physicist, who envisioned the idea of using the sea as a giant solar-energy collector.

"Their goal is to build a network of “energy islands”: floating hexagonal-shaped platforms of reinforced concrete and corrosion-resistant metals that would generate electritict via wind, wave, and solar in addition to having an OTEC plant. It’s estimated that each island complex could produce about 250MW, and that 50,000 “energy islands” could meet the world’s energy requirements (as well as provide two tons of fresh water per person per day for the entire world population — desalinated water is one byproduct of the OTEC process). OTEC plants work best when there’s a temperature difference of 20°C between water at the surface and the water below, making tropical and sub-tropical seas the best candidates for energy islands."

The Other Ultimate Archive

2008-02-26T12:04:00.005-05:00

The Svalbard Global Seed Vault vault in Norway opens this week. From Andrew Revkin's posting at NYTimes Dot Earth:

"The new repository is intended to be an insurance policy for individual countries and also for humanity more generally, should larger-scale disaster strike (anything from pestilence to an asteroid impact).

The Norwegian government put up more than $7 million for construction. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is providing money to help developing countries package and ship seed samples, as part of a broader $30-million project to protect the genetic diversity of the world’s main food crops.

The ongoing operation of the seed vault will be paid for through the Global Crop Diversity Trust, which is maintained by contributions from countries, international agencies, and foundations.

A secure supply of thousands of varieties of keystone crops like rice and wheat will be ever more important, experts say, as populations grow, climate changes, and people keep moving species around the global, both intentionally and accidentally."

The Ultimate Archive

2008-02-26T09:18:00.005-05:00

As reported in today's NY Times, scientists are putting together a Book of All Species online at www.eol.org. The archive will eventually have an entry for every species known. If printed as a book, the known 1.8 million species would be over 300 feet long....and that's not counting the fact that it's estimated that 10 times that number of species are still waiting to be discovered.

What's especially interesting is that the entries are compiled using an algorithm that searches through scientific databases and publications. As libraries and their content go digital through new media and the scanning and digitizing of old media, we may be looking at a prototype for a new kind of knowledge infrastructure.

Team Melt - #96 node branching study

2008-02-25T19:25:00.013-05:00

REVIEW 2

2008-02-21T18:19:00.008-05:00

RELATIONAL ANGLE GEOMETRY / SURFACE GENERATION VIA ATTRACTORS

REVIEW 1

2008-02-21T18:05:00.007-05:00

RELATIONAL ANGLE GEOMETRY / SURFACE GENERATION VIA ATTRACTORS

How bizarre is this?!

2008-02-20T17:38:00.004-05:00

The structural engineers over at Hyder Consulting have announced that they are planning what will be, by an overwhelming margin, the world's tallest skyscraper, coming in at double the height of the Burj Dubai – or very nearly one vertical mile. The firm has "confirmed that the tower would be located in the Middle East region," we're told, "but would not give any further details." So is it just a media stunt? I decided, nonetheless, to alter an old BBC diagram about the world's tallest buildings to give myself a sense of what this might mean, size-wise; the results appear above. I have to assume that the building's actual profile will not resemble what I've created... but you never know.
Note the comparative size of the Empire State Building

2nd review

2008-02-19T20:43:00.003-05:00

2nd review

2008-02-19T20:38:00.004-05:00

2nd review

2008-02-19T20:34:00.004-05:00

2nd review

2008-02-19T17:43:00.006-05:00

Review 2-18-08

2008-02-18T16:48:00.005-05:00

diagram of branching script

diagram of sectional spring script

frame stills of mass and stiffness/damping acting on the spring

qualifications of desirable traits within results of branching script

Electromagnetic Radiation Powered Light Field

2008-02-17T00:15:00.001-05:00

Vertical Farming: Food Production of the Future

2008-02-16T19:27:00.005-05:00

The Vertical Farm Project is a concept developed by Columbia University's class of Medical Ecology in 2004. It is meant to provide enough food for a minimum daily caloric intake of 2200 calories/per person for 50,000 people. Their research includes figures for growing not only plant life, but raising livestock as well.

You can view design concepts proposed by various architecture firms here

Unbearable Lightness of Being?

2008-02-12T19:42:00.000-05:00

One of the entries of a recent ideas competition hosted by NYC's Office Emergency Management featured on bldgblog.
This entry is by Studio Lindfors.

Network Hydrology

2008-02-12T19:33:00.000-05:00

History Channel's recent "City of the Future" competition winner by San Francisco architects IwamotoScott.
More details at bldgblog.

Spring Based Script 1

2008-02-11T13:27:00.001-05:00

Spring based script explained

Spring Based Script Text

Branching Nodes

2008-02-11T11:20:00.000-05:00

By: Natasha Harper, Katie Adee, James Baldauf

Manual diagram of node/ground interaction (plan view)

Source Code created in Processing
(requires the physics library)

stills created while running the script

diagram explaining how the script works

studies of "caterpillar" motion in model form

SOM's proposal for a 'green island' in Shanghai

2008-02-10T03:43:00.000-05:00

"In SOM’s conception, Chongming was positioned as a 'green island' with its urban development confined to eight new, distinct, and highly-compact coastal cities. Each would consist of walkable, transit-rich districts built at a high-enough density to enable a population of nearly a million people to live and work in only 15 percent of the island’s total area"

SOM's website has disabled the ability to copy images so click below.

http://www.som.com/content.cfm/an_island_in_the_sustainable_stream

office da architecture's installation

2008-02-10T02:39:00.001-05:00

A beautiful and amazing on-site installation by office da architecture.

recycled digital origami: 300th post

2008-02-10T01:03:00.000-05:00

Students at the University of Technology in Sydney collaborated with architect Chris Bosse on this pretty “digital origami” exhibit featuring 3,500 recycled cardboard “molecules.”

u+a + neil m. denari architects: useful + agreeable house

2008-02-08T17:59:00.001-05:00

Not sure if I like the design of the exterior, but i have to agree that the concept is pretty ill. . .

Water Cube

2008-02-07T12:14:00.001-05:00

The Beijing Olympic Aquatics Pavilion (The Water Cube) is open. Images posted here.

2008-02-07T06:50:00.000-05:00

Madrid’s ‘Air Tree’

2008-02-06T01:20:00.000-05:00

The Winner of the 2004 ‘Eco Boulevard"competition by ecosistema urbano from Spain.

Atlas of Novel Tectonics

2008-02-04T12:11:00.000-05:00

Reiser + Umemoto

Self Made Tapestry Pattern Formation in Nature

2008-02-04T10:25:00.000-05:00

Smog Scrubber building

2008-02-03T12:42:00.000-05:00

"Architect Vincent Callebaut’s latest project balances public galleries, meeting rooms and gathering spaces over canals and abandoned railroad tracks in the 19th Parisian district. The prototype uses green technologies and techniques but is more than just an example of sustainable design. Callebaut’s ‘Anti Smog: An Innovation Centre in Sustainable Development’ is a catalyst for cleaner air."

via treehugger.com

Deforestation

2008-02-03T12:27:00.000-05:00

An extraordinary satellite image of rainforest in Bolivia being converted to farmland. From earthasart.com via the Times and NY Times Dot Earth.

FutureGen

2008-02-03T12:23:00.001-05:00

The Times reports on the scrapping of plans for an emmisions-capturing coal power plant from the DOE. It's a shame that budget concerns have tanked the project, but there are some interesting bits of information here about the technology involved.

Borrowing from nature

2008-01-31T10:53:00.000-05:00

"Clean technology: Architects believe that biologically inspired designs can help to reduce environmental impact of buildings" - economist.com, technology quarterly.

Second Module and Aggregation

2008-01-31T02:46:00.001-05:00

Initial Module Script

2008-01-31T02:43:00.000-05:00

Self Formation and Tensile Structure Research

2008-01-31T01:36:00.000-05:00

Earth Observatory - Al Khufrah Oasis

2008-01-27T14:46:00.000-05:00

From NASA's Earth Observatory site:

"Green circles in the desert frequently indicate tracts of agriculture supported by center-pivot irrigation. The Al Khufrah Oasis in southeastern Libya (near the Egyptian border) is one of Libya’s largest agricultural projects, and is an easy-to-recognize landmark for orbiting astronauts aboard the International Space Station. Because only about 2 percent of Libya’s land receives enough rainfall to be cultivated, this project uses fossil water from a large underground aquifer. The Libyan government also has a plan called the Great Man Made River to pump and transport these groundwater reserves to the coast to support Libya’s growing population and industrial development."

Prototype Analysis Phase 1

2008-01-26T12:23:00.001-05:00

Diagrams showing module ranges of movement and connections (aggregation), along with inherent properties of the system.

updated module study

2008-01-24T16:42:00.001-05:00

Diagram shows the minimum and maximum rage of changes in area of surface
in relation to the changes in degree of rotation.
Vertical connections allow to grow z direction and changes its topological condition
which is from surface oriented condition to cellular system.

Animated Prototype 16

2008-01-23T19:09:00.000-05:00

Phase 1 - Elevation

Phase 1 - Plan

Phase 1 - Prototype is compressed and anchored to one end of the axis; taking place during normal means. All links are clustered together. The line is collapsed.

Phase 2 - Elevation

Phase 2 - Plan

Phase 2 - Prototype is expanding and approaching opposite ends of the axis; this taking place during rising water means. Dragging the line begins.

Phase 3 - Elevation

Phase 3 - Plan

Phase 3 - Prototype is fully expanded and anchored to opposite ends of the axis; this taking place during high water means. Tension is placed on all members; the line is dragged out.

Material Experiment Aggregation

2008-01-23T11:37:00.000-05:00

By: Natasha Harper, Katie Adee, James Baldauf

Aggregation Model 1:

this model takes a lattice connected with pivot connections and uses circles of varying circumfrences connected at their tangents. This deforms the original lattice and creates areas of more density and rigidity.

Beginning of Aggregation Model 2:

This takes a similar logic to the first model, but the lattice is less defined and can easily grow in the Z direction, and/or branch off in plan.

2008-01-23T00:49:00.000-05:00

This is a series of 3 different froms. They conssist of an intial 3 point object followed by a 4 point object, and finally a 5 point object. They are to be overlayed to create an object that is "blossoming around a center core. The blossom would expand or contract based on the amount of water being absorbed or released

module aggregation

2008-01-23T00:45:00.000-05:00

I was testing 2 variations. Changes of rotational angle allow the modules to expand horizontally.

Two different types of connection create different conditions, one has void in the center of group and grow diagonally, and other connection which is mirrored connection doesn’t create void in between and grow x, y direction.

Animated Prototypes 13 - 14

2008-01-22T22:55:00.001-05:00

VP14 - Plan

VP14 - Elevation

VP14 - Elevation

Prototype 14

With medium length tubes creating the link, assembly of the prototype easily expands longitudinally on an axis. Further development could allow the system to expand in width.

VP13 - Varying Loops Dependant on Length

VP13 - Plan

VP13 - Elevation

Prototype 13

Composed of two linked tubes anchored by bolt(s), the shorter the link is the less flexible and less chance for other links to join. With increase in length, there is enough flexibility for other links to attach and create a matrix.

Field Prototype Team Coastal Flooding

2008-01-22T13:08:00.000-05:00

Module with rotation joint: range of motion

Responds to current flow and landscape, surface intended to respond to water flow. Compressible openings respond to sediment capture and water (flow) diversion.

Aggregation:

Scale of module component(s) based on range of intensities (ie: longer modules closer to coastline/nearer heavier flows to allow for more range, smaller modules farther out where properties are less intense)

Connection Ranges:

Animated Prototypes 11 - 12

2008-01-21T23:53:00.001-05:00

VP12 Elevation Compressed

VP12 Plan Compressed

VP12 Expanding

Prototype VP12
Composed of multiple singles tube which stretches across a field of two parallel axes. System expands down the axes as external flood levels rise. Braids of tubing allow the system to stretch as it expands, taking the adjacent links.

VP11 Component

VP11 Plan

VP11 Expanded

VP11 Compressed
Prototype VP11
Composed of a single circular ring which braids and connects to adjacent rings, internally connected throughout. Three or more vertical supports anchor the system to the ground plane; this prototype uses four anchoring supports. External forces allow the system to raise and expand via rising flood levels.

McR

Animated Prototypes 11 - 12

2008-01-21T23:53:00.000-05:00

Component

Above VP11 (Flooded / Non-Flooded)

Ecopolis in Abu Dhabi

2008-01-21T18:31:00.000-05:00

Recent images of Foster and Partners' project for an new sustainable city in the Emirates.

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/01/ecocities_every.php

Worldchanging Year-End Summary

2008-01-21T18:02:00.002-05:00

Worldchanging.com has posted its Best Of list for 2007. Info on Food Design, Tech, Energy, etc

www.worldchanging.com/archives/007718.html

Stephanie's Prototypes 1-17-08

2008-01-21T17:48:00.000-05:00

Above and below is a study on a skin system that would allow for the cross percolation of water within the module.

These are Penrose rhombuses in both a 3D and a 2D setting. The Penrose rhombus and tilling system will be the basis for the modules/prototypes.

Desertification

2008-01-21T17:05:00.000-05:00

LeMarr- Performative Prototypes

2008-01-21T14:21:00.000-05:00

Self-Sufficient Dwelling Units

2008-01-21T13:52:00.000-05:00

There are two essential concerns in desertification; one is the cause of desertification and the other is the effect of it. As population increases, the necessity of agriculture as a source of food and economical resource becomes critical. Taking over the forest to extend agricultural area is the easiest solution to the people in Madagascar or anywhere else where the desertification is happening. Once the cause is already being set, next concern is to combat or address its behavior which is the expansion of the desert through wind blowing sand, soil degradation, and soil erosion. Thus, we are facing two crises here that must be addressed; one is the expansion of population, and the other is the expansion of desert which shifts boundaries of desert, agriculture, and forest.

In Madagascar, agricultural practices as they currently exist degrade the soil as population increases, and the demand for agricultural production increases. As a result, the rate of desertification is increased dramatically and exponentially. And, no means are available currently for high population density and high agricultural production to exist simultaneously.

For the high agricultural production, effective agricultural practice must take place architecturally, such as intensive greenhouse or hydroponics that gives high agricultural yield for need of population growth without impacting soil.

Not only addressing agricultural practice, but also, high density population must be re-organized in a way that minimizes living areas on the agricultural productive land. People in Madagascar live close to the agricultural areas within walking distance because the transportation system is not effective due to the economical status in Madagascar. As a result, the expansion of population and their living areas take up the land that potential agricultural land.

Therefore, high agricultural yield and addressing living areas must happen simultaneously. However, economical and technical status in Madagascar sets up the limitation of developing system in order to address these problems. Therefore, system must be economically as efficient as possible, also build in a way within the given technology of Madagascar.

I propose a cellular dwelling system in conjunction with hydroponics agricultural practice that can expand and shrink as necessary. This system will provide and organize the living areas as well as agricultural products without impacting soil. This system will also combat with the expansion of the desert and reclaim the productive lands that were lost by desertification through shifting boundary.

Irenes - Dimitris Modules

2008-01-20T20:21:00.000-05:00

Leyla-Modules Part 2

2008-01-19T13:23:00.000-05:00

Leyla - Modules

2008-01-19T13:21:00.000-05:00

Manny

2008-01-18T19:56:00.000-05:00

initial prototypes

2008-01-18T15:14:00.001-05:00

Prototypes a - f

2008-01-18T12:18:00.000-05:00

b,c

d,e,f

d,e

Prototype module study3,4

2008-01-18T11:17:00.000-05:00

Prototype module study2

2008-01-18T11:15:00.001-05:00

Prototype module study

2008-01-18T11:09:00.001-05:00

Prototypes 01-17-08

2008-01-17T22:04:00.000-05:00

The following were created in an attempt to develop a modular system that is highly adaptable, i.e., can be aggregated as a planar type structure or as a columnar structure, all utilizing folded tabs to be interwoven.

2008-01-17T21:21:00.000-05:00

Animated Prototypes

2008-01-17T20:45:00.000-05:00

Preliminary animated prototypes use braiding techniques and simple geometry to develop cellular components for a larger matrix. Changing material components and attachment methods test flexible to rigid qualities of the prototype.

Prototypes

2008-01-17T13:46:00.000-05:00

Module Development

2008-01-17T11:19:00.000-05:00

by asta fivgas

mod a (1,2)

mod b (1)

mod c (1,2)

mod d (1,2)

mod e (1,2)

mod f (1,2)

Component development

2008-01-17T10:36:00.000-05:00

by: natasha harper

components 1-3

components 4-5

components 6-7

Intergration and Inhabitation

2008-01-02T17:49:00.001-05:00

The point system with laminating surfaces as an architectural formation

The system we are proposing is a system of lamination that provides surfaces (or spaces) for Mongolian nomads to inhabit, and at the same time enables mobility for their seasonal migratory pattern. However, rather than following the traditional opportunistic seasonal movements, the lamination surfacing system takes place at several stationary points on the selected study sties.

Research we found indicates that in historic and current situation, nomadic families often gathered in group and move seasonally in the radius of 30 to 60 miles for at least twice a year in search for a better pasture.
Winter camps are located in areas that are naturally sheltered from wind and are equipped with barns for the animals to stay for the night. Therefore, the lamination surfaces are proposed to be situated on different parts of the sites on our study area, depending on the seasonal and the geographic conditions (summer camp on a flat site, spring and winter camps on more sloped sites).

These laminated surfaces, being elevated from the existing ground, integrate (or extend) materially and ecologically from the landscape. The preserved existing ground accommodates Nomads' gers or their permanent winter shelters, and the new laminated surfaces can be used for herding, and collecting moisture from the winter snowfall and stabilizing the soil. On the other hand, the ability for the laminated surfaces to be revitalized during the off-season is one of the keys to the system.

The architectural system is a polymorphic multi-angle structure that it will be located in the designated sites of the nomadic movement.
The proposed polymorphic structure is one of those structures that differ in shape and geometry, and which may exhibit more than one stable shape in their final form. The polymorphic structure will be mulatto stable to improve performance, in the sense that global shape changes are possible and as such, will have an enormous potential in the field of adaptive nomadic life. The structure will provide a secure habitation environment for the nomadic people, where the space of inhabitation will be between the direct registration of a conceptual condition and a material one. This is possible done, because the proposed structure will be self sustained, and it will operate as a mean for the manipulation of the wind, and the collection of the water from the melting snow during the spring time.

The manipulation of the wind will prevent the distribution and transportation of the sand particles, by salutation and suspension, in the surrounding area which are the major cause for the advancement of desertification. This is done by the creation of a skin or structure with multiple angular planes which will have a high degree of flexibility but at the same time they can form a rigid structure.
The planes will create a path for the movement and redirection of the wind which will cause the protection of the surrounding area by elevating and manipulating the wind to smaller waves of flow. The collection of the water will be done by the same method of redirection and movement.

The proposed structure will be self adjusted based on the climate conditions at that particular time and the needs of the nomadic people.

Dynamically Animated and Responsive Structures

2007-12-26T12:49:00.000-05:00

By Randall Scott Hornung

Throughout the globe severe flooding displaces millions of species, causes structural and vital infrastructure damage and spreads disease from lack of sanitation. On November 15, 2007, tropical cyclone Sidr forced two and a half to three million people to flee and become homeless or fear of flooding from heavy rains, the low-lying Ganges-Brahmaputra River Delta and a 16 foot storm surge. Functional protection, clean potable water and agriculture are the first and primary necessities for continued survival during and after a catastrophic flood event. I propose a transforming system which aims to place architecture toward the future of dynamically animated and responsive structures from environmental water inputs.

Using the performative techniques of absorption from wetlands and flexibility from lily pads, the system will adapt to the environmental water changes placed upon it. The absorption qualities of wetlands will allow the system to intake water to grow and become rigid. The system’s flexibility will allow movement through the turbulent water, similar to the lily pad flexile motion through water.

One cannot stop nature, one must live in conjunction w ith nature. The goal of this proposed system is to produce an architectural prototype to aid in the relief efforts of flood victims by negotiating through turbulent waters by absorbing excess liquid to make the architectural system rigid and animated. The proposed architectural system will use the excess flood water to strengthen structural stability, harness power, provide potable water and agriculture for flood victims. This growing shelter will provide education as an institute during normal means, but function as a disaster relief shelter during turbulent times in water.

Free to be steady in continuum, but fluxing in turbulence; a modern day Noah’s Ark securing habitable sites for humans and other species. Turbulent times will have the dynamic system in tension bunched together, geometrically joined as a union to gain structural integrity. Gentle times will have the deflated system broadly arranged and geometrically relaxed. The mechanism will adapt to the set of inputs placed upon its exterior skin and feed those inputs throughout the structure as a whole.

Concentrating on the harsh and forceful side of water, flooding will occur in a natural state of turbulence, in which these aggressive structures will provide utopian disaster relief environments, rising above the landscaft for a safer and secure surroundings. The evolving structures will become increasingly rigid from the increase in force exerted upon itself infinitely. As storm waters rise, the system will increase in scale with structural integrity, appearing to levitate across the turbulent waters.

Solar cells of the future

2007-12-25T00:50:00.000-05:00

A new material, nano flakes, may revolutionise the transformation of solar energy to electricity. If so, even ordinary households can benefit from solar electricity and save money in the future.

http://www.scienceblog.com/cms/solar-cells-future-15042.html

Buoyant Agritecture

2007-12-23T20:26:00.002-05:00

Experts believe that weather patterns such as heavy monsoon rains and droughts will only increase with global warming. ‘Though greater Dhaka experiences flood[s] almost in every year, flood management policies are mostly based on structural options including flood walls, dykes, embankments, etc.’ {WRMJ} Bangladesh experiences intermittent water shortages because of falling water tables in the northern and central parts of the country.

Bangladesh

only has about 7.5% of its land covered by water during non flood times. The elevation of the city of Dhaka lies between 2-13 meters above sea level; flood prone areas have 2-4 meters of flooding that extends to the edge of the city. “The area of expansion of Dhaka has been governed largely by the physical configuration of the landscape in and around the city, particularly the river system and the height of land in relation to the flood level.” {Islam 1996, pg. 62.63} Most of the western side of the city has been urbanized, generally lying at elevations of 6-8 meters above sea level. Due to the higher stability of infrastructure in the western section of Dhaka, we have chosen two neighborhoods as test sites: Pallabi and Kamrangirchar. Currently the country has 55.39% of arable land with only 3.08% available for permanent crops. By localizing the effects and attributes of seasonal flooding in a densely populated, metropolitan city, we are proposing an architectural intervention that will be implemented into the environment to mediate the outcome of seasonal flooding. Dhaka, Bangladesh is an excellent area to test our thesis due to its high population and growth rate which is also prevalent throughout Asia.

In order to combat these flood and drought conditions that affect a majority of the country’s population, we are proposing a system of floating terraced farms that will, with the help of various governmental organizations, have the ability to facilitate in the alleviation of seasonal flooding. It will do so by means of water absorption through structure, filtration/water purification through organic plant life and an increase in the production of sustainable crops, rice in particular. The system will be incorporated into the various already existing programs located along the river banks to allow for a relatively seamless transition. All of this would perform keeping in mind Bangladesh’s ever apparent need for fresh water, sustainable agriculture practices and agricultural exports to increase the nations GDP.

Reinterpreting The Edge

2007-12-21T11:59:00.000-05:00

Coastal flooding and erosion is but one of the
many factors that plays into the entire climate
crisis. This one specific aspect deals with erosion
of the perimeter between what is land and sea.
Honing in even further, we observe a prime
example of this crisis front taking hold at the
coastline of the Gulf of Mexico (for research
purposes, specifically coastal Louisiana). The
issue at hand isn’t just how to control the rampant
erosion, but how to create a new methodology
within architectural design and implementation.
The goal is to ultimately synthesize a new form of
urbanism rooted in an architecture system
capable of mediating between natural and urban
fronts in response to coastal crisis.

The system that we are proposing is not meant
to solve all the problems that arise from coastal
flooding and erosion, as this is not our intention,
but rather it will offer a design and reallocation
potential. The system is aimed toward taking
advantages of the following: sediment transport,
flooding, changes in sea-level rise that results in
coastline erosion, and harboring wetlands. The
methods of interaction between sea, coast, edge,
and land in correlation with the system are
meant to be dependent on a mapping of both the
natural front and chosen site.

This ideal offers a new critique on the way that
architecture is often deemed ‘responsive’, as it
will need to be systematically responsive to
environmental needs (floor diversion, sediment
capture/redistribution, wetland rehabilitation,
sustainable energy) as well as intellectually
responsive to human needs (of growth and
expansion).

Rethinking Resource Infrastructure

2007-12-12T19:33:00.000-05:00

by: Natasha Harper, Katie Adee, James Baldauf

When a tribe comes to a clearing and discovers a pile of timber, two possibilities exist for providing warmth. The power operated solution is to create a campfire, enjoy the warmth of the fire and then move on. The structural solution is to create a rain-shed or wind break from the timber. [1] While the campfire solution is much more nimble and responsive, it requires the existence of additional timber when the fire is out. Today, we find ourselves in a world where the pile of timber is rapidly decreasing and in danger of running out. This calls for a new kind of solution, one that considers using resources that are renewable, and not in danger of running out and re-thinking the way we use the resources that are available. The time has come to re-evaluate our relationship with our resources. We are proposing a more hybridized system between the structural and power-operated solutions, a more sustainable solution. It becomes necessary to radically transform what it means to capture and distribute energy. Investing now in these critical issues will decrease the burden currently being placed on the planet, and will save money in the long-term. Traditional practices will become more expensive as regulations on carbon emissions continue to increase in the face of a global crisis.
Many of the problems caused by global warming originate in the melting of the arctic. Permafrost (perennially frozen soil) in the arctic has been melting at increasing speeds in recent years. Because of the sensitivity of the active layer of permafrost, a one to three flux in average ground temperature foreshadow larger trends in the global climate. As permafrost melts, the methane trapped underneath the surface is released into the atmosphere. Methane, as a greenhouse gas is thirty times more effective. However, if that methane is captured, it can be burned for use as a renewable fuel source. In order to extract the gas hydrates from the permafrost, carbon must be pumped in, the process of which, releases the methane. This process not only sequesters carbon,
it collects a renewable fuel source, and slows global warming by not allowing additional greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere. A
nomadic system that is minimally invasive is the best way to deploy a methane capturing, carbon sequestering system in the Arctic. The border of the permafrost is changing as it melts, making the most critical permafrost the discontinuous, the isolated, and the sporadic as it is melting the fastest. The ecosystems that are the most navigable and occupiable are crucial when looking at the most ideal locations for deployment of the system. [1] Reyner Banham, “The Architecture of the Well-tempered Environment” pg.19

NPR Climate Connections

2007-12-03T09:46:00.001-05:00

Another resource with plenty of information about climate change, alternative energy, and stories about the climate crisis: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=9657621

Algae Power

2007-11-29T10:18:00.001-05:00

another great one from BLDGBlog:

A proposal in Iceland for alternative energy created from algae pond gases. Be sure to check out the full range of drawings and analysis with your own presentations in mind.

Ice Cube

2007-11-29T10:14:00.000-05:00

From BLDGBlog:

Last week, New Scientist reported that a neutrino detector called IceCube, once constructed, might just do exactly that.
Because the Earth rotates, we read, distant neutrino sources – such as black holes – will be blocked at certain predictable moments by the Earth's core; piecing together all these temporary blindspots, we can then infer the shape of the core itself.
It's an absence that generates absences elsewhere.

According to The Daily Galaxy, building the IceCube is less an act of construction than a kind of archaeology in reverse; the process will consist of entombing "glass-globed sensors the size of basketballs on 1-mile-long strings, 60 sensors per string, in 80 deep holes beneath the polar surface."

For more on the IceCube and Antarctic science in general give this article in The Economist a quick read – then check out NOVA's round-up of weird detectors.
Then, if you're looking for a good book on Antarctica itself, consider picking up a copy of Terra Antarctica: Looking into the Emptiest Continent by William L. Fox (a book previously mentioned on BLDGBLOG here).

Time-based mapping

2007-11-29T10:09:00.000-05:00

Beautifully done mappings and visualizations of flight patterns by Aaron Koblin, part of the Celestial Mechanics project. Video of the animated map here.

Forum: Science and Innovation for Sustainable Development

2007-11-20T08:52:00.000-05:00

The Forum is an excellent resource for information on current research being done by people with specific technical and methodological skills. It is a clearinghouse of published work from international researchers, scientists, engineers, and social scientists working in the fields that related to issues of sustainability ranging from water and sanitation to agriculture to urbanism.

"The Forum on Science and Innovation for Sustainable Development is an attempt to outline the burgeoning field. Rather than looking broadly at sustainability, the Forum focuses on the way in which science and innovation can be conducted and applied to meet human needs while preserving the life support systems of the planet. It highlights people and programs that are studying nature-society interactions and applying the resulting knowledge to create a sustainability transition around the world."

NY Times Environment Section Online

2007-11-20T08:14:00.001-05:00

The Times Science section has a new Environment subsections that is a clearinghouse for a number of different ecology and sustainability articles.

http://www.nytimes.com/pages/science/earth/index.html

Also, be sure to take a look at their blog in our links section.

The World Technology podcast

2007-11-19T23:18:00.000-05:00

PRI and the BBC's regular radio program, The World regularly features a technology report. Many of these reports deal with sustainability, new technologies, and green issues. Their technology podcast conveniently packages them all in short audio programs which are all available for download at their website.

Some highlights below:

May 13, 2007
Who needs a car that goes over 25 mph anyhow? The all-electric car is back! What's so great about biofuels? Oil issues in Iraq an Russia. Checking in with the Iraqi blogger Riverbend. And two stories about HIV in Mexico and South Africa. Download mp3

May 4, 2007
The UN’s panel on climate change issues their third report this year: This one looks at what role technology can play. What about ocean sequestration to remove carbon from the air? Will it work? How Germans are slashing energy use. Biofuels in Denmark. A discussion about design concepts to help the other 90 percent. And, the world is moving too fast! (It’s scientifically proven.) Download mp3

April 6, 2007
A new report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change looks at the impacts of global warming. This podcast explores how climate change is affecting our world: from Africa, to South America, to Europe. And what global warming could mean in your neck of the woods. Download mp3

February 23, 2007
The power of the ocean: Wave Energy takes off in Portugal. A high-tech solution to, sadly, abandoned babies in Italy. Work from home? Ever get lonely? No longer the case in France. And cars are catching on in Vietnam. Download mp3

January 26, 2007
Gas hydrates... hot new fuel source or environmental menace? A blanket of pollution covers a village in rural China. And the role of immigration in American hi-tech startups. Plus the return of The Plastic People of the Universe. Download mp3

Desertec

2007-11-19T21:44:00.000-05:00

" The Trans-Mediterranean Renewable Energy Cooperation (TREC) is an initiative that campaigns for the transmission of clean power from deserts to Europe. Since it was founded in 2003 by The Club of Rome, the Hamburg Climate Protection Foundation and the National Energy Research Center of Jordan (NERC), it has developed the DESERTEC Concept and researched it in cooperation with the German Aerospace Center (DLR). Now TREC is making this concept a reality in cooperation with people in politics, industry and the world of finance.

The DESERTEC Concept of TREC is to boost the generation of electricity and desalinated water by solar thermal power plants and wind turbines in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) and to transmit the clean electrical power via High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) transmission lines throughout those areas and as from 2020 (with overall just 10-15% transmission losses) to Europe. The technologies that are needed to realise the DESERTEC concept are already developed and some of them have been in use for decades. Several studies by the German Aerospace Center (DLR) confirm the viability of this concept and the usefulness of realising it very soon."

Circle of Blue

2007-11-12T23:35:00.000-05:00

This past week's edition of On the Media, the weekly WNYC program on media issues featured a segment on Circle of Blue, a coalition of journalists who donate their time and resources to produce news stories about water issues, drought, and desertification. It's an extraordinary group doing important and fascinating work that calls attention to stories about the water crisis.

The segment is available on their website: http://www.circleofblue.org/

Listening to the segment, I was reminded of the potential of the media to bring visibility to a set of issues and raise their level of prominence in the culture. The notion of constructing the conditions of visibility is certainly something that all the projects in the studio have the potential for as well. Many of you are dealing with fairly fluid and ephemeral forces and effects and more than a few of you are dealing with the movement of an edge or other aspects of a crisis front that may benefit from the responsive potentials of architecture as well as architecture's capacity for institutionalization, for marking position and establishing new datums.

The site also provides a rich history of journalism and journalists bringing visbility to drought issues going back to Dorothea Lang and the dust bowl and beyond. This is an excellent resource especially for those interested in water issues, but really for all you.

[C]Space Pavilion at the AA

2007-11-12T12:40:00.000-05:00

"Architects Alan Dempsey and Alvin Huang have won a competition to design a temporary, freestanding pavilion that will be built in front of the Architectural Association school in London early next year.

The competition celebrates the 10th anniversary of the AA’s Design Research Laboratory. It was open to all students and graduates of the DRL and called for designs that made innovative use of Fibre C, a glass fibre-reinforced concrete panelling material produced by Rieder.

Dempsey and Huang have set up a blog to chart their progress as they prepare to build their [C]Space pavilion."

via dezeen.com