1. Design toolbox for biodiversity by noemie benoit

DESIGN FOR

SPECIAL EDITION

BIODIVERS ITY TU DELFT 2011 - EXPLORELAB 11 - NOÉMIE BENOIT

DRAW ME BIODIVERSITY ! EVEN THE FLAPPING OF THE BUTTERFLIES MIGHT CAUSE A HURRICANE.

ONLY ONE SPECIES POISONS WHAT IT EATS : THE HUMAN. LET’S MORGAGE EARTH !

THE WORST CITY IS THE BEST OPPORTUNITY.

DESPITE OF IRENE, JENNIFER DESTROYED NYC IN ONE DAY...

TECHNOSPHERE BIOSPHERE INTERFACES

THE ECOLOGICAL PRODUCTIVE INFRASTRUCTURES OF THE PORT AUTHORITY BUS TERMINAL - NYC THE PABT IS THE FIRST AND LAST VISITED PLACE OF NYC. THE BUS SHELTER IS THE GATE TOWARDS NATURE.

BIBLIOGRAPHY Soylent Green (1973 USA). Drama. Director : Richard Fleischer.

Fiction of 1973 relating a possible scenario of New York City in 2022… People eating seemingly plastic pills. Bulldozers evacuating striking people. Churches hosting billions of poor and sick people. This 40-year-old grave story is still craving to happen. It’s a movie about the environmental crisis while the crisis was only at it’s early premises. This precursor reflection is revealing obviously and dramatically the limits of our system of society with its disconnected relationship with nature. Can be chocking. Not advised to children -12.

For Ismaïl. The hope I have in Humanity, with this research, is the one you have missed to live among us.

It is 6.30am. An electronic voice rings out from the wall to announce to Janna the program of her day. It is spring; Janna is running into the fields of flowers to join her Grandma near the peach tree. It is the season when everything blooms and blossoms. The throng of songs from the flying birds fills the air along with an aroma of nature… The voice rings out again to invite Janna to get up. Difficult to let this dream go away, after the past stories of Grandma yesterday. How nice were these old pictures and how wonderful were these old times on Earth… ‘It’s really time to get up, if not, I will be late and have penalties tonight…’ The day begins. Janna jumps out of her bed and goes to say hi to her Mum who has cautiously prepared the daily food pills. Janna takes time to eat every pill in a different order everyday. Maybe she would taste their differences one day… Her Mum is organizing the apartment through her laptop. She looks at her. ‘Funny that Mum chose to have a child like me, why did she choose me to have these original red hairs? Why did she choose me to be smarter than average? They know how to do these kind of things but they are even not able to make life on Earth coming back like before !!!’ ‘Mum is always sick, but she says, it is normal…!’ ‘Oh, I need to go to school, I will be late if I continue to let my mind wander!’ ‘Mum does not have enough money for me to follow school online as the other children can, I am very happy because I can meet my friends everyday and we can chat without being listened and checked by the controllers.’ ‘I think Grandma was very lucky to live in a time where streets were joyful; now, it is very grey and sad. People are stressed and zombies because they take lots of special pills. Mum says that it is for The Sickness. Bodies are faded and tired like her. Grandma says that it was called Allergy before…’

FOREWORD

powerful and invited people to test and adopt the food pills. It was very cheap and declared much better than normal food. Everyone went for it… After a certain time, people began to get sicker, with increased cancer and new diseases. The illness proved that it was not healthy… but it was too late. During that time, fruits and vegetables became so expensive that nobody could afford them anymore. They have become more and more rare. Grandma said that for her, it was normal to eat two fruits per day! And everybody else too! I have never tasted one…’ ‘Grandma said that they could do something but they did not take it serious. And then, it was too late...’

05-12-2050 Janna Junior n°2

‘My city is very silent even if it is a big city. There are no birds, no flowers, sometimes, if I have more time, I take a longer path going to school and I can stop a few minutes catching sight of the fields of pollination. There, men are hanging around old trees and they touch every part with some substance that makes the trees flower. Sometimes, they even have fruits. But this area is protected, we cannot approach it, it is watched. Mum says that it would be the best job ever for me. Much better than working in the pill factory.’ ‘Grandma said that it has not been always like that. They had the choice, they knew about it, they could do something about it. But people were lazy, busy with their own consumption and their own comfort that they forgot to care about the environment. They could not understand why bees were important for example, why nature was fundamental for their lives.’ ‘Then, Grandma continued in a whisper: then, there was a war. Between the pharmaceutical lobbies and the people. But the lobbies were very

E T N A W D LAN

NG FOR STORI EAR L C U N L L A SM A FUELS FOR S IUM N E L L I M W FE CONTACT A - AREV L’ÉLYSÉE O AN - TEPC NAOTO K

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Foreword Content Introduction

8 System of biodiversity It is impossible to ever know biodiversity.

Draw me the biodiversity! Are we living or are we surviving? It is not about intelligence, it is about consciousness.

12 The four principles of biodiversity Maybe one day, rats will save the world...

Even the flapping of the butterflies might cause a hurricane. The rainforest needs a desert. Evolution is a natural genetically modifying system.

16 The three understandings of biodiversity Biodiversity is an onion.

‘If the bee disappears, 4 years remain for Humans to live on Earth...’ ‘Hello Planet? Let’s make a deal’

18 The crisis of biodiversity Only one species poisons what it eats : the human.

Supermarkets fabricate tomatoes. Let’s mortgage Earth! Your grand-grand-grand child might never see...

Research question

31 The urban ecosystem The worst city is the best opportunity.

Ingredients for urban recipes. Camping in Manhattan! Who wins? Balcony vs rooftop?

40 The case study The grey matter exhales.

CONTENT

The Port Authority Bus Terminal octopus attacks. The contamination spreads.

The conditions of biodiversity for design

55 Design application (on patterns) Despite of Irene, Jennifer destroyed NYC in one day...

Central park on top of infrastructures? The attraction park manages water ecologically. The delirious machine is a bus tree. The PABT is THE first and last visited place of NYC. The abri is the gate towards nature.

Conclusion : The Creative Session

The act of designing - The end

Thanks to

At the very beginning, today’s crisis of biodiversity has been questioning me as a person. Then, more and more as a designer. Design is everywhere around us. Everything is designed. By nature and/or by people. Design shapes the world, people’s lives, behaviors and minds. Thus, designers play an immense role in making the world run sustainably. The motivation of this study originates from this fascination. On one hand, the crisis of biodiversity raises the limits of the biodiversity system. These limits are reached because of the relationship of Humans with the whole system. Let’s first have a look to it. The system of biodiversity covers the global complex system of life on Earth ; bio-logy (life) and diversity. We, as humans, are part of this system called the Biosphere. Moreover, our manmade world (called Technosphere) is also part of this system. In hierarchical terms, the rules of the biosphere apply to the technosphere. Our act of designing predominantly relates to the manmade world : cities, objects, habitat, etc (Technosphere). However, the technosphere has always been driven since biblical times by a desire to dominate Nature*. Humans aim to control the biosphere while the biosphere is the system to which they comply with. Consequently, the relationship in our predominant culture, between Human and Nature always has been an issue and is mainly causing the crisis faced today. I therefore state that the act of designing, which positions the Human within the natural environment, should occur at the interface between Biosphere and Technosphere. Exploring this border a s a designer is my fascination. On another hand, in order to explore this border condition, it is necessary to translate the complex system of biodiversity into a set of conditions. They will constitute specific design tools. This approach reveals great opportunities to design an active, respectful and conscious interface between people

INTRODUCTION and nature. As a result, the technosphere could be integrated as a truly appreciating part of the biosphere. This investigation focuses on the most extreme manmade world : the city. The design methodology inherited of the biodiversity system is experimented on the most technosphere-driven typology, critical yet potential : the infrastructures. The transformation for 2050 of the Port Authority Bus Terminal in New York City illustrates new possible features between human and nature.

* Biosphere-Technosphere issued from the definition of Industrial Ecology http://ie.leidendelft.nl/what-is-ie/ TU Delft & Leiden University publication. *This argument is developed in the essay “Design as a change agent for sustainability” p76

After all, the translation of the biodiversity system into design guidelines offers a better understanding of the whole system we are taking part. The concluding Creative Session has demonstrated the validity of the biodiversity conditions as creative design tools with 15 different designers. As a result, designers are more autonomous, conscious and responsible in the act of designing, especially great interfaces between people and nature.

THE SYSTEM OF BIODIVERSITY

Life is diverse and complex. We are as much a part of it as we are a product of it. Due to it’s intricate complexity it is hard and even impossible for us to ever fully understand it. By creating models, we simplify the system in order to get a better understanding. In this article, a representation is given for a better perception of the topic of biodiversity. With the intention to explore it as a designer, the Human’s consciousness is at the focus of this representation. IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO EVER KNOW BIODIVERSITY.

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Our Human perspective is interesting in that sense because of the limited consciousness we as Humans have of the system and the complexity of our own being. The ability to see the system is different for each of us. Therefore, the representation which is explored in this study, depends on the humans’ different levels of perception of the biodiversity system. Everyone knows their primary needs : feeding, breathing and shelter. These are instinctive

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Therefore the representation of biodiversity is not easy. Can we represent diversity at a given time ? Biodiversity is not only about the number of species or the diversity of species but it is also defined by their relationships and the ecosystems hosting them. Is it possible to be conscious of these complex relationships ? Moreover everyone being an actor within the system, one therefore has a specific view on the complexity of Life.

If I ask you, who is the first on Earth from the chicken or the egg to have existed, nobody is able to answer. Because all of the system is extremely linked and complex. Cause-consequence are fused together. It is exactly what happens in the system at a certain level : all circles begin to overlap, mix and link themselves. These relationships are scientifically called the ‘web of life’. This web of life is unlimited, evolving over time and we know only a few percent of it because of its complexity.

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DRAW ME THE BIODIVERSITY !

and are directly related to survival. They are also known as common sense. Every child you would ask: “What do you need to live ?” would be able to answer. This is the first level of consciousness and is illustrated by a circle around the Human. Then, if I ask you the question, what do you need in order to feed yourself or to be sheltered, you will answer with some products. This is a second level of consciousness, well-known of everyone. Furthermore, if I ask you: “what do you need in order to get this product ?” You will answer by another product. This becomes more complex because everything depends on many parameters. However, the more the parameters are in play for having good food, the less you know them. The different circles of answers constitute different steps of awareness, knowledge and consciousness. The more people are educated and aware, the more they know the parameters and the existence of the outer circles. The more specialized in a domain (with their job for example) they are, the more they know what the outer circles contain on that specific topic.

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Until the 80s, we talk about the ‘protection of Nature’. The concept of biodiversity was born in 1986 that will become ‘the conservation of biodiversity’. In 1992, the Earth Summit* of Rio admitted the definition of the word : Biodiversity is the variability of living organisms from any origin and from any ecosystem, terrestrial as well as aquatic ; and the ecological systems they are living in. Thus, it includes the diversity of species, the diversity in between species as well as the diversity of ecosystems. ‘Bio’ means biology, similar to Life and ‘Diversity’, then, the variety of Life. From the philosophical term of ‘Nature’, even having some religious connotations, the word ‘biodiversity’ offers a more scientific vision of Earth life. This life, aged 3,85 billions of years, has been able to create more than one billion species, for which almost all hav become extinct. Thus, only 1% remains. After every massive extinction on Earth, 10 millions years have been necessary to make a diversity of life equal to the previous one. Diversity of life is consequently not easily measurable because it depends on time and evolution. Biodiversity is therefore what has existed and what will exist. The system of life is evolutive, extremely active and changing every second.

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IT IS NOT ABOUT INTELLIGENCE, IT IS ABOUT CONSCIOUSNESS.

LEVELS OF CONSCIOUSNESS

This representation of biodiversity positions the human in the web of life with the purpose of making him conscious about his own specific scope of impact. It makes it possible to see on which direct and indirect elements we are depending on in order to survive. We are taking part of this complex system working with an infinite web of life. Nevertheless, this system is structured by certain important rules. The next article will explore this point.

HIGH SPECIFIC SPECIFIC EDUCATED SMART HIGH AVERAGE

To conclude this part, I would like to enlighten our position as Human within biodiversity. We are part of the system and therefore we have an impact on it. As tiny as we may seem, we are a well-represented species within the web of life. Therefore, knowing the complexity and the fragility of your position in the system raises questions such as: How do we act appropriately ? How do we behave appropriately? How do we design appropriately? Everyone of us has a different scope of impact: by being an inhabitant of a special context, by having a job and by being in connection with other species and our environments. For the designer, the scope of impact could be his ability to work with different elements in the web of life. How would you live, work or design knowing your own spectrum?

COMMON

BIBLIOGRAPHY La biodiversité. Yann Arthus-Bertrand Editions de la Martinière. 2010. In French.

One of the first books introducing biodiversity with a very accessible content. This album presents different facets of the biodiversity system. The services offered by the biodiversity to humans, with bees for example, the menaces on biodiversity as the pollution or the industrial agriculture. Furthermore, the protection of biodiversity’s chapter demonstrates the limits of human attitude towards the Biosphere with the seed bank, the zoos and our inability to control biodiversity. Thus, to prevent this critical failure from happening, some recommendations are discussed concerning our behaviours and the actions to undertake to live in a respectful connection with biodiversity right now. This book is moreover illustrated with wonderful shots of wild life, natural landscapes and unreleased pictures from Yann Arthus-Bertrand foundation. This emotional collection gives rhythm to every double page, offering a different topic developed in 20 lines of text. The volume gives a substantial representation of biodiversity because of its small stories and precise insights.

SCOPE OF DESIGN EXAMPLES

*Earth Summit, Convention on biological diversity CBD, signed in Rio 1992 *p10-32 La biodiversité, naissance d’un nouveau mot. La biodiversité. Yann Arthus-Bertrand. Editions La Martinière

CHECK ME OUT*

* plank-ton : from the Greek adjective πλαγκτός (“wanderer” and “drifter”); 1. plankton are any drifting organisms (animals, plants, archaea, or bacteria) that inhabit the pelagic zone of oceans, seas, or bodies of fresh water. 2. plankton are defined by their ecological niche rather than phylogenetic or taxonomic classification. THEY PROVIDE THE CRUCIAL SOURCE OF FOOD TO ALMOST ALL LARGER, MORE FAMILIAR AQUATIC ORGANISMS SUCH AS FISH AND CETACEA.

THE FOUR PRINCIPLES OF BIODIVERSITY The principles of the biodiversity system are more about differences than similarities. The diversity applies to living organisms as well as environments, that we will also call here ecosystems. This variety complies with the absolute condition : the ‘risk cover for Life’. Understanding these very first principles of biodiversity enlightens our act of designing in the perspective to make Life resilient infinitely. MAYBE ONE DAY, RATS WILL SAVE THE WORLD... The first condition of biodiversity is the diversity of living organisms. As mentioned in the previous article, all these organisms are connected to each other with the webs of life. Every matter is food for another one. Nothing is trash in this system. However, the links are more than only functioning on a predator model (one is eaten by another, itself eaten by another one, etc). Though, it is a system of cooperation. A species can host another species or can serve to another species. For example, the bee pollinates plants and trees and the bee is thus responsible of the presence of fruits on the tree. The relationship between two organisms can also be participative : one is producing energy and this energy is used by another one. It is a system of mutual benefit, it is a symbiotic relationship. This system is evolving all the time, as well as the webs of life themselves. Changes happen every second. It is for this reason that diversity of living organisms is the first condition. It gives choice. Thus, new unpredictable possibilities are facilitated in these variable chains. Freedom of choice for future generations and species cannot be planned. Therefore, it is conditioned by diversity.* The future course of history can select new possibilities. Diversity guarantees a ‘futuring’ perspective.* These living-organisms are responsible in the stability of an environment. Stability is only achieved if a diversity of functions is supported by different species. The more species support particular functions, the more stable an ecosystem is.

Fortunately, Franck is foreman, Patrick is specialist in joints while Albert is a finishing expert! My new house will be possible thanks to all of us.

BIBLIOGRAPHY Les sols du monde pourront-ils nourrir 9 milliards d’humains ? Yves Coquet and Alain Ruellan. Art Equestre, 2010.

What is special about this pocket book ? Its micro size for an amazing trip into the ground ! You will know everything about the soil and particularly the scientific part in 2 minutes. Moreover, you will understand why the soil is one of the most precious parts of the Earth. The cooperation chain between bacteria and small organisms to the breathable atmosphere that we benefit today is explained in few chapters. Despite the very scientific story, design recommendations are offered for thinking of the suburban territory in a productive way. To read in 3 coffee breaks.

*Causual and conditional thinking. Urban ecology, scale and identity. Taeke de Jong. *Generators of diversity, Death and Life of American Cities. Jane Jacobs. New York Random House, 1961. *Ecological tolerance. Urban Ecology, scale and identity. Taeke de Jong. *Design futuring : sustainability, ethics and new practice. Tony Fry. Berg Publishers, 2008.

EVEN THE FLAPPING OF THE BUTTERFLIES MIGHT CAUSE A HURRICANE. The stable state of an environment is the second condition of biodiversity. Every environment is able to handle a certain range of disturbances. If they are too numerous, the ecosystem will be damaged. If disturbances are too little compared to its right range, it will also collapse. Every environment has its own range : this is called resilience. This range is an equilibrium within the characteristics of this environment ; it can be for example very wet or very dry, etc. In that case, if there is too much water or not enough water, it will be a disturbance. The chances of survival of species within this ecosystem vary depending on the rate of the disturbance. The ‘juste milieu’ of an ecosystem is an optimum point of perfect conditions. It is very different for every environment ; what is disturbance for one milieu might not be the case for another one. Stopping a disturbance might be a disturbance in itself. Moreover, a huge disruption might totally destroy an ecosystem ; it needs a certain time for recovering or it might be destroyed forever. In this perspective, it is relevant to introduce the next condition of biodiversity ; the diversity of environments. PS : According to Van Leeuwen, it is easier for us as designers to break down (thus, equalising), then create them (differentiating) and at the same time, it is easier to introduce changes (disturbing) than to guarantee duration (steering).*

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BIBLIOGRAPHY Solutions locales pour un désordre global. DVD. Director Coline Serreau. Actes Sud, 2010.

A movie investigating solutions on all the continents for new agriculture modes in reaction to environmental issues. The aim: food security for all. Actors with different perspectives are interviewed and talk about their work and their engagement to make change happen. This resistance to protect biodiversity is linked to social and economic consequences. This film is seminal in its field. It is a MUST SEE especially because of its optimistic and inspirational character. From the same director, La Belle Verte, 1996, science-fiction ecological story and reflection about our modern ways of life. Great movie to watch with family.

THE RAINFOREST NEEDS A DESERT.

Today, I organise an expedition downtown in the prairie, - green twigs for nest - worms for children - cotton for keeping warm - ...

Tonight, we go out in the dark forest,

- meeting the new colony to insure our protection - drinking fresh mapple syrup to store energy for winter - collecting wood for closing our home - ...

The diversity of organisms is highly linked to the diversity of environments. If one species colonizes divers environments, this species adapts itself to different conditions. Over time, this first species might mutate by adaptating to its environment. Different species might be born from the first condition. If we imagine the contrary : lots of different species live in the same environment. This environment can be transformed and might evolve because of its inhabitants. Therefore, interactions between living organisms and non-living organisms operate in environments. These are supporting the webs of life and their complexity. Biodiversity between species and between specimens within any species is multiplied by the number of contexts they live in.* The diversity of ecosystems is necessary and constitutes the third condition of biodiversity. The diversity of places will keep the complexity of the life webs and the future possibilities for evolution and allow changes to happen. Ecosystems are generators of diversity in themselves, but they also cooperate together. The web of ecosystems is of the same complexity as the one between species. One environment can protect another or serve to host special processes needed by another ecosystem. The difference between a forest and a prairie might illustrate this condition easily. The two milieus are a-priori very much different and identifiable. However, after some disturbance, the forest might loose itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s density and itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s main trees; while the prairie, without for example the presence of certain species, might become very dense and host new kinds of vegetation, trees, bushes, etc. Both are changing but they might tend to look the same. Their differences are less obvious, they are less differentiated. More equality means less diversity. (Birds hosted by very high trees or animals needing darkness might not live there anymore, while bigger animals hosted in the prairie might not live there anymore.) Diversity is lost in this sense. Moreover, if an environment does not handle changes, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s neighbor might handle it better. The diversity of environments ensures the possibility of evolution. If every part becomes more similar, the Earth is less resilient in front of changes. Every region has its own range of diversity. Diversity functions at every scale. This condition will be explored further in this research. Finally, this principle of ecosystem diversity is a condition that supports to the last but not least condition of biodiversity : the risk cover for life.

EVOLUTION IS A NATURAL GENETICALLY MODIFYING SYSTEM. The previous principles of biodiversity are all participating to support this condition. The risk cover for life is the effort of the Life to be infinitely resilient. In its evolution, life survived any catastrophe because there were always species or specimen able to adapt to the new circumstances.* The multitude of organisms in their multitude of environments have taken opportunities, opened new niches, transformed, migrated in order to survive. Problems have been roots of evolution and the diversity conditioned their ability of adaptation. Therefore, decreasing biodiversity increases risk. Risk that with few possibilities, Life cannot have enough openings to mutate and find new ways to survive. As seen previously, less diversity means less chances. Consequently, more risks that Life dies. This need for diversity for the risk cover of life is also valid in design, economy, business, and social issues. Thus, diversity protects Life and chances of Life. As biodiversity is a continuous changing system, the condition of diversity is a condition of the system.

BIBLIOGRAPHY Urban ecology, scale and identity, Taeke de Jong. TU Delft publication, 2008.

This research has been one departure point for my own investigation. The very scientific view on ecology and design together brings the act of designing in another sphere of consciousness. This reflection enlightens the choices we make as designers in the context of urban ecology. It is fundamental for understanding territories and dealing with them ; scale of ecologies, risk cover for life, identityâ&#x20AC;Ś These conditions are the very first parameters of design. Nowadays, it is essential to be familiar with them to understand biodiversity and to be aware of our responsibility as designers. My own research has been challenged continuously by these ecological design parameters. My attempt has been to explore them in design and in graphic representation, essential to these almost mathematical conditions.

The coming era is already affecting our inhabitants, everyone is testing his own methods to resist the coming global warming effects, hopefully, we wish they will all work!

THE THREE UNDERSTANDINGS OF BIODIVERSITY

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The system of biodiversity along with this representation works at different levels of organisation. I am assuming the Human is the centre point. The first stage is about Products. These Products are delivered through a Process. The Processes come from a Service. And Services are offered by the Ecosystems. In this sense, an ecosystem is a complex set of relationships among the living resources, habitats, and residents of an area.* The ecosystems vary greatly in size and the elements that make them up, but each is a functioning unit of nature. An ecosystem can be a single tree or an entire region. In relation to the diagram, the need for diversity and stability makes more sense. The ecosystem is the milieu where we live. It determines then the well-being of what it contains, consequently, us. However, the contrary is not true. When an ecosystem is healthy, scientists say it is sustainable. This means that all the elements live in tension with each other, with stable exchanges, which makes them capable of reproducing themselves. It is the ability to sustain the same diversity for future generations. The definition for nature is the same as for people. Finally, it questions the dependency of human on the ecosystems.

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Taking back the biodiversity system in three main dimensions addresses the very organised complexity of the system as well as the multitude of entities that it encompasses. The Human is positioned as a small unit of the whole system. It suggests to draw, to discuss and to enlighten different possible exchanges between Humans and the biosphere. More than underlining the fragility and the dependency of Humans on the whole for its survival, the argument here is to value and expand the interface between human and nature.

‘IF THE BEE DISAPPEARS, 4 YEARS REMAIN FOR HUMANS TO LIVE ON EARTH...’

If I say People-Planet-Profit, it reminds you of the famous three pillars of the triangle of sustainability. This model shows them equal, as there would be no hierarchy to it. However, in this present representation, people are the centre point and planet is around people. This new model sets a hierarchy by redefining the position of human within the complex system. Therefore, the question of how to deal with being a small part of a broad system is raised.

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I call these possibilities of relationship, a valuable interface of exchange. The term ‘profit’ could be also used. However, it sounds more economically driven (within the society nowadays) or philosophically driven.. It is preferable in this research to talk about an interface.

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Since Biblical beginnings, the relationship between Human and Nature has been separated : us and the world. However, it is easy to imagine another type of connection, which could be giving and taking. Finally, ‘being part’ of nature would see a fusion between people and nature in terms of interface.

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This perspective enlightens the interface between people and planet and the type of interactions they will have together. Exchanges between human and nature are in between the outer circles and the inner point. This interface is thus varying according to the different type of exchanges between people and nature. How are they connecting together?

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The cooperation character of the biodiversity system exists because of its webs of life. Every element (living organisms, resources, etc) is linked with one another. Everyone is a link to each other and everyone constitutes a key point of the system. Everyone participates together. It is also a participation system. However, this also means a perfect interdependency within the system. Therefore, if one link is affected, it is the entire system, which is affected too. This occurs with more or less impact in time (some problems can happen in centuries while others in seconds) and especially with more or less consciousness of Humans (i.e. it can take time before having the effect of what happened 50 years before). The effect of a certain change is seen with more or less evidence. This is called feedback loop. This understanding should warn us to be careful and to reconsider our way of interacting with nature.

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“HELLO PLANET? LET’S MAKE A DEAL”

THE LIMITS OF BIODIVERSITY : THE CRISIS The complexity of the system contains its own limits. Its invisible links, principles and conditions enhance humans to indefinitely overrule the biosphere. However, I stand up for another perspective on exchanges between the technosphere and biosphere. I defend the possibility of diverse interfaces between people and nature: valuing, experiencing and participating to the whole as a conscious act. For arguing this vision, four aspects of the biodiversity crisis are discussed below. The ecosystems are damaged by our consumption lifestyles. The low awareness is responsible for the separation between people and nature. Human manipulation leads to the market of biodiversity being worse-off. The short versus long-term perspective needs to be inverted to embrace limits and run a world with a sustainable limitless futures. The act of designing should nourish the risk cover for life’s creativity. ONLY ONE SPECIES POISONS WHAT IT EATS : THE HUMAN. In 1962, Rachel Carson with the famous book Silent Spring documented what the impact of pesticides were having on the natural world. ‘Local solutions for global disorder’ recounts the financial and productive mechanism behind the use of insect killers after the Second World War. However, until today, only small actions have been taken against them. Killing insects from all types and changing the life webs of the soils impacts the vegetation, responsible for mutations, etc. This is one example that still sparks off controversy. The extinction of some species, either from the terrestrial milieu or from aquatic is of great impact on webs of life. It modifies the ecosystem and its network of life. Then, the soil, the humid zone, forests for example have been decreasing in quality and not able to perform their services anymore in a healthy way. The sickness of the ecosystems is impacting directly the products used by people later in the chain. But the Humans are crucial in this chain because their impact is too large of a disturbance for the ecosystem to mutate with it. As Humans do not have an ecosystem approach, a vision of the global picture, it might endanger its own species. Huge catastrophes have happened on Earth this last decade and they witness the fragility and the crisis of the Biosphere system. The famous statement ‘The day where the bee will disappear, the human will have 4 more years to live on Earth’ might not be so far today from the worse scenario imagined. Already announced a decade ago by some scientists and beekeepers, it is a whole chain today, which is in danger of collapsing. Bees are responsible of 90% of the worldwide pollination process that assures the reproduction of plants and thus the production of fruits and vegetables. However, as happens now, pesticides and other parasite species like the Asiatic hornet in Europe are responsible of their vanishing and massive death in certain regions of the globe. Pollination is one of the most important services Nature provides to Humans. The foreword of this research gives you a small preview of what could happen if bees would disappear.

This example illustrates that our behaviors are damaging the ecosystems that we inhabit. Would humans be able to adopt an ecosystem approach with more information ? Would humans be able to think better about their behaviors and lifestyles then ?

BIBLIOGRAPHY The vanishing of the bees. DVD Plan Bee. The co-operative & Dogwoof. 2009. This fascinating movie is about the disappearance of the bees all around the planet. Experts, scientists, researchers and beekeepers are interviewed and witness the scary issue they are facing. This ‘Colony Collapse Disorder’ sounds like an exaggerated tale but is real. Being responsible of the pollination, it is more than an anxious situation today. Finding why they are collapsing, how to prevent and recover their heath is discussed and enlightens our impact as Humans with pesticides and other disturbances on natural environments.

Silent Spring. Rachel Carson. 1962. Mariner books, NYC. ‘The classic that launched the environmental movement’. Rachel Carson has wrote about DDT, other poisonous substances used by industries. She has in a sense, woke up the entire world to take position for caring about the environment. However, never really applauded for the great author she was, it has also taken time for recognizing the damages caused by pesticides and even nowadays, they are still used. Very scientific and technical book with amazing arguments, examples and stories.

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SUPERMARKETS FABRICATE TOMATOES. Nowadays, it is half of the worldwide population that lives in the cities. The urban lifestyle does not permit us to have a conscience of what happens on the planet in terms of feeding, stuff production and energy resources. Unfortunately, the urban ecosystem implies distance between urban citizen and the natural environment. The food consumed into the city is produced outside the city and delivered into supermarkets. Since these products are made in suburban areas or farther regions,large amounts of energy is required to bring them to the city. The only idea we have about all these products we need is the bill at the end of the month. Everything is far physically and mentally from people. In our Western societies, the links we are depending on are hidden for more consumption. Cause and consequence are separated. We are not conscious about the system and the webs of life. We neither have a clear representation of the world we are living in nor the impact we have. Water cycle or pollination have been assigned no value in the past, even though life would be impossible without these services. This new awareness means that when citizens are involved, they can better understand the chain of consequence that may be associated with particular choices and activities. There are two ideas here, people being aware of the whole picture and feeling responsible for their impact and people functioning in a sustainable way. A child of 10 years old who does not know that tomatoes in the supermarket come from a plant is the illustration of the knowledge gap between people and nature. Rethinking the interface between people and nature is about defining and giving value, involving physical and mental experience as well as participation to the whole system we are using.

BIBLIOGRAPHY Le jour où l’abeille disparaîtra. Jean-Christophe Vié. Arthaud, Paris 2008.

The author, specialist in the heart of action and leading the Worldwide Union for Nature, wellknown for its read list of species in extinction, is taking us on his adventures with nature… He enlightens the complex life webs of our environment from oceans to forests. He shows the complex relationships that exist between Human and other species and how these relationships are being destroyed by our behaviors. Wild-life habitats and ecosystems are damaged with pollution, displacing species and unbalancing the whole system. Reading this book like a roman in the heart of our own survival. This book has the merit to tell us a lot about the biosphere and our own scope of actions within this fabulous system.

BIBLIOGRAPHY Nos enfants nous accuseront. (Food beware. The French (organic) revolution). DVD Editor Jean-Paul Jaud. J+B sequences. 2008

INTERVIEWS Beekeeping : meeting David Graves and Timothee O’Neal, NYC rooftops. October 2010.

Brooklyn is a low neighborhood with lots of gardens while Manhattan is very high. The environment is less friendly to beekeeping. However... The legalization of beekeeping in NYC occured in March 2010. Then, rooftops and gardens hosted more and more hives. But the problem of bee food has become an issue. Bees might be seen on markets and streets because there is not enough green areas to grab pollen. Brooklyn does not know this issue. However, in October 2010, sirup dropped by a factory was appealing all the Brooklyn bees and beekeepers found in their beehives instead of pollen, an easier sugar. Other observations might be relevant : if you move some beehives, it causes the disorder of the colony. They seem not finding back their hive. And when you know that bees communicate with electromagnetic waves...

One of the greatest movies I have seen in years. The film recounts the courageous initiative of one municipality, that of Barjac in the Gard (France), which has investigated organic produce for all school meals, financing the extra cost from the municipality budget. The heavy title is hiding the fabulous adventure of this village. Departing from a small change for the municipal canteens, it is the whole system which is impacted : the education and the awareness of the children, the awareness and the discussions between the parents, the experiences of everyone in their jobs with pesticides and chemicals, etc. Different points of view are brought at the same table and choices are discussed. The film starts at Unesco at a symposium of leading medical experts. The goal : not to simply record the devastation, but to find immediate ways to act, so that tomorrow our children won’t accuse us of abandoning them. It is an amazing lesson of hope and life about how we shape our world and we have already the tools for doing so.

THEN, YOU THERE

YOUR CORN FLAKES COME FROM BRASIL.

YOUR TOMATOES COME FROM SPAIN.

YOUR FUEL COMES FROM CANADA.

YOUR SHOWER GEL COMES FROM INDONESIA.

U SAY THAT WHAT HAPPENS E DOES NOT CONCERN YOU ?

LET’S MORTGAGE EARTH. The greatest quality of nature is that it is ‘free’. Until now, nature has been ‘protected’. However, within Western societies, everything more or less has had to acquire a monetary value to be still considered as part of the system and to be appreciated. At the decisive moment of the economic crisis and global change crisis, the United Nations has declared the year 2010 as year of the biodiversity. An interesting enlightenment but a great masquerade as Agnès Bertrand and Françoise Degert described the story on France Culture Radio.* Subtitle : The Finance invading the Biosphere. The United Nations and other organisations (themselves sponsored by worldwide banks and large multinationals) sponsored the Millenium Ecosystem Assesment. The MEA is an international study on the state of the ecosystems between 2001 and 2005. This report enlightens the notion of ‘services’ offered by ecosystems to human communities. Lists are constituted, from the pollination to the distribution of potable water including also the cultural value. This document studies 31 ecosystems. It is classified in 4 categories : supporting services, provisioning services, regulating services and cultural services. It describes also the degradation of the natural environment reducing then its capacity to provide ecosystem services. At a first sight, this study is very valuable for better understanding the mechanisms of the Biosphere and to have a better view on the web of life around humans. However, this very anthropocentric view reflects also the real destiny of this information. The silent partners of this report are supporting an economic argumentation of the biodiversity to ‘consider’ it better. If something costs, it is easier to classify it, to protect it or not and to exchange it. This question leads to the second ‘seminal work’, the Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity. The TEEB dates from 2007. It is Paan Sukhdev, the responsible of the international markets of the Deustche Bank in Bombay that has been in charge of this program of environmental counter. This report is a complex system to calculate the monetary value of an ‘ecosystemic service’. It has been presented at the Earth Summit of Nagoya in October 2010. However, the high worldwide spheres did not wait for it until then, but there has been a first symposium in London in July 2010, The Business of Biodiversity. A large call to multinationals. The document promises to companies around 1 100 millions dollars of supplementary benefits within 2050 thanks to ‘ecosystemic services’… Moreover, in May 2010 in Nairobi, a working group of the CBD (Convention for Biological Diversity, same as in Rio in 1992) proposes the creation of the Intergovernmental science-policy platform on biodiversity and ecosystem services (IPBES). This group is constituted by experts, multinationals, finance people but the range of their action will be also political. The conference and biodiversity protection negotiated in Nagoya by nations, companies and organisations have not been ambitious and come back on lots of decisions decided in Rio 1992. The IPBES has been investigated by a supranational power with a strategic plan covering a period till 2020. The tools for biodiversity will be thus determined by the business world without any limits...

Coming back to the monetization of biodiversity. The scientific world know only a small percent of the complexity of the biodiversity system. Certain tools to give a price to an ecosystem when about the restoration of the ecosystem. However, as we would know only a few percent, this price would be not possible to determine. In this sense, the biodiversity system is priceless because it exists throughout time. With this system, the technosphere has invited itself to rule the Biosphere world in another way. The economic argumentation of biodiversity looks like the same as for the CO2 market. The evident question asked by bankers and investors is to transform biodiversity to a monetary fund. Compensation system like the PCE, Payment and Compensation of Environmental services does not apply to multinationals but constrains the small farmers to use pesticides and MGO*. Here too, this system endangers the survival of local ecosystems and biodiversity. Moreover, banks have already began to buy land and exchange them to companies that were having impact somewhere else by, for example, constructing a highway. The compensation system is also opposite to biodiversity. Would planting two trees in Indonesia be equal to demolishing a forest in Europe ? In this situation, payments go again from North to South and a compensation would be given to indigenous tribes to not destroy the environment. They will be paid for it. A huge risk of imperialism and typically a Western world management vision. The case of the CO2 market is illustrating also the dangers of this crooked system with banks like Clearstream. This market is known to be the ‘black hole’ of the financial world. How can one pretend to defend biodiversity and ecosystems with the same system ? Territories are transformed into financial assets by banks. It could be seen as a ‘Licence to destroy nature’. With this system, the United States have been buying a part of the Brasilian forest. It means that they own a piece of Brasil, without consideration of what happens on this land and to the people living there. It is a supranational trade. Same case with China who wants to buy parts of Madagascar. We have the same in Europe with the anecdote of Angela Merkel proposing in March 2010 that Greece could offer its islands to compensate its debts. Thanks to the stock of natural environment, banks will have more occasions to speculate. When we know the weakness of this financial system… The question of human rights for the people inhabiting the land sold to some other nations or companies or banks is also one of the most problematic. Thanks to the MEA and the TEEB, the Earth has been divided in market parts and biodiversity is being traded instead of protected. Valuing the invaluable.

*Radio France Culture 11/09/2010 Les forêts (2) : systèmes en place

SA ON

50%

BIBLIOGRAPHY France Culture radio-broadcast. Agnès Bertrand & Françoise Degert (Co-author of OMC,le pouvoir invisible (WHO or the invisible power)). Terre à Terre 16/10/2010 Nagoya. Conférence des parties de la convention.

A very scientific discussion about the the international organisation that leads the world at the moment, (WHO, UN, etc) and their influence and responsability on the Millenium Ecosystems Assesment as well as the The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity. These two last reports are explained and how they are already participating to the business leaded world. The complex links between finance and organisation versus actions undertaken by states and companies are described and enlightened in an alternative way. It is an interesting illustration of the distance between policies, finance and business with Biosphere reality. A scary, serious and questioning broadcast.

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YOUR GRAND-GRAND-GRAND CHILD MIGHT NEVER SEE... The very short-term perspective espoused by the Western societies is based on immediate economic profit. However, the ancestral times and other societies are not driven by the same views but with longer-term perspectives. For example, indigenous tribes or some Eastern societies and even our ancestors are behavied with a natural respect towards Nature. This relationship can even match with religious beliefs. The interface between people and nature in their sense is not about domination but more about cooperation and participation with it. The example of the Pygmies Baca in Cameroon* will illustrate this long-term vs short-term perspective. The government initiated a procedure to retrocede lands to people that were living on it. The condition was exploit the forest and give value to these territories. However, on these lands, some pygmies were living there for centuries. These tribes were moving on this land and their lifestyle had the minimum impact possible on the environment. Leaving the minimum traces was for them the way of survival in this environment, enhanced to be more productive in itself to offer more food for example. They were living in a way that nature could regenerate itself. Thus, they were giving high value to the forest. However, it was not the same value that the government was talking about and consequently, they have been exempted of land rights. Pygmies were living on their lands without the right to do so. Companies to exploit the forest arrived and conflict begins. These tribes were obliged to move and to join the slums. 10 000 years of despoiled rights. The same happened with the Indians Guarani in Amazonia or even with the Inuits and the Boreal forests. The movie Avatar* is about this perspective in a different time. The Westernized society and its hard technosphere way of doing is constantly trying more and more to dominate the Biosphere. The relationship between people and nature as it is today will lead to the collapse of the biodiversity system As a designer, it is relevant to explore diverse interfaces between people and nature. I stand up for people to participate, to experience, to response and to act for biodiversity.

Thousands of generations before, and in one instant, there may be no more.

RESEARCH QUESTION The research question is inherited from the investigation of the biodiversity system. The promising possibilities of new productive, participative and active interfaces between people and nature have led the fascination into this problematic.

HOW CAN WE US WITH DESIGN IN O ANOTHER* BETWEEN PEOPL

SE BIODIVERSITY ORDER TO ACHIEVE INTERFACE LE AND NATURE ?

1600

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PROSPERITY - EVOLUTION todayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s scenario

desirable scenario

probable scenario

1800

1900

2000

2100

I HAVE A DREAM... Today, the current scenario is an increasing Technosphere society where only short term Human needs are addressed. As seen previously, this tendency is about conquering the Biosphere. It is the dominant culture at the moment. Humans are increasing their consuming lifestyle and developing massive urbanization. However, this system has already witnessed its limits with the current ecological crises and the reaction of the Biosphere to our disturbances. For example, thinking about covering entire cities by protective domes is

creative interfaces between people and nature. Thus the desirable scenario is about finding connections, friction points and creative interactions between the technosphere and the biosphere. I stand up for exploring a Human world where technosphere works on and with biosphere principles. In such a scenario, we would be conscious and aware of the causes and effects in order to transform them and build better connections with the surrounding environments. A house behaving like an organism in itself participating with other organisms around it*.

In order to propose design tools to experience the interface people-nature, the following pages of this magazine argue first that, the context of the city as both a problematic and promising ecosystem, and second, the conditions of biodiversity for design.

not a goal. Even if investigating it might be interesting.

A strong change in attitude is required : if we only continue to try to achieve sustainability through a kind of in-between of good conditions and small actions, the probable scenario might lead to a long extinction of the system. This probable scenario could be illustrated for example with the will to install sustainable appliances everywhere on buildings but it does not fundamentally change the issue addressed : the high energy consumption.

For achieving this desirable scenario, the problematic interface between people and nature needs to be redefined. Different configurations are possible (separated/mix/fusion of people with nature) as a diversity of combinations, confrontations and participation between Technosphere and Biosphere worlds. The act of designing will experiment these different possible relationships in order to propose

* explained below * Cities are like forests where every building is a tree. By Author.TU Delft research Smart & Bioclimatic Design Autumn 2010.

NOEMIE BENOIT PRODUCTIONS presents DANIEL CRAIG as NYC MAYOR’S MICHAEL BLOOMBERG in

THE NYC DREAM

A BEGINNING IS POSSIBLE

OCTOBER 2011 NOEMIE BENOIT PRODUCTIONS presents A BEGINNING IS POSSIBLE with DANIEL CRAIG critics ROBERT NOTTROT and JAN VAN DE VOORT and TAEKE DE JONG and PATRICK LEITNER co-directors JEAN-JULIEN BARILLOT and LAETITIA FRONTY producers MARTINE VERHOEVEN and PETER DE RUIJTER soundtracks PIETER HEYVAERT editors TU DELFT and NOEMIE BENOIT copyright NOEMIE BENOIT 30

THE URBAN ECOSYSTEM

Because the city is both problematic and promising, it is an interesting place to investigate. On one hand, the existing and potential artifacts of the urban ecosystem are checked in order to see how the technosphere and biosphere confront in this environment. On the other hand, this examination allows to select relevant objects of study for exploring the interface between people and nature in this research.

THE WORST CITY IS THE BEST OPPORTUNITY. The city is problematic because it is the main source of most environmental problems on Earth. The planet was been dominated by cities for decades. All current problems arise from the increase of urbanization (depletion of resources, CO2 issue, food security, etc). Every week till 2050, one million people will be added to our cities.* But the city is also promising because it contains other kinds of resources, such as Humans (as species) and physical settings for challenging the people-nature interface. Cities are also the ecosystem containing the most Humans and the least Nature. In that sense, cities are THE solution. Besides, the city is the place the farthest from natural ecosystems. People are thus disconnected from the initial state of nature. Consequently, their experience of Nature is very low. In addition, cities have replaced natural ecosystems, overlap them with human artifacts and transform the original landscapes. The initial natural settings have been completely transformed and unbalanced. The urban ecosystem has replaced the natural ecosystem. The example of Manhattan is illustrated with the Mannahatta project by Eric Sanderson for the Wild Life Conservation Society.

BIBLIOGRAPHY Mannahatta & Welikia projects. Eric Sanderson for the Wildlife Conservation Society

As a landscape ecologist, Dr Sanderson studies habitats and ecosystems, and as a conservationist, he makes plans to protect them. The Mannahatta project has been going through historical maps, paintings, and writings to trace back the history of the cement city of Manhattan. Using computer programs to model all webs of Life, his famous Muir webs, it has been possible to rebuild the ancestral ecosystems of the region 400 years ago. Through the interactive map, you can by yourself compare your favourite New York places with what was there while the ecosystem was entirely natural. Begin your own discovery of NYC in 1609 with their new website. http://welikia.org

INGREDIENTS FOR URBAN RECIPES. The largest potential is the object with the most extreme contrast between technosphere and biosphere. Urban ecosystems are the cities, towns and urban strips constructed by humans. The term â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;urban ecosystemâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; places the cities as part of a broader ecological system. Then, the urban landscapes function in a certain way and they might affect other landscapes with which they interact.* The urban ecosystem gathers manmade artifacts like buildings, bridges, and urban furniture like benches and streetlights.

CAMPING IN MANHATTAN?! There exists numerous urban ecosystems. Some are more extreme than others in their relationship with the natural ecosystems. Some are also more cinfluencing than others. For this study, the choice has been on Manhattan in New York City. This city is one of the first generation global city (in reference to the work of Manuel Castells on ranking global cities). It is then a vast complex urban ecosystem, which is also more aged than emerging cities. It is a more reliable context for this research and in addition, there is much retrospective on its evolution already. Moreover, Manhattan is one of the most extreme illustrations of an urban ecosystem in terms of materiality and manmade artifacts. Besides, the urban ecosystem has erased almost completely the original natural landscape to become one of the greatest concrete jungles everâ&#x20AC;Ś It is also considered world-wide as a reference in this domain. The problems of the city confront this urban ecosystem led by the technosphere domination : heat island effect, pollution, water accessibility, etc. However, even still tendencies are still to build more and higher with low living and ecological standards. But many small actions are taking place into this metropolis: the legalization of beekeeping, One million trees municipal plan, new sustainable urban planning imputs, Greenmarkets, and rooftops gardening.

BLOOMBERG NYC MAJORâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S STRATEGY FOR NEXT DECADE

HIGHLINE

These changes reflect the need for another interface between people and nature within the city. Furthermore, the technosphere driven urban ecosystem, is nevertheless hosting some Biosphere FRANCISCO elements. The proportion SAN of technosphere is much more than Biosphere. LOS ANGELES However, it is interesting to investigate what is this existing proportion in the urban ecosystem in order to work on the interface between technosphere and biosphere.

LONDON BRUSSELS PARIS

TORONTO CHICAGO NEW YORK

MADRID

MIAMI MEXICO

GLOBAL CITY ALPHA

SAO PAULO

GLOBAL CITY ALPHA -GLOBAL CITY BETA GLOBAL CITIES 1998 GaWC GLOBAL CITIES 2004 GaWC COMMUNITY GARDENS

GLOBAL CITIES 2008 GaWC

BUENOS AIRES

BIBLIOGRAPHY New York sustainable plan. 2008. NYC + Sustainable stormwater management plan.

PORT AUTHORITY BUS TERMINAL - 40TH ST The City of New York Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg

In June 2007, the GreeNYC campaign was launched by the municipality of NYC for a greener, greater New York. This plan, called PlaNYC laid out 127 initiatives designed to address the challenges of a city whose population will grow by one million people by 2030. The need for new capacity, a deteriorating infrastructure, an embattled urban environment, and the global challenge of climate change are just some of the issues. The report of 2008 makes an update on the progress made in implementing PlaNYC. These documents give a relevant overview in a kind of backcasting approach with precise targets and real ambitions on the field and in policies.

LEGALIZATION OF BEEKEEPING

MOSCOW

BIBLIOGRAPHY New York. Renaud Le Goix. Collection Atlas MĂŠgapoles. Editions Autrement. 2009 (in French)

N FRANKFURT MILAN BEIJING GREEN FESTIVALS - PROMOTING JOBS, COMPANIES, RECYCLING, ETC

SEOUL SHANGHAI

DUBAI

TOKYO

HONG-KONG

MUMBAI

ThisTAIPEI small atlas is a great set of maps and graphics enlightening spatially the economy andLONDON the BANGKOK territory of New York City. The book introduces NYC BRUSSELS within TORONTO the networks of the other global cities. Then, PARIS you are able to grab the essential and the particuCHICAGO lar in 90 NEW pages of attractive maps. From transport SAN FRANCISCO YORK MADRID ANGELES to crime, from education to environmental issues, KUALALOSLUMPUR SINGAPORE everything is mapped in history too. Useful and relevantMIAMI guide for the introduction of this metropolis.

JAKARTA

MEXICO

EAGLE ROOFTOP GARDEN

JOHANNESBURG GLOBAL CITY ALPHA

SAO PAULO

GLOBAL CITY ALPHA -GLOBAL CITY BETA

SYDNEY

MELBOURNE BUENOS AIRES

ClimateActionPlan winter 2009

GLOBAL CITIES 1998 GaWC GLOBAL CITIES 2004 GaWC GLOBAL CITIES 2008 GaWC

90 GREENMARKETS - UNION SQUARE GREENMARET

* Refer to the GaWC Research Network and their Global cities Index : http://www.lboro.ac.uk/gawc/citymap.html

measures taken on sustainability

WHO WINS? BALCONY VS ROOFTOP? The existing stock of technosphere matter is about the manmade artifacts of the city. What is this existing stock ? What are the opportunities for Biosphere matter to coexist ?

HEIGHTS

Three main entities are categorized : building, infrastructure and open-space. For each one of them, the heights and the materiality are varying and offer a different degree of porosity or connection.* Each entity is thus already dealing with Biosphere matter. Some entities like industrial buildings do not support nature today, while other buildings like housing are already much more friendly for supporting bits of Nature. Each entity is offering opportunities for cooperating with nature. Each entity has thus a different potential of hosting nature. The structure, the materiality or the heights are some aspects inviting nature to install itself. Moreover, the quality of this host can be either for inhabiting or for connecting. While corridors like pipes are very much connecting, others like rooftops are small microclimates. Both are interesting and complimenting each other.

OUSE

BUILDINGS

POROSITY

HEIGHTS

These variables have to increase for having a better proportion of technosphere vs biosphere within HABITATS the urban ecosystem. Consequently, the materiality and connectivity are examined for the most representative urban typologies: offices, housing, industries, infrastructures, etc. This check allows us to define some critical and potential objects to investigate. An element already hosting nature with the potential to host more would be a case study for a designer. An element not hosting today but having potential would be an interesting case study for ELEVATED ROADS WAREHOUSE-INDUSTRY BRIDGE ABOVE WATER a designer. An element not hosting today and not having potential to host would be a great challenge for a designer.

INFRASTRUCTURES

POROSITY

HIGHLINE

ELEVATED PASSAGE

RAILWAYS

STREETS

PIPES

HEIGHTS

METRO TUNNEL TUNNEL

ORGANIC

POROSITY

ENTITY

HEIGHT - MATER

HABITAT FOR DIFFERENT SPECIES

CRITICAL

CRITICAL CRITICAL

CRITICAL

TUNNEL

METRO TUNNEL

PIPES

SKYSCRAPER

RESIDENTIAL B.

HOUSE

WAREHOUSE-INDUSTRY

BRIDGE ABOVE WATER

ELEVATED ROADS

HIGHLINE

ELEVATED PASSAGE

RAILWAYS

STREETS

SUSPENDED CARPARKS

(ENVELOPPE)

(STRUCTURE)

(DENSITY)

RIALITY VARIABLES

40 M

SKYSCRAPER

20 M

RESIDENTIAL BUILDING

10 M

HOUSES

INDUSTRY

CONTINUOUS CURTAIN WALL

CONCRETE-GLASS FACADE

25%

DISCONTINUOUS SMOOTH

CONCRETE FACADE WITH WINDOWS

50%

ADDED SERVICE ELEMENTS

FIRE STAIRCASES ON FACADE

75%

ADDED INDIVIDUAL ELEMENTS

BALCONIES

100%

ORGANIC

GREEN FACADE

40 M

BRIDGE ABOVE RIVER

20 M

SURELEVATED ROAD

10 M

SURELEVATED ROAD-HIGHLINE-SURELEVATED CARPARK-RAILWAYS

SURELEVATED PASSAGE

0M -5 M

ROAD-RAILWAY PIPES

-10 M

METRO TUNNEL-TUNNEL

CONTINUOUS

25%

CONTINUOUS WITH FEW GAPS

50%

CONTINUOUS WITH LOTS OF GAPS

75%

DISCONTINUOUS

100%

DISCONTINUOUS WITH GAPS

40 M

VEGETAL ROOF TERRACES

10-20 M

GARDENED ROOFTOPS-TREES

BALCONIES-ELEVATED GARDENS-TREES

PARKS-PLANTED STREETS-TREES-GARDENS-PLAYGROUND

-5 M

WATER SEWAGE-TREES ROOTS

VERY MAINTAINED-NO WILD

25%

WILD MAINTAINED

50%

NATURAL CULTIVATED

75%

ACCESSIBLE WILD NOT MAINTAINED

100%

IMPENETRABLE WILD

DEGREE OF ROUGHNESS

PLACES - ASPECT

EXAMPLES

OCCASIONAL HABITAT USED HABITAT POTENTIAL HABITAT TO CREATE POTENTIAL HABITAT TO USE

SKYSCRAPER

RESIDENTIAL B.

HOUSE

WAREHOUSE-INDUSTRY

POTENTIAL

BRIDGE ABOVE WATER

ELEVATED ROADS

POTENTIAL

HIGHLINE

ELEVATED PASSAGE

RAILWAYS

POTENTIAL

STREETS

PIPES

pote

used

occa LEGENDA

SUSPENDED CARPARKS

POTENTIAL

METRO TUNNEL TUNNEL

39 TUNNEL METRO TUNNEL

PIPES

CASE STUDY Infrastructures present a real interest in NYC, as they are problematically aging and challenging by their huge size and their very technical function in the metropolis. This research focuses consequently on this extreme typology as an example. However, the design methodology might be used for every urban typology and in any urban ecosystem. THE GREY MATTER EXHALES.

In that perspective, the typology of the infrastructures is relevant. Infrastructures are hardly technosphere driven. In concrete or steel, the structures and the elements constitute a huge proportion of the urban ecosystem in terms of land and materials. The expression of these elements is also very technical and serving a unique purpose of efficiency (technosphere quality by excellence). It might be one of the typologies which has the largest impact in terms of scale in NYC. Moreover, in terms of urban history, this layer is important in Manhattan because of its aging character. Infrastructures are in that sense critical and potential. Finally, the infrastructures correspond to the ultimate public domain. The city is opened, ruled and structured by the infrastructures. People arrive, move and commute through infrastructures at every hour of the day during every season. There everyone is a stranger to each other, and even the concentration of humans can achieve amazing peaks. It is THE place to address different physical and mental experiences. It is one of the greatest places to impact people, to make them participate and to make them more conscious of their environment.

INFRASTRUCTURE TIMELINE

1800

1900

1930

1970

2000

2030

1970 Work on the city’s 3rd water tunnel begins, completed in 2012

1842 Croton Water Supply system opens,

1917 The city’s first water

the city’s first water system

tunnel is completed

1964 The Verrazano-Narrows Bridge becomes the last significant bridge built in NYC

1882 Thomas Edison switches on the

1920 Utility companies begin putting New

world’s first commercial eletric light system in Lower Manhattan

York’s electrical grid underground ; parts are still in service today

1883 The Brooklyn Bridge becomes the 1rst 1932 The city’s last major subway expanbridge accross the East River

sion opens ; parts of the original signaling system are still used today

1904 The first subway line begins service in NYC

1936 The city’s second water tunnel is completed

1944 The Delaware Water Supply System

opens : it is the city’s last major water supply expansion

NOW

> INFRAS. need of maintenance > ROADS congested > SUBWAYS need of repair > HUGE COSTS > NEED NEW WAYS TO MAINTAIN & MODERNIZE NETWORKS

THE PORT AUTHORITY BUS TERMINAL OCTOPUS ATTACKS.

The area of the Port Authority includes more than 7 blocks, which means almost the width of the peninsula of Manhattan (which is roughly 10 blocks). This area joins Penn Station district where large infrastructures land. These two zones are connected at the South with the Highline, at the West with the riverside parks and at the North-East with the famous neighborhood of Times Square.

VACANT - UNUSED LANDS GREEN OPEN SPACE INFRASTRUCTURES PARKING NORTH

BUILT DIFFERENTIATION BUILT DIFFERENTIATION 1CM

3CM

10CM

30CM

SUB-ELEMENT

ELEMENT

SUPER-ELEMENT

BUILDING COMPONENT

1M BUILDING PART

10M

BUILDING SEGMENT

BUILDING

INSIDE BUILDING TEXTURES - TOUCHING - MATERIALS SHADOW/LIGHT VARIATIONS HUMIDITY VARIATIONS

PABT

C RELIEF VARIATIONS - GROUND TEXTURE

ARCHITECTURAL EXPRE

SCALE OF STUDY

ECOLOGICAL DIFFERENTIATION 1CM

3CM

10CM

SCALE 1/50

SCALE 1/100

1M 7000 BUSES 3M 200 BUS ROUTES, PER DAY

30CM

10M

300 KM

ECOLOGIES * Ecologies arranged to their primary supposed range of scale. Jong, 2002.

- gravel - integration - biology (stressing cooperation and competition of specialised functions - organisms or organs)

- coarse gravel - specialisation - autoecology

QUÉBEC

- soil structure & profile - individual survival strategies - chaos ecology (stressing unpredictability from minor initial physical events)

RATE OF DISTURBANCES SPECIFIC SEPARATED MICRO-CLIMATES

THE PABT CONTAMINATION SPREADS.

The Port Authority Bus Terminal is a special arrival ANIMAL and departure point within the city (300m) as well as within the region (300km). This radius of impact 100 KM is very unique. The PABT is composed of different parts. The first WILD - SELF-MAINTENANCE one is the station for people, about 180 gates. It hosts 200,000 people on an average weekday, with 3,000 per peak hour (7am-9am + 4pm-7pm). This building is also hosting 3 levels of carparks. The 30 KM second part of the PABT is the elevated roads leading to the Manhattan streets and Lincoln tunnels’ PENNSYLVANIA direct entrances. The last considered part of this PABT are the roads connecting the whole region to this very NYC central VEGETAL point. On these roads, bus stops might be considered as small entities and cells of the network.

NY STATE DIFFERENT HEIGHT

CONNECTICUT

NEW HABITATS TO STAY

NEW JERSEY

Furthermore, the building and its infrastructures have a different mission from scale to scale. While at 300m scale, the building should be a landmark, at 30m, it should propose a spatial urban experience to invite people from the street inside. The same inside the building, the organisation (1030m) should be readable while the gates (3-10m) should be smaller differentiated spaces. Therefore, the PABT is a unique place within Manhattan and a very interesting connector within a larger context.

HEART POINT OF NYC METRO MAP INTEGRATED FOOD DESIGN

?? AGAINST ELECTROMAGNETIC WAVES DISTUR

30M

100M

300M

BUILDING COMPLEX

ENSEMBLE

NEIGHBOURHOOD

1KM

3KM

DISTRICT

TOWN

ELEVATED ROADS

10KM

30KM

100KM

300KM

SUB-REGIONAL

REGIONAL

SUB-NATIONAL

NATIONAL

100KM

300KM

BUS STOPS ON ROADS

- TEMPERATURE COMFORT

CLEAR ORGANISATION - ACCESSIBILITY - INCREASING ACTIVITY LEVEL

ESSION -TECTONIC - FORMS

RARE LANDMARK - RECOGNIZABLE HORIZON EVENT MORE COMPACTNESS - DENSITY NETWORK OF FUNCTIONS & ACTIVITIES DECLINATION OF THE BUILDING FUNCTION ALONG ITS NETWORK (CELLS)

SCALE 1/200 30M

100M

- soil unit & transition - symbiosis - cybernetic ecology (emphasis on their boundaries emerged & on species rich gradient between systems)

SCALE 1/1000 300M

- soil complex ecotope - ecological groups - system dynamic (stressing seqences of succession)

1963

1950

1KM

3KM

- hydrological unit, biotope - communities - synecology (synergy of species in plant communities & accompanying fauna) on equal subsoils, different accidental successions

10KM

30KM

- landscape - formations - landscape ecology

1980

2005

- geomorphological unit - plant-geographical or flora districts - landscape ecology

NETWORK OF GREEN OPEN SPACE DIFFERENTIATED SEPARATED OPENED AREAS WITH SPECIFIC CLIMATE CONDITIONS

HIGH VARIATIONS OF HEIGHT

DIFFERENT HEIGHT BY AREAS

HUMAN MAINTENANCE

WILD - NO MAINTENANCE

SEQUENCE WILD - HUMAN MAINTENANCE

EDIBLE ORGANIC MATTER’S CORRIDORS

BRIDGES ABOVE HUMAN TRAFFIC

RBANCES ??

Half of your shopping cart is local 5 pts

Read or watch one of our recommended items (+ share with a friend) 1F = 3 pts

20 pts

Attend a sustainable event (+ bring a friend) 1F = 3 pts

Make your balcony a biodiversity hotspot

20 pts

Replace two car rides by two bicycle rides

30 pts

Switch off electrical devices one hour per day

10 pts

5 pts

Win 2 nights in a yurt with Mark Zuckerberg 44

INTERNATIONAL MONTH OF THE BIODIVERSITY FACEBOOK EVENT * Term of the competition : International contest valid from May 2012 , 1st 00:00am till June 2012, 1st 23.59pm (US Eastern time). This is a sustainable leadership skill based contest and chance plays no part in the determination of winners.

CONDITIONS OF BIODIVERSITY FOR DESIGN

It is necessary to translate the complex system of biodiversity into a set of conditions. In this research, I suppose that four conditions of them are a starting point to explore biodiversity with design. The principles of diversity, of scale, of shared services and of edge-thinking participate as main requirements to the design methodology that I propose.

1. CONDITION OF DIVERSITY The first one is the greatest principle : diversity. Design has to be as diverse as possible. It is not about making a great catalog of solutions but specific solutions for every context. The system of the city is the same in that sense as the forest system. Every building (like every tree) is an organism participating in the whole and living for itself at the same time. The diversity of entities make the whole work. Imagine a city without public buildings or a city without housing. Moreover, the diversity of elements stimulate the diversity of interactions in the whole system, as well as in between the species inhabiting the ecosystem. A diversity of designs is necessary in order to create, motivate and activate the interface with nature. This diversity might be applied for example to the nature of interventions, the shapes or even the design strategies. It will thus support different types of exchange. However, there is a scale paradox : what is different at one level should not be different at another one. For example, a similar or repetitive housing block within a neighborhood is particular to the context, while displace in a historical city center, it would not make sense. There is in that sense a coherence per scale. This brings us to the second condition.

46 ALL IMAGES FROM YANN ARTHUS-BERTRAND COLLECTION. GOODPLANET.ORG

2. CONDITION OF SCALE

ECOLOGICAL DIFFERENTIATION

Ecology is scale-related, thus, design is ecologically scale-related. At every scale, the Biosphere answers to certain different logics: different kinds of ecology exist.* What causes diversity at one level, may cause homogeneity at another level of scale.* And there is another scale paradox : internal homogeneity can be combined with external heterogeneity. Plants and animals are the base of the system of biodiversity. In this diagram, the scale principle is applied on them as an example. For designing, these guidelines need to be applied. What is connecting at 3km, for example an ecological corridor, might have to be separating at 30m, by for example separated micro-climates. At every scale, design answers different logics. The two layers of technosphere and biosphere are working differently but on the same scale principle. Overlapping them in different places challenges an unique and contextual act of designing.

1CM

ECOLOGIES * Ecologies arranged to their primary supposed range of scale. Jong, 2002.

3CM

10CM

- gravel - integration - biology (stressing cooperation and competition of specialised functions - organisms or organs)

30CM

- soil structu profile - individual s strategies - chaos ecolo (stressing unpredictab minor initial events)

- coarse gravel - specialisation - autoecology

SPECIFIC SEP

ANIMAL

DIFFERENT H WILD - SELF-MAINTENANCE

NEW HABITATS TO STAY

*De Jong 2002. * Taeke de Jong. Urban ecology.

INTEGRATED

VEGETAL

?? AGAINST E

SCALE OF STUDY

SCALE 1/50

NYC ECOLOGICAL DIFFERENTIATION EXAMPLES

BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITIES ON SCALES. SOURCE : H+N+S. ROOFTOP GARDENS = SPECIFIC MICRO-CLIMATES

COMMUNITY GARDENS = SMALL MICRO-CLIMATES

DECLINATION OF THE BUILDING FUNCTION ALONG ITS NETWORK (CELLS)

10M

ure &

30M

100M

- soil unit & transition - symbiosis - cybernetic ecology (emphasis on their boundaries emerged & on species rich gradient between systems)

survival

ogy

bility from physical

300M

- soil complex ecotope - ecological groups - system dynamic (stressing seqences of succession)

1KM

3KM

10KM

- hydrological unit, biotope - communities - synecology (synergy of species in plant communities & accompanying fauna) on equal subsoils, different accidental successions

30KM

- landscape - formations - landscape ecology

100KM

300KM

- geomorphological unit - plant-geographical or flora districts - landscape ecology

RATE OF DISTURBANCES

PARATED MICRO-CLIMATES NETWORK OF GREEN OPEN SPACE DIFFERENTIATED SEPARATED OPENED AREAS WITH SPECIFIC CLIMATE CONDITIONS

HEIGHT

HIGH VARIATIONS OF HEIGHT

DIFFERENT HEIGHT BY AREAS

HUMAN MAINTENANCE

WILD - NO MAINTENANCE

SEQUENCE WILD - HUMAN MAINTENANCE

EDIBLE ORGANIC MATTER’S CORRIDORS

D FOOD DESIGN BRIDGES ABOVE HUMAN TRAFFIC

ELECTROMAGNETIC WAVES DISTURBANCES ??

SCALE 1/100

SCALE 1/200

SCALE 1/1000

CENTRAL PARK = ENOUGH VAST TO SUPPORT WILDLIFE NETWORKS

HIGHLINE = GREEN OPEN-SPACE NETWORK

UNION SQUARE = DISCONNECTED MICROCLIMATE

LAGUARDIA AIRPORT RUNWAYS = TOO MAINTAINED AND TOO MANY DISTURBANCES

1CM

3CM

10CM

30CM

1CM

3CM

10CM

30CM

SERVICES NEEDED FOR NEW YORK URBAN E NEEDED FOR NEW YORK URBAN ECOSYSTEM 3. SERVICES SHARED BY PEOPLE AND SERVICES NATURE

The following principle is about the services shared by people and nature. An exchange-based design exists at the interface between people and nature. The issues of the urban environments (heat island effect, water management, etc) nowadays involve innovative solutions. It is the opportunity to link the biosphere to the technosphere. Biosphere might partake to technosphere and the reverse as well. Design should question what people and nature share together and the productive interactions between them are necessary to design better interfaces between people and nature. Design needs to identify relevant services and use this participational interface. In that sense, it can offer a ‘positive footprint’.

WASTE SERVICES NEEDED FOR NEW YORK URBAN E MANAGEMENT SERVICES NEEDED FOR NEW YORK URBAN E WASTE WASTE MANAGEMENT 1CM DEPENDING ON QUALITY 3CM OF WASTES 10CM BACTERIA - DEGRADATION IN HUMUS - COMPOST - ANIMALS - FOOD CHAIN - ...

MANAGEMENT WASTE HEAT ISLAND MANAGEMENT EFFECT HEAT ISLAND EFFECT HEAT ISLAND ATMOSPHERE EFFECT POLLUTION ATMOSPHERE POLLUTION ATMOSPHERE POLLUTION WATER SUPPLY

WASTE MANAGEMENT DEPENDING ON QUALITY OF WASTES BACTERIA - DEGRADATION IN HUMUS - COMPOST - ANIMALS - FOOD CHAIN - ... WASTE MANAGEMENT DEPENDING ON QUALITY OF WASTES BACTERIA - DEGRADATION IN HUMUS - COMPOST - ANIMALS - FOOD CHAIN - ...

BIOMA

BIOMA CLEANING POLLUTED AIR BY FILTRATION - SURFACES PHOTOSYNTHETIS - ABSORBING PLANTS

BIOMA

CLEANING POLLUTED AIR BY FILTRATION - SURFACES PHOTOSYNTHETIS - ABSORBING PLANTS CLEANING POLLUTED AIR BY FILTRATION - SURFACES PHOTOSYNTHETIS - ABSORBING PLANTS ATMOSPHERE HUMIDITY

RAINW RAIN ABSORPTION BY SOIL - P

WATER SUPPLY

ATMOSPHERE HUMIDITY

RAINW RAIN ABSORPTION BY SOIL - P

WATER SUPPLY WATER

ATMOSPHERE HUMIDITY POROUS GROUND - HUMUS FILTRATION

MANAGEMENT WATER MANAGEMENT WATER HURRICANE MANAGEMENT THREAT HURRICANE THREAT HURRICANE FOOD THREAT PRODUCTION FOOD PRODUCTION FOOD PRODUCTION PEOPLE STRESS

RAINW LIVING MACHINE BY SOIL - P RAIN ABSORPTION

LIVING MACHINE POROUS GROUND - HUMUS FILTRATION LIVING MACHINE POROUS GROUND - HUMUS FILTRATION

PRODUCTIVE BALCONIES DIFFERENT SPECIES FOR DIFFERENT ECOSYSTEMS - DIFFERENT SUPPORTS PRODUCTIVE BALCONIES DIFFERENT SPECIES FOR DIFFERENT ECOSYSTEMS - DIFFERENT SUPPORTS DIFFERENT SPECIES FOR DIFFERENT ECOSYSTEMS - DIFFERENT SUPPORTS ?? HOW DOES THE BIOSPHERE REACT TO STRESS ?? ADAPTATION - DEATH - MUTATIONS

PRODUCTIVE BALCONIES PERSON

PERSON

PEOPLE STRESS

?? HOW DOES THE BIOSPHERE REACT TO STRESS ?? ADAPTATION - DEATH - MUTATIONS

PEOPLE STRESS

?? HOW DOES THE BIOSPHERE REACT TO STRESS ?? ADAPTATION - DEATH - MUTATIONS

PERSON

SERVICES NEEDED FOR NATURAL ECOSYSTE SERVICES NEEDED FOR NATURAL ECOSYSTE SERVICES NEEDED FOR NATURAL ECOSYSTE

SERVICES NEEDED FOR NATURAL URBAN ECOSYSTEM

PROVIDING STRUCTURES - SUPPORTS -MATERIALS FOR NEW HABITATS

PROVIDING STRUCTURES - SUPPORTS -MATERIALS FOR NEW HABITATS PROVIDING DIFFERENT VEGETA

LACK OF SUITABLE HABITATS

BIBLIOGRAPHY Above the Pavement-The Farm! Amale Andraos & Dan Wood. Princeton Architectural Press, 2010.

LACK OF SUITABLE LACK HABITATS OF FOOD LACK OF SUITABLE HABITATS LACK OF FOOD LACK OF INTERACTION LACK OFPLACES FOOD LACK OF INTERACTION DANGEROUS HUMAN PLACES ARTEFACTS LACK OF INTERACTION PLACES DANGEROUS HUMAN STRESS ARTEFACTS & DISTURBANCES DANGEROUS HUMAN ARTEFACTS STRESS & DISTURBANCES STRESS & DISTURBANCES

PROVIDING STRUCTURES - SUPPORTS -MATERIALS FOR NEW HABITATS

PROVIDING DIFFERENT VEGETA NEW TEXTURES ON GROUND -

PROVIDING DIFFERENT VEGETA NEW TEXTURES ON GROUND DIFFERENT MICRO-CLIMATES NEW TEXTURES ON GROUND DIFFERENT MICRO-CLIMATES REDUCING LEVEL OF DISTURBANCES WITH MATERIALS - REDUCING HUMAN DISTURBANCES DIFFERENT MICRO-CLIMATES REDUCING LEVEL OF DISTURBANCES WITH MATERIALS - REDUCING HUMAN DISTURBANCES SEPARATED WASTE MANAGEMENT - 100% BIODEGRADABLE MATERIALS - LESS STUFF REDUCING LEVEL OF DISTURBANCES WITH MATERIALS - REDUCING HUMAN DISTURBANCES SEPARATED WASTE MANAGEMENT - 100% BIODEGRADABLE MATERIALS - LESS STUFF ?? HOW DOES THE BIOSPHERE REACT ?? SEPARATED WASTE MANAGEMENT - 100% BIODEGRADABLE MATERIALS - LESS STUFF ?? HOW DOES THE BIOSPHERE REACT ??

The groundbreaking effort of the architecture firm WorkAC with their more than 150 collaborators on this project has been one of the most valuable sustainable PS1 projects in NYC. Named Public Farm 1 (PF1), this urban and agriculture experiment was a piece of sustainable infrastructure. Capable of generating its own power, recycling rainwater, cultivating crops, and encouraging leisure, the installation demonstrated a talented vision of green city living within our reach. The process for making it realizable is a great story of combined efforts and ambitions. New ideas of productive urban settings for NYC invite the investigation of the city for addressing urban issues (i.e. food supply) by re-appropriating dismissed urban lands.

?? HOW DOES THE BIOSPHERE REACT ??

10M

30M

100M

300M

1KM

3KM

10KM

30KM

100KM

300KM

10M

30M

100M

300M

1KM

3KM

10KM

30KM

100KM

300KM

10M

30M

1KM

3KM

10KM

30KM

100KM

300KM

ECOSYSTEM ECOSYSTEM ECOSYSTEM

HEAT/SUN ABSORBING SURFACES/MATERIALS ASS MATERIALS ( SOIL - ORGANIC MATTER - ...)

TECHNOSPHERE 100M 300M BIOSPHERE TECHNOSPHERE BIOSPHERE TECHNOSPHERE BIOSPHERE

HEAT/SUN ABSORBING SURFACES/MATERIALS ASS MATERIALS ( SOIL - ORGANIC MATTER - ...)

WATER COLLECTION - STORAGE PLANTS

RESERVOIR

WATER COLLECTION - STORAGE

RESERVOIR

PLANTS

WATER COLLECTION - STORAGE WATER ABSORBING SURFACES PLANTS

WATER TREATMENT PLANT

WATER ABSORBING SURFACES

WATER TREATMENT PLANT

SOIL INFILTRATION

LAKES - PONDS - RIVER

WATER ABSORBING SURFACES BUILDING STRUCTURE - ENVELOPPE ABLE TO REACT TO DEFORMATIONS VEGETATION BARRIER

RESERVOIR RESERVOIR

RESERVOIR

LAKES - PONDS - RIVER WATER TREATMENT PLANT

SOIL INFILTRATION

LAKES - PONDS - RIVER

SOIL INFILTRATION

RESERVOIR

BUILDING STRUCTURE - ENVELOPPE ABLE TO REACT TO DEFORMATIONS VEGETATION BARRIER BUILDING STRUCTURE - ENVELOPPE ABLE TO REACT TO DEFORMATIONS COMMUNITY GARDENS VEGETATION BARRIER PRODUCTIVE FACADES - ROOFTOPS

LOCAL FARMS

REGIONAL FARMS

PRODUCTIVE FACADES - ROOFTOPS

COMMUNITY GARDENS

LOCAL FARMS

REGIONAL FARMS

PRODUCTIVE FACADES - ROOFTOPS HANDMADE PRODUCTION - GROUP

COMMUNITY GARDENS

N THERAPY - LONELINESS

LOCAL FARMS GOING SOMEWHERE - CHANGING AREA

REGIONAL FARMS RECREATIONAL ACTIVITIES - HOLIDAYS

N THERAPY - LONELINESS

HANDMADE PRODUCTION - GROUP

GOING SOMEWHERE - CHANGING AREA

RECREATIONAL ACTIVITIES - HOLIDAYS

N THERAPY - LONELINESS

HANDMADE PRODUCTION - GROUP

GOING SOMEWHERE - CHANGING AREA

RECREATIONAL ACTIVITIES - HOLIDAYS

EM EM EM

ECOLOGICAL CORRIDORS WITH LOW SPEED CIRCULATION FOR OPENING NEW TERRITORIES

TATIONS - BIOMASS - SOIL - REINTRODUCING NATIVE SPECIES ECOLOGICAL CORRIDORS WITH LOW SPEED CIRCULATION FOR OPENING NEW TERRITORIES

TATIONS - BIOMASS - SOIL - REINTRODUCING NATIVE SPECIES BUILDINGS

NETWORK OF WILD AREAS

TATIONS - BIOMASS - SOIL - REINTRODUCING NATIVE SPECIES BUILDINGS DIFFERENT HUMIDITY CONDITIONS UNITS BUILDINGS

NETWORK OF WILD AREAS DIFFERENT HUMIDITY CONDITIONS AREAS NETWORK OF WILD AREAS

DIFFERENT HUMIDITY CONDITIONS UNITS

DIFFERENT HUMIDITY CONDITIONS AREAS

DIFFERENT HUMIDITY CONDITIONS UNITS

DIFFERENT HUMIDITY CONDITIONS AREAS

4. EDGE-THINKING

Finally, the last principle is about the place of design : it is about edge thinking. An edge is already an interface between two systems (two milieus, two entities or more). The boundary is about separating or connecting. In our world of constant events, more events occur at boundaries than occur elsewhere, because of these special conditions or differences.* The boundary constitutes a third system, which also combines both systems. In nature, the edge might support both of the species from the two surrounding systems: it might also host its own specific species. Edges are diversity-rich by definition. The edge-act of designing is therefore the chance to stimulate a special exchange between two milieus. Indeed, the edge-thinking principle is to explore the interface between biosphere and technosphere. Therefore, in design, the â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;in-betweensâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; are more important than the parts. *Patterns understanding. p78 Permaculture. Bill Mollison.

BIBLIOGRAPHY Patterns understanding - Permaculture, a designersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; manual. Bill Mollison. Tagari Publications, 1988.

Permaculture is an approach to designing human settlements and agricultural systems that are modeled on the relationships found in natural ecologies.* Patterns understanding is a design tool issued from the permaculture design method. Patterns are the way things are assembled in the world, they are natural phenomenon, organisation of things, systems, ensemble of behaviors, etc. Understanding patterns allows us to sort information. Thus, it gives the possibility to better understand contexts and nature. As a result, this pattern understanding allows one to link disciplines together because of a common vocabulary to communicate. Moreover, working with patterns is making design more conscious and in coherence with the natural ecosystem. This chapter is giving a new fundamental insight to the act of designing.

hood parts. This corridor is once a park, another time a square, or a ramp, or even a small amphitheater ; different conditions in the same line. The High-Line is both an architectural and urban experimentation. The design follows the principle of scale in a very instinctive way : connecting within 300m-1km and hosting different micro-climates in between 10-30m. Connections are possible in between small parts, contamination with the adjacent buildings and urban areas too.

WINNING EXAMPLE

THE HIGHLINE, BECAUSE WE’RE WORTH IT. How is the Highline a great illustration of these four conditions integrated together ? The High-Line is already counting among the major green hubs of New York City. Without these green lungs, the capital would be unbearable. Different than Central Park or Riverside Park and other urban squares, the High-Line writes its story on the old suspended freight railways. It is located on Manhattan’s West Side. It runs from Gansevoort Street in the Meatpacking District to 34th Street, between 10th & 11th Avenues. By changing the rules of engagement between plant life and pedestrians, the strategy of agri-tecture combines organic and building materials into gradients of changing proportions that accommodate a variety of natural and programmatic conditions. Part agriculture/part architecture, the system digitizes the High Line surface into discrete units of paving and planting that could be organized in any combination from 100% hard paving to 100% soft richly vegetated biotopes, or any gradiant in between. The High Line’s plantings are inspired by the self-seeded landscape that grew on the out-ofuse elevated rail tracks during the 25 years after the trains stopped running. The 210 species of perennials, grasses, shrubs and trees were chosen for their hardiness, sustainability, and textural and color variation, with a focus on native species. Many of the species that originally grew on the High Line’s rail bed are incorporated into the park landscape. The landscape also emphasizes a diversity in bloom time. This project witnesses an interesting transformation of an old fabric of infrastructure. Already diverse by it’s typology, it’s different parts, through buildings, above roads, in between buildings, very opened stages are undulating between diverse neighbor-

People use this promenade for wandering, running, cycling, roller-blading, playing etc. While nature nests everywhere, both vegetal and animal species. The design of the High-Line between vegetal milieu and hard paving milieu is an invitation for birds, butterflies and other animals to re-inhabit the city of NYC. The plants too have the chance again to go wild without any hard maintenance. It might be called an ecological restoration of milieu. The design has been also made with time adaptation, a gradual implementation of species, graduations of growth and combinations of species hosted. The radius of spatial impact will be the entire Manhattan, because it is a project extended on the half of the city centre and this project will invite species to dialogue with the other natural areas of the city. The term of this impact will be between 10 to 100 years, time to develop itself and to take part to the natural urban network of Manhattan. At first sight, the first years will be very exceptional, because the fauna and flora will bloom and after a while will become independent and developing their own networks not needed anymore maintenance. This ecosystem will become autonomous and will participate actively to the Manhattan’s recovery of biodiversity in the next 20 years until 100 years. In that sense, it is a quite normal service shared between people and nature, the one of leisure for people and presence for biosphere matter. Nevertheless, the Highline is a respiration within the concrete city centre and we could wonder if the project is limiting itself to the zone of the railway. The Highline is already a border condition and it’s edge-thinking condition makes it an intense place of interactions. This special place is guiding visitors or inhabitants as well as bees and birds in in-betweens, sometimes not inhabited yet. Declining similar projects over buildings and other urban typologies could be interesting to support the Biosphere webs of life within the urban ecosystem. More gates for nature to escape could be designed and linked together. It could be buildings, terraces, street furnitures, soils, balconies, small green spaces and other designs. The nature should be cultivated within architecture. The Highline is a great invitation to sensibilize people to nature with more concern, pleasure and experience of it. The plants become sources of knowledge and curiosity, especially the herbal remedies. This promenade is an urban and ecological tool in order to impact people. Its architectural position makes it challenge the city in its density and welcomes nature as a constant, soft and omnipresent element.

K O O B O T T E G A R L O O F D T N ’ O N G DO R U YO

AMPHIBIAN NEW YORK

DESIGN APPLICATION (ON PATTERNS)

The context of NYC with Manhattan induces its own set of behaviors, conditions and issues. The information analysis of this area enlightens a different ‘pattern’ per scale level. The pattern is the understanding of this information to translate it later on, for the act of designing.

To each level of scale, regional, district, neighborhood, building and part of the building, is applied the same design strategy. This strategy follows the conditions of biodiversity as well as the urban conditions for people. At each level, the strategy answers the underlying pattern. Even every scale is relating to each other, but differences are visible. It aims to be a total integrated model to experience from different commuting perspectives with great interfaces between people and nature. Let’s go in it !

22TH DECEMBER 2012 DESPITE OF IRENE, JENNIFER DESTROYED NYC IN ONE DAYâ&#x20AC;Ś Existing pattern : Irene, 28th August 2011. New York City. Even the greatest metropolis might be endangered. With global climate change, the risk of NYC region to know more hurricanes, storms and floods has increased very much. This is one of the most concerning patterns today and it is the starting point for this investigation. Main issues : The city is neither prepared to resist to wind and water force, nor to absorb and manage stormwater. However, the city needs to function even with extreme conditions in play, especially if risks are occurring more frequently. Design strategy : The biosphere has already met these issues and has developed some smart ecosystems able to handle this kind of disturbances : the wetlands. This ecosystem operates in between the aquatic and terrestrial milieu and acts as a barrier and an ecological water treatment machine. Its characteristics make it interesting to explore in Manhattan. However, this system can be applied in different ways, it can be mimicked, imitated, copied, translated or used as a metaphor. Every scale will choose its own strategy. For the regional to city scale, the ancestral model slows down water and wind force, protects buildings and infrastructures, and finally, absorbs and manages stormwater. This last function is crucial for Manhattan today while the water management infrastructures are aging and do not treat water efficiently while storms occur. Thus, decentralized ecological water treatment areas are designed. The urban wetland plays here the same role as its ancestral function. For people (commuter+inhabitant) : Moreover, inhabiting the city becomes more reliable even while experiencing extreme conditions. The organic matter improves the quality of life, health and stress of the inhabitants. For the commuter, the arrival in Manhattan becomes a smooth transition between an underground or aquatic milieu to the concrete city centre. The urban jungle is an appreciated and extraordinary buffer zone. For nature (vegetal+animal) : For nature, the wetland layer offers a continuity with other ecological urban corridors (several kilometers long). Moreover, the wetland witnesses different conditions depending on the neighborhood on which it is applied. Thus, separated areas with different organic matter profiles are identifiable. But what will it look like in terms of urban entities, typologies and morphology ? Letâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s check the district level.

> PROTECT > MANAGE > RETAIN > ABSORB > BARRIER

EXISTING WATER MANAGEMENT PLANT

WETLAND BUFFER ZONE APPLIED IN ZONES OF HURRICANE DAMAGES RISK

DECENTRALIZED WATER MANAGEMENT PLANTS DISTRICT RADIUS OF IMPACT

CENTRAL PARK ON TOP OF INFRASTRUCTURES ?

POROSITY DIFFERENTIATION

Existing pattern : Kilometers of concrete maze, hectares of railway lands and super organized traffic roads. Highly technical, the district of the Port Authority Bus Terminal and Penn Station serves mainly for vacuuming the city from its commuters in the most efficient possible way. Zero-density infrastructure lands are attracting constructors while people as nature are not welcome in the least. Main issues : The infrastructures constitute a very impermeable urban entity. They increase stormwater streaming as well as the heat island effect, yet they also constitute amazing land opportunities for the city to play with. The lack of organic matter and the heavy technical maintenance makes the district not a healthy place to live. Design strategy : The wetland strategy defines at this scale different smaller buffer zones. Each one presents a different percentage of water absorption, from 100% at the aquatic edge to 0% at the very concrete city centre. Thus, the characteristic section of the wetland system drives the area to have specific functions. At the border with the river, hybrid buildings, constructions and infrastructures are absorbing and storing lots of water. While at the middle part, building envelopes play a bigger role. Finally, the last strip, considered as the terrestrial milieu, develops only its roofs as water absorbing surfaces. Moreover, two major zones of decentralized ecological water treatment take place within the infrastructures. The inherited urban fabric is very diverse in terms of materiality, efficiency and functions. For people (commuter+inhabitant) : The regional commuter is able to move quickly from one public place to another thanks to the networks of paths, elevated ways and connectors between neighborhoods. One might choose its velocity, from a walk to a ride. His urban physical experience is enriched by going up, down, between blocks, oblique connections. The inhabitant discovers recreational areas within the ecological water treatment systems while his roof or facade becomes productive and hosts more Life. For nature (vegetal+animal) : Different ecological corridors continue Riverside parks and the Highline. There constitute more tiny networks of green open space. By sequence, the soil is changing, the zones have different heights and the density of organic matter varies very much (the maintenance should also allow variation). Every block might have its own organic identity. Animals and vegetation are welcome to spread and to find their best place to live.

ECOLOGICAL & PUBLIC PATHS Green corridors Public paths

Times Square Port Authority bus terminal

Penn Station

Riverside parks Convention center

Highline end

ANCESTRAL WETLAND

UPLAND IMPORT OF NUTRIENTS = DRY

RIPARIAN FLUCTUATING WATER LEVEL

> 20% POROUS retention-transformation

= INTERMITTENTLY FLOODED

>absorption-transformation 50% POROUS > 80% POROUS infiltration-retention-absorption

AQUATIC IMPORT/EXPORT OF NUTRIENTS AND BIOLOGICAL SPECIES = PERMANENTLY FLOODED

WATER FLOWS

> USING THE LIVING MACHINE BY John Todd Ecological Design District water collection

FUNCTION > 20% OFFICES-HOTELS 1. WATER FLOW FEEDING & NESTING high concentration of people stable wastewater flows HABITAT 2. HABITAT FOR BOTH UPLAND AND WETLAND SPECIES OF WILDLIFE 3. FLOOD WATER RETENTION AREA 4. SEDIMENT & NUTRIENT RETENTION AREA > 50% NEIGHBORHOODS 5. AREA OF SPECIAL SCENIC BEAUTY

high water consumption by households unstable wastewater flows/day

> 80% INDUSTRIES low consumption of water 59

modular bus available 2015 quality electric bus capacity grow / shrink depending on the amount of passengers

waterproof bus 2020 available waterproof electric bus quality capacity service underwater even in flooded Lincoln tunnel

sola r

bus

avai l qual able 202 0 it capa y diffe city rent gy fo r the solar ce sizes lls moto r - T capturin U De lft co g enerpyrig ht

sponge bus

available 2030 quality absorbing water capacity captured water is converted into energy for mot or

GREENER THAN GREEN CLEANER THAN CLEAN SMARTER THAN SMART

YEAH, YOU WILL NEVER FORGET IT. us flying b30 available

20 ity us qual electric b capacity ks or w gy street net , etc ener using 4D use solar, water

THE THREE EDGES OF THE PABT AREA

URBAN PARK

AQUATIC MILIEU

BUS TERMINAL

RELATED TO HURRICANES, STORMS, FLOODS THREATS > NATURAL EDGE 40M

RELATED TO INDUSTRIAL TYPOLOGIES-ACTIVITIES > SPECIFIC POLE

RELATED TO HIGH SUSPENDED ROADS > DYNAMIC EDGE 140M

RELATED TO NEIGHBORHOOD DYNAMICS > CONNECTING POLE

INTEGRATED LAYERS >WETLAND absorption-porosity

> INFRASTRUCTURE EDGE PABT growth

TOscalesDESIGN ECOLOGICAL PARAMETERS related

EDGE TO DESIGN

CITY MILIEU

RELATED TO HIGH DENSITY CENTRE > CONFRONTATION EDGE 50M

RELATED TO TOURISTIC AREA > ATTRACTIVE POLE

EDGE TO DESIGN

NEIGHBORHOOD PARAMETERS urban context related EDGE 1

20%

5% 25%

MANAGEMENT

> CARPARKS > BUSPARKS

ECOLOGICAL WATER MANAGEMENT

PUBLIC SPACE CAR ROADS BUS ROADS

> >

40%

> PUBLIC SPACE

EDGE 2 >

30%

> ECOLOGICAL WATER

EDGE 3

20% 30% 20% 30%

5% 10% 20% 45%

>ECOLOGICAL WA-

TER MANAGEMENT

>CARPARKS 15,000 m2

>OFFICES 40,000 m2

>LOBBY

92,000 m2

>BUS GATES *based on the existing programme

THE ATTRACTION PARK MANAGES WATER ECOLOGICALLY. Existing pattern : The slit of the Port Authority Bus Terminal acts as a super-technical commuting machine serving 200,000 people per day. This strip is responsible for a record of daily commuting experiences. The growth of the PABT has determined the quality of its architectural envelopes that have witnessed changes and different technosphere approaches. Main issues : The Port Authority Bus Terminal is a very vulnerable spot with flooding risks. The system of transportation might collapse or stop, which would be a disaster for the whole city and region. Moreover, the impermeability and hugeness of the infrastructures make them in extreme opposition with the need of absorption and flexibility in the area. The strip of the PABT should be very protected and in the same time a great commuting place. Today, the infrastructures are a dead public space and the quality of the commuting experience is low. Design strategy : The PABT strip hosts a main ecological water treatment system managing stormwater but also black and grey waters from the surrounding neighborhoods. Two different parts of the masterplan, the urban park and the bus terminal are articulated by three crucial edges. These functions work together to make the PABT very reliable and protect itself from storm risks. In that sense, the infrastructures are productive. Every part of the masterplan plays with density and different sponge quality following the wetland strategy. Consequently, architectural shaping participates to catch, treat and reuse water. For people (commuter+inhabitant) : For the inhabitant, the experience of water management, including its own water consumption constitutes a special educational experience. The different places within the masterplan offer diverse humidity and micro-climates that impact its physical perception. The island of organic matter of the PABT gives value to the surroundings by offering better living conditions and special public places enhancing social networks. For he commuter, the practice of the infrastructures as a real public place is revolutionary. The originality of this productive park attracts commuters to extend their commuting experience. The PABT becomes an attraction park in the very centre of Manhattan. For nature (vegetal+animal) : The quality and the diversity of the strip’s areas invite nature to ‘niche’ and develop its own webs of life. Variations of humidity, drought, sun exposition, shadow, and wind make the edible corridor more specific. A large diversity of living-organisms might come to inhabit the place. Moreover, the interactions between human and nature might select the wild character of certain spots versus others.

EDGE 1 : THE BUS TREE

EDGE 2 : THE INFRASTRUCTURES PARK

EDGE 3 : THE PARKING MOUNTAINS

THE DELIRIOUS MACHINE IS A BUS TREE. Existing pattern : This edge is the confrontation between the city ‘hard’ scape and the ‘infrascape’ (infrastructural landscape) of the PABT. The infrascape supports the wetland, thus, this part questions the interface between two opposite porosity and materiality levels : 0% absorption vs higher percentages, very concrete matter vs more organic matter. Moreover, the huge bus station soaks up people at the street level to drive them into the dark meanders of corridors for finding their gates. This enormous transportation hub operates like a machine, managing commuters, buses and metros. Main issues : The commuting experience might be more challenging. The building needs to be a better place to live and offers a low stress level and more identity. The added architectural layers do not challenge the flexibility and the possible features of such an attractive place situated at 150 meters from Times Square, the great center of NYC. Design strategy : The design proposition is an ‘infrascape’. The infrastructure continues and folds itself into a vertical bus terminal. The experimentation of this typology is interesting for increasing land efficiency and amazing commuting experience. But many technical issues are raised by this study while relevant thesis subjects developing from it. The ‘infrascape’ challenges the traditional limits of the blocks : overhanging over the street, organic matter flirting with the sky above the asphalt roads or even bridges above the 9th Avenue linking the surrounding buildings to the vertical hub. The different interfaces of the ‘infrascape’ with the context determines different sets of parameters for six main zones : the lobby, the black box, the food department, the action-relaxation area, the entertainment area, and the working breaks area. Thus, the buses helix, the fast route of people, the slow route of people, the ecological water treatment zone and the gates are positioned in order to play with these conditions. Besides the flows intersecting each other, the confrontation between cityscape, infrascape and landscape (ecological water treatment system) proposes different interactions between people and nature. The cores of the building contain the helixes for bus to go up and down, while the ecological water treatment system benefits of the peripheral sun, light, and wind exposure. The articulation between the inner technosphere driven world (buses-liftstechnical flows) and the outer biosphere driven world (water treatment-organic matter) is operated mainly by the gates.

For people (commuter+inhabitant) : For the inhabitants, the PABT becomes a place to meet, to go for a promenade or just for walking in a safe place. The new program encourages people to reconquer this metropolitan hub for daily uses. The commuter, even in the stress of being late or missing his connection is nevertheless invited to arrive earlier to wander, climb, and walk in this very public skyscraper and to relax before catching the bus. The different speeds of the routes offer a variety of solutions to move into and through the building. Every route is clearly identifiable and can be experienced for a short bit. The views and spaces crossed by these routes gives quality to the commuting experience. For nature (vegetal+animal) : The separated micro-climates are differentiated per level and within every level on a scale of 1m-10m. The areas present diverse conditions because of the different treatments of water : planted closed aerobic reactor, planted open aerobic reactors, ecological fluidized beds. Different soil filters form wet lands treating water. Moreover, the gradient of every plate, the architectural relief of the ground, and the construction elements constitute an integrated food design opening niches and places to nest.

THE PABT IS THE FIRST AND LAST VISITED PLACE OF NYC. Existing pattern : The commuting experience of the PABT is famous for its efficiency (direct connection of the very near centre to the very far region) but not for its spatial and relaxing quality. The very artificial internal spaces host different uses especially focused on rapid consumption. Moreover the hub supports two amazing peak hours with 3,000 people per hour. However, the intensity of use is not balanced the rest of the time to keep a dynamic public place. What is at the edge of the bus terminal service ?

0am

1am

2am

3am

For people (commuter+inhabitant) : The transition between the street and the vertical infrastructure loops are ensured by the lobby cave, first gigantic space remembering the roots and trunks of biosphere system. The ascension brings to pass by the black box, famous entity of the existing PABT, to access a food department terrace with the PABT greenmarket and restaurants. The program of the middle part floors is about working areas, relaxation areas, sport areas, while the upper floor is the highest point of entertainment. The building serves of city and nature observatory. It is a wonderworld. For nature (vegetal+animal) : The integration into design of niches and food production for biosphere matter gives the place this character of nature observatory. It adds value to the time everyone spends there. The hub might become a hotspot of biodiversity of NYC with various seasonal profiles. Every peak hour of intense human activity bring more disturbances to biosphere matter, yet that they will adapt to take opportunity of the non-peak hour. It might result in a very typical ecosystem with specific species. The different layers (peripheral areas) of ecological water treatment are exposed as well to human activity. This complexity and diversity supports the conquest of biodiversity.

5am

HOUR

6am

7am

8am

AMOUNT OF PEOPLE

9am

ECOLOGIC SPORT AREAS

Main issues : Making the commuting experience attractive is about offering peripheral functions to exploit the fullest potential of the infrastructure. Design strategy : The design proposes to maintain on a basis of 24/7 the intensity of use with a specific assemblage of functions : the main program of the bus terminal is going along with the ecological water treatment system. This combination insures a continuous use and production of the place. They are complementary and participate with each other for the spatial, inspirational and climatic design quality. When the human activity is less intense, biosphere has less disturbances, thus, the nature activity is increasing at those times. Moreover, different routes, different velocities, intersection points and functions are offered with neighbourhood aims, touristic aims or commuting aims. The types of people and commuters meet and mix. The public infrastructure becomes a hotspot of diversity at different scale.

4am

BUS SHELTER

30,000 COMMUTERS/ PEAK HOUR

RUNNING PATH

WO ARE

BUS PARKS - C THE BUS STATION AND THE ECOLOGICAL WATER TREATMENT LINKING FLOWS OF VARIOUS PEOPLE

TOURISTS

OFFICE WORKERS

NEIGHBORHOOD INHABITANTS

10am

11am

12am

1pm

2pm

3pm

4pm

5pm

6pm

7pm

8pm

9pm

10pm 11pm

CAL WATER MANAGEMENT

REENMARKET

OBSERVATORY

RESTAURANTS TERRACES

RS LOBBY

2,200 COM/HOUR

LUNCH BREAK

ORKING EAS

OPEN AIR THEATRE PROMENADE

BUS SHELTERS LOBBY

RELAXATION AREAS

ARPARKS -RETAINING BASINS... DESIGN SCHEME

THE ‘ABRI’* IS THE GATE TOWARDS NATURE. Existing pattern : The traditional gates are a number, a corridor and a destination conducting the commuter from 3km to 300km. The artificial light and cramped space make people spend the least time possible in the gates. Main issues : The gate is the interface between two milieus. It is also the moment of interactions of people with space. This place explores the character of shelter and I will use ‘abri’, inherited from French to designate the gate becoming an enclosed transitional space . Design strategy : The ‘abris’ become a place to stay, to inhabit, to protect, to view, to observe. Each one offers a different interaction with nature. The texture, the architectural shape, the humidity conditions, the view, the smell that nature imposes around the gate invites the commuter to be aware of these surroundings. Sometimes, it is more about being separated from organic matter, while sometimes it might be about being completely part of it, or even sometimes it might be a discreet invisible exchange. The ‘abris’ wake up discussions, tensions and communication with the organic matter and the surrounding water processes. Moreover the wood, covers the space from the bus service road to the outer periphery of each plate. This organic material shapes the plate to be deformed and flexible to allow different water treatment processes. For people (commuter+inhabitant) : For the commuters, every level proposes a different sequence of interactions. The body is in a permanent motion. The tension between the body, the ground that is folded, dug or inhabited invites the commuter to be active. The inhabitant becomes a normal commuter at that scale. However, the real commuter finds without searching relaxation and a healthy environment for the departure or arrival of his travel. For nature (vegetal+animal) : The holes, the gradients and the different water milieus invite species to inhabit, stay and feed themselves. The cycles of water stay the same and this stability might be a relevant basis to host Life. The disturbances around every gate are rhythmic during the day/night times while depending on the seasons, they have a broader range. It might be interesting to observe how does this impact the presence, behavior and development of Life around the ‘abris’.

THE GRADIENT OFFERS INFINITE CONDITIONS.

THE SEPARATION OFFERS 2 SOLUTIONS.

GRADIENTS VARY.

SEPARATIONS VARY TOO... AND COMBINE EACH OTHER.

CREATIVE SESSION

Design workshop on ecological productive infrastructures - NYC

Curator : NoĂŠmie Benoit 70

1.2.3 July 2011 Rotterdam

CONCLUSION

First of all, the translation of biodiversity system into design guidelines and the wetland strategy have been constituting a script for one design experiment. In order to confirm this set of conditions, 15 designers, specialists in innovation, architecture, urbanism and industrial ecology tested the design tools in the frame of the wetland strategy and the PABT context. This workshop has been developed in 4 Creative Sessions of two hours. The research and the site had been introduced to the participants the evening before. There were three groups of 4 to 5 people each. Every group had a different set of professionals with different (chosen) personal qualities.

CREATIVE SESSION FEEDBACK The first Creative Session (CS1) asked a design strategy for the neighborhood scale (masterplan of the PABT strip at the scale 1/1000). In the different proposals, the absorption degree inherited from the wetland characteristics is explored in terms of urban shapes : infrastructures becoming water flows, buildings storing water, mangrove zone retaining water, trees catching water. The three groups have presented an entire system to process water through the entire strip. But every scheme has a different ambition: one strategy is very diagrammatic*, the other one is very much an architectural proposition* and the third one is an overall amphibian scenario with lots of entities. The issue of hierarchy is relevant to question at that scale. Instinctively, the design proposals are stronger at the edges but the consciousness of them is more challenging to capture. The CS2+3+4 aimed to explore the design of the three edges at the scale 1/200. Thus, the overall strategy of the CS1 might be detailed. While the scheme already contains differentiation and hierarchy, the design of the edges is stronger and easier. While the flows of water are understandable in the masterplan, the 1/200 is indistinct or the entire design is driven by it like in the caterpillar edge*. Each group focuses the design of the second edge on human flows and scale connections. The architectural quality of an upper part and an underneath is recurrent. This interface is designed with biosphere in a relevant four-dimensional concern. The last edge questions the ambition of an absorption process in terms of density. If the mangrove works as natural ecosystem, in terms of urbanity, it might need to play with urban entities. The experimentation of the empty bus parking station with inside/outside public places is challenging. The shape, the architectural expression and the organisation of the program is problematic at this design scale 1/200. The same mangrove proposal has become then a public space loop challenging other blocks around and opening the original masterplan to the river ! The constraint has been here challenging the brief. Besides, participants have been very focused on natural system design more than ecological architectural design able to open niches. For staying in an â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;objectiveâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; design tract, it is necessary to follow the basic conditions of biodiversity. They support the designersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; choices. After all, the Creative Session has been validating the biodiversity conditions as creative design tools. Moreover, it has demonstrated the need of every condition to participate to a fully architectural, urban and ecological integrated scheme. The investigation offers thus more freedom, experiment and consciousness to the designer. Consequently, he is confronted by choosing valuable interfaces between people and nature. To conclude, the biodiversity system is a very active participation system. Design is stimulated to think in terms of valuable exchanges between biosphere and technosphere. New niches, new design expression and new urban occurrences are raised. I might even argue that it is a fabulous design system.

NO TRASH NYC 2030. BY IDEO. WWW.LIVING CLIMATE CHANGE.COM. VIDEO AVAILABLE ON HTTP://VIMEO.COM/7287386

THE ACT OF DESIGNING - THE END

This research aimed to offer new perspectives on designing with ecology. Taking into account biodiversity would drive designers to realize, with a special attention, great interfaces between people and nature. However, the only act of designing meets today societal requirements like the engagement of the architects, the multiplicity of stakeholders or even the economic viability. Unfortunately, these conditions narrow the scope that designers could embrace to make the world more sustainable. For opening the discussion about our position as designers today, I have invited Peter de Ruijter and Martine Verhoeven to examine few of these requirements. I hope this will inspire you for making a change, from tomorrow on.

DESIGN AS A CHANGE AGENT TOWARDS SUSTAINABILITY Redefining Enlightenment’s Dominance over Nature by Peter de Ruijter INTRODUCTION In the last few decennia human kind is experiencing with increasing concern the effects that ‘our’ way of living has on the natural environment. We experience the pollution caused by our manufacturing processes, the depletion of a finite stock of fossil fuels, the limitless use of raw materials for making our products, the enormous waste issues we are facing as a result of our consumption society, and the whole debate regarding our melting ice caps and climate change. While in some cases human kind is successful in mitigating some of these symptoms, by and large this has not resulted in any fundamental change in the way our society and means of production are functioning. The ‘solutions’ implemented are taking some aspects of our society for granted without fundamentally questioning the ‘causes’ of these symptoms. The globalization trend, resulting in more transportation and use of fossil fuels, the growing world population and the appeal of western culture, replacing traditional cultures, is only deepening the challenges we are facing. For the purpose of this article I will assume that our current relationship with nature is not sustainable, and that a transition of our society and its relationship vis a vis nature is needed. This essay focuses on the question of ‘transition to what?’ and explores the role of design and the design profession as change agent within this transition. In order to answer this question this essay will firstly elaborate the current interrelationship between human kind and nature, by briefly introducing the ideals of the Age of Reason (Enlightenment) as a basis for our modern western society. In the second paragraph I will describe the role of design and the designer within this framework. The third paragraph will discuss the outline of a new worldview, or better a rebalancing of Enlightenment. The forth paragraph discusses interrelationality by looking at notions of ecology. In light of this, the fifth paragraph strategically repositions the role of design and the designer as a change agent towards the transition to this new worldview. The sixth paragraph touches on the role of architecture within this redefined role of design. Lastly, the seventh paragraph will make some observations and closing comments.

1. WESTERN ‘ENLIGHTENED’ WORLDVIEW Looking at the impact of our way of inhabiting this planet, living with, off and by nature, the question

Jonathan I. Israel, A revolution of the mind, Princeton University Press, 2010, p. vii-viii; Core Values Enlightenment: http://jan.ucc.nau.edu/%7Ejo52/ POS254/index.html; Core Values Enlightenment: http://www.temple.edu/ ih/Enlightenment/ 2 The Enlightenment and the Industrial Revolution (Richard K. Moore) http:// www.serendipity.li/capitalism/enlightenment_and_industrial_revolution. 1

begs: How come is it that we have such an effect on nature, and what is driving this? Critical in answering these questions is the understanding that how we act upon the world is a result of how we think about and view our world. So, how do we think about and view our world? Some of the key characteristics of Enlightenment are a) a deep belief in reason and science to solve issues and provide control over nature, b) secularism, c) an active engagement of man in the public domain, d) human progress measured by increasing material wealth and civility, e) a belief in human ‘goodness’, f) the autonomy of the human will (Imannuel Kant), and g) human equality 1. A new culture of science based on reason, progress and change (for the betterment of all human kind), enabled technological innovation to gradually change the economic and societal principles of the 17th and 18th century. The freeing of the human individual mind and resulting institutional and economical changes can be seen as the enablers of Industrial Revolution2, with profound changes in agriculture, manufacturing, mining, transportation, and technology. At this point it is valuable to capture ‘all that has been created by man’ into one term, the ‘Technosphere’ 3. The Technosphere is everything man made, all tangible products, all cities, all artificial systems and structures that constitute our man made habitat. Our Enlightened western society, with an economy based on the assumption of perpetual growth, by (material) consumption, has resulted in the subordination of the Biosphere (the natural world encompassing the Technosphere) to economic development and to the development of the Technosphere.

2. DESIGN AS COMMODITY, DESIGNER AS SERVICE PROVIDER The current role of design in society is brought about by, what Mellick Lopes 4 calls, an ecology of image, and progress measured by growth in Gross Domestic Product (GDP), through (material) consumption. The ecology of image determines our view on and awareness of for instance new products or objects, by the way it is represented to us through images in the media, but also by means of our cultural symbols. Graphic design, for example, is utilized to promote the consumption of material goods, by creating ‘personal identity’ and emphasizing the positive qualities of a product and not mentioning the negative, destructive qualities. Design in the minds of our citizens stands for ‘iconic

htm 3 Industrial Ecology definition of natural systems and technological systems within it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Industrial_ecology 4 Mellick Lopes, A., An Ecology of Image, University of Sydney. Department of Art History and Theory, Sydney (Aus), 2006 5 Brown, T., Change by Design, Harper Collins, New York, 2009

design’ of objects (for example luxury brand products and signature buildings), and it’s role is limited to providing a service focused on aesthetics, image, and fashion 5. The conclusion can be that design itself has been commoditized, it is something to identify yourself with, to ‘need’, or not. In this sense the whole design industry has been commissioned to promote the consumption of material goods. While designers (architects, industrial designers and other design professionals) are predominantly preoccupied with creating (luxury) objects, the bigger questions, like sustainability receive still marginal attention. While the future shape of humanity is being determined within the next few decades, designers are working in, what Tim Brown calls, an “incremental” mode on the next neat looking object. He argues that design needs to be re-instituted as a profession, where an integrative systems approach prevails above a focus on the object. In this way design can play a critical role in addressing the more fundamental issues of our society. Farson 6 argues along similar lines of thought that design has become too much ‘business’ and not enough profession. Architects and other design professionals have not created an ability to say “no”, and have adopted a vendor mentality to design and designing. In this ‘service oriented’ mode of operation, design cannot realise the potential that it has. In effect, design and designers need to refocus from advancing material consumption (through the design of ‘appealing’ products) towards an ethical use of design as a force in realizing some of the other ideals of Enlightenment. Before going into how design can influence the transition to sustainability we need to first understand what it is we are working towards. How would a sustainable society, economy, culture and ethics look like? This is the subject of the next paragraph.

3. TOWARDS A NEW WORLDVIEW Our current western modern economy and society placed in light of sustainability raises three concerns. Firstly, human kind assumes a destructive dominant relationship vis a vis the Biosphere. Secondly, our economy assumes perpetual growth based on material consumption, and our individual identity and success is measured in terms of material wealth, i.e. how much we (can) consume. Thirdly, there is the concern that we are living the now at the cost of the future. The future as a surviv-

Farson, R., The Power of Design:  A Force for Transforming Everything, Greenway Communications, Atlanta (USA), 2008 6

alist concept is not sufficiently utilized and valued as a measure of progress for decisions taken in the now. When looking at the ideals of Enlightenment one can conclude that our current economy and society, does not result or contribute in realizing some of the other ideals, of equality and progress for all, not in the present, but certainly not in the future. The balance between the ideals of Enlightenment has been skewed, and is in need of rebalancing. In their cradle to cradle vision 7 McDonough and Braungart utilize the ‘waste equals food’ aspect from the natural ecology in an effort to ‘close’ the product / waste loop within the Technosphere. The Biosphere functions as an inspiration for closing life cycles of products, similar to how nature ‘recycles’ or re-uses organic waste. In this way the issues of waste are effectively addressed. C2C as a methodology questions and optimizes the way in which we produce, and does not ask the more philosophical questions of why are we consuming so much? Coyle 8 confronts these issues, rather indirectly, by concluding that the notion of wellbeing needs to find its place in the measurement of GDP. Only measuring the wealth of a nation in terms of current income does not provide a good indication of the sustained wellbeing of a nation and it’s subjects, and is thus unsustainable. Coyle makes the argument for discouraging excess consumption, because it does not bring additional wellbeing, and reduces the burden on the environment as well as on society (by reducing inequality and improving trust). Coyle identifies redefinition of GDP (as a sign of comprehensive wealth), restoring morality and ethics within our institutions (markets, households, firms and political institutions), and the realignment of collective institutions with the changing societies and economic structures as key starting points for this change. Lastly, Coyle identifies education is as a key driver to reconcile the debate around happiness, wellbeing and economic growth. A more direct approach is taken by Fry 9 when he argues that the act of design, the economy and society, need to be brought under the ‘hegemony of The Sustainment’, meaning that society and economy need to be focused on that what sustains the Self, the Community, Culture and Ethics from the perspective of creating possible futures. Fry takes the pessimistic anthropocentric view that human kind, as a creating species, is naturally destructive or ‘defuturing’. Human kind has a limited lifespan, but is, by it’s actions and what is being created, to a certain extent in charge of it’s own fate, of it’s own future. The Technosphere or Man Made World, as Fry calls it, is created by the act of design, and that is why he argues for the crucial role of design as a change agent, with futuring as well as defuturing capacities.

McDonough, W. and Braungart, M., Cradle to Cradle, Remaking the Way we Make Things, North Point Press, New York (USA), 2002 8 Coyle, D., The Economics of Enough: How to Run the Economy as If the Future Matters, Princeton University Press, Princeton (USA), 2011 9 Fry,T., Design Futuring, Sustainability, Ethics and New Practice, Berg Publishers, Oxford (UK), 2009 7

The definition of ‘wealth’ needs to be refocused from quantity towards quality, where the value of a product needs to include the cost of destruction, the cost of inequality, and it’s futuring potential. In effect Fry explicitly places the ideals of Enlightenment under the reign of The Sustainment, hereby also redefining the relationship of man and it’s Technosphere vis a vis the Biosphere.

ation or design of a particular object is the result of the complex interrelationships of other particular objects already created. One specific object implies by nature another object with specific qualities.

For the economy this will mean letting go of the assumption of perpetual economic growth, a refocus from a product- towards a service based economy, with substantially increased cost of physical products, and placing production and technology under the rule of futuring capacity. Fry is not making a case against commercial interest nor is he making a case against the use of technology. His point is that these should be refocused in light of working towards a sustainable future.

This so-called interrelationality also applies to the realm of thought. One idea is interrelated to others by default, resulting in an ‘ecology of mind’, as identified by Gregory Bateson 12 in 1972. As mentioned earlier, Mellick Lopes 13 identifies a fourth ecology, namely that of ‘image’. The ecology of mind and image combined determine our interpretation, or view, on the natural and artificial ecologies, and how they interrelate.

In summary, the move towards a sustainable society is firstly characterized by considering a notion of future orientation in making decisions in the now. Secondly the issue of material consumption is addressed, either by reducing it’s waste impact (C2C) or by questioning it’s relevance in terms of excess, and by asking the question “do we really need this product?” instead of ‘wanting’ a product for the identity it establishes or confirms (through the ecology of image). Thirdly, by redefining the concept of ‘wealth’ and ‘success’ away from passive consumption towards active societal participation and revaluing the need to form communities. In his theory of Design Thinking Tim Brown 10 emphasizes this need for society to move from a mode of pacified consumption towards a mode of active participation, towards involvement on a community level. A notion of the reestablishment of the group or ‘the public man’ 11 alongside the private individual is part of this, emphasizing also the notion of ‘smallness’ and social cohesion in society. The above considerations put the meaning of Enlightenment in light of a new relationship with the Biosphere. This relationship is no longer based on domination of the Technosphere over the Biosphere, but on a balanced co-existence of both. The transition will mean fundamental changes to our western societies, economies, cultures and ethics. While C2C studies natural ecologies to optimize production processes and minimize waste, the next paragraph will show the value of thinking in terms of ecologies on a more fundamental level in relation to design.

4. ECOLOGIES THINKING Within the Biosphere all natural elements seem to function in a complex set of interrelationships and are in a state of constant change and exchange. Similarly one can also argue that an ‘ecology of things’ exists in the Technosphere, where the cre-

Brown, T., Change by Design, Harper Collins, New York, 2009 Sennett, R., The Fall of Public Man, Cambridge University Press Archive, Cambridge (UK), 1977 12 Gregory Bateson, Steps to an Ecology of Mind, The University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1972 13 Mellick Lopes, A., An Ecology of Image, University of Sydney. Department of 10 11

This implies that ecologies (and design as a product of the ecology of mind) are relational in nature, both in the present time as well as in time.

5. DESIGN AS CHANGE AGENT In understanding the true potential of design, and the design professional, we need to firstly acknowledge that design implies the conception, the thinking, of all man made objects. Secondly, design is not an autonomous entity; it influences, and is influenced by culture, society, ethics, and economy, it is interrelational. Thirdly, design is directional 14. Design is not neutral, even highly political, as it opens and closes paths for future development. Design as an activity can be defined as 15 : 1. to work out the structure or form of (something), as by making a sketch, outline, pattern, or plans 2. to plan and make (something) artistically or skilfully 3. to form or conceive in the mind; invent 4. to intend, as for a specific purpose; plan 5. Obsolete to mark out or designate In light of the notion of ecologies, this general definition gets a whole new meaning. The Technosphere is the physical outcome of design and designing, it is created by design and through the act of designing. Designing as an activity is closely linked to the ecology of the artificial and of the mind, and can direct and redirect the future development of material objects. The object, the way it is used, and in combination with other objects preconceives the coming into being of another object, through the ecology of ‘things’ and the ecology of ‘mind’. Central to any design assignment would be the question of ‘what has to be designed and what it, in turn, will design’ 16. In other words, design goes on designing, which is maybe best illustrated by an example. The design of the internet, once a military communication conduit, has had a fundamental impact on our society, culture and economy. The design choices made in building the internet, combined with the fact that this technology has been made available for public use, has resulted in massive changes in how and what we communicate, how and what products and services we buy, how we define our

Art History and Theory, Sydney (Aus), 2006 14 Fry,T., Design Futuring, Sustainability, Ethics and New Practice, Berg Publishers, Oxford (UK), 2009, Chapter 2 15 http://www.thefreedictionary.com/design 16 Fry,T., Design Futuring, Sustainability, Ethics and New Practice, Berg Publishers, Oxford (UK), 2009, Chapter 8

identities, and even what constitutes the public domain. It has opened unimagined possibilities for further design and development. The internet has also brought about a whole new industry, with its own need for infrastructure, like server capacity and fiber glass wiring. In short, bringing about the ‘internet’ directs a certain development of society, culture, and economy as a result. Pointing to the role of design in forming the Technosphere (the ecology of ‘things’) and hence the interrelationship with the Biosphere shows the potential for design to bring about change towards sustainability. Fry argues that design rethought as an interrelational discipline, future oriented, and futuring, can be employed towards sustaining the Self and the Community, and bring about the move from passive consumption to active participation. Positioned in this way the power of design can be utilized as a redirective 17 practise towards sustainability. Farson 18 calls for the design professional to become a meta-professional, to transcend the boundaries of the profession and find new ways to use the knowledge that we have to address the challenges we face. Given the importance of design in creating a future sustainable society, designers need to move away from being service providers to becoming leaders. Designers need to establish themselves alongside politicians, policy makers and corporate leaders to establish future agenda’s and set directions for future development 19. Is the point here that politicians, policy makers and corporate leaders are wilfully being unsustainable? No, of course not. The point to make here is that the mentioned potential of design (1, everything human is designed, 2, design is interrelational, and 3, design directs) can be employed to gradually move modern western society, economy and culture onto a sustainable path of developed, as described earlier. Designers will need to lead this transition, by using design within the ecology of mind (the conception of an object) to act as a change agent on the ecology of things (the making of objects) and the ecology of image (how we perceive the world). The following paragraph will elaborate on some of the options of how this can be done. REDIRECTIVE DESIGN STRATEGIES In employing design as a redirective change agent there are no quick fixes, there is no ‘spark of insight’ curing humanity, and there is no single path to sustainability. The transition to a sustainable society will need to be the result of the cumulative influence of small and big changes, in objects, in policies, in structures, in laws. Fry 20 identifies elimination design and recoding as key design strategies. The former contains strategies like exposing the perceived ‘need’ for a product as a fabricated ‘want’, substituting complex technology

Fry,T., Design Futuring, Sustainability, Ethics and New Practice, Berg Publishers, Oxford (UK), 2009, Chapters 3/4 18 Farson, R., The Power of Design:  A Force for Transforming Everything, Greenway Communications, Atlanta (USA), 2008 19 Fry,T., Design Futuring, Sustainability, Ethics and New Practice, Berg Publishers, Oxford (UK), 2009, p.150 17

with simple technology, product multipurposing, product de-materialization or re-materialization, symbolic devaluation and destruction of sign value (through the ecology of image), and plain prohibition by law. The latter exposes the unsustainable and declares the means of sustainment, the way in which something can gain futuring agency. Any design assignment will need to start with a relational analysis, which will reveal what type of expertise is needed, while a detailed consideration of future positive or negative effects or possibilities would be required. The question needs to be asked, what can realistically be foreseen? Multidisciplinary design teams and designing in time are important design tools to be employed.

6. SO WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN FOR ARCHITECTURE AND ARCHITECTS? Can architecture, as a spatial design discipline, take a redirective approach towards sustainment? Can architecture have futuring agency? In terms of result I think it can by focusing on two main areas of design, one being spatial design directed towards nurturing active participation, community building, and social networking. Secondly, architecture, as the creator of habitat, can contribute to project the new worldvision, in which the interrelationships or interfaces between Biosphere / Technosphere is explored and redefined from “destructive dominance” to some form of codevelopment. Sensorial experience, awareness and education are key design elements, where spaces seduce people to imagine alternate ways of relating to nature, by combining natural elements and man made elements. The vision would need to revolve around a permeable, adaptive, more fluent interface between the Biosphere and the Man Made World, in which both benefit of each other, and are in a positive state of exchange and creation. In architectural terms, the ‘parti’ 21, or the chief organizing thought , of a design would need to be informed by these two design principles.

7. OBSERVATIONS AND CLOSING COMMENTS Enlightenment as a world forming ideology has resulted in a destructive dominant relationship of the man made Technosphere over the natural world, the Biosphere. A rebalancing of the ideals of the Age of Reason is needed in order to provide human kind with viable futures as a species on this world. The standpoint of dominance over the Biosphere needs to transition into a relationship of co-development with it. This would involve refocusing society towards a

Fry,T., Design Futuring, Sustainability, Ethics and New Practice, Berg Publishers, Oxford (UK), 2009, Chapter 5 21 Ching, Francis D. K., A Visual Dictionary of Architecture, Van Nostrand Reinhold Company, New York (USA), 1995, p. 53 20

different concept of ‘wealth’, progress and identity, not (or minimally) driven by material consumption and economic growth, but by our ability to sustain ourselves and by the value of community and social relations. Design, as a creator of Technosphere, is ideally positioned to facilitate this transition. Architecture, as a spatial design principle, should be employed in the strengthening of community, and seduce or educate people to envision a different Technosphere / Biosphere interrelationship. A number of authors identify design and the design profession as a key change agent. In his book Design Futuring, Fry specifically links this quality specifically to the need to transition towards The Sustainment. Fry articulates strongly and comprehensively the need for fundamental changes in society, culture and economy, under the reign of The Sustainment, of creating futuring potential, instead of working towards unsustainability and defuturing. In acknowledging the destructive impact human kind by default has on it’s own future, in my view he underplays the potential for creating a Technosphere / Biosphere interrelationship which is mutually beneficial and nurture a co-development. Designers need to refocus the design profession and utilize the identified potentials of design towards the transition to a sustainable society. Design, wielded as a change agent, impacts both the ecology of things as well as the ecology of image. Lastly, the concept of dominance, in my view, can be explained in two ways. One is technological dominance, the second is dominance by sheer quantity. The question of ‘how many people can this earth support?’ is rarely asked, nor answered. The answer is, of course, very difficult to provide, and is dependent on technology and the Enlightened ideal of equality for all humans.

THE OLYMPIC LEGACY : BEST INTENTIONS MEET REALITY The Olympic Media site in London by Martine Verhoeven the media hub offered huge potential to provide employment, fitting in the social and economic Legacy 5. The media centre was now proposed as a permanent structure , available for business space and creative industries after the Olympics. In the planning applications, four buildings appeared at the Olympic media site. These applications contained two permanent buildings, the International Broacast Centre (IBC) and Media Press Centre (MPC), and two (semi-) temporary buildings, the catering village and multi-storey car park (MSCP) .

INTRODUCTION First of all I would like to state that this article is not going to give an overall solution for sustainable development. However, I tried to present a possible approach to inspire people, illustrated by a specific case study ‘The Olympic Media site in London’. The success of this case study was achieved by the following successive conditions: - A long term vision on all significant scales - in this case the London Plan. - A value proposition of the area with conditions and potentials. - A stakeholders analysis to provide a more even distribution of benefits of the different stakeholders across time. In July 2012, 20.000 broadcasters, journalists and photographers will temporarily be accommodated in the nearly 95.000m2 Olympic media centre in Hackney Wick London, equivalent in size to one of the skyscrapers at the Docklands*. Dominating the area is the massive permanent steel structure of the International Broadcast Centre ( IBC), providing 58.000m2 of large studio spaces. Adjacent to that and to the existing small scale neighbourhood of Hackney Wick, a Media Press Centre (MPC), providing 24.500m2 office space for world’s written press. And a 12.000m2 temporary Catering Village along with a multi-storey car park will be built. All together this future media hub could create over 8,000 new jobs in Hackney Wick after the Olympics1.

World class team appointed to develop media centre for London 2012 and local employment legacy, www.london2012.com, 11 July 2008 2 Livingstone, K.; The London Plan – Spatial Development strategy for Greater London; GLA, London, 2004 3 London 2012 olympics Candidature File. Volume 1. Theme 1: Olympic Games Concept and Legacy. London 2012, 2004 1

The focus on Legacy was one of the main reasons for winning the bid in 2005. The media centre, a small fraction of the current developments in the Olympic park, is situated in the Lower Lea Valley; a region in East London which was chosen for its regeneration opportunities (as described in the mayor’s London Plan) 2. The candidate file of November 2004 also makes clear that the 2012 Games will be part of a city wide strategy. ”The Olympic Park will become a model of social inclusion, opening up opportunities for education, cultural and skills development and jobs for people across the UK and London, but especially in the Lea Valley and surrounding areas” 3 . Complementary to the candidate file in February 2005 was the document ‘Towards one Planet Olympics’, describing the sustainable legacy in principles like climate change, biodiversity, waste and healthy living 4. The objective of this article is to compare the legacy plans to practice, focusing primarily on the Olympic media centre.

REALITY When the bid was awarded to London in July 2005, concrete plans to transform this derelict site in the heart of East London into a green Olympic Park had to be made. Initially, the Olympic media centre, positioned in the north-west of the park, was envisaged as a temporary facility. There were no intentions that it would be part of the city-wide strategy. However, meetings between the Olympic Delivery Authority (responsible for overseeing the promised Legacy) and the borough of Hackney led to changes in 2006. Both stakeholders agreed that

Towards a one planet Olympics – achieving the first sustainableOlympic Games and Paralymic Games; 2005 http://www.bioregional.com/what-wedo/our-work/one-planet-2012/ 5 London Assembly; Legacy United? The Legacy of London’s Olympic Venues; GLA, London sept 2007, p32-456 6 Review London 2012 International Broadcast Centre and Main Press Centre, http://www.cabe.org.uk/design-review/london-2012/ibc-mpc, 23 April 2009 4

The detailing of some of the buildings, like the façade elements of the partly temporary car park, had yet to be decided, but to get the buildings finished on time the concrete structure of the MSCP was being built already. Most striking in this area are the permanent structures of the IBC and MPC. According to a review by CABE in 2009 6 both IBC and MPC need additional work to clarify its identity, character and scale. The huge steel structure of the 21m tall IBC building, entirely cladded with metal panels, looks like a monolithic block in comparison to the small scale neighbourhood of Hackney Wick. This is emphasized by the lack of windows, which can only be found in the north façade. However, authorities do not consider this an issue as the IBC building can separate in units in legacy. In March 2008, private developers Carillion and Igloo joint into this project, which consolidates the decision. The developers planned to transform the site in legacy into creative media workshops, studios, and offices and residential uses 7. Half of the construction costs would be contributed by Carillion and Igloo and the rests of the costs would be publicly funded. Unfortunately, in late 2008, Carillion and Igloo struggled to raise the money and pulled out of the project. According to ODA chairman Joe Armitt it was the credit crunch (collapse of Lehman brothers) that caused a lack of interest in funding the media complex 8. The consequence is that the media hub is now entirely publicly funded. Striking is that future tenants for the IBC/MPC building could not be found in local existing industries. Research by Design for London shows that in 2009 there is still lots of existing, creative potential in Hackney Wick; varying from printing industries, glass manufacturers, furniture repair to artist’s studios 9. Over 300 creative industries were counted in the area of Hackney Wick and Fish Island. Also Mayor of Hackney Jules Pipe confirms that Hackney

World class team appointed to develop media centre for London 2012 and local employment legacy, www.london2012.com, 11 July 2008 8 London Evening Standard (2008); Taxpayer may foot bill for media centre, Games chiefs admit 9 DFL; Creative Potential – Hackney Wick and Fish Island, 2009 7

is home to many small firms in ‘’creative industries’’, for which the media centre could become a new base 10. Thus far, these small industries have had little impact on the decision making for the media site. Many small businesses that existed on the proposed Olympic Village site, adjacent to the Media site, were evicted in the summer of 2007 11, as well as the 80 allotment plots 12. Local grown initiatives like, the 100 year old Manor Gardens Allotments contribute to social inclusion but, the soft (intangible) or social Olympic legacy seems to be relatively small considering these actions.

employment rate.

WHAT MIGHT HAVE HAPPENED

Return of these businesses into the future media hub to lower unemployment seems not an option due to rising rents since the Olympic developments started. The IBC building may be designed to split in four separate units for legacy use 14, but the size of this IBC/MPC building still asks for large companies. Poor connections from Hackney Wick station to the Media site can influence the attractiveness to these larger companies.

The good intentions to design the IBC/MPC building as a permanent structure, providing future jobs, does not seem to work in the current situation as there no future tenants. However, the existing potentials show that there are strong arguments incorporating long term planning. An alternative could be a media building part of a long term city-wide strategy, like the intention of the bid was. If this scenario is taken as a guideline, the requirement of the (temporary) Olympics can be accommodated. It does imply that flexibility got to be part of the design. The required surface for the Olympic media centre is too big a step at once. Therefore, the media site will first be designed as a pre-project with a minimum basis. This step provides the involvement and participation of local communities and developers. If London wins the bid in 2005 the structure, containing a main and substructure, can be adapted to the Olympic situation. When the Olympics leave town the building fall back on the local communities and gradually transform into a more permanent, long term phase.

The London Assembly warns that the Olympic media centre faces demolition in 2017 if alternatives will not be found 15.

Although the physical impact and visibility of these small industries is relatively low in comparison to the future “large-scale” plans of the delivery authorities, their influence on local communities has been high. The site on which these businessess were located was cheap and adaptable to other practices and/or expansion 13. These businessess were highly dependent on local workers. The loss of these businesses increased the already high un-

2004

2010

bidding & preparation

building phase

2012

2014

project

2060

legacy

open space 80% used

creative industries

sports&leisure

re-use centre

media

creative industries

re-use centre

catering open space 60% used

climax outrageous

ateliers education companies

education companies

media

creative enthousiasm industries

f.e. bicycle factory

loosing interest keep up

restaurant greenhouses

Emotions

media

input

input loosing big interest

memory curiosity

Intensity

2004

2010

bidding-preparation

pre-project

Pre-Olympics Phases

contemplation

don’t care

2012

special event

2014

2060

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Olympics

Past-Olympics

Phase I preparation

SHORT TERM

Phase II temporary event / explosion Phase III reorganizing after Games Phase IV building structure

MEDIUM TERM

Phase IV

The Economist (2010) Raco, M. and Tunney E; Visibilities and Invisibilities in Urban Development: Small Business Communities and the London Olympics 2012; Urban studies, July 2009 12 BBC documentary; Building the Olympic dream – The last stand at Stratford; 21 April 2009 10 11

Imrie, R. and Thomas, H.; ‘The wrong side of the tracks’: a case study of local economic regeneration in Britain, Policy and Politics, 1992, p 213-226 14 The Evening Standard (2010); £308m Olympics Media centre ‘faces demolition’ after Games (http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article23877155-pound-308m-olympics-media-centre-faces-demolition-aftergames.do accessed 13 September 2010) 13

LONG TERM

London Assembly; Legacy United? The Legacy of London’s Olympic Venues; GLA, London sept 2007, p32-45 15

AND ANOTHER STEP IS... Finding who is the most critical stakeholder to impact in every project. This image story is one example. Which target group is the hardest to make enthousiastic about the task to deal with the sustainable housing task in existing cities?

by Martine Verhoeven & Noémie Benoit Representation of the citycity in 2010... Representation of the in 2010... industries

How to deal in the future with the existing housing Representation of the existing housing tasktask? in 2010

HowHow should we imagine the the future sustainable citycity in 2050? should we imagine future sustainable in 2050

garbage

deforestation

consumption

renewable energy

pollution

forest

green (productive) landscape

recycling

cycling/ public transport

less consumption

< 1945

1945-1970

1970-1990

1990-2009

which buildingtype is this? red block?

IALS

MATER

MATERIALS

W AT ER

GOODS

R TE WA

RE-USE

N IO 2 UT CO LL O2 POO2 S

Insulation

planes

WIND ENERGY PV CELLS

VECH

ING

CL CY

2030-2050

economic lifespan 50 years replace between 2020-2040

good

economic lifespan 50 years replace between 2040-2060

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GAS

27,7%

18% < 1945

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[Article by Anke van Hal - The sustainable city: A challenge for architects]

OUTPUT

WASTE

POLLUTED AIR WASTE WATER WASTE MATERIALS WASTE ENERGY WASTE FOOD

HEALTH

Netherlands- Global

Scales

Dedicated

Aligned

NOT the hardest groups to make enthousiastic for the sustainable housing task are : developers & governments

NOT all stakeholders are critical for the sustainable housing task !

Provincial Government

finances

government

energy

owners

users

The hardest group to make enthousiastic about the sustainable housing task is : THE USER The hardest group to make enthusiastic about the sustainable housing task : THE USER

Investor Developer

Municipality

National Government

designers

en. user

Household(s)

House Owner

Micro *Reference : based on the principles of Cradle to cradle from Michael Braungart & William McDonough

*Reference : Synergy between exergy and regional planning. from dr. ir.Andy van den Dobbelsteen.

Provincial Government

Housing Corp.

...

replacement of existing stock

National Government

RES Installers

PARTICIPATION

(e.g. Stedin)

20%

Energy Producer (e.g. Eneco)

HEALTH

Investor

IMPROVED AIR WATER 2nd HAND MATERIALS ENERGY CASCADING* FOOD PEOPLE

BIODIVERSITY

Network Operator

FOOD

FREEDOM

AIR WATER MATERIALS HOUSING ENERGY FOOD PEOPLE

Developer

FOOD

Municipality

PRODUCING

Designers

2050 sustainable house

no replacement

RES Producers

Meso

OUTPUT

(e.g. TenneT)

HAPPINESS

National Government

Delft- Province

Provincial Government

...

housing stock in 2050

INPUT

Network Operator

HAPPINESS

Financier

AIR WATER MATERIALS HOUSING ENERGY FOOD PEOPLE

BIODIVERSITY

EREA

replacement in 30 years

“The current percentage of rebuilding is only 0,25% per year”

Macro

POWER

FOOD

USING

n 30 years

18%

1990 - 2007

Stakeholders

2010 unsustainable house

80%

21,1%

WhoWho is involved in the in task to task deal with the with sustainable city ? is involved the to deal the sustainable city?

INPUT

of the market uilded in e

this segment of the market should be rebuilded in the near future

1945-1970

21,1%

* source: VROM Study CO2040 excecuted by Posad and Except

?? - ??

Future target: houses collectively produce more than they use

61%

economically outdated replaced between 1995-2020

sufficient

ICLE S

WIND

SHIPS

sober

vehi cle

BLUE ENERGY

AN cars SPO RT

TR coal

2009-2030

33%

1970 - 1990

PLANES

ships

GAS

ENERGY

cle

1990-2009

What mean housing task* ? Whatdoes does sustainable sustainable mean forfor thethe housing task*?

How to deal in theinfuture with the existing housing task? How to deal the future with the existing housing task?

Required transformation in existing market

* Current housing stock

minimum relatively much monuments few replacement

N TIO 2 LU 2 CO OL SO

* green energy in NL (3%) From this 3%, two third are imported from abroad (Volkskrant, 2 jan 2010)

Economic lifespan

LOCAL FOOD

TRA

*WIND ENERGY PV CELLS

FOOD

WAST

TE WAS

LOCAL FOOD

Organisational network :

Municipality

Municipality EU

Network Operator (e.g. Stedin) Energy Suppliers (e.g. Eneco)

Players

Investors

Not Critical Designers

Critical

Oposing Unsustainable city

Trend A

95 % ???

Anke van Hal

UNCONSCIOUS or UNSUSTAINABLE USERS Conscious Users

Reality:

What role does sustainability play in consumers housing and neighbourhood choices?

95%??

How much are consumers willing to pay for environmentally friendly building features? (sustainable building and sustainable living, article by M.J. van Dorst and Dr. S. Silvester)

Unconscious or “non sustainable”group of users

...but the lectures are still far from reality. Unfortunately the majority of users is NOT aware of the current problems in the city. What kind of users are they?

Group A

Tool I : INTERACTIVE FEEDBACK SYSTEM [interactive feedback system] makes users aware of their energy use in a cool and positive way. The systems provides more interactions so that users can consciously choose how (and if ) to use their appliances.

In order to make tools for achieving the sustainable city, we need to know what the problems are. The 3 problems sphere are* :

S : + T : - C : ++ PP

S : + T : - C : ++ P

People in third world countries should solve their own problems

I don’t need sustainable stuff, I’m fine like that

I am always wearing shirts at home even in the winter

S : + T : - C : ++ PP

S : - T : + C : ++ PP

S : - T : - C : ++ PP

Strenghts

Weaknesses

financial implementation to get the feedback system accessible to everyone is quite difficult. Not everyone can afford this system for example

from the clichés

Trend A

STRATEGIES*

for achieving the sustainable city A city existing of responsability, a good habitat and participation

the hardest to make enthusiastic =

THE RESPONSIBLE CITY

= strategy to create and restructure urban systems to make them responsible

huge distance between people and planet WHY ? people lifestyles and habits -high cultural value of their lifestyles -no education --

S : ++ T : - C : ++ PP

S : - T : +++ C : - PP

S : + ++ T : - C : + P

S : ++ T : - C : ++ PP

Where can I find sustainable stuff ?

I don’t know nothing about it

I love long showers and baths

S : + T : - C : ++ PP

S : + T : - C : +++ P

S : - T : - C : +++ PP

Associations

I don’t know what to choose

It’s too expensive, we can’t afford it

Where can I find sustainable stuff ?

There are almost no subsidies for it

S : +++ T : + C : + PPP

S : + + T : ++ C : + P

S : +++ T : + C : - P

S : +++ T : - C : + P

I would like to, but it is too much administrative work

My house doesn’t allow me to make changes

Nobody asks my point of view

S : +++ T : - C : + PP

S : - T : +++ C : - P

There is nobody to help you with sustainable appliances S : ++ T : ++ C : - P

C PPPPPPP

Trend C

C PP

PPPPP

PPPP

Sustainable city

STEP III

Strenghts

[INVOLVEMENT] in the process of all actors during the whole planning process

Group C

= INTEGRATED PROCESSES through organisation

for group C to become sustainably convinced and active

= INVESTMENT on technological RESEARCH to get it cheaper

*Reference : The Ecopolis by Dr. ir. Sybrand P. Tjallingii

C++

Tool I : WORKSHOPS [WORKSHOPS] that users can join or start up. Motivated users often want to be part of a group to share and gain new knowledge (education), to set up community gardens or other practical additions to the environment Strenghts

Strenghts

= COMPLEMENTARY EDUCATION through participation

= creating NETWORKS to share KNOWLEDGE low accessibility -poor technological development/research -low technical proposals -distance between actors --

S : + ++ T : - C : + P

Tool II : INVOLVE (ALSO) USERS IN THE PROCESS OF REFURBISHING

CONTENT = the link betweeen people and planet, giving the overal view

THE PARTICIPATING CITY

= strategy to create commitment of citizens and businesses to the urban environment by stimulating their participation in decision making and management of the urban ecosystems.

Sustainable city

= strategy to design with nature and to use the life support systems to create urban areas that contribute to the quality of life of urban residents and wildlife in the city.

lack of knowledge -lack of integration between the spheres STC --

PPP

= POSITIVE EDUCATION by educating in a way that people do not immediately have to change their whole lifestyle to have impact on the environment

for group B to move to group C THE LIVING CITY

Trend B

for group A to move to group B

that connect the city to its regional and global surroundings.

Tool I : MANUAL [MANUAL] can be used to explain users how to use their (renewable) appliances in an efficient way. (Extra: investigation of Buijs (1995) and Silvester (1996) proved that users have little knowledge about sustainable appliances and their lifespan)

Education in a positive and interactive way We can create a great image, like appliances from Apple, I-phone etc

CONCLUSIONS

S : + T : - C : ++ PPP

Honey, it doesn’t work like I want it

It is for rich people

small difficulty to make enthusiastic =

P Planet P People P Profit

Group B

Unsustainable city What are the resulting strategies ? What can we conclude for future strategies?

I want a new TV for Christmas, the other one is too small

I am only living here for a while, so, I can’t do anything

We can never choose, they decide for us

Trend C

S Structural sphere T Technological sphere C Cultural sphere

STEP II

Sustainability is only a hype.

S : + T : - C : ++ PP

Trend B

(A) people not willing to change (B) people willing to change but not knowing how to change (C) enthusiastic people who need little to be convinced

*Reference : The challenge of sustainable development by Prof. dr. ir. Leo Jansen

STEP I

Why do I need to care about nature ?

medium difficulty to make enthusiastic =

Lacaton Vassal, Paris

Reader:

Cliches

Sorry, what does it mean sustainability ?

PPPPPP PPPPPP PP

This 95% of unconscious or unsustainable users can classified in three types :

Orchard Street, London

high involvement

Wallisblok, Rotterdam

Contractors RES Installers

high involvement

Reality:

5%??

the USER is not only hard to convince in changing lifestyles but he also has a critical position in solving the sustainable housing task

Crucial position :

low involvement

Howdo dothe the user usersreact react to to the the task? How task ?

the hardest to make enthusiastic =

GWL site, Amsterdam

Network Operator (e.g. Stedin)

Stakeholders all have their own interest. Investors and developers want to make profit, users want to maintain their (luxury) lifestyles and institutional parties want to make market based policies. As you can see, the developers and governments are NOT the hardest groups to make enthousiastic...

Some stakeholders are more important than others ! For the sustainable housing task we have to move the non dedicated but critical target groups into dedictated and critical stakeholders

Sarah Wigglesworth

Municipality

House corporation

Energy Suppliers (e.g. Eneco)

low involvement

Not Dedicated

!!!!!

Thethe Capita Selecta lecturesimage showondifferently...? Could lectures give a distorted the reality?

Ineke Hulshof

Investor Developer

Bank

Context setters

Crowd

So, it is the users who is hardest to make enthousiast.. but the lectures show differently. How is this possible?

Anke van Hal

Associations

Network Operator (e.g. TenneT)

Housing Corp.

Lectures:

not acknowledged

not sustainable

Contractors RES Installers

energy user

Investors House Owner

User

House corporation

Critical

House Owner

Context setters

Crowd

not aware

not responsible

Developers

RES Installers

Network Operator (e.g. TenneT)

Users House-owner

Housing Corp.

movement required

Designers

RES Installers

RES Producers

RES Producers Not Critical

Bank

Subjects

Players

Subjects

Tool II : E-SHOPS

[E-SHOPS] increase the accessilibity of buying renewable equipment or by providing advices.

Strenghts

involvemencreates social coherence and therefore responsability of the people

sharing knowlegde and creating networks

Weaknesses

workshops will only work with collective energy, a lot of people should participate

Weaknesses

Opportunities

! This could be an opportunity for companies or institutions to invest in

! The architecture should work to its new role as mediator to make everyone enthousiastic and to explain the possibilities of renewable implementations

Opportunities

municipalities and/ or companies can invest in it to make it a success.

! The “not” interested group can first be made enthousiastic by using the interactive feedbacksystem (see step I). This will be a next step in stimulating people to buy renewable equipment, to produce more energy than they use !!

Threats

Opportunities

people know how they should use the appliances in the house and how to reduce consuming and use of energy.

! A solution for this could be : working with eco-points supported by companies or institutions (local governments). If you save energy or make use of appliances in a smart way you can earn eco-points (Tool II). When enough eco-points are saved, the point can be converted in the interactive feedback system.

people will not use their manual unless they are interested in it.

good technology for the feedback system is required . Otherwise the educational target (raising awareness and making small changes) can fail.

very easy to implement

Threats

we may not reach all people with the manual.

“ simply behavorial changes could reduce disposable waste, potentially cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 30%” http://livingclimatechange.com/index.php/films/

movie: “NO-trash New York” showing the eco-point system (Tool II) http://livingclimatechange.com/index.php/films/

there is a big chance that not everyone wants to participate as much in the building process.

make people very enthousiastic to be part of the sustainable developments

Threats

Opportunities

involvement of all actors can lead to new innovations, discovered during the building process

it will increase the accessibility of new, sustainable technologies to a broad group of users

Weaknesses

it could only work for people who want to invest time in changing lifestyles

investments are needed to set the virtual networks

Opportunities

e-shops probably lead to more selling of RES (renewable energy sources) equipment. This can lead to more investment in research. More research will lead to cheaper equipment

Threats

it will touch only a certain group of users

From the existing housing stock we can conclude that more than 60% has to be refurbished in the near future. For these tools we suppose that the focus will be on this task, so that new renewable implementations (in old buildings) and involvement are possible. succesful example of involvement of users in the process

from: lecture of ineke hulshof; TUDelft, faculty of Architecture, 10-12 2009

e-shops supports the consumption logic..

movie: “Can China’s contradiction leads.. ” showing e-shops (Tool II) http://livingclimatechange.com/index.php/films/

Contact information Noémie Benoit noemie.benoit@gmail.com Studio Explore lab 11 Delft University of Technology Master in Architecture, Urbanism and Building Sciences

Creative Session invités Clément Arnoux Rutger Huiberts Friso Gouwetor Aarabi Krishnakumar Caroline Moinel Benny Munsters Barbara Olde Bijvank Daniel Raymond Xavier San Giorgi Daniel Swakman Martine Verhoeven Jan Wouter Vorderman Milan Zlatov Essays Peter de Ruijter Martine Verhoeven With the graphic participation of Laëtitia Fronty and Pauline Durand. Unless otherwise indicated, all other materials and layout by Noémie Benoit

My research mentor Taeke de Jong for the knowledge he shared with me, the patience, the repetition of everything he said until I understood it ! You have changed for the rest of my life my vision on ecology and design. My tutors, Robert Nottrot, for his care, his trust into designing and exploring boundaries, Jan van de Voort for the great materialization inspirations, challenging me and making me discovering the ‘forgotten architecture’, Daan Vitner, for his sense of humour and drama and the pleasure to see him everytime. Patrick Leitner, for his time, his availability even with distance, for having followed me for the last 7 years, and being still and always so critical and direct. It is deeply appreciated and thank you also for the support into my chaotic moments of life this last year, the keys and perspectives you gave me. Laetitia Fronty, for your strong friendship, energy, support, Jean-Julien Barillot, for our amazing architectural collaboration, and the pleasure to discover the great architect you are. You two, it goes beyond what I have never imagined friendship might be. Didier et Caroline Benoit, for all the daily support hearing me complaining and never failing to listen to me… But also the essential : the financial support, without them, nothing would have been possible. Jan Wouter Vorderman, for the passionate dedication to make my strategy more real than utopian, the patience for making calculations and the enthusiasm towards my exploration. Nicolas Fabre and Clément Arnoux, for the relevant critics at the worse designmoments for shaping architecture and trying to cut off my French reflexes, Emilie Meaud, for her critical comments, pushes, honesty and creative ideas to make the project better. Also for the daily support and help to reassure me in the process and to give me recommendations from your own experience. Xavier San Giorgi, for the participation to make the research more readable, better translated and the great introduction to patterns, Martine Verhoeven, for her support for the research and the trust she has in our visions. Peter De Ruijter, for your amazing help, your valuable comments, the distance and the critical view on everything, the regular support, just being always here, but also building our visions together, never enough said that I appreciate so much that. Selma Maaroufi, for her productive comments on every presentation and ideas for exploring the boundaries of my research and design, Pauline Durand, for her participation and her support. Daniel Raymond, for the English check translation… ! Rutger Huiberts, for his time and amazing help for rendering this enormous project. Caroline Gautier, my Dutch mother, for her support and her care for me, really needed and so much appreciated, I will miss you. Mayke Payens and Theo van Vugt, for their attention, their regular check, their comments. Gertjan Bok and Laurence Boissinot for all the materials for the model. All the participants of the creative session that played the game, produced and exchanged so much, you criticized the research model and the results in a very relevant and inspiring way. Thanks again. The model numerous makers, Barbara, Jan Wouter, Lucia, Valerie, Héctor, Pieter, Maddy, Laurence, Philippe, Jeanne, Andreas, Peter, etc…

THANKS TO and Pieter Heyvaert, of course, for your ‘hand’ participation but especially for the change in my life that has made me ending months of mind wandering. For your delicate influence that made me recovering pleasure in the making of architecture.

Contact information NoĂŠmie Benoit noemie.benoit@gmail.com Studio Explore lab 11 Delft University of Technology Master in Architecture, Urbanism and Building Sciences