The Indoor City
In the reading, "The politics of the Envelope", Alejondro Zaera Polo mentions Crystal Island by Norman Foster as an example of a flat horizontal envelope. If or when built, this 2,500,000 square meter footprint and 450 meter tall proposal in Moscow, Russia would be the largest structure on earth.
Alejondro Zaera Polo speaks about the political nature of envelopes throughout the reading, specifically how flat horizontal envelopes create an organization of material flows... of traffic, ventilation, daylight, and security. The Crystal Island proposal becomes layers and layers of envelopes, intermixing public and private and a plethora of functions. The proposal also makes a few cases for sustainability strategies, including:
* Energy balance with different functions at use at different times
* A breathable second skin to shield all functions from the extreme summer and winter climates.
* Strong connections with the surrounding context as the form extends into the landscape, providing community activities (skating and cross country skiing).
While this idea may have some interesting concepts and could be the future for sustainable building design, I can't help but ask myself if something like this is truly sustainable...
Alejondro Zaera Polo speaks about the political nature of envelopes throughout the reading, specifically how flat horizontal envelopes create an organization of material flows... of traffic, ventilation, daylight, and security. The Crystal Island proposal becomes layers and layers of envelopes, intermixing public and private and a plethora of functions. The proposal also makes a few cases for sustainability strategies, including:
* Energy balance with different functions at use at different times
* A breathable second skin to shield all functions from the extreme summer and winter climates.
* Strong connections with the surrounding context as the form extends into the landscape, providing community activities (skating and cross country skiing).
SUSTAINABILITY:
development meets the needs of the present without compromising the well-being of future generations
Although Crystal Island boasts an abundance of natural daylight and breathable skin, the project is an entire mini-city... INSIDE. I just can't justify making the choice for future generations to create a world where you could literally never leave a building, never actually interact with outside nature, and have everything you needed to live all in one place. Yes it sounds extremely convenient, but I just don't think that it is the answer for true social, environmental, and economic sustainability.
I especially agree with the last segment of this post. I don't believe this is the ideal solution nor is it desirable. In the same way that computers can't design for us, (there's just too many variable and human intuition involved) we will never be able to create an indoor condition that perfectly replicates all of the health related benefits that the natural world has to offer.
ReplyDeleteIt does seem a bit counter to Zaera's initial statement of wanting to "increase the contact surface between [private and public] realms." What's the point swallowing the whole city, then after the fact, trying to "enhance natural ventilation and sunlight"? Wouldn't that be easier outside of the envelope?
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with your last statement. Creating a mini city to where one would never have to leave is not the solution for economic sustainability. It sounds nice that one could have everything at their figure tips in one building but at the same time its not healthy for one to be confided to one area without ever leaving to go and experience the outdoor world.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely agree with the last part. I mean, it's like if you were the designer of the Matrix, how would you feel. Create an artificial realm for people to occupy where no experiences are authentic to the environment. It is not the right solution.
ReplyDelete