Takenaka Corporation

A corporation whose motto is to create "sustainable architecture" which meets both the demands and expectations of the client/society at large, and to exist in harmony with nature.

Some of the projects that they did include:
The 2010 Shanghai Expo Japanese Pavilion, whose theme was “Harmony of the Hearts, Harmony of the Skills,” with the concept of “architecture like a breathing organism.”It is covered in a double-layered pillow-shaped Ethylene tetrafluoroethylene (ETFE) film and used "ecotubes"-the protruding tubes that are visible in the picture- that allowed for natural sunlight and ventilation into the building. Along with that, it employed technology which made use of rainwater and was overall very eco-friendly.
Personally, I think the "high tech to be green" is a re-occurring theme that is seen quite a lot recently-especially in countries like Japan. However, if I were to consider the costs and energy required to manufacture something of this size, whose only intention is to show off products and ideas-and eventually torn down-is not very useful for our purpose. That being said, I (personal bias in mind) do believe that high tech is a good way to go-just, not like this.

Another project that seemed interesting was the Fukuoka PARCO.
I'll quote the exceptional summary they have given.
"This project entailed earthquake resistance strengthening and interior and exterior refurbishing of an old department store building in the Tenjin area of Fukuoka in order for it to be reused as a new commercial facility. While keeping the vestige of this historical building, a refreshing change has been made to the image. The image has been reformed by using glass to bring a feeling of transparency and uniformity to the existing volume, covered with a design of pure white aluminum panels. The light from LEDs inserted into the panel joints makes various illuminations, such as marking the time of day, or the season of the year. In addition to the earthquake resistance strengthening, such as strengthening the columns with steel sheet bracing, and the installation of steel bracing, safety measures have also been improved, such as the installation of emergency-use elevators and special evacuation stairways."

What I believe is important in this-and I think Wade and Paul have been going at it for a while now too-is that instead of making new architecture on blank ground, we should be reusing structures that are still somewhat stable and to build upon that instead-or we could use airplanes, which is, I think, a superb idea.

Another project is a student's residence for an "International College For Post Buddhist Studies."
It is based on an old samurai residence on the site of the Tokugawa Yoshinobu estate - the name Tokugawa being very important in Japanese history/culture, but that's for another time- it essentially used a similar style to the building before, and created a wonderfully green-lots of trees-campus for living.
In short, very ergonomic, incredibly beautiful, idea of harmonizing with nature and using old building as ready made structures is very interesting.

Of course, for slums, there isn't really any "ruins" that one could use as a ready made structure, and it is rather hard to incorporate high tech into a place with no infrastructure, but, I still think that it is another alternative to the "problem at large."

*To be honest, I still don't have a perfect picture of what it is we are trying to accomplish, but I suppose that just makes it more fun, right?

**Check out their website, if you want, decently cool stuff here
"Release of 'Topics of Major Works - Autumn 2010." Takenaka Corporation. http://www.takenaka.co.jp/takenaka_e/ (accessed 8 December 2010).

Side-bar: Pallet House

An architectural firm in New York, I-beam, created this prototype of a house made from shipping pallets, specifically intended for refugees and/or disaster-affected people. 

The idea is that this structure could serve as a canvas or plastic tent-frame and might eventually be transformed into a more permanent house. 

I suppose this makes sense if a huge shipment of food, supplies, etc are sent as disaster relief. Then you re-use the pallets they were shipped on. I gather that happens on an ad hoc basis today. However, you can see that you would require a lot of pallets just to build one house.

Also, one wonders if this wood is safe to live in given that is generally treated with arsenic and other toxins to keep the pests and rot out.  Still, interesting as a potential temporary solution (i.e 5-7 years, the typical life of a refugee camp, according to I-Beam). 

You can watch them building one at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Z7WI2v1Mh8

Posted by Paul Rivers, 11:34 December 8th, 2010

Sources:
   Etherington, Rose. "Dezeen » Blog Archive » Pallet House by I-Beam." Dezeen architecture and design magazine . http://www.dezeen.com/2008/05/12/pallet-house-by-i-beam/#idc-cover (accessed December 8, 2010). 
   "I-BEAM DESIGN + ARCHITECTURE." I-BEAM DESIGN ARCHITECTURAL. http://www.i-beamdesign.com/projects/refugee/refugee.html (accessed December 8, 2010).

Container Living

Further to the idea of re-purposing existing structures previously discussed (airplane houses), peak oil is likely to decimate the shipping industry as well, leaving vast quantities of shipping containers available for re-use. 

Hence, container cities.  These make an enormous amount of sense for "housing." While modest in size, these are still a major improvement over the makeshift lean-to, primarily because they can be stacked vertically, allowing for greater population density around shared point-based resources like water sources. This is reminiscent of the Kowloon Walled City, but more structurally sound since they were purpose-built to be stacked. 

Interestingly, these are quite trendy. As you can see from the Container City website, quite a number of these projects have already been built and in a relatively comfortable style. 

I can see these becoming a major solution in the interim period as the growing house is prefect and cultivated.  Obviously, they will eventually wind down as they rust away.  In the event that Global shipping comes to an end, it is unlikely that more shipping containers will be constructed.

Still, one can eke out a relatively urbane existence in these.

Posted by Paul Rivers 11:10, December 8th, 2010

Sources:

• "Cargo Container House Plans Continue to Expand « Dornob." Dornob. http://dornob.com/cargo-container-house-plans-continue-to-expand/ (accessed December 8, 2010).
• "Container City™ | Home." Container City™ | Home. http://www.containercity.com/home.html (accessed December 8, 2010).

Wade and Paul - Growing house ideas...

Some “Growing Houses” Ideas:

After having a quick discussion with Paul at noon, we came up with some thoughts. I’ve thrown them here and added a few to round out some of the ideas. Please look at these... we need your feedback to enhance our presentation for Friday. 

BTW. Please keep Thursday clear!

Wade(and Paul) Dec 7, 2010.

-- The Ideas --

Communities can be started based on culturing or borrowing a polis-“seed.” Polis citizenship includes a caretaker relationship to a polis-“plant.” Once the polis has formed, the plant learns from the inhabitants and incorporates the information into its genetic makeup. The polis-plant can send out “feeler” roots or vines to sense places of useful materials, needed structural stability, sinks for output, sense competing organisms…etc. The living polis plant can share organizational information with other sites through cross-pollination or use of other chemical means

Starter homes are sapling dwellings or “new growth,” while established communities are “old growth” and are woody, more permanent. If capacity is reached in one area, the polis plant can, after pollination, spread anew to another region and start a city based on the existing configuration. If the configuration takes, a new city that is ready for inhabitants can sit, ready for use.

Once old homes are no longer of value, the plant removes nutrients to them and they are closed off (for structural use, or to let them atrophy, or to be consumed to make way for new growth).

The polis-plant provides clean water through its internal purification systems (refugium-like processes). The plant uses the inhabitant’s nitrogenous wastes for itself symbiotically.

The plant is the network:

Nutrients can be shared between polis plants based on need and availability due to local production. Processing of wastes can equally be accomplished through cooperative exchange of services between contiguous plants. Transfer of goods through exchange mechanisms within the plant(flagellate tubes) where the plant gets what it needs energy-wise to provide this function. Communication through companion and symbiotic species that feed each other may be possible.

The plant is the point:

Locally generated food, filtered water, and waste removal are some point processes. Light and heat can be generated through metabolic processes. Air can be moved and filtered through similar means (flagellum and pin-wheel organics)

The plant grows with the occupant and anticipates crisis response (.ie people growing old need a more accessible abode possibly on one level and a different nutrient stream… .etc)

Without a polis-plant, there can be no colonization so no inefficient existence. As habits become more eco-unfriendly, the plant will either adapt within limits or surround for removal(like a cancer) the offending activity thus completing the cycle.

Competing polis-plants will resolve infringement based on survival of the most capable. If the adaptations resulting from the inhabitants give it an edge, then it wins and the competing polis-plant will lose as will their city.

In the far-fetched future, the polis-plant genetic information will also include the DNA of its inhabitants. Other worlds can be colonized as the polis-plant seeds are shot into space where they will hibernate until they find an environment where they can flourish.

Recycled Houses: Airplanes!

If we don't eventually find another way of powering airplanes, I suspect that peak oil will either eliminate air travel, or reduce it to super luxury status. What will happen then to the vast fleets of jet planes around the world? As you can see, some people have been thinking of new uses for planes for some time.

This lady, JoAnn Ussery, converted this old Boeing 727 for about $30,000 - most of that being the transportation cost of relocating the plane.  She's appeared on television in 28 countries (including Letterman in the US) thanks to her domestic audacity.  I include this smaller pic below because it shows some interiors:

There are tons of these out there. Here's another in the popular plane crashing through house genre:

And, for some reason, this one reminds me of the scene from Spielburg's War of the Worlds, where they wake up to find a crashed airplane on the front yard of the suburban home:

OK, it's not crashed, but it still looks pretty odd on that lawn (the blocks under the front landing gear look a little sketchy, too IMHO).

Now, imagine what squatters could do with a whole airport's worth of planes.

Posted by Paul Rivers, 10:26pm, 12/6/2010

Sources:

• " 7 Brilliant Building Conversion Projects: Superb Examples of Architectural Adaptive Reuse : WebUrbanist." WebUrbanist. http://weburbanist.com/2008/06/22/7-examples-recycled-urban-architecture/ (accessed December 6, 2010).
• Campbell, Bruce. "AirplaneHome.com - A Boeing 727-200 Home Project." AirplaneHome.com - A Boeing 727-200 Home Project. http://www.airplanehome.com/ (accessed December 6, 2010).
• Hollak, Joseph. "The JoAnn Ussery “plane home”." josephhollak.com. josephhollak.com/2010/02/the-plane-home/ (accessed December 6, 2010).
• Pelger, Ned. "More Plane Houses « Construction Knowledge Blog." Construction Knowledge Blog. http://constructionknowledge.wordpress.com/2010/03/11/more-plane-houses/ (accessed December 6, 2010).
• Shane, Bob. "Airport Journals." Airport Journals. http://www.airportjournals.com/Display.cfm?varID=0305005 (accessed December 6, 2010).

$5000 Forest House

This family in Wales built their home from scratch for $5,000.  They use water gravity-fed from a nearby spring, a couple of solar panels for lighting, music and, computing, and a wood-burner for heat. The owner, Simon Dale, built it himself with a chisel, a chainsaw, and a hammer. 

more at: http://greenbuildingelements.com/2008/12/01/hand-build-an-earth-sheltered-house-for-5000/

Posted by Paul Rivers, 7:23am, December 2nd, 2010

Source:
Kraemer, Susan. "Hand-Build an Earth Sheltered House For $5,000 – Green Building Elements." Green Building Elements. http://greenbuildingelements.com/2008/12/01/hand-build-an-earth-sheltered-house-for-5000/ (accessed December 2, 2010). 

Loop City

At the Venice Biennale, the Danish Pavilion featured this presentation by the Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG).  I include this partially because the issues they're trying to resolve  are similar to our own and partially because the presentation itself is quite effective and worth noting.  I'm particularly enamored of the way in which, presumably with multiple projectors, they create a 3-d effect by screening their presentation in a corner (with the small set piece at the bottom).  Not that we'll be doing this.  Still they make the case for their problem very efficiently, and present a very sophisticated concept for the solution effectively.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t00hKtGU_n0&feature=related

Paul Rivers, 10:08am Dec 1st, 2010

" YouTube - Loop City by Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) ." YouTube - Broadcast Yourself. . http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t00hKtGU_n0&feature=related (accessed December 1, 2010).