Sorry these are bit out of order, and largely unreferenced, but I'm hoping they just get some design juices flowing...
Could be a precedent for any of the 3 teams... Looks like some kind of moss wall, photosynthesis supported by dendritic LED light strands.
Shipping container-based greenhouse - urban food production module. May not apply to any design team... just neat.
greenhouse made of reclaimed windows
High tech little greenhouse module
Another enclosure made of reclaimed windows.
Not sure whats underneath all that, but its a pretty convincing example that potted plants on shelves can really function as a screen, or "vertical" vegetation. Could apply to SITE or AMENITIES.
The next three are examples of biomorphic cladding precedents that might be used to disguise the AMENITIES team's structural system... even if its scaffolding (sorry Emily) the wavey baffles could be added, and those could also be super cheap (maybe plywood, or reclaimed metal?), but create a pretty amazing aesthetic that I would consider consistent with the "sleek" and "futuristic" look that a couple of you really wanted. Something like the sort of armor of the 3rd image could probably also be done extremely cheaply I think. That appears to be over a skeletal structure actually.
I suppose these might be for the Site team as potential precedents... natural beauty is pretty hard to beat, and that's part of why biomorphic designs are so appealing... something to think about.
Cool precedent for vertical veg' wall... Also, there's a local firm call G-space, and they have a system sort of like this, but with integrated catwalks that allow for people to tend to the crops, or flowers or whatever... your own cheaper catwalks could probably be easily designed, and maybe the movie screen is mounted on the front of the catwalks... and maybe it can demount or dematerialize somehow (like a louver maybe) when not be used so it can expose the wall to maximal light.
The next few are examples of what I consider (and some will disagree) to be 'beautiful junk'... or beautiful objects built of junk... None of the teams are really playing with radical reuse yet I don't think, but it may be important for you to meet some of your goals, namely controlling cost and reducing or eliminating EMBODIED impacts (energy, pollution, etc.)... the first 3 are from Lebbeus Woods (on of my favorite conceptual designers, RIP), and the 4th I think is from a movie, although that may also be Woods. There are a lot of other examples of crazy cool junk construction... the chapel designed by Rural Studio also comes to mind.
The rest are AMENITIES group direct precedents, though most are not really modular/scalable like you want your's to be...
another...
Bench/bus-shelter system that can hold a green roof...
It can seem that for every new park, bar or apartment complex in Philadelphia, there’s a barbed wire-shrouded, plastic bag-laced empty lot brimming with potential.
“As a longer term vision, this could become an economy for rebuilding the city,” says founder Douglas Meehan, who was drawn into urban planning by a fascination with post-industrial vacant space, and spent four years studying urban planning and landscape architecture at Penn grad school & worked in Philly for three more before moving to New York for a job.
The idea was inspired by Meehan’s participation in the Urban Voids competition, which challenges participants to lay out the best plan for repurposing urban space. He was irked by the competition format, which asks challengers to come up with individual plans within silos.
“I thought, why aren’t we sharing this information?” says Meehan, who eventually wants to invite professionals at all stages of experience, like those who would participate in Urban Voids, to find work on the platform and use it to build a career.
But to begin with, he’s forming the foundation of a user community by reaching out to organizations like West Rockland Street Project, news community Hidden City Philadelphia, West Philly’s Farm 51, Philly Food Forest and youth-action groupPublic Workshop, who are already invested in solving the problem of vacant spaces from the grassroots.
Cities have traditionally dealt with the problem of vacant space using a top-down approach, Meehan said, overhauling lots across wide swaths of city as puzzle pieces in a master plan. While the top-down approach promotes cohesive design, certain communities are neglected.
Possible City’s approach intends to balance bottom-up advocacy with a holistic view of projects across the city, with the goal of attracting public and private investment to popular projects.
Of course, there are other efforts around vacant land in Philadelphia, which has caught plenty of attention.
Meehan’s next step is to move these groups into a beta test, and begin gathering feedback on what they like, what they don’t like, and what they would add.
“This could be one of the projects on Possible City,” says Meehan.
From Detroit to recession-hit Spain, the world is full of abandoned buildings: factories left by companies that went somewhere else, suburban subdivisions from the boom years, crumbling farms and churches in remote places. Italy has an estimated 2 million such properties; Spain, another 3.5 million; America, many more.
Andrea Sesta, who lives in Milan, has been trying to find alternative uses for some of them. His web site, Impossible Living, allows anyone to map unused real estate, and act as champions for their renewal (even if they don’t own them). If there’s a building standing empty near you, you can add an address, put up some photos and videos, and then call on the web to help develop new ideas. "It’s a communication tool between the activator and the community," he says.
Sesta is driven by two problems, as he sees them. One, that abandoned buildings contribute to neighborhood decline, feeding cycles of neglect, vandalism, and crime. And two, that developers often fail to meet civic needs. "In Italy, there is a big gap between what people would like to have and what investors realize," he says. "In particular, for the younger population, there are not a lot of innovative services in place."
He sees Impossible Living acting as a bridge between investors on the one hand and the community on the other, allowing capital to go where it’s most needed. "We want to put the question on the web, so the investors can arrive at an idea that they couldn’t come up with on their own. That might be mixing different functions that are not so common at the moment."
There are currently 15 "reactivations" on the site, including several buildings from the small town of Favara, in southern Sicily. Two-thirds of the place has been abandoned, including castles, and former cement, and candle factories. But artists and technologists are now beginning to move in, attracted by open space, and cheap prices. "For us, this place is very important because it’s a way to rethink the abandoned world, reconstructing a territory that’s basically dead," Sesta says. "The big value is that the property is worth nothing almost, so you can have a lot of space for free."
Ever been to a city that has the perfect ratio of bike lanes to pedestrian walkways to roads? Chances are, that city has implemented a Complete Streets policy--a formal policy that outlines a community’s plans to make streets safe for people using all modes of transportation. There are 488 Complete Streets policies in place across the U.S.; in 2012, cities, states, and regions passed 130 new policies.
This year, at least, the best new policies haven’t come from huge U.S. cities. With a few exceptions, smaller communities are making the most inroads. That’s according to The National Complete Streets Coalition, a project of development research and advocacy organization Smart Growth America. The Coalition ranked the top 10 Complete Streets policies of 2012 based on their performance in a number of "ideal elements," including a clear vision; access for pedestrians, bicyclists, transit passengers, trucks, buses and automobiles; street connectivity; design, and measurable performance standards.
communities adopt Complete Streets policies that they’re thinking about what the next steps are going to be," says Stefanie Seskin, deputy director of the National Complete Streets Coalition. "It’s an accountability measure we’ve been pushing a lot."
These are the 2012 winners:
1. Indianapolis, IN
2. Hermosa Beach, CA (tie)
2. Huntington Park, CA (tie)
4. Ocean Shores, WA
5. Northfield, MN
6. Portland, ME
7. Oak Park, IL
8. Trenton, NJ
9 Clayton, MO
10. Rancho Cucamonga, CA
Indianapolis took the number one spot for a thoughtful, well-rounded policy. Says Seskin: "They are recognizing the needs of an aging population, and attracting and maintaining a younger generation. They spent a year or so working towards what Complete Streets means locally, how it would apply to their process. They’re thinking about how this works across their streets. People have options to get from destination to destination."
The city also plans to measure everything it’s doing, including transit stops that are accessible by sidewalk and curb ramps, crash rates, bike lane mileage, and more.
“Indianapolis is putting critical investments into our urban environment to make it more inviting to new businesses and residents,” said Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard in a statement. “Growing our workforce and attracting new talent requires Indianapolis to do everything possible to make our city a place where people easily can walk to amenities in their neighborhoods, bike and drive to and from work, and explore our many great attractions--a place where people want to call home.”
It’s too soon, of course, to measure how well the Indianapolis Complete Streets policy is working. But we’ll be watching. For an example of a long-standing (since 2006) Complete Streets policy in a major city, check out what Chicago is doing.
As Seskin points out, it’s not just cities that can implement Complete Streets policies. "There are so many different kinds of jurisdictions that are really interested in this. We don’t view it as a big city only or a small community only kind of thing," she says.
But in many smaller communities, implementing the policies can be a struggle. If they don’t control the local roadways, it takes longer to make changes. And big infrastructure projects don’t come along as often as in big cities, so it can be a long time before the fruits of a Complete Streets policy are apparent.
"It’s a slow process," says Seskin. "We have over 500 communities with policies now, and it takes some time for projects to take hold."
Air contamination - amount of pollution in air
Public transit - mapping and volume of people
Demographic - info of the neighborhood (at risk populations)
SITE:
Main triangle + Parking lot (surface, wall, roof, etc.)
1. Cultivate
local economy using natural resources, sustainably grown food, stormwater
management, and green space used for education and community events
- EARTH = Boost local economy
- WATER = Collect and distribute
stormwater runoff
- ENERGY = utilize community’s
natural resources
- AIR = reduce air pollution, create
filtration and circulation
2. LIFE = Develop replicable models for open spaces for
city/neighborhood scale
