to take inspiration from basic principles of urban life as practiced by the ... We explore how a circular use of soil can improve three urban designs in history of Dutch ... impact by incorporating sustainable technologies such as natural ventilation ...
Redesigning Urban Life in Healthy Soils
Dust to Dust is a research-led urban design challenge to take inspiration from basic principles of urban life as practiced by the ancient Maya to inform proposals for sustainable urban futures. Maya archaeology highlights that there is an enhanced relationship between soil management and urban life. The exhibited development schemes aim to give this relationship centre stage in contemporary urban settings to improve the long-term sustainability of cities worldwide.
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The proposed acupuncture park ‘Paseo de la Cruz’ in Monte Albán, Oaxaca, Mexico
This exhibition contributes to achieving a selection of the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals:
Improving Water and Soils in Urban Space by Engaging Local People and their Heritage We explore solutions to reduce soil erosion and restore water flow across the landscape of Monte Albán in Oaxaca City, Mexico. More than two thousand years ago, the Zapotec people modified the summit and slopes of one hill in Oaxaca. They built a large ceremonial plaza and hundreds of residences which lasted for more than one thousand years, having nearly 30,000 inhabitants in its heyday. They controlled rainwater by building terraces, canals, dams, and wells. Water and earth were keystones of their world view and ritual.
Curating Team
Delivery
Benjamin Vis, University of Kent Dan Evans, Lancaster University Christian Isendahl, University of Gothenburg Elizabeth Graham, University College London
Supporting Organisations
Dust to Dust dusttodustcompetition.org
Today, rapid and unregulated urbanisation is damaging the environment and threatening archaeological remains. In response, we organise workshops in which local people, authorities, and experts come together to discuss these issues. We propose ‘acupuncture parks’ as a costeffective strategy of small-scale projects that modify and rearrange urban space and redevelop ancient hydrological features in an attempt to improve water quality and protect soils.
Pre-Columbian Tropical Urban Life (TruLife) blogs.kent.ac.uk/trulife
Partner Organisations Team Members Araceli Rojas Martínez Gracida Nahuel Beccan Dávila
Endorsed by RIBA (Royal Institute of British Architects) South/Southeast Front cover image – Published under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license by Andresnavarroforever
beccandavila.nl
Collaborators Patricia Martínez Lira Fabián Vázquez Martínez Bas van de Pas Edmundo Morales Adrián Puentes Victor Rojas Ramírez
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A neighbourhood of urban greenhouses encouraging stronger ecological relationships in urban life
View from a downtown apartment of the proposed Eco Boulevard in Concepción
How Everyday Choices Can Nurture Our Urban Lives
Small to Large Methods that Enable Participation in Making a Sustainable Urban Community
The countless seemingly insignificant choices in our everyday lives have a very big effect on the world. Change what you choose and you will eventually live in a different world. In our busy urban lives, the solutions to the daunting sustainability issues we all face are far less out of reach than we think.
We present a framework for making Concepción, Chile, a sustainable city that improves residents’ quality of life and wellbeing. Restoring soil health and generating a local food supply system can reduce living costs in a circular economy and promote a positive impact on the ecosystem.
People are social animals. We love exchanging stories. Most of these stories are about everyday experiences. We learn from them and pass the useful ones on. For a long time now, we have been transforming our landscapes to live in cities. Our project tells a personal story about the impact of everyday choices on our lives in the city. In each choice we make there is an opportunity to change our urban ecosystem for the better. When moving house, our persona embarks on a journey that improves well-being and, slowly, a different kind of urban life emerges. Can you imagine what your neighbourhood might look like if you made different choices about the basic things in life?
Team Members Gerald Lindner Malgorzata Mader Jessica Bardella Peter Heideman Danny van Kessel
cc-studio.nl kasco.cc
In Concepción, informal urban sprawl and current farming practices are primary drivers for ecological degradation. Reverting these practices requires transforming local socio-economic issues into opportunities. Compacting the built environment, facilitating cooperative food production, and introducing land-efficient polyculture and agricultural techniques could be effective solutions. The key is to finance and enable these changes in an inclusive and ecologically responsible manner. Dense cities become more desirable and affordable than sprawling development when an innovative and comprehensive, socially vibrant design approach is applied. Our plans for Concepción can generate sustainable urban communities through participation and community ownership. Our proposal results in restoring and maintaining soil health, generating circular local food supplies, and developing more affordable, attractive and resilient urban life.
Team Members Giancarlo Mangone 1,2 Rob Cooke 2 Laurens Dominicus 2 Michael Maks Davis 3 Janina Sanchez 3 Andrea Cristina Cordova 3
symbiosisarchitecture.com burohappold.com evolutionecoengine.com
Affiliations 1 Symbiosis: Sustainable Design + Consulting 2 BuroHappold Engineering 3 Evolution Engineering, Design, and Energy Systems
embracing complexity
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Placing soil health first in a redesign of a typical Dutch 1950s neighbourhood
The proposed ‘open space’ in our design takes cues from Maya agro-urban landscapes and the indigenous architecture of the Amazonian Yanomami people
Making Healthy Soils a Public Asset in Urban Form
Offering Amazonian Communities Economic Alternatives to Urban Migration
Placing the management of soil health first in urban design leads to innovative redesigns of public space. This is an opportunity to respond to global challenges such as urbanisation, climate change, and energy transition. We explore how a circular use of soil can improve three urban designs in history of Dutch urban planning.
The Amazon region in Brazil is being severely affected by forced migration to cities and deforestation. Our proposal responds to these issues by generating local and sustainable economic opportunities within rural communities.
Half of each of our cities is underground. This is a hybrid space where the natural ecosystem of soil and water intertwines with human-made constructions such as foundations, tunnels, cables, pipes, and cellars. This ‘engine room’ of the city has a crucial role in facing issues such as flooding, drought, the transition to renewable energy, and local food production. Soil quality is critical to making cities healthy. Polluted and degraded soils should be rehabilitated and the space available for self-sustaining natural processes increased. In this project we test four methods: gentle remediation (cleaning with plants), fertilisation maintenance, restoring the original Dutch peat landscape, and using a Maya-inspired soil and water rehabilitation concept.
Team Members Fransje Hooimeijer 1 Francesca Rizzetto 2 Kees de Vette 3 Loretta von der Tann 4 Wouter ter Heijden 1 Leyden Durand Lopéz 2 Ian Acheilas 1,4
Affiliations 1 TU Delft 2 UN Lab 3 Municipality Rotterdam 4 University College London
unlab.eu
The lack of opportunities in small communities within the Amazon forest plays a key role in the growth of favelas in the region’s capital cities. Simultaneously, urban encroachment increases the deforestation of the rainforest with the inherent loss of its fragile fertile soils. We aim to reverse this situation with a proposal that mobilises local groups with the purpose of stimulating entrepreneurship and generating sustainable economic opportunities. The project is located in Mapia where there is an ongoing collaboration with the local people and mutual interest in further developing their sustainable timber extraction based economy. The proposed design takes cues from Maya agro-urban landscapes and the indigenous architecture of the Amazonian Yanomami people. This proposal integrates the built environment with agricultural fields and uses local construction techniques and materials to promote a sense of identity and ownership. The intention is to minimise the environmental impact by incorporating sustainable technologies such as natural ventilation, rainwater harvesting and organic waste bio-digesters to produce soil for sustainable and self-sufficient agricultural ecosystems, known as permaculture. Team Members Noelia Monteiro de Ribeiro Christian Teshirogi German Nieva Mesas Felipe Bannitz
tudelft.nl/staff/f.l.hooimeijer tudelft.nl/en/infrastructures/research/special-projects/ subsurface-infrastructure
estudioflume.com ISES.org.br
Collaborators Victoria Baggio Dante Rimondino Mariana Orrico Fernanda Caldeira Karen Doho
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Regenerative and ecological urban redevelopment is proposed along Fort Bragg’s Coastline (Photo: Saul Pichardo)
Redesigning the City for Regenerative Relationships between Soil, Land, Water, and People We re-envision Fort Bragg, California, using design principles based on the theory of ‘morphogenesis’ by Christopher Alexander. This likens the city to biological things, which are created continuously and given form progressively as processes of growth and adaptation take place. The design principles help improve relationships with soil, land, water, and the people of the city. The deindustrialisation of Fort Bragg leaves the city economically disadvantaged, but offers some large urban development opportunities. We attempt to create the beginnings of a ‘Morphogenetic City’ using generative and regenerative processes, including patterns and pattern language. These concepts are formulated as design principles that address the domains of sustainability through soil, water, and waste management, food security, urban agriculture, and socio-ecological practice and architecture. Key to this challenge is how the Pomo Indians in Northern California can rehabilitate by forming part of the revitalised city, allowing them to continue deeply rooted traditions in a new way. This combination of factors invites interdependent cultural and urban experimentation. How can each regenerative building project help to restore, remodel, replace, and reuse decaying urban fabric? How will each development heal the existing land and start to establish a beautiful emerging city that facilitates new relationships to the Pacific waters and managing soil quality? Team Members Hajo Neis 1, 2, 5 Susan Ingham 1, 3 Sual Pichardo 4 Pamanee Chaiwat 2
Affiliations 1 Center for Environmental Structure (CES), University of California, Berkeley 2 Portland Urban Architecture Research Laboratory (PUARL), University of Oregon 3 KASA Architecture 4 The Art of Building 5 Hajo Neis and Associates
patternlanguage.com blogs.uoregon.edu/puarl2018 livingneighborhoods.org/ht-0/bln-exp.htm
