ecoMachines: collection LFA08.03 – “the riverside walk experiment”
April 5, 2008ecoMachines are new architectural prototypes promoting systemic interaction between Londoners and their urban environment. Developed by AAINTER10 students, ecoMachines expose and amplify urban ecologic, energetic and climatic rhythms, facilitating direct exchange and promoting long term integration. The exhibition/experiment will feature 3 ecoMachines operating live in front of the London GLA for 1 month. Visitors will be free to interact and be part of the event: the resulting evolutionary processes will be recorded and, at the end of the month, relayed on time lapse video.
The prototypes from the collection LFA08.03 belongs to the FAUNA // ENERGY // WATER series as they test specific interaction within this 3 ecologic domains.
ecoMachines collection LFA08.03{eM.1}
April 5, 2008
eM1.OPEN AVIARY: An aviary without protection net. Nesting and feeding patterns of most endangered London birds are managed by the bundling structure made of renewable willow filaments. Densities are manipulated to provide birds’ habitat while encouraging people accessibility for a self contained bird-watching experience.
ecoMachines collection LFA08.03{eM.2&eM.3}
April 5, 2008
eM2.CYBERNETIC CUSHION: Light reflection and solar shading when you need it! An inflatable surface, made of adjustable ETFE pillows, responds to visitors’ location and chatting tone with ever-changing translucency. Sheltering emerges as a direct dialogue between the surrounding environment, the user and the architectural machine.
eM3.TIDAL GARDEN: The river edge turned into an artificial garden. The tidal dynamics of the river Thames power a soft and porous surface positioned along the hard edge of riverside walk. Water is raised via capillarity along the surface promoting evapo-transpiration and cooling for the visitors. Humid areas nearer to the water will host growing micro vegetation, such as moss and algae, contributing to the biodiversity of the garden.
Quote of the day: to bear in mind when things get a bit complicated…
February 3, 2008“The size, shape and structural complexity of a solution should be part of the answer produced by a problem,-solving technique – not part of a question.” John Koza, computer scientist.
is light me up an eco-machine?
January 27, 2008Now I am feeling a bit confused about it, I’ll try to make some order in my thoughts, hope this will be helpful. Environment|In terms of environment light-me up is by now dealing with solar energy, trying to use it as a way to increase the quantity of light in darkest public spaces in London.In this sense the very main purpose of light me up is to adapt to the changing conditions of the solar system in order to be able to control the quantity of light and heat required in public areas.I have the feeling it can be fascinating to be able to achieve a dialogue between the solar system and the machine and how the machine can act as dynamic direct response to its environment, and vice versa how the sun and the changing of incident angle not only during the day but in the course of the whole year will be by its own movement influencing the response of the machine.Nevertheless I have the feeling that the project is lacking of further analysis in the material that is going to be use. At a very first stage the first material witch was coming to my mind was the use steel or mirrors in order to increase the quantity of light reflected. But if we look at the material as a response to a specific environment and its capacity to be renewable, and respond as well to its environment, steel is not an interesting solution for me at this moment.It would be much more accurate to use a material able to negotiate with its environment by being a local source and by being able to respond as well to the changes of the system. An idea of using water is living in my head, local source, renewable because it can be collected from the rain, very reflective, and with the possibility of evapotranspirate when a certain amount of heat or light is achieved, and by that decrease the amount of light and heat produced by the machine. This is something to discuss in tutorial but is something that is really interesting me. Social economic|Light me up aim is to supply light to certain darkest areas of London. I think that in a way this is a need for London, witch due to its climate lacks of light, in terms of hours of light during the winter period but also in terms of quality of the light. Some areas, squares or facades of London are in shadow all day. Bringing light into a city might not be something witch is going to change the world, but it is a dealing in actual days witch should be take in care. Cities tend to grow in high, as a result of developed techniques during the last century but also as an economic device, build in the city is more and more difficult because ot hight densities, so the terrains has to rentable.I guess this is a fact that we should take in care as architect, in this sense I think light me up is dealing with a real site condition witch would be great to be solved.What could be done with all the energy contained in light-me up? Could the energy be used not only as a reflecting device, but transform and redirect the energy into something else? Material system-design|In terms of material system, techniques and design a lot of things are missing.Two things are becoming very interesting for me now. One is to understand the machine as a field where its different components work not by themselves but all together. This is to say that in order to perform different needs of the machine itself and of their users, the components should be influencing one another according to certain rules of use, of the machine. Different component react to light in a very different way, in some cases the area of quantity of light reflected is very big while in others the area is smaller but the intensity of the reflection is much bigger. These different qualities should be achieved in order to investigate how the qualities of the light can determinate different programs. The other one is understanding the prototype as a single component, so if one of the basic rules of the machine is how trough the rotation the qualities and properties of the light change, this should be achieve as a condition for the all material system, the movement should also alter the properties of the material itself, and its reaction towards the properties of reflection. The material system should be the able to respond to1. Variation of the properties of the light across the day and the year2. to achieve patterns of use according to the amount of light3. To store the energy it is recreating. This is all for know, this description will be actualised and evolved and become more clearly in a few days; many aspects of the projects need to be evolved and put under discussion.
inter10 Jury
January 27, 2008
response to another response…
January 27, 2008“…In conclusion, our Chiwena prototype is potentially an ecoMachine, given that its potential to not only respond to the immediate environmental condition but also addressing or triggering wider social-economic agenda” … i find you socio-economic-environmental analisys quite compelling and precise, while your material comment lacks specificity… and there is a problem with that, easily detectable in the conclusion. i do not think you can trigger an agenda; you can strategically define an agenda but than you can only design specific, direct engagements which in turn will trigger longer term processes, and which eventually will suggest evolutions of your initial agenda. So i would not under estimate direct environmental or performative engagement as it is the only direct mean we have to give real evolutionary advantage to our system to survive the competition it finds in its tough socio-ecomonic environment.
I would actually like to connect you comment with the last part of a previous comment as there is a sort of complementarity between the two… “The Chiweña must be able to recalculate the conditions of the market, allowing itself to always act as an effective interface between buyers and sellers”. I found this recalculation mechanism as quite crucial; how can we design and embed it in our ecoMachine? how can this become a sort of feedback device capable of triggering both material adaptation and strategic evolution of the overall agenda?
mp
another response
January 25, 2008
A stranger in the market? [La Paz, Bolivia]
I had quite a few discussions with some of my friends about our Chiwena ecoMachine over this past month and they gave me different view points about our project and here is my response after processing their opinions with mine.
_Environment and socio-economic context_
The flux and dynamism of the street markets in La Paz not only reflect the vitality of its local economy and culture but more importantly, they are the heart of the society, a communication node for communities to collide. It is more than just a market.
However, with the Bolivian government attempting to develop La Paz, the life of the market is threatened by the eviction of its tenants and the replacement of a new shopping centre. This tabula rasa approach to development is common in most developing countries and most of the time; it causes drastic effects to the genius loci and the socio-economic condition of the place. What results is the emergence of two opposing camps, the top-down government that wants change and the bottom-up locals who wants to retain their status quo for either nostalgic or other reasons. So how do we marry the two divergent aims? How do we preserve the local values while subjecting them to global pressures without having them sustaining ‘capitalistic cleansing’. In view of this, how should our potential ecoMachine (eM) therefore respond to this condition or how can our eM be the catalyst for change? Which camp should we position ourselves?
Rather than easing the differences between the two camps by leaning towards either side, we should intensify them and create a condition for a constant exchange of dialogue between the two dichotomies of interests. By intensifying the conditions, the Chiwena eM can respond to the larger social-economic-political realities of the market, rather than just performing adaptive functions such as sun-shading, rain protection, or enhance shopping experience through better structural design. Apart from the practical research on our part during our unit trip, I believe that the success of our Chiwena eM will not solely be determined by its functionality and response to the weather, but rather it lays in the potentials that it may lead to. Firstly, the issue of sustainability is a is always a bargaining power as most government and developers want to be seen as doing the moral right, therefore, the usage of self-renewable totora material might be able to provide more justification for the preservation of the street market compared to the traditional non renewable plastic chiwena materials. Secondly, the above photo somehow shows the iconism of our eM, standing out from the traditional chiwena. Again, governments love the iconic effect, but at the same time we do not want to relegate our eM to become just an icon. Street market all around the world looks the same with the metal pole and plastic shelter but what potentially differentiates the street market in La Paz from the rest is the localness of its material and form. Thus the structure of the eM not only serves the functional purpose of responding to issues of flexibility and weather conditions, it also exemplifies its local quality and condition. Although it may have iconic effect but that is not the main objective of the eM. The localness of the eM may then become an attractor for the government and developers who want to invest in that area, thereby improving the facilities and in fact, preserving the existence of the street market. This set of new social-economic development will then create other new sets of conditions for the eM to respond to. If we were to speculate, there are endless possibilities and some examples would be the encroachment of globalised brands into the local market, influx of tourists or even the revival of the totora construction industry!! However, what we are interested here is how the new eM responds to the immediate socio-economic condition of the development of a new shopping centre. Therefore, what we have here is a set of functional processes that evolves into a wider social agenda that goes beyond the direct effect of trader-shopper relationship or weather conditions.
_Material systems and performance_
The material system of the chiwena eM should respond effectively to the market condition. What we have developed during the trip was more of a generic type of structure that responds to the site specificity. This generic structure was quite predictive and it was not highly engineered rocket science that customised specifically to the site. I believe by keeping the structure simple, it provides more capabilities for the material system to respond to changing conditions, be it environmental or social. However, to enhance the functionality of our eM, we need to look at the time factor which will determine the durability and sustainability of the totora material. The totora boat can survive for a year, but can the Chiwena sustain a similar period of time? The totora material on the boat only undergoes effect by the water and the sun but the chiwena on the other hand has to sustain impact of not only sun and rain, but also the steep terrain and greater wear and tear through its daily usage, thus the lifespan of the eM material might be significantly shorter than the totora boat. If the chiwena needs to be replaced every 4-6 months, can the totora be harvested fast enough for it to be sustainable and will the changing of materials be disruptive to the market activities.
_Conclusion_
In conclusion, our Chiwena prototype is potentially an ecoMachine, given that its potential to not only respond to the immediate environmental condition but also addressing or triggering wider social-economic agenda.
Material/Environmental -
January 22, 2008Material/Environmental -
It worked on paper – This is to say it worked until it got rained on. I must say that we did achieve a very deep understanding of the material, both through experimentation and hands on workshops with a master of the material. Many useful techniques were developed and structural organizations that best exploit these techniques. Although these experiments brought the understanding that moisture effects the tutora the actual extent of the influence was not fully understood until the Tutora Chiwena was rained on. The moisture absorption of the material changed the behavior of that material. It became more flexible, too flexible, and then its structural system began to fail. Although this change in material behavior did not result in a desirable effect, there was still a change. It still responded to an environmental condition (rain). Here was a material that was highly sensitive to environment. And a technique developed from an intimate working with the material. So inclosing I would say that the extreme breakdown of that system by rain was the proof that it was an eco machine. A broken eco machine is still a machine. But with a bit more studying and experimentation I believe a moisture/flexibility balance can be reached so that the Tutora Chiwena can be rained on and still retain its structural integrity.
This response deals only with the material/environmental side to the question, so social economical relationship has yet to be answered, but this post is getting long, and my brain is starting to hurt.
response
January 22, 2008Response to La Paz/ecoMachine post:
The Chiweña prototype constructed in la Paz has the potential to become an ecoMachine through further investigation into its uses. The most vital element to revisit is the street market itself. The market is a recurring social and economic condition within La Paz; a regulator of local interactions. The Chiweña, therefore, should reflect these qualities and propose a more adaptive system through which these interactions may take place.
At the research level of the project, behavioral studies may become the driving force behind the creation of a true market ecoMachine. A more profound grasp on the emergent systems and patterns that occur throughout the streets would assist in generating an adaptive, “cybernetically” functioning machine. The Chiweña must be able to recalculate the conditions of the market, allowing itself to always act as an effective interface between buyers and sellers.
Tidal Restrain: CIWEM on board
January 22, 2008CIWEM (The Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management) published “The Saltmarsh Creation Handbook” which has been ordered. They also provided me with other good sources on Managed Realignment and are very open in further collaboration.
Tidal Restrain: Environment Agency onboard
January 22, 2008Robert McCallum-Hamilton from the Environment Agency has now forwarded my email, which outlined the unit brief and the Tidal Restrain ecoMachine, to the local area office for more assessment. I now have a quoting reference number so they can pin point my case!
Tidal Restrain: 1st consultant on board
January 22, 2008Environment Agency’s Flood expert Karen Thomas, currently stakeholder and community engagement project manager of the Making Space for Water Programme of DEFRA (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) has been contacted and is willing in supporting the Tidal Restrain ecoMachine. Currently I am drafting an interview questionnaire to start the dialogue and set up a framework on how the M.R. would work, considering existing M.R. techniques.
I publicly thank her for answering back the email!
Is the Tidal Restrain and ecoMachine?
January 21, 2008Farm meets saltmarsh
Now that I am much more confident in explaining what saltmarsh formation and managed realignment is I can start seriously start to postulate that Tidal Restrain is a potential ecoMachine. I say potential because only when you test the prototypes, like totora, can you start raising the project to the status of ecoMachine.
The fact that it deals with a specific process (novelty #1: my process is saltmarsh formation) and with a material system that engages this process (novelty #2: spartina anglica and seagrasses root systems: branching logics) paves the way for a full-fledged ecoMachine. With these two foundation concepts, the clearly defined aim is to create the saltmarsh. How a saltmarsh is found: here a brief summary.
Early SaltMarsh:
Encourage sedimentation at the intertidal zone (where the saltmarsh sediment has to build up), chanelling salty water and restricting it in some areas (this way you control the eventual colonisation of reed species types, both halophylic and halophobic (salt loving, salt hating), that would in turn collect more sediment) and slowing down tide flow in order to maintain a constant water flow that wont disrupt the build up of sediment at the intertidal range.
Maturing saltmarsh:
The eventual build up of the sediment in the intertidal range leads to the mudflat bed where the saltmarsh grows. The channel creeks then carve out as they make their way into less saline water, creating the dendritic patterns. Microtidal conditions, where tide is too slow, leads to even more proliferation of dendritic systems as water flow is distributed within the network of creeks and absorbed. The saltmarsh, now mature and distinct at even high tide, rising above sea level, forms a microcliff. These microcliffs are saltmarshes that are consolidated and receed inland. At lower levels of the intertidal range, more sediment builds up for further saltmarsh colonisation.
The material system would then have to:
- catch sediment
- control the tide flow to keep it at constant speeds for sediment build up.
- direct the colonisation of reed species according to salinity in water and depth of water as certain types are less aquatic than others, when higher tides hit the forming marsh.
This, at the basic level of fulfilling the role of marsh formation.
At the architectural level, something is missing.
This is where the Abbots Hall Farm case study gains crucial importance (novelty #3: Miss Karen Thomas from the Environment Agency is willing to offer a site visit on mid February to the Farm to have a look at the Managed Realignment scheme there.). The managed realigment scheme bringing forth again a saltmarsh ecosystem is next to a farm. A series of issues arise whith this. Will the salinity-non salinity of the flow of water will percolate in the crops and irrigation system of the farm? Could the marsh, or my ecoMachine, or both, act as filter of salt for the injection of tide water into the farm irrigiation system? Will the establishment of a saltmarsh affect the presence of pests and bugs or perhaps birds that feed on these? Can the nutrients of the collection of sediment from sea debris, reed decay, rhizome nitrogen fixators located in seagrass, be used as farmland fertiliser or as soil to feed into the Farm?
Basically, are the advantages of adding on a saltmarsh next to a farm only those of tidal surge control or are there some benefits to it that would engage both landscape conditions? Is my ecoMachine then the negotiator? At first the instigator, the triggerer of the saltmarsh to colonise itself, but, then, could my ecoMachine perform in ways that the Farm and the Saltmarsh coexist symbiotically? What other benefits can there arise from addin-on a saltmarsh to other typologies? These questions are the ones that I will discuss with Miss Thomas. Certainly, when Tidal Restrain performs at those levels of not only creating a condition by engaging the environment, but actually responding to itself and other neighbouring environments and conditions then the cybernetic dialogue begins.
The beauty of this should be kept however within the realm of the unpredictability of performance of our systems and on the emergent behaviours that will occur. From my netlogo simulations this is certainly the case, and from a position where I am engaging landscape and environmental processes, then I cant be naive to portend that I can control and go “you do this, you do that”, but more as general catalyst for a condition that has ecoMachinic potential to begin.
