Porosity
A SUPER-SHARING, MIXED-USE NEIGHBORHOOD NODE
In 2040, Metro Vancouver will see an additional 1.2 million people, 12 times the current population of downtown Vancouver. Considering the natural borders of the metro region, available land is severely restricted and new models for intelligent urban densification are urgently needed. This proposal visions a critical transformation and integration of the pre-dominant Vancouver typologies: The single family house, the low-rise double loaded block, the tower with podium and the singular civic building. The result is a highly porous mixed used building that presents a public private partnership model that generates mutually beneficial adjacencies and mixtures at various scales.
Multi Scalar
Operating every building in isolation is not the path to sustainability. Porosity scales urban infrastructure down to the neighbourhood and the building; and shifts certain household amenities up to the building. This building can be an energy source providing the heating, cooling and hot water for the neighbourhood; a service centre with community recycling and composting and garbage pick-up; a cultural node with library book pick-up, public roof-top gardens and theatre. It can treat the waste water for its occupants and neighbours and store rainwater for their irrigation.
The 1%
How much material goods do we each store and use for less than one percent of the time, an equivalent of approximately 2 hours per week or less? What is the true cost to us for this ownership in money, time and space, and what is the true cost to society and the planet to manufacture these items? What if these were all common amenities that we share? Could we instead use the space for cross ventilation and daylighting our suites, and to allow for more green space, letting public amenities permeate into the private realm? How will we enjoy the new free time we don't have to spend working to support these items?
Cultural shift
Porosity integrates the community with ecology. It is designed to capture the forgotten need for, and delights of the commons. Imagine neighbourhoods welcoming higher density for the cultural benefits it brings, with greenways connecting neighbours to parks and the privilege of views and green space restored to the public with accessible roof top plazas. There need not be a distinction between public good, and personal fulfillment--we can live in abundance without sacrificing our quality of life, the environment, or a just and equitable society.
(From competitor's text)
14 scanned / 11 viewable
- Presentation Panel
- Presentation Panel
- Perspective
- Perspective
- Perspective
- Perspective
- Conceptual Sketch
- Plan
- Schema
- Schema
- Schema
