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Off-Grid & Self-Sufficient: ReGen Villages with Vertical Farms

23 May

[ By WebUrbanist in Architecture & Cities & Urbanism. ]

vertical farming

Presented at the 2016 Venice Architecture Bienalle, these new communities are designed to be entirely self-reliant, recycling their own waste, generating their own energy and producing their own food.

design village

integrated greenhouse

Dubbed ReGen by its creators at EFFEKT, this new self-sustaining community typology grew out of a Stanford University Paper and, thanks to the backing of entrepreneurs, the first pilot is set to launch in The Netherlands this summer with others coming to Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Germany and, eventually, China and Africa.

regen community

regen model

Each village features combinations of homes, greenhouses and public buildings, interconnecting vertical farming efforts with everyday living. Like a dome-free version of some science-fiction vision, the idea is that each village unit is effectively self-contained, able to thrive off the grid without polluting or draining resources.

program

regent model

modular architecture

Integrated solar power systems provide energy for heating, cooling and electric cars. Community participants share responsibility for water and waste management systems. Various housing types are offered, each with modularity designed around seasonal energy savings and human comfort factors.

green village square

town at night

“Our modern lifestyle is utterly unsustainable and this calls for more resilient solutions for the future,” explained EFFEKT partner Sinus Lynge. “The technology already exists, it is just a matter of applying science into the architecture of everyday life. ReGen Villages is engineering and facilitating the development of off-grid, integrated and resilient neighbourhoods that power and feed self-reliant families around the world. The time has come to redefine residential real-estate development for the next three billion people coming to the planet.”

[ By WebUrbanist in Architecture & Cities & Urbanism. ]

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Floating Island: Self-Sufficient Home Produces Food & Power

17 May

[ By WebUrbanist in Architecture & Houses & Residential. ]

floating island home vancouver

Powered by solar panels and sustained by a half-acre plot of farmland, these 12 connected buoyant platforms together form an autonomous off-the-grid dwelling for the couple that built the complex over the course of more than 20 years.

freedom cove architecture buildings

Located off the coast of Vancouver Island in Canada, Freedom Cove, as it is called, has everything one could wish from a dream home including pools, beaches, gardens, greenhouses, galleries, towers, workshops and guest rooms

floating island pools plants

Its creators, artists Wayne Adams and Catherine King, spend their time painting, writing, carving and making music as well as entertaining guests – visitors are welcome in the summer, but can only reach this remote location by chartering special boat taxis.

floating island complex platforms

Like the science-fictional floating city of Armada in China Mieville’s novel The Scar, each piece is tied together and seems to have been accrued almost organically over time.

floating island fruits vegetables

Living off the land (and water), the couple fishes for food off the sides of the platforms and grow their own vegetables and fruits in a half-acre farm area above. An array of solar panels provides energy with generators used for backup.

freedom cove cloating home

“A retired ballerina, Catherine maintains these floating gardens while Wayne’s incredible sculptural talents support them. The gardens host frequent visits from whale and bear watching groups in the area. Guests leave with a candle casted from the moulds of various sculptures. They live on a very meagre annual income. “

[ By WebUrbanist in Architecture & Houses & Residential. ]

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Self-Sufficient City: Zero-Waste, Carbon-Neutral & Car-Free

23 Jul

[ By WebUrbanist in Architecture & Cities & Urbanism. ]

eco friendly city design

It sounds like a conceptual design or science-fiction fantasy, but it is already under construction. Rising in the desert outside of Abu Dhabi, Masdar City will be the world’s most sustainable metropolis with no cars (or skyscrapers) allowed.

pod cars rendered real

Instead of private personal automobiles, the public rapid transit system represents a shift from ‘mass’ to ‘mini’ in the form of small programmable multi-person vehicles – but that is just the beginning.

walkable green city streets

Solar, wind and geothermal sources will fuel the city – sun-powered desalination plants will provide fresh water for inhabitants, which will in turn be carefully recycled (as will other biological waste).

walkable city aerial plan

Practicing what it embodies on multiple levels, this new urban area aims to be the definitive regional hotpot for developing green energy and researching clean technology.

sustainble desert city design

The Masdar Institute of Science and Technology has already been built and more structures are on the way. By 2025, the target population should be up to 50,000 within the walkable 2.3 square-mile perimeter currently planned for development.

sustainable urban design diagram

The United Arab Emirates have long recognized the need to diversify their regional sources of revenue and develop self sufficiency outside of oil and conventional business – this comprehensive, ground-up urban design is the latest step along a new long-term path. The development is a project of the Abu Dhabi Future Energy Company and has been largely designed by Foster & Partners.