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Abdulrahman. F. H
Ecovillage
Ecovillage is a vision. ecovillage is a goal. ecovillage is an ideal.
Around the world, many people are starting to use the term ‘ecovillage’ to describe their communities, projects, and other endeavors. What do people mean by ‘ecovillage’? What do these projects share in common, and how are they diverse?
First, ecovillage is a vision,
an ideal, a goal. Except for some aboriginal villages that have retained their ancient sustainable cultures, there are no examples of fully realized ecovillages as of this writing. Those using the term are describing a commitment or intent to live more sustainably, reintegrating their lives with ecology.
But what do people mean by ‘sustainability’? There is really no simple, clearly agreed-upon definition of sustainability. Some would try to define it in scientific terms: carrying capacity, energy flows, ecological systems, design strategies. Others would talk about the social factors: humans’ relationship to nature, spirituality, wisdom, equality, decision-making processes, holism, a sense of place. Often people talk about looking ahead seven generations or creating systems that can be continued into the indefinite future. Of course, even if people agree on the definition, they will incorporate these ideals into their daily lives in very different ways and at different levels.
In general, ecovillage is used to describe places that are aiming for a village-like quality. A village is more than just a place to live. A village is also a place for work and play, birth and death, trading of goods and services, celebrations, and all aspects of healthy lives. Equally important is being ‘human scale,’ meaning a population where it’s still possible for people to know each other as people and not as anonymous masses.
As you are looking at ecovillages, remember to ask what folks really envision for their project when it comes to such things as size, scope, social structure, and ecology. Also ask where they are in the here and now. Ecovillage is a process as well as a vision, and we are all somewhere on a long path.
SOM was just awarded the master plan commission for Golden Hills, a major new sustainable city that dovetails with their recently revealed FTP City in Danang, Vietnam. The green development is set to transform a 375 hectare plot on the Cu De River into an environmentally sensitive town with robust pedestrian thoroughfares, water-cleansing green belts, and an urban fabric composed of shops, services, parks and mixed-density living. SOM’s masterplan will incorporate a balanced diversity of residential and commercial development that sensibly straddles the environmentally diverse river banks.
The design shares much with SOM’s FTP City proposal in the way it ensures water quality, pedestrian access, and layers of mixed-use development to form a community that is both economically viable and bonded with the environment.
Carefully designed for flood protection, the master plan calls for extensive green belts that offer recreational space while absorbing and filtering storm water before it enters the river. Paths throughout the development are carefully shaded to encourage non-vehicular use, and much of the riverfront will be preserved for existing habitat, which buffers the town from periodic flooding.
This corporate headquarters is proposed as a garden city. The program includes commerical offices and corporate living, accommodates an existing curvilinear building, and calls for preservation of all of the major trees on site. The company also requested an architectural branding platform that reflects its corporate mission, "Growth is Life." In response, the structure is designed as a high LEED standard headquarters, utilizing regional materials and energy efficient technology. The complex are conceived as a series of curved structures, surrounding a central garden. This public space also serves as a division between the working and living environments. The multi-tiered composition of the buildings provides outdoor terraces, roof gardens and courtyards for purpose of day-lighting. The facades include a variety of hybrid energy efficient devices - photovoltaic/LED panels, trellis structures, canopies, light shelves, and arcades - that create a pattern of horizontal ribbons. These tiered elements also produce aesthetically pleasing light and shadow patterns on all the adjacent walls.
SITE ( Architecture , Art & Design)
Studio GAIA
Since the late ‘90s, it has been nearly impossible to experience hip hospitality in Manhattan without encountering Studio GAIA’s mark. Thanks to dramatic designs for the new W Hotels in Mexico City and Seoul, the firm’s influence is now being felt internationally.
As Studio GAIA expanded, Founder Ilan Waisbrod developed the firm’s unique philosophy an approach that focuses on creating harmony between interior and exterior architectural forms while eschewing the purely ornamental. To insure the clarity of their vision, Waisbrod designed nearly all of the furniture for their projects. Inspirations ranged from Le Corbusier and Mies van der Rohe to art installations and natural forms.
Mirroring the firm’s diverse creative output, Waisbrod assembled a creative team hailing from nine countries as Studio GAIA grew: Israel, India, Hong Kong, Korea, Turkey, Brazil, Mexico, Japan and Dominica. Titles were spurned to encourage a collaborative atmosphere and free flow of ideas. Linking Studio GAIA’s innovative composition was a unique brand of imaginative, Zen-infused minimalism.
Well-established as a force in restaurant and nightclub design, Studio GAIA is now expanding inter- nationally onto the broader canvas of hotels. The firm’s bold, provocative collaboration with W Hotels in Mexico City and W Walkerhill in Seoul, Korea represent an exciting aesthetic departure for W’s first Latin American and Asian ventures. Recent Projects in include Busan Paradise Hotel in Korea, Tao Restaurant and Nightclub in Las Vegas, Alliance Capital’s Corporate Cafeteria, STAND and Dishes in New York.
