URBAN ACUPUNCTURERS2 SELF SUFFICIENT BUILDINGS

Miguel Oliveira

Master in Advanced Architecture2012-2013

URBAN ACUPUNCTURERS2 SELF SUFFICIENT BUILDINGS

STUDENT

Miguel Oliveira

FACULTY

Enric Ruiz GeliMireia Luzárraga

Silvia BuresJosep PerelloIker Murraga

Master in Advanced Architecture2012-2013

INDEX

Introduction1 09

Conclusion 39

References 41

2 10Strategy

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INTRODUCTION1

Things will never be the same

We are living a transition era; the current energy, eco-nomic and social model will in the next decades be re-placed by a new model (1). As in every crisis, uncertainty about the future is the most challenging issue, for it is the one that causes lack of confidence in individuals and institutions. Sola Morales used to talk about the impor-tance of handling Uncertainty in Urbanism, managing time and key players in the extremely complex process that is the life of cities and territories.In this turning point as a society, we must find a com-mon ground from where to start the recovery from this global crisis. A common ground that will put investors, politicians and citizens working together: sustainability and energy efficiency (2). We are in the middle of the biggest globalization period in the history of our planet, the digital revolution cre-ated the tools for instant connection and cooperation. A cooperation that is essential for the survival and bal-ance of our planet´s ecosystem that is our home (3).

1 Jeremy Rifkin (2011), The Third Industrial Revolution, Palgrave Macmillan2 Joan Fitzgerald (2010), Emerald Cities, Oxford University Press3 James Lovelock (2007), The Revenge of Gaia, Basic Books

> Esto No Es Un Solar, Zaragoza 9 2012-2013 MAA_01 IaaC

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STRATEGY2

An efficient use of resources

This Thesis analyses the problems of an area in the limit of Barcelona. An area without equipments as daycare centers, bicing stations or recycling points. A negleted and characterless area, that could be located in Barce-lona or anywhere in the world.

The goal of the Thesis was to retrofit and improve the area through surgical interventions. The challenge was to do so building as least as possible, reusing available resources. To do so the strategy encompassed retrofit-ting 6 empty sites close to important public and private buildings. Each site shows a specific vocation, related to the building next to it, and together with the other sites they define a Masterplan.Every site is connected to each other through the com-munity: in this sense this masterplan is a bottom-up process, it requires the population to be the engine of the sites and their use.

The use of renewable energies and recycling strategies in each site is key to set the bases for energy self suf-ficiency and more competitive businesses. The use of soft and natural materials allows for these structures and spaces to be dismantled and recycled in the future.

La Mina, Barcelona >

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FORMATION

PORT

SCHOOL

SPORTS

HOUSING

LIBRARY

6 EXISTING PUBLIC AND PRIVATE FACILITIES

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FORMATION

PORT

SCHOOL

SPORTS

HOUSING

LIBRARY

6 EXISTING PUBLIC AND PRIVATE FACILITIES

Strategy | Sites and Key Buildings

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Library Site | Present

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Library Site | Daycare Center

One of the missing equipments in this area is a Daycare Center. Combining the use of the Public Library, this empty site is retrofitted into a Daycare Center, designed for elderly people that just lie in public benches during the day, creating arts workshops and gardens for them to participate in and meet other people. The intervention is built with soft and natural recyclable materials, like compacted earth, plants and wood for the workshops and structures.

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School Site | Present

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School Site | Foodcycle Canteen

The site next to the school transforms into an educational farm, a solar kitchen and a canteen. In this space kids and students will be able to learn about the cycle of food, from its production to its consumption and waste handling. The goal of this space is to create a sustainable awareness in future generations, of the value of natural resources and food. After all we are what we eat.This intervention uses the same natural recyclable materials as before.

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Housing Site | Present

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Housing Site | Communitary Farm

In the Housing Site, the strategy was to create communitary farms for the neighbours, where each neighbour through a small monthly maintenance fee for tools, can at the end of each month collect a given amount of locally produced fresh and natural vegetables.Close to the Tram station, the Rambla is retrofitted with a Photovoltaic light structure, creating free shade and electricity, that power batteries for new electric public bicycles.

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Sports Site | Present

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Sports Site | Sports Energy Park

The Sports Site is retrofitted as a sports energy park, where people can turn calories into electricity in workout machines. The solution of the light Photovoltaic Roof is also applied here, creating a shaded car parking, with solar charged cars for car sharing systems. This car sharing station combined with the bicycles station provides less co2 emmiting mobility solutions. All the energy produced here can be used to charge cars or bicycles.

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Formation Site | Present

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Formation Site | Recycling Industry

The empty site next to the Formation and Unemployment Center is turned into a recycling center. Bearing in mind that there are no reclycling points in the area, the idea is to deploy recycling points through the neighbourhood and create a center where to handle those materials. With recycled glass, plastic, electronics, paper and wood one can design and build products destined to energy efficiency and retrofitting, like the solar panels used in these car sharing parks.Unemployed people or students taking formation in the center can take part in any part of the process, from pickup to handling and recycling to the design and construction of new products.

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Port Site | Present

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Port Site | Leisure & Commerce

The Port site has most of its spaces unused. It serves mainly as storage for boats, missing an extraordinary opportunity to become a leisure and commerce center in the area, next to the beach and the mediterraneum sea.The structure is retrofitted into restaurants, bars and small commerce. The pavement is turned into a promenade for terraces and walks. An area dedicated to a new economy of experiences and tourism, that strenghtens the local mediterraneum character.

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CONCLUSION

This project is a soft and surgical intervention.

Its users and clients are real people, with real problems and small budgets. In Self-Sufficiency the ends don´t always justify the means, so one should be extremely careful when designing something and labelling it Sus-tainable or Green. For example, a green grass rooftop can be one of the most unsustainable green solutions around: it needs constant maintenance, its construc-tion needs to be flawless so water and roots don´t go through the building itself. In fact one of the best green rooftops I have ever seen wasn´t green at all, it was brown because it used local plants from the buildings´ surroundings and required very little maintenance.

This Thesis is a message in a bottle, to investors, na-tions and citizens so they realize that retrofitting exist-ing buildings, sites and infrastructures while focusing in energy efficiency is a way out of this global crisis.A strategy that will provide jobs to millions of peo-ple, improve their quality of life and help manage the shrinking available resources and biodiversity of our, still, beautiful green and blue planet...

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REFERENCES

The Third Industrial RevolutionJeremy Rifkin2011Palgrave Macmillan

Emerald CitiesJoan Fitzgerald2010Oxford University Press

The Revenge of GaiaJames Lovelock2007Basic Books

MacrowikinomicsDon Tapscott, Anthony Williams2011Paidos

Acupuntura UrbanaJaime Lerner2003Editora Record

> Mediterraneum Field Trip, RS2, IaaC

I dedicate this thesis to my family, friends, and the architects and engineers I was fortunate to work with in Idom.I would like to thank Manuel Gausa for his inspiration and positive spirit, Areti and Silvia for their support and Enric and Mireia for their guidance. IaaC is a place for reactions and relations, a place to open your mind to different points of view and approaches, essential in an architects life journey.

www.iaac.net

Accredited by:

www.upc.edu

fablabbcn.org www.valldaura.net

valldauraSelfS ufficientLab

We are living a transition era; the cur-rent energy, economic and social model will in the next decades be replaced by a new system.

This project analyses the problems and opportunities of an area in the limit of Barcelona that is missing equipments such as daycare centers or recycling points. The goal was to improve the area through surgical interventions in empty sites. The challenge was to do so build-ing as least as possible, using avail-able resources and renewable energies.