The Architecture of Communal Living: Lessons from Arcosanti in Arizona

Paolo Soleri's arcology model (architecture + ecology addresses issues of sustainability by advocating living in a balanced relationship between urban morphology and performance within dense, integrated and compact structures. Within these structures material recycling, waste reduction and the use of renewable energy sources are adopted as part of a sustainable strategy aimed at reducing the flow of resources and energy through the urban system. Today, as governments, eager to deliver major environmental improvements, press on with as yet untried and largely untested 'centrist' policies of urban living, there is a need to research relevant models of the 'compact city' approach. Issues involved with the intensification in the use of space, higher residential densities, centralisation, compactness, the integration of land uses and aspects of self-containment need to be examined. Over the last ten years, as the criteria of sustainability have become more widely accepted and understood, the relevance of the Soleri's urban model has become clearer. Arcosanti, begun in 1970, offers a laboratory for testing the validity of Soleri's ideas. This paper examines arcology and Arcosanti within the context of sustainability. Since the energy crisis of the mid 1970s, efforts at Arcosanti have been directed toward the definition and testing of various architectural effects on a community-wide scale that could offer a response to many of today's environmental problems. But progress is painstakingly slow. Lacking the level of funding and resources that would enable it to be convincing, Arcosanti now represents not so much a specific prototypal solution, but an activist-engaged strategy that advocates the possibility of building our dreams and visions. In a world plagued by so many problems and so few alternatives, it nevertheless continues to offer a beacon of hope on the threshold of a new millennium

The industrial heritage as text and pretext for contemporary architecture

The recovery of industrial heritage poses design challenges that are not always easy to solve. In many cases, it remains as a meaningless skeleton, unrelated to the urban life of today’s metropolises The work describes the recovery of the old Mediodía power plant of Madrid, in the so-called golden triangle of art identified by the Prado Museum, the Thyssen-Bornemisza Museum the national museum Centro de Arte Reina Sofia. Its recovery and transformation in CaixaForumMadrid by the Swiss architects Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron have meant a milestone in modern architecture in the city. The intervention is a term of reference for the recovery of the building heritage, demonstrating how the need for pre-existence protection may become a pretext for contemporary architecture. The use of contemporary construction technologies and materials has preserved the original beauty of the heavy solid brick facades and has detaches the construction from the ground in apparent defiance of the laws of gravity. The former power station has once again become one of the city’s most popular sites, attracting tourists and visitors alike for the impressive architecture of the converted building and the many exhibitions and cultural events that take place there

Lessons from the urban laboratory at Arcosanti in Arizona

The Trouble with Autocratic Architecture: A critical and cocreative look at Paolo Soleri's Arcosanti Project. Doctress Neutop

Autonomous driving: a bird's eye view

[Abstract:] The introduction of autonomous vehicles (AV) will represent a milestone in the evolution of transportation and personal mobility. AVs are expected to significantly reduce accidents and congestion, while being economically and environmentally beneficial. However, many challenges must be overcome before reaching this ideal scenario. This study, which results from on-site visits to top research centres and a comprehensive literature review, provides an overall state-of-the-practice on the subject and identifies critical issues to succeed. For example, although most of the required technology is already available, ensuring the robustness of AVs under all boundary conditions is still a challenge. Additionally, the implementation of AVs must contribute to the environmental sustainability by promoting the usage of alternative energies and sustainable mobility patterns. Electric vehicles and sharing systems are suitable options, although both require some refinement to incentivise a broader range of customers. Other aspects could be more difficult to resolve and might even postpone the generalisation of automated driving. For instance, there is a need for cooperation and management strategies geared towards traffic efficiency. Also, for transportation and land-use planning to avoid negative territorial and economic impacts. Above all, safe and ethical behaviour rules must be agreed upon before AVs hit the road.Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad; TRA2016-79019-R/COO

Sustainable Mobility and Transport

This Special Issue is dedicated to sustainable mobility and transport, with a special focus on technological advancements. Global transport systems are significant sources of air, land, and water emissions. A key motivator for this Special Issue was the diversity and complexity of mitigating transport emissions and industry adaptions towards increasingly stricter regulation. Originally, the Special Issue called for papers devoted to all forms of mobility and transports. The papers published in this Special Issue cover a wide range of topics, aiming to increase understanding of the impacts and effects of mobility and transport in working towards sustainability, where most studies place technological innovations at the heart of the matter. The goal of the Special Issue is to present research that focuses, on the one hand, on the challenges and obstacles on a system-level decision making of clean mobility, and on the other, on indirect effects caused by these changes

Designing intermediate community use during Brownfield phytoremediation in the post-industrial urban redevelopment project : a Case Study in Nyhamnen, Malmö

Malmö, once flourished with industries, has been transitioning since its decline in the 1980s. The redevelopment of Nyhamnen, one of the post-industrial areas, started in 2018 to accommodate the expected increasing population until 2050. The City of Malmö focuses on redeveloping within instead of expanding the city. Land reuse is efficient; however, there is an issue of contamination from previous industrial use. The risk classification phase 1 of MIFO, A Methodology for Inventory of Contaminated Areas, divides brownfields into four categories. The two highly contaminated groups become the target for remedial actions, and the two less polluted groups are often left behind. It leads to moderately contaminated sites, the highest in case numbers, being left untouched. Phytoremediation, in-situ remediation utilising the plant mechanism to absorb or decompose contamination, is an environmentally and economically friendly method. It may take an extended application period, depending on the condition. Hence, this thesis investigates phytoremediation's applicability in a long-term redevelopment plan. Furthermore, this paper explores the potential of community creation through phytoremediation and community gardening as an instance of bottom-up initiation. The long-term application of phytoremediation may allow community development in a newly developing area. Container community gardening, which does not choose on-site soil conditions, is flexible and contributes to community formation that individualisation alienated. Communities in society are fundamental in supporting autonomous behaviour and being active citizens. By understanding behaviours, sense of place, communication and the supporting system, Landscape Architecture may encourage forming a space for communities. A design as an example of intermediate community spatial use during phytoremediation conducts on the brownfield Medusa 1 in Nyhamnen. There is a potential for phytoremediation’s application in Nyhamnen, Malmö, in line with the aims of the City of Malmö and the County Administrative Board of Scania, despite the difficulties of project planning in terms of time and technique. Community gardening, an example of intermediate use of brownfields, may contribute to community formation and promote active citizen engagement by supporting their autonomous behaviour

Electrical Vehicles: Current State of the Art, Future Challenges, and Perspectives

The goal of the study presented in this article is to provide a general overview of the various aspects related to electric vehicles (EVs), along with all associated emerging challenges and perspectives. In this context, the basic types of EVs and the corresponding charging technologies are analyzed. Since EVs are expected to be a key component of future smart electrical grids (SEG), connection to the grid issues, along with advanced charging techniques (i.e., wireless power transfer), are analyzed as well. To this end, the main features, the requirements of vehicle to grid (V2G) communications, as well as future developments and scenarios of electrification, are also presented and analyzed. Moreover, integration issues with currently deployed fifth generation (5G) mobile wireless networks are also outlined, in order to ensure optimum transmission and reception quality in V2G communications and improved user experience. This integration is also expanded in autonomous vehicles (AVs) technology (self-driving objects), since optimized information processing from various diverse sources is required in order to ensure advanced traffic management aspects. Document type: Articl

Developing strategies for sustainable residential building design: Kathmandu Metropolitan City, Nepal

Sustainable building design has gained rapid interest to achieve lesser environmental impacts through man-made structures. Guidelines have been set up by the leading developed nations to balance the environment and human needs with sustainable building design guidelines. This is even more necessary for under developed nations like Nepal, with its burgeoning capital city, Kathmandu. In this thesis, the environmental issues in Kathmandu ranging from water, energy, waste management to land management have been studied widely and especially relating to the residential buildings. After the analysis of facts and hard issues faced by the people of Kathmandu and a study of climatic conditions in the city, residential sustainable design guidelines have been proposed. Finally, the design recommendations have been developed in this thesis and applied to multilevel multi-family sustainable residential building in a site in Kathmandu