FA21 - ARCH 515 - Graduate Architectural Design Studio - Designed Ecologies: Skin as Habitat
ARCH 515 GRADUATE ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN STUDIO
FALL 2021
Designed Ecologies: Skin as Habitat - Nathan Fash, Associate Professor of Architecture
Olga Mesa, Associate Professor of Architecture
Designed Ecology: Skin as Habitat
ARCH-515.02 Final Review
By Delana Erickson and Michael Donovan
The “Green Loop” aims to create a closedlooped energy system achieved through a food-to-people, wasteto-compost cycle. The site consists of a hydroponic farm with a sloping green park above, four apartment buildings with scaffolding-like facades for individual plant growing, a plaza connecting the site from the City Centre, a boardwalk, food markets, shops, composting center, and a small forest. Located along the Delaware River in Philadelphia, the 675,000 square foot site offers a biophilic, sustainable oasis within the densest part of the city.
The design for Community, Connection, and Habitat aims to instill a sense of stewardship among its residents and visitors as they live symbiotically with nature. By making connections between the area’s urban and environmental context, the project addresses the needs of Philadelphia’s residents as well as those of its naturally occurring species.
This concept is demonstrated throughout four conditions within the site. The first is the residential units, which are loft spaces defined by their unique green walls. These green walls create a shifting pattern along the building’s façade which continues inside the residential units. They break the barrier between exterior and interior while offering residents the opportunity to tend to their own plants. They also provide passive cooling through evaporation and transpiration, improving the building's comfort levels while influencing the building’s skin.
The second condition takes place at the project’s market node, where residents connect with the community and have the opportunity to exchange local products. The interior market space includes pivoting planter windows for growing small crops and micro-greens under customizable lighting conditions. These crops can then be exchanged within the market’s tall atrium space or among the towering trees just outside of it, and can be used by the space's food court stalls on the third floor. In this outdoor space, bridges hovering above the ground guide visitors to the canopies of these trees, creating a unique relationship with nature and the urban context below.
The project’s performance space offers additional connection with the community, and responds to the nearby performing arts schools by creating a space for artistic expression and a connection with nature. Open to residents as well as the public, the interior of this space is bathed in light from the overhead apertures, and its extensive glass windows offer numerous views out toward nature and the Philadelphia skyline.
The conditions occurring at the proposal’s roof level tie these concepts together through a series of orchards, perennial polycultures, and pollinator gardens. This creates an outdoor space that is ideal for growing local produce, educating residents on nature’s processes, and benefitting local species such as birds and pollinators.
Kampung Admiralty / WOHA - Singapore
Kampung means village in the local dialect, which sums up the multi-generational aspect of the programs within and the goals the project hopes to achieve. The project focuses on the well-being of the inhabitants, from the aging elderly population to youth care centers.
Perennial Polycultures
-Agriculture with a "Forest Design."
-Perennial fruit trees provide canopy cover.
-Fruit-producing shrub layer.
-Ground-cover plants to keep topsoil and increase water holding.
-Mimics natural layout of forest floors.
-Reduces negative impacts of U.S. corn and soy monocultures.
-Reduces soil erosion, sequesters carbon, conserves water, and fosters biodiversity all while conserving costs.
Fruiting Trees
Growth Experience
Market
Shrub Cover
Groundcover
Topsoil
Axonometric Overlay Animation - Julio Romero & Justine Aho YouTube
Final
Axon Skin Animation - Julio Romero & Justine Aho YouTube
Final Model - Market / Food Court Atrium
Urban Biophilia
Humans have an innate connection and curiosity towards nature called biophilia. Since the industrial revolution and boom of urbanization, this biophilia has been lost in cities. Urban Biophilia aims to restore this connection and curiosity to those who dwell in cities without the means of escaping to the more ‘natural’ landscapes. Buildings sprout out of a forest, connected by elevated walkways which allows people to explore the forest from the various zones that compose a forest. This allows people to explore the various species that make up these zones. Further, an ecology research and lab center fill two of the buildings providing the site with its own ecology management system. Ecologists will care for and maintain the site while conforming with ecological succession. Ecologists will also be available to interact with inhabitants that are there to learn about the necessity of such an ecosystem.
