Sustainable Design - Foster’s Arcology
Foster’s Crystal Island
Foster + Partners huge 1,500 foot tall, 26,909,776 square foot building, is designed to house 30,000 people. It also will have businesses, schools, parks, 3000 hotel rooms and performance spaces. This will be the largest building in the world and a building you never have to leave. It reminds me of Paulo Soleri’s Arcology concept.
Question to SDU readers: Is this an Arcology? Soleri had/has a deep spiritual belief that humanity living in such a space would be transformed for the better. Your thoughts?
Soleri’s Arcology
Foster’s building has many green features but I will withhold my judgment about it’s green cred ’till I find out more about the embodied energy and total energy use.
Some of the green features:
- A Green Energy Management System
- Integrated Solar Arrays
- Integrated Wind Turbines
- Double Skin
Via Metaefficient
February 4th, 2008 at 3:41 am
Hi J.B.- In the traveling exhibit of Solari’s models a contengent of R.C. students caught in Chicago, it seemed the idea of multi-functionality was a major component of the designs. A structure that was a city was also a bridge spanning a major canyon. Another structure, to replace New York, NY. wouldserve as a seaport and airport and transportation hub, as well as the habitat of the residents. Yet another plan was a city as a hydro-dam.
Or, maybe that was another function in the canyon spanning structure.
So, the Foster plan seems to fall short of integration: e.g., with the transport functions with the river, or joining the two banks, bridging, or linking with the region except as a attractive ornament. Rather than enhancing the functioning of the region, it appears to me to be more of retreat fo those who can afford to be a resident in a kind of gated community, and the park is more like the front lawn most urban residences lack.
Arcosanati is about the bubble–the whole of the local human environment in one building, so that the rest of the planet can be relieved of it’s human burden and left to be returned to nature.
At that, at least it is a demonstration of what might be achieved through the greater efficiencies of the far more compact design, compared with urban sprawl.
February 4th, 2008 at 3:06 pm
Davie-
I agree, Soleri’s vision was to have a completely integrated city with nature left to be more natural. I think if the Moscow project gets the green light we will hear more details of how it is integrated into the fabric of the city.
BTW, I saw Paulo Soleri, Buckminster Fuller and Mother Theresa all in one week in Vancouver BC back in the mid 1970s. An amazing and inspirational time.
-jb
February 5th, 2008 at 4:26 am
P.S. A big sorry for my many typos, malspellings… Your website is also amazing and inspirational. Count me a regular reader.
Davie
February 5th, 2008 at 4:09 pm
Davie-
No one stops to use the spelling checker any more. Your comments are thoughtful and add to the quality of SDU.
Thanks-
-jb
February 12th, 2008 at 7:41 am
hi again, jb,
A more compact way of expressing the preceeding commentary: the local structure functions as a component of the regional/national infrastructure. In truth, the cosmological? mystical? heavy philosophical ideas of Soleri about matter becoming spirit or vice versa and the bridge betweeen were past my understanding the two times I tried to get it so far. The concept of design as different from style is difficult to grasp, but there can not be much question that architecture is great field to explore awareness of the distinction. It is heartening to me that you remember Mother Theresa in the same sentence with R.B.Fuller and P.Soleri, because personally, I am very nearly convinced that redesigning the way people treat each other, something entirely within the Human Environment, is absolutely key to designing and achieving a survivable relationship between our species and the greater Natural Environment. As a practical policy matter, putting a stop to gross deforestation is essential to the preservation of biodiversity, as is curtailing the wasting of the marine habitats Mere literal “sustainability” falls strategically far short of the necessary committments we must muster if we are to do our best by the life of the planet Earth. At this point, it seems much less than our very best will prove inadaquate. One thing those three great visionaries shared was an ability to look beyond the status quo common view. Before one can sight from a perch upon such shoulders, it will be necessary to rise above the footprints.
davie
August 13th, 2008 at 4:26 pm
I wouldn’t say “shared” just yet. Paolo turned 89 this year, but he is still with us.
Crystal Island is not the only Foster + Partners project to remind me of Soleri’s arcologies. The Millenium Tower, the Troika, Russia Tower, etc., appear to have many arcologic qualities. I don’t know whether the Soleri influence has ever been acknowledged, but it seems to be there.
September 12th, 2008 at 10:14 pm
[...] One could argue that the Foster + Partners massive Crystal Island structure comes near the definition of an arcology. Holding 30,000 people with commerce, schools, parks, 3000 hotel rooms and other public venues. There has been a fair bit of discussion about this project and the blogosphere is debating whether or not the project would qualify as an archology. [...]
October 20th, 2009 at 8:17 pm
[...] One could argue that the Foster + Partners massive Crystal Island structure comes near the definition of an arcology. Holding 30,000 people with commerce, schools, parks, 3000 hotel rooms and other public venues. There has been a fair bit of discussion about this project and the blogosphere is debating whether or not the project would qualify as an archology. [...]