Brendan Smith: Plumbean Design

My approach for the project came in phases; the initial phase requiring extensive research into the site, its history (both human and ecological), urban theories, and sustainable designs from an infrastructural scale down to the individual inhabitant.  Since the semester allowed for only a few months to design the project; once the contextual framework was in place I broke the design into 4 scales where I could focus my design efforts and then duplicate the resulting parameters to populate the larger conceptual design. The 4 scales of the project are:

• the overall site - (within the geographic scope/parameters of the project)
• the "urban organism" - consisting of quarter mile diameter areas, similar to neighborhoods, but with the intention of having each organism be self-sufficient to the highest degree possible.
• the "quadrant" - being a successive component of the organism, also with the intention of being self-sufficient to the highest degree possible.
• the "typology" - the building typologies that the project was reduced down to are the Productive, Commercial, and Housing Typologies. Each of these typologies was designed to also be as self-sufficient as possible.

The conceptual goal of my design was to develop an "antifragile urbanism."  The concept being primarily an economic philosophy created by Nassim Nicholas Taleb.  The idea being a design that is not only resilient to unpredictable events, but one that benefits from, what Taleb calls, "black swan events."  To achieve this type of result many different sources were tapped; chief among them are ideas on resilient geometry from Mehaffy and Salingaros' Design for a Living Planet and the principles of permaculture.  All of the ideas weaving throughout my primary sources culminated in the final design illustrated here.  Balancing cutting edge technology with centuries old precedents; sometimes gestural and sometimes literal, the project sought to understand the city as a dynamic and ever-evolving entity; and to explore solutions to the critical and complex problems that face not just the architecture and design professions, but all of our interconnected human endeavors today.

Productive Typology: Waste Management & Beyond

• The building houses an integrated waste treatment system that uses a combination of plants and ecologically driven processes to treat the wast water for its quadrant.  While the daily load derives from the typologies quadrant, each quadrant is connected to multiple productive typologies; allowing redundancies in case of failures without allowing the risk exposure to be systemic throughout the site.
•  The waste system; based off of case studies, research, and other precedents, is capable of processing 120,000-160,000 gallons per day with a total treatment time lasting 48 hours from its input as black water and its output as potable water.
•  During the water purification process, after the required level of treatment has been achieved, the water cycles through an aquaculture system supplying a consistent stream of nutrients and fresh water to crops in vertical hydroponic planters and fish in aquaponics tanks.
•  In total the aquaculture system will net approximately 10,930 lbs of fish (a combination of tilapia and trout) and the exterior terraces and hydroponic system will net between 2,880,000 - 3,200,000 lbs (dependent on crops grown) of fresh produce annually.
•   Additional yields from animals occupying permaculture plant/animal guilds on terraces would also supplement production.  This would include chickens, ducks, and turkeys; and any eggs they may lay.

harnessing available & predictable energy:

• Energy production on site is stratified amongst multiple scales and multiple sources, responding to individual building site conditions.  While all buildings have infrastructure in place to provide as much energy as possible without being invasive or restrictive, some specific sites have energy resources that exceed individual building needs and are consistently high yielding.  One of these is buildings with waterfront access.  Access to the ocean, and also the Bronx River and other flowing fresh water sources, are opportunities to provide baseline power to many buildings.
• With ocean access comes two extremely reliable and powerful sources of energy, total and wave action kinetic energy.  In accordance with the conceptual frameworks of this project, energy production technologies and techniques should be as mechanistically simple and efficient as possible.
• The mechanism illustrated below in Figure 2.3 is an original design for this project.  It utilizes simple mechanics constructed of resilient materials to create as robust and reliable an energy capturing unit as possible.
• The outer casing and many of the mechanical components are constructed of copper-nickel, a salt-water corrosion resistant material that has an extremely high tensile strength.  It is the same material that is used in the manufacturing of propellers for large tanker ships.
• The sea wall acts as a force multiplier, water is channeled in 3 dimensions, decreasing in size and focusing the available hydrologic force onto the wheel and paddles.
• The paddles are shaped so as to provide maximum force transfer with a minimum amount of resistance from back currents and eddies.  The multi-paddle wheel was chosen for its ability to operate multi-directionally; for water flowing inwards and outwards past the sea wall.  The simplicity of its design prevents breakdowns from jamming or trash lodging that would occur with a traditional turbine system.
• The wheel generates power through both water flow passing through the sea wall channels, as well as through the rise and fall in water level caused by tides and wave action.  The paddles are buoyant; made of high strength corrosion resistant metal and filled with hydrophobic foam.  As wave action and tides causes water levels to rise and fall, the buoyant paddle system travels vertically along a track.  The main axel the paddles are joined to is connected on either end to a tensioned cog system.  As the paddle moves up and down the resistance in the cog system transfers that force to a generating unit that converts that movement into electrical power.
• Another influence on the design was the environmental impact of power generation.  Using the tensioned mechanisms in the power-wheel allows for massive amounts of force to be generated and converted into power without high velocity rotation in the wheel.  This coupled with a maximum bottoming dimension that keeps the paddles at a minimum of at least 6 feet from the bottom of the channel means that aquatic species can pass through the turbine with reduced risk of injury or impairment.  The sea wall channels allow tidal currents and back eddies to form which are ideal habitats for many fish species.  Additionally the sea wall itself acts as an ecological structure for marine life, creating niche environments and habitat for native species.

Figure 2.4: Sea Wall Plan Illustrating Channel Forms & Turbines - Arrows indicate how waves and water currents are guided towards channels; the rounded points of the sea-wall, and gradually narrowing channels, are designed to increase the possible energy that can be harvested while minimizing damage caused by the erosive forces of the moving water.

Figure 2.2: Section of Turbine & Channel - Blue arrows indicate flows of water, either horizontally through current, tidal forces, and wave action, or vertically through wave action and water level rises and falls.  The semi-transparent turbine paddles in gold indicate the highest point that the turbine reaches along the vertical axis.

Symbiotic Relations:

Figure 2.1 - The form, massing, and orientation of the greenhouse located to the south of the open-air orchard is multifunctional.  The sea wall and the greenhouse push the predominant winds coming off of the water up and into the path of the wind turbines lining the north side of the orchard (located to not limit sun exposure for the orchard trees and to aid in blocking some north wind during the winter).  In this way the greenhouse and turbines can be fine-tuned to each other to gather the full yield of the sites wind resources.

-  It acts as a barrier from the salt-spray caused by wave-action during foul weather.

-  The greenhouse also uses the moisture content of the air to generate its own fresh water to be used in hydroponic cycles within its shell.

-  The orchard is located on the seawall to take advantage of this particular urban organism's shoreline proximity; seeking to minimize the amount of organism land that is allocated towards agriculture and utilizing the water as a boundary for animal-agriculture.

-  Surrounding the orchard are invisible fence barriers to pen a small herd of goats and sheep.  The animals and trees are an ecological guild, and act together in a symbiotic fashion.  The implementation of understory grazing by goats and sheep has numerous advantages.  Among the advantages are reduced nutrient competition for the fruit trees; the animals graze back unwanted weeds and plants.  As the animals graze and deprecate, their manure acts as fertilizer for the trees.  To benefit the animals, trees provide a highly nutritious diet that yields high quality milk and meat from the animals grazing beneath them.

Dwelling for Refuge & Community:

• The housing typology is one of the most critical building types in a city.  It contains the most spaces most intimately experienced by occupants (we spend some 98% of our lives indoors, a large part of this percentage in our homes) and is largely responsible for promoting the relationships among inhabitants that leads to a sense of community critical for the wellbeing and success of people, neighborhoods, and the city overall.
• This typology is designed to accommodate a variety of living organizations and residence types.  The exterior walls and columns are load bearing masonry and concrete, allowing the interior partitions that are erected to be highly fluid and responsive to housing needs and markets.  Ensuring its adaptability to the changing needs of future inhabitants.  
• Each level has different attributes, advantages, and disadvantages.  The variability among spatial qualities and features for each level is intended to create a range of housing possibilities suitable for multiple demographics.  This variability is beneficial in two primary ways; it increases the likelihood of filling rooms with occupants regardless of economic climate, and it promotes the kind of social exposure, interchange, and diversity that is essential for the connections acting as a catalyst for the exchange of ideas and social mobility indicative of a flourishing and productive society.
• The building uses its high thermal mass created by the solid walls and green roofs to help passively maintain a comfortable living environment.  Additionally the construction leads to lower maintenance and utility costs.
• The terraces are all accessible, and all feature at least some form of permaculture landscaping, generating fresh produce and easing the burden of food costs for its inhabitants while increasing their health.  Surplus yields from the gardens can also be sold outside of the buildings community for a profit.
• Supplementing the lighting needs of the interior spaces is a system of solar tracking daylight collectors connected to a network of fiber optic cables that allows natural light to be plumbed to all spaces within the building.