Building Ecologies: Collective Urban Infrastructures
The project lends itself to operate as a prototypical flexible module with the potential to be deployed onto any pre-existing urban rooftop or public area. The modular system is comprised of hollow ceramic pieces acting as structural columns and water collectors, a modular ceramic floor elevated on pedestals, a lightweight space truss structure, and a waterproof membrane that captures and cleans rainwater through its expansive surface. Subsequently, the rainwater would be channeled through the hollow ceramic columns, from which it would be diverted to pipes below the elevated floor and collected into modular water tanks uniformly distributed within the elevated floor. The water management system as proposed would work to alleviate the effects of flooding and drought through storage as well as release and reduce runoff by capturing water and redirecting it into the tanks. Besides, the materiality of the modular ceramic columns, with their low thermal conductivity, could potentially provide energy-saving cooling benefits. The resulting prototype integrates structural and material strategies to optimize construction aspects related to transportation, assembly and disassembly of building components, as well as thermodynamic questions related to heat transfer and water cycles while helping to foster a sense of community and social interaction.
Video Summary
Conceptualization and Experimentation
Fabrication
Assembly
Details
Location
POST Houston, USA
Time
2023
Principal Investigator
Juan Jose Castellon
Dr.Qilin Li (Co-PI)
Team
Rae Atkinson
Christian Ayala-Lopez
Candela Ciccinelli
Van Pham
Michael Xu
Collaborators
Prof.Kurt Stallmann
Guillem Cumella
Lancelot Miserachs (BEC)
Ricardo Pittella (Arup)
Sponsors
Rice University
Rice School of Architecture
POST Houston
Rice Design Alliance
The Carbon Hub
Cosentino
Industrias BEC
Ceramica Cumella
Arup
xmade
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Building Ecosystems: Hybrid Materialities for Collective Urban Infrastructures
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