Evolo 2019 Competition - Les Poumous
Les
Poumons
GEOMETRY
the first object of study was the Klein bottle and its geometry. The way
it flows from the open space to an enclosed one in one coherent
motion, it provided us with a new way of viewing the exterior vs.
interior in terms of public/private, open/closed,
landscape/interiors.
Typically skyscrapers are, in an
ontological sense, a private enclosed structure manifesting power and
economic strength, however they create lifeless public spaces and a
harsh division between what is private and what is public. A
skyscraper is contentually a private object and in correlation with
the Fordist direction of a divided space and society. Nonetheless,
today it is time to progress to a new agenda for organizing space.
Landscape
vs Interiority
We
are used to thinking of skyscrapers in regards to their insides -
their interiority. A skyscraper is the product of creating an
absolutely artificial environment where we move through lifts,
breathe air-conditioned air and work under artificial lighting with
minimal contact with anything natural. Mostly we spend our time
inside, which leads to a misunderstanding of the outside, of our
surrounding environment. It becomes fully artificial and we stop
caring about how much waste we produce, air pollution and grey water.
If we were to rediscover and form a new relationship with the
outdoors, the landscape, we would be more cautious of it.
Having
a structure where ‘inside’ and outside are intertwined and
completed with flora, brings this family of buildings into a new
dimension of growth and significance. In small scales like personal
gardens, to a larger importance of being the new lungs of a long
polluted area.
And since environments that typically have
skyscrapers are limited in the horizontal space for natural
landscapes, we have to go vertical.
Commonly,
in a skyscraper, one is limited to exploring larger spaces, staying
in an office or a flat, left with not many options of changing
atmospheres, except elevators or drugs. In a Klein bottle skyscraper
you can open the door out to the exterior and invite the outer
landscape inside. There are many options of circulation and usage of
space. The range of differents options broadens exponentially
together with the richness of the used architectural language.
Technology
A
system of wetland roofs and rainwater retention consisting of
horizontal and sloping wetland elements. On the roof there are a
rainwater retention tank and a lake with pumping and accumulation
reservoirs. These are green roofs composed of substrates satiated
with water in which wetland plants grow. The whole water system also
works as a general cooling device for the building and grey water
cleaner.
Globally,
the concept of Les Poumons, a collective of skyscrapers shifting
landscape into the vertical axis, is an intertwined structure of
exteriors and interiors striving to create a stronger dialogue with
its environment and redefine their contemporary role in urban
structures and bring more significance and value to its surroundings.
