THE DYNAMIC CITY OF SOCIAL INTERACTIONS 2050
Adaptive Tidal Environments
In response to the anticipated expansion of London’s urban environment towards the Thames Estuary, my vision for 2050 elucidates the potential of occupying the tidal Thames by creating an adaptive architectural landscape of floating communities that embrace the commonality of the river front by providing spaces for social interactions that encourage a collective lifestyle culture as opposed to the prevalent single living culture in the UK. With extreme tidal surges, rising sea levels and turbulent weather patterns in the future, the relationship between architecture and the edge of the river will become increasingly critical. The waterfront community of 2050 is envisioned to have a lifestyle that celebrates these environmental changes as it is equipped to maximise the potential of water as a latent renewable source of energy.
The project foresees the Thames Estuary as a dynamic public space, with new spatial configurations and connections within London that communities on both sides of the river can occupy & share using its tidal behaviour as a generator for renewable energy. The occupiable units interact with the river’s changing tides creating adaptable tectonics that allow variable conditions for social interactions for the community residents. By adhering to the natural rhythms of the river as opposed to the static conventional developments found alongside the Thames, a new dynamic hydro landscape is conceived with a unique public space where the temporal flux of the dwellings and the river are interwoven with floating public walkways, tidal pools, wetland parks and gardens. This intertwining of the dynamic public space with the fluctuating habitable units will also provide opportunities for social interaction at the scale of the city as it is invited to enjoy the river front with intentionally curated moments of interaction blurring the perceived boundaries between city and community as well as the community and the individual dwelling. This design strategy also allows the inclusion of viewing corridors and pockets of dispersed public spaces within the global tectonics of the proposal that are conducive and necessary for the envisioned communal lifestyle.
The Thames Estuary represents a great opportunity for architectural design, largely due to the pending problems the estuary faces. By responding progressively to these challenges and understanding that conventional buildings and their design could play only a limited role in the area’s future, design solutions can explore new inhabitation possibilities. The project suggests a scenario that asks what if our living environments were adaptive, transient and energy producing, could we imagine a model of a future dynamic city organisation that is not tied to hard infrastructures but would be informed locally through neighbourhood relations. And only then can we return to the centre of architectural concern, the celebration of our humanity.
The future waterfront community of 2050 is envisioned to have a lifestyle that celebrates the environmental changes by creating floating, integrated communities and housing dwellings, encouraging neighbourly interaction as well as maximising the potential of its future water frontier as a latent renewable source of energy.
The project foresees the Thames Estuary as a dynamic public space, with new spatial configurations and connections within London that communities on both sides of the river can occupy & share.
In the future the relationship between architecture and the edge of the river will become increasingly critical. By blurring the boundary between land and water, the urban fabric can begin to expand onto the water.
Environmental Strategy & Future Energy Economy:
The proposed onsite tidal power scheme would bring environmental benefits through generating carbon-free electricity. The design proposal explores a hybrid model of Oscillating Hydrofoil tidal power generators, as it promises to be economical as well as environmentally neutral.
The design methodology endeavours to provide a flexible architectural framework that encourages both specifically curated moments of social interaction and spontaneously occurring scenarios. This is achieved by means of articulating sectional profiles that create compact domesticity correlating to its public exterior counterparts.
Integrated Density:
By plugging the living and working units in to the infrastructure, the amount of units can be increased with demand. The infrastructure becomes undulating public space, which elevates over units, cascades down to the waters edge and creates a water level landscape.
Pedestrian connectivity would allow free movement from bank to bank, along the river, and a larger urban link between Essex &
Kent will enhance dynamic economic mobility in the estuary.
The proposed hydro landscape is a unique public space where the temporal flux of the dwellings and the river are interwoven with wetlands, tidal pools, and floating gardens. This intertwining of the dynamic public space with the fluctuating habitable units will also provide opportunities for social interaction at the scale of the city as it is invited to enjoy the river blurring the perceived boundaries between city and community as well as the community and the individual dwelling.
