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“ULTIMATELY, SCALE MATTERS, AS IT WILL DETERMINE THE QUANTIFIABLE IMPACT OF ACTIONS. AT THE MINUTE, 50% OF THE WORLD’S POPULATION ARE IN CITIES. 50% ARE NOT, SO VILLAGES ARE REALLY IMPORTANT.“
Bohn &Viljoen Architects
“… VILLAGES REPRESENT A LEVEL OF SOCIETAL ORGANISATION THAT IS VERY CAPABLE OF ADDRESSING THE ISSUE OF SUSTAINABILITY.”
Malene Freudendal-Pedersen & Anna Esbjørn Hess SUSTAINABLECITIES.DK
RECODE Q&A
IF YOU WERE LEADING THE MASTER PLAN FOR A SUSTAINABLE VILLAGE, WHAT ISSUES WOULD YOU PRIORITISE?
“I would start to ask questions to the people who eventually will inhabit the village which would lead to an interesting and creative ongoing dialogue. To build a sustainable village is not a project, it is a process.”
David Carlsson CO-FOUNDER OF DESIGNBOOST
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Tim Smit FOUNDER OF EDEN PROJECT
Photo: © Jiri Berger / Altitude
“THE VILLAGE NEEDS TO HELP FOSTER RELATIONSHIPS, STRUCTURES AND ICONIC PLACES. THOSE ARE THE THINGS THAT MAKE PEOPLE FEEL COMPLETE.”
RECODE Q&A
IF YOU WERE TO DESIGN A SUSTAINABLE VILLAGE, WHAT WOULD YOU EMPHASISE?
“It would be low-rise; densely built, mixed-use, with an attractive layout. Public space has a completely new role these days, both in terms of sustainability but also in how it supports our working lives. Public space carries our everyday lives, far more than before. If you think back to the old farming societies, sales and trades would take place in the squares. Later on, industrialism came along and shattered this structure, separating all the functions of a town or village and causing public space to be used for traffic. Now we need to take the public space back, to support our knowledge-based everyday life.”
Christer Larsson DIRECTOR OF ARCHITECTURAL PLANNING FOR MALMÖ CITY
Photo: © Yann Arthus-Bertrand Yann / Altitude
RECODE Q&A
DOES SCALE MATTER? ARE THERE DISTINCTIONS WHEN DESIGNING SUSTAINABLE SOLUTIONS FOR A VILLAGE VS. A CITY, FOR EXAMPLE?
“In general, too much emphasis is placed on lowering intensity for reducing environmental impacts and too little emphasis is placed on reducing scale. We need to examine the relationships between scale and intensity more carefully at many different levels including in comparisons of villages and cities.” Peter Victor ECONOMIST & AUTHOR
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“I SEE A FUTURE WHERE DECENTRALISED COMMUNITIES ARE LINKED BY COMMUNICATIONS, AND SMALLER-SIZED ENTERPRISES”.
“PITY THAT ‘HOLISTIC’ AND ‘PERMACULTURE’ JUST DRIP WITH HIPPY SANCTIMONY… WE DESIGNERS NEED TO RE-APPROPRIATE BOTH OF THESE TERMS FROM OUR HIPPY ANCESTORS BY USING THEM IN COLLABORATIVE DESIGN PROJECTS”.
Hazel Henderson
Debra Solomon
FUTURIST, ECONOMIST & AUTHOR
ARTIST & DESIGNER
Photo: © Jim Wark / Altitude
RECODE Q&A
IS IT POSSIBLE TO REPLICATE THE DESIGN OF ONE VILLAGE ACROSS DIFFERENT CONTEXTS?
“Context is the key for sustainable design. In relation to the village, different contexts will mean different issues at stake, be they climate, spatial capacity, socio-political conditions or local building materials. At the same time, these potentially different issues point to the design elements that need particular attention, and a case-by-case inventory could help pin these down. There are certain elements that could be replicable, and many of these are evidence in vernacular models (i.e. market square, roof shape, food distribution system), but these may be spatially different in a ‘connected future’…”
Bohn &Viljoen Architects
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“PEOPLE ARE NOT PREPARED TO GIVE UP THEIR GOOD LIFE AND COMFORT IN ORDER TO BE GREENER OR MORE SUSTAINABLE… IF YOU COULD COMBINE GREEN AND SUSTAINABLE WITH COMFORT, YOU’VE FOUND THE SWEET SPOT.”
“AS IF FLESH, BONES, EMOTIONS, LOVE AND FEELINGS WERE NOT PART OF PEOPLE’S EVERYDAY LIFE… NO PLACE AND NO SPACE FOR PEOPLE IS WHAT WE INHERITED FROM MANY OF THE MODERNISTS.”
Guido Verijke
Henning Thomsen
IKEA BETTER COTTON PROJECT DIRECTOR
GEHL ARCHITECTS PRACTICE MANAGER
Photo: © Yann Arthus-Bertrand / Altitude
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ARE THERE ANY BUSINESS MODELS YOU KNOW OF THAT COULD INFORM A MORE ROBUST OUTCOME FOR THIS INITIATIVE?
“It would be interesting if those involved in the design of the project also had a financial stake in its long-term viability, perhaps through some sort of co-operative investment model where part of the designer’s fee would include a percentage of the village entity. In terms of future clients/ village residents, maybe investment capital can be raised in advance of construction through selling ‘shares’ in the community; this might include property rights, upkeep fees, or membership in a village oversight organisation, etc. This model seems to work really well for the development of small urban farms; maybe it could be adapted to finance the construction of a new village.”
Andrea Brennen ARCHITECT
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DOES CULTURE PLAY A PART IN THE DESIGN OF A SUSTAINABLE VILLAGE?
“Culture plays a key role… Celebrating human culture, celebrating the human footprint on our planet, instead of minimising the footprint, it is about making the village having a big beneficial footprint.”
Michael Braungart CO-FOUNDER OF CRADLE-TO-CRADLE & PROFESSOR OF PROCESS ENGINEERING
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“TOMORROW’S LIFESTYLE WILL BE BUILT FROM EXPERIENCES. THE FACE OF EMERGING URBANISM IS THE INTERFACE. PRESS PLAY TO BEGIN”
“EVERYTHING WE DO HAS AN ETERNAL IMPACT ON THE WORLD AND WE NEED TO EMOTIONALLY COMPREHEND THE FUTURE.”
Niels Peter Flint
Founder of 02 Design Network
John Manoochehri Founder of Resource Vision
Photo: Š Yann Arthus-Bertrand / Altitude