Curban Ecology

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GLOBAL CHALLENGE.....SCALABILITY......PASSIVE PERFORMANCE.....LOCALIZED OPPORTUNITY......SUSTAINABLE ECONOMIIC DEVELOPMENT.....INTELLIGENT INFRASTRUCTURAL AMENITY.......

CURBAN ECOLOGY

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*Despite a rich

history of adaptation to the functional and health concerns of cities, the familiar infrastructures of the urban street have remained largely unchallenged and unchanged for nerly two centuries.

*

A FLAWED MODEL FOR URBAN DRAINAGE

90% paved surfaces

STAGNATION 13th-18th Century

CIRCULATION 19th-20th Century

ECOLOGY 21st Century and Beyond

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THG EVOLUTION OF THE URBAN STREET


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CURBAN ECOLOGY

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DEBRIS

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L L O C WATER VEGETATION

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T R E V I D WATER

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GLOBAL CHALLENGE.....SCALABILITY......PASSIVE PERFORMANCE.....LOCALIZED OPPORTUNITY......SUSTAINABLE ECONOMIIC DEVELOPMENT.....INTELLIGENT INFRASTRUCTURAL AMENITY.......

Rather than merely diverting and transporting wastewater, could the typical street gutter become the kidneys of the city?

WATER

Conceived as a network of channels and voids, curban Ecology relies on simple strategies of sectional variety and the benefits of monolithic construction to achieve many levels of passive performance. A network of infiltration channels takes in water from the street and sidewalk for treatment and distributes it through a secondary series of surface channels into the many bio-remediation zones. These bio-remediation zones, which are filled with gravel or silt, operate like miniature wetlands, filtering contaminates from water before allowing it to permeate soil below. Larger scale debris is captured and held by the collection chamber, to be periodically removed and recycled. In time, these voids are spontaneously colonized by the seeds of opportunistic plants to become lush pockets of street level vegetation, offering added amenity and much needed visual articulation to the otherwise barren streetscape.


GLOBAL CHALLENGE.....SCALABILITY......PASSIVE PERFORMANCE.....LOCALIZED OPPORTUNITY......SUSTAINABLE ECONOMIIC DEVELOPMENT.....INTELLIGENT INFRASTRUCTURAL AMENITY.......

NEW YORK

BARCELONA

SAN FRANCISCO

LONDON

PARIS

TORONTO

CURBAN ECOLOGY

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MISSISSAUGA

ROME

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COPENHAGEN

Inserted strategically within the existing streets of major cities worldwide in concert with other forms of green infrastructure, (C)urban Ecology can become the hopeful beacon of a beautiful, sustainable and more vibrant future, creating new economic opportunities, greener cities, and healthier ecosystems at the same time.


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