EMPOWERING [RE]GENERATION: EL CENTRO DE EDUCACIÓN AGUA TEGUCIGALPA, HONDURAS
Emily Russell | Spring 2013 M.Arch Thesis Project
1
THE MONOGRAPH
1
Research & Context |
2
Regional & Urban Design |
3
Design Development |
4
Tectonics |
5
Sustainable Site |
6
Physical Representations |
Maps and Diagrams
Drawings & Imagery
Program, Imagery & Drawings
Materiality, Structure, & Construction
Systems, Water, & Energy
Site, Building & Tectonics
2
Water Poverty Index Very High High Medium Low Very Low No Data
36%
YES
ACCESS TO SANITATION
WATER TRUCK
NO
PRIVATE TAP
PUBLIC / TRUCK PRIVATE / TRUCK
PUBLIC TAP
PIPED WATER
NO PIPED WATER COPING SOURCES
USING TWO COPING SOURCES
IN-HOUSE TAP LOCAL PRIVATE TAP PUBLIC TAP PUBLIC WELL TRUCK
IN-HOUSE TAP LOCAL PRIVATE TAP PUBLIC TAP PUBLIC WELL TRUCK 0
3
6
9
$ PER CUBIC METER OF WATER
3
PRIVATE / PUBLIC
12
15
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
HAUL TIME (MINUTES PER CUBIC METER)
800
1 RESEARCH & CONTEXT In the architectural field, regenerative design can be understood an approach that restores and revitalizes places, buildings and cities by responding to a society’s needs and values through the development of sustainable systems. As a thesis studio topic, regenerative design provides urban architectural solutions for cities and towns that have been destroyed by catastrophic human failures or natural disasters. Many of these human failures can be seen in developing countries around the world and are exponentially heightened in urban situations. This is due to rapid population increases that cause infrastructural systems to be overburdened and decay. Deeply entwined in the urban fabric of these cities is water. Water is the source of life and arguably the most important resource on the planet. Despite its importance, in many developing cities around the world there has been a constant and unrelenting struggle for a consistent water supply. My proposal addresses water as a human failure in the capital city of Honduras, a developing Latin American country. Water shortage and lack of sanitation is a disastrous example of human failure in Tegucigalpa, home to one million people, where it has been considered a national emergency since 2002. Tegucigalpa is an extremely dense city with 14,516 people per sq. mile (3.5 times the density of Portland, OR). The city is made up of over 40 barrios and colonias, with the former being usually poor informal settlements while the latter are made up of middle class families. Historically, two cities, Tegucigalpa and Comayaguela, on opposite banks of the Rio Choluteca form the country’s capital. Located in a valley at an elevation of 3,500 ft, Tegucigalpa is plagued by issues that many geographically constrained cities suffer from: informal development spreading into the hillsides, pollution of the city’s water at the source, a lack of easily navigable roads through the city, and a proneness to flooding.
11% of the world’s population do not have access to safe water. 2.5 billion people do not have access to adequate sanitation. 700,000 children die every year from diarrhea caused by unsafe water and poor sanitation – that’s almost 2,000 children a day. In the developing world as a whole, around 90% of sewage is discharged un-treated into rivers, polluting them and affecting plant and aquatic life In the Tegucigalpa, there is an estimated clean water shortage of 65 million meters3 per year. During the dry season neighborhoods receive running water every other day for 8 hours a day. 60% of clean water is wasted on it’s way from the reservoir to peoples’ homes due to leaking pipes.
4
Regional Action: proposed major bus depots (my site at the center) (circles show 800 meter walkable radius) 5
2 REGIONAL DESIGN
Rooted in issues of intensive and rapid urban growth, and coupled with constantly changing governmental powers, the water infrastructure in the city has been overwhelmed and underfunded by both the city and state. The urban population is expected to double by 2029. As the urban core has begun to expand, inhabitants moving to the topographically higher regions that surround the city have also had restricted access to piped water. Tegucigalpa is climatically described as having two seasons, a dry season and a wet season. The only way to guarantee water in the dry season is to capture and store it in the wet season. As global warming continues, the dry season is becoming longer and more unpredictable, causing inaccurate estimates about how much water needs to be saved to supply the urban center completely. Currently, SANAA, the national government agency in charge of water distribution and quality, estimates the water shortage at 65,000,000 cubic meters per year. During the dry season in the summer months, most urban neighborhoods only receive running water every other day for eight hours a day. This shortage is worsened by a lack of sewage treatment and water pipes in the higher elevations of the city.
Proposed Bus Stop Water Filtration Systems
6
*
*
Congreso Nacional Secretaria de Educacion
Mercado Nuevo
*
*
*
Instituto Hondure単o
*
*
Mercado La Isla
* *
Estadio Nacional
7
Mercado Mayoreo
2 URBAN DESIGN
The site I have chosen is a vacant lot (currently used as an informal bus depot) just across the river from downtown Tegus.. In the barrio of Comayaguela, an old town that has been adopted as part of the city, my site is adjacent to the Choluteca River, whose water level varies greatly between the dry and rainy seasons. Currently there are many issues with the condition of the river: pollution, frequent littering, and flood control. My site design will include a water filtration greenscape that slows down and cleans storm water before letting it flow into the river. This landscape will also work as a flood negation technique by providing a way for water to seep back into the ground water table. Another important aspect of my site is the adjacency to a huge indoor market building across the river. Four stories tall, the market is packed with small vendor shops selling everything from fresh melons to t-shirts to autoparts. It is visited by hundreds of people everyday, and will give my site great visibility to the people of Tegucigalpa.
8
9
3 DESIGN DEVELOPMENT By “integrating the basic needs of the society and the integrity of natureâ€? my thesis proposal provides a sustainable design solution rooted in a regenerative approach. El Centro de EducaciĂłn Agua will begin to decentralize the municipal water system and directly impact the water shortage problem by providing the community with the resources and learning space to take control of their water consumption and quality and well as revive this impoverished city through a central community gathering space.
10
11
3 DESIGN DEVELOPMENT Program Language Access to Water ...when natural bodies of water occur near human settlements, treat them with great respect... always preserve a belt of common land, immediately beside the water... allow dense settlements to come right down to the water only at infrequent intervals along the water’s edge
Network of Learning ...creative, active individuals can only grow up in a society which emphasizes learning instead of teaching... work in piecemeal ways to decentralize the process of learning and enrich it through contact with many places and people all over the city... let students, children, their families and neighborhoods weave together for themselves the situations that comprise their “school”
Public Common Space ...make a piece of the common land into an outdoor room - a partly enclosed place, with some roof, columns, without walls, perhaps with a trellis; place it beside an important path and within view of many homes and workshops
Tapestry of Light and Dark ...create alternating areas of light and dark throughout the building, in such a way that people naturally walk toward the light, whenever they are going to important places
12
13
3 DESIGN DEVELOPMENT The Water Education Center is made up of three bars of program. All three are placed on a shifting north-south axis through the site, oriented along the Rio Choluteca, and creating an outdoor covered plaza between them. The buildings are surrounded by a series of raised boardwalks and plazas which wind their way through the site between rain gardens, filtration ponds, and bioswale terraces. Water is filtered from the north of my site to the south, where a children’s water play feature and public pump are located. During the dry season, the filtration system can pump water from the river and filter that as well. There is a 28,000 gallon tank under the south side of the site that provides enough water for the site and building through the whole year.
The program goals of this project are to: 1. Directly assist the surrounding community and reduce water pollution through demonstration classes and work shops about how to fix leaks, disinfect water, and collect water safely at private residences. 2. Target the most affected population, enhances health, and can contribute to the development of the communities. By giving people a place to be educated about water conservation, they will take greater responsibility in their communities. 3. Implement a water filtration system that will slow down storm water runoff and filter it to be used on site in the building and for public use through a children’s play feature and a water pump. 4. Improve the lives of the people in Tegucigalpa through education about conservation, coupled with improvements in hygiene and sanitation 5. The major program elements of el Centro de Educación Agua needed are: community classrooms, demonstration space, a small tool lending library, workshop space, a local health clinic, and administrative offices for the municipality. The surrounding site program spaces will be a large rain garden and bioswale system, and community gathering space.
14
3
15
2
1
3 DESIGN DEVELOPMENT The first bar, that encroaches and rests on the river, is the main space in my building. It is a semi-enclosed, interactive exhibit defined by a floating dock that will rise and fall as the water level changes throughout the year. The second bar, supporting the exhibit, houses a community room and kitchen on the first floor and classrooms above. The third, most connected to the urban fabric at the eastern edge of my site, addresses the street edge through a shaded path made up of a perforated CMU wall system. This double facade encourages people to walk along and into my building and makes places for resting and hanging temporary signage or shading devices from the underside of the roof. The program includes a public tool lending library on the ground floor, and NGO office space above.
4 6 5
1
INTERACTIVE EXHIBIT
4
CLASSROOMS & MEETING SPACES
2
COMMUNITY ROOM & KITCHEN
5
WATER-RELATED NGO HEADQUARTERS
3
TOOL WORKSHOP & LIBRARY
6
WATER QUALITY RESEARCH FACILITY
16
FLOATING DOCK HEIGHTS AT LOW AND HIGH WATER
17
3 DESIGN DEVELOPMENT
18
19
3 DESIGN DEVELOPMENT
20
21
3 DESIGN DEVELOPMENT
22
23
3 DESIGN DEVELOPMENT
24
25
3 DESIGN DEVELOPMENT
26
WALL SECTION 27
4 TECTONICS
Permeable expanded metal mesh panels define the western most facade, and as the water levels change, new striations of oxidation will occur on the copper. The other buildings are made up a perforated CMU wall system that provides protection from the elements while allowing a constant flow of natural ventilation through the spaces. Integrating all three together, the metal mesh system appears as a canopy between the second and third buildings, as well as in a vertical louver system on the eastern facade.
METAL MESH DETAIL
28
water filtration process
29
5 SUSTAINABLE SITE
30
31
6 PHYSICAL REPRESENTATIONS Urban Model 1:500meters (cedar plywood, painted pulp board, copper mesh, painted sandpaper)
32
33
6 PHYSICAL REPRESENTATIONS Building Model 1:100meters (cedar plywood, painted pulp board, copper mesh, painted sandpaper, acrylic)
34
35
6 PHYSICAL REPRESENTATIONS Building Model 1:100meters (cedar plywood, painted pulp board, copper mesh, painted sandpaper, acrylic)
36
37
6 PHYSICAL REPRESENTATIONS Tectonic Model 1:50meters (cedar plywood, painted pulp board, copper mesh, painted sandpaper, acrylic, mdf, flora)
38
39
6 PHYSICAL REPRESENTATIONS Tectonic Model 1:50meters (cedar plywood, painted pulp board, copper mesh, painted sandpaper, acrylic, mdf, flora)
40